Sam Mayer, driver of the #21 Pat Connaughton With Us Foundation Chevrolet, poses for a photo in victory lane after winning the Zinsser SmartCoat 200 for the ARCA Menards Series at I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, Missouri on September 5, 2020. (Jeff Curry/ARCA Racing)
Sam Mayer, driver of the #21 Pat Connaughton With Us Foundation Chevrolet, earned the K&N Filters Hard Charger Award en route to winning the Zinsser SmartCoat 200 for the ARCA Menards Series at I-44 Speedway in Lebanon, Missouri on September 5, 2020. (Jeff Curry/ARCA Racing)

Top Trio Split Contingency Awards At Lebanon I-44 Speedway

www.arcaracing.com September 9, 2020

For much of the 2020 ARCA Menards Series season, the Toyotas from the Venturini Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing stables have been the contenders battling it out for race wins at the front of the pack. But a different story unfolded Saturday night in ARCA’s maiden voyage to the Lebanon I-44 Speedway, allowing a different group of drivers to dominate the special awards categories.

In qualifying, Bret Holmes (No. 23 Holmes II Excavation Chevrolet) captured the top spot to score his first career General Tire Pole Award in his 75th AMS start. Holmes’ previous career-best starting position was a trio of second-place starts, including his series debut at the Nashville Fairgrounds in 2016. Holmes is the sixth different driver to win a pole in 2020. Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota) and Chandler Smith (No. 20 JBL Audio Toyota) pace the series with four pole starts each.

Holmes quickly opened up a gap over the snarling pack behind him when the green flag dropped and began to click off laps as the leader. Holmes led the first 69 laps before Hailie Deegan (No. 4 Monster Energy Ford) dove to his inside in turn one to make a challenge for the lead. The two made contact and Holmes was sent spinning from the lead, with Deegan claiming the spot in the process. Leading the first laps of her ARCA Menards Series career, Deegan stayed out front for the next 85 laps and took the evening’s Valvoline Lap Leader and Richmond Water Heaters Halfway Leader awards in the process. On the final restart of the race on lap 155, eventual winner Sam Mayer (No. 21 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet) executed a perfect launch and led the remaining 46 laps on his way to the win.

Mayer was the Bounty Rookie of the Race thanks to his win, an impressive feat as he also was the K&N Filters Hard Charger awardee for driving from his sixth-place starting spot to the win. Deegan dropped back to finish fifth, but she still gained ground over Drew Dollar (No. 15 Sunbelt Rentals Toyota) in the Bounty Rookie of the Year standings when Dollar had to make a series of pit stops due to being stricken by electrical issues. Dollar finished six laps down in ninth and now trails Deegan by seven points in the rookie standings with six races remaining.

Holmes was able to rally back to finish second to Mayer by the evening’s end, making a recovery that earned crew chief Shane Huffman the Cometic Crew Chief of the Race award. The Cometic Crew Chief of the Year standings continue to be led by JGR’s Mark McFarland, who finished fourth at I-44 with driver Ty Gibbs (No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota).

With yet another lead lap finish, Holmes maintains his status as the driver with the most laps turned in the 2020 AMS season as he has completed 1706 of a possible 1711 laps. Michael Self is second to Holmes in the S&S Volvo Laps Completed standings with 1703 laps to his credit.

The Zinsser SmartCoat 200 was the eighth of ten scheduled rounds in the Sioux Chief Showdown championship series, and at the conclusion of the race there was a change atop the standings for the fourth consecutive Showdown race. For the first time all year, Sam Mayer now leads the Showdown standings with 319 points. Mayer found himself in a hole at Phoenix, the first race of the Sioux Chief Showdown back in March, when he took a DNF due to overheating woes. Mayer has spent the last seven Showdown races slowly clawing his way back into contention and he now holds first place alone. Chandler Smith, who has led the Showdown points for the majority of the year, now finds himself in a tie for second with Ty Gibbs at 314 points, five points in arrears of Mayer. The two main contenders for the overall ARCA Menards Series seasonlong championship lag slightly further behind, as Michael Self sits fourth with 305 points while Bret Holmes holds fifth with 304 points. The next Sioux Chief Showdown race will be the Bush’s Beans 200 at Bristol on September 17.

The ARCA Menards Series will return to the series’ home base of Toledo Speedway on Saturday, September 12 for the Royal Truck & Trailer 200, a race that will count for points in both the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East standings. The race will air live on MAVTV and NBC Sports Gold’s TrackPass subscription service beginning at 5 p.m. ET.