PIT BOX: Michael Self Leads Way Back To Kansas Speedway

The last time Michael Self was at Kansas Speedway, he led 57 laps and finished second.

And that was a disappointment.

Self and the ARCA Menards Series returns to the 1.5-mile tri-oval Friday night for the Dawn 150, and Self will be looking for one spot better and move one step closer to his first championship. The rest of the field will be gearing up to overtake the driver who has led the entire season.

The Dawn 150 will air live on FS1, following the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race, and can also be heard on MRN.

Dawn 150

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

Self knows the fast way around Kansas, perhaps better than anybody in Friday’s field.

The 29-year-old from Park City, Utah, won there in 2017 and finished third in 2018. However, it was a runner-up finish to Venturini Motorsports driver Christian Eckes by 1.912 seconds in the 2019 finale that kept Self from both the race and the series championship trophies.

Self returns in the No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota having led essentially the entirity of the 2020 season. He won the General Tire Pole Award and led a race-high 61 laps en route to a win at Daytona International Speedway. Six subsequent top 10 runs – including four top fives – in the next six races have allowed him to open a 19-point lead over Bret Holmes.

Holmes, meanwhile, has four top fives and five top 10s in five ARCA Menards Series starts in the No. 23 Holmes II Excavation Inc. Chevrolet since the return to racing, and will look to chip away more on Self’s advantage.

In three previous starts at Kansas, he has a top five and two top 10s.

Self’s Venturini Motorsports teammate Drew Dollar was seventh at Kansas last year, while Ryan Repko steps back into the No. 20. Riley Herbst returns to the No. 18 Monster Energy/Terrible Herbst/ORCA Toyota for JGR, where he’s finished seventh and fourth in two starts this year, as three-time race winner Ty Gibbs is ineligible to compete because of his age.

DGR-Crosley’s Tanner Gray and Hailie Deegan were sixth and eighth, respectively, in last year’s Kansas race. Dollar is 36 points back of Self and Deegan is 36 out of first.

Derek Griffith will return to the No. 22 for Chad Bryant Racing. Tyler Hill, the younger brother of former NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie of the year Timmy Hill, will be in the No. 11 for Andy Hillerburg.

RACING REFERENCE: Previous ARCA Menards races at Kansas | ARCA Menards Drivers at Kansas | 2020 ARCA Menards Series Standings

RACE FACTS

RACE CENTER | ENTRY LIST | RACE EVENT GUIDE

CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: The starting field for the Dawn 150 is limited to 36, including provisional positions. The field will be set by 2020 Owners Points (1-30) for the Dawn 150. The remaining six spots will be awarded through the provisional process. This event will be run under the 2020 ARCA Menards Series rules, procedures, regulations and specifications.

QUALIFYING: No qualifying.

RACE PIT STOP: No adding or moving tires to or from pit box once race has started. A maximum four (4) crew members may service car. No tires and fuel may be added outside of the break.

General Tire Superspeedway Challenge: The Dawn 150 will be Race 5 of the General Tire Superspeedway Challenge, which recognizes the car owner who accumulates the most points in designated events.

RELATED: General Tire Superspeedway Challenge Recap & Points Standings

The Dawn 150 will be 100 laps (150 miles) and is to be run in three (3) segments. The race will have the first break, at or near the conclusion of Lap 30. The race will have the second break, at or near the conclusion of Lap 60. At the conclusion of the break(s), vehicles will line up in the order they were running at the beginning of the break.

The maximum tire allotment available for this event is as follows: Per ARCA Rulebook, maximum number of tires allowed in pit box for use in race is eight (8).