Ty Gibbs, driver of the #18 Monster Energy-Terrible Herbst-ORCA Toyota celebrates winning the Shore Lunch 150 for the ARCA Menards Racing Series at Iowa Speedway on Saturday, July 18, 2020. (Barry Cantrell/ARCA Racing)
Ty Gibbs was the top Bounty rookie with his winning the Shore Lunch 150 for the ARCA Menards Racing Series at Iowa Speedway on Saturday, July 18, 2020. (Barry Cantrell/ARCA Racing)

Ty Gibbs Again Collects Contingency Awards With Iowa Win

www.arcaracing.com July 21, 2020

Saturday afternoon’s Shore Lunch 150 must have looked like a re-run for most of the ARCA Menards Series field. Once again, the series rolled into a new race weekend and once again, Ty Gibbs (No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota) stole the show with a win in commanding fashion. Just as in several other events this season, Gibbs took home the big trophy and most of the supporting hardware in the form of ARCA’s special awards.

Qualifying was not held according to new rulebook procedures, so the starting lineup was set on Sioux Chief Showdown points to date. This put two-time race winner Chandler Smith (No. 20 JBL Audio Toyota) on the front row as the General Tire Pole award winner. This is the second time Smith has started from the first position this season, as Smith also topped the qualifying session at Lucas Oil Raceway at the beginning of July. Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota) leads all ARCA Menards Series drivers with three General Tire Poles in 2020.

The starting draw did not fall in favor of Gracie Trotter (No. 99 ENEOS Toyota) and her Bill McAnally Racing team, as an early blown engine in her only AMS start of the season at Phoenix meant that she would roll from the 21st and final position on the grid. Despite encountering mechanical problems before the green flag as well as a flat tire that left her a lap down, Trotter rallied to finish 9th and was named the K&N Filters Hard Charger for gaining 12 spots over the course of the race.

Smith managed to stay in front for the first ten laps before fifth-place starter Ty Gibbs made his way to Smith’s bumper and took the lead. Gibbs led the remainder of the 140 laps, earning merits as the Valvoline Lap Leader, the Richmond Water Heaters Halfway Leader, and the Bounty Rookie of the Race. Gibbs tops the yearlong Valvoline Lap Leader standings with 424 laps led, holding a very comfortable advantage over Smith’s 187 laps led as well as the rest of the field. Gibbs was the halfway leader for the fourth time this season, the only driver to have done so on multiple occasions.

While Gibbs was cruising on his way to being named the race’s top rookie, the two main Bounty Rookie of the Year contenders both ran into mechanical woes at Iowa. Drew Dollar (No. 15 Dollar Concrete Toyota) brought out the second caution of the day when he stalled on the frontstretch on lap 32 with engine problems, necessitating a tow back to the ARCA garage. Dollar’s Venturini Motorsports crew was able to send the No. 15 back out to rejoin the race, many laps down, which quickly proved to be an important factor in the race.

Not long after Dollar rejoined the race, Hailie Deegan (No. 4 Monster Energy Ford) broke the trackbar in her Ford and had to go behind the wall herself. Deegan’s DGR-Crosley team made multiple efforts at repairing the car, but after multiple trips on and off pit road, the team called it a day on lap 96 with rear end problems proving terminal. Deegan finished 18th, while Dollar continued to make laps and finished 17th, 42 laps behind race winner Ty Gibbs but one position ahead of Deegan in the final running order.

Deegan still leads the ROTY standings with 250 points, a scant two markers more than Dollar’s 248 total points.

The win for the Joe Gibbs Racing team resulted in No. 18 team leader Mark McFarland being named the Cometic Crew Chief of the Race. McFarland is gaining on No. 25 crew chief Kevin Reed in the Cometic Crew Chief of the Year standings, where Reed leads the contingent of full-time crew chiefs with 36 points on the season. McFarland has halved Reed’s lead as he now has 41 points.

Though Michael Self fought electrical issues during the race, nearly losing a lap on pit road at one point while diagnosing the root of the problem, he was able to complete all 150 laps and maintain his status as the S&S Volvo Laps Completed pacesetter for the season. Self has completed 834 out of a possible 836 laps run through seven races of the 2020 season.

With Gibbs finally unseating Chandler Smith as a Sioux Chief Showdown race winner, the Showdown standings have been shuffled after three races. Smith still leads with 126 points and Self continues to stand his ground in second with 116 points. Gibbs is now up to 113 points, rounding out the podium and gaining ever-so-slightly on Smith’s stranglehold of first place.

The Sioux Chief Showdown will take a week off as the ARCA Menards Series resumes the General Tire Superspeedway Challenge in Friday night’s Kansas 150 at Kansas Speedway. In the battle for the prestigious speedway crown among car owners, Coy Gibbs’ No. 18 Toyota leads the way with 163 season points. The Joe Gibbs Racing team is feeling the heat from a pair of Venturini Motorsports entries, though, as Cathy Venturini’s No. 25 Toyota and Bill Venturini’s No. 15 Toyota are virtually gridlocked with 162 and 161 points, respectively.

The Kansas 150 will air live at 10 p.m. ET on FS1 following the conclusion of the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series event.

Live timing & scoring can be found on ARCAracing.com, and TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold subscribers will be able to view the race broadcast on demand following the conclusion of the event.