Ty Gibbs, driver of the #18 Monster Energy/Terrible Herbst-ORCA Toyota celebrates winning the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 for the ARCA Menards Series at Memphis International Raceway on Saturday, September 26, 2020. (Barry Cantrell/ARCA Racing)
Ty Gibbs, driver of the #18 Monster Energy/Terrible Herbst-ORCA Toyota celebrates winning the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 for the ARCA Menards Series at Memphis International Raceway on Saturday, September 26, 2020. (Barry Cantrell/ARCA Racing)

Multiple Drivers Walk Away With Memphis Awards

www.arcaracing.com September 29, 2020

Saturday evening’s Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 from Memphis International Raceway concluded in dramatic fashion, with the limited number of fans in the standings getting to watch dueling celebrations from Ty Gibbs (No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota) and Sam Mayer (No. 21 Love Fund Chevrolet) as the two rising stars both celebrated victories.

Gibbs won the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 while Mayer made a big-picture statement with his win in the Sioux Chief Showdown, headlining ARCA’s special awards recipients at Memphis.

RELATED: Ty Gibbs Collects Sixth Win At Memphis

Kicking off the proceedings for the first ARCA Menards Series race at Memphis since 2001, Gibbs sped to his fifth General Tire Pole Award of the 2020 AMS season with a fast lap clocked at 116.284 mph. Gibbs broke a three-way tie with Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota) and Chandler Smith (No. 20 JBL Audio Toyota) as the drivers with the most pole awards this year; the trio of drivers entered Memphis deadlocked at four pole starts each.

Gibbs held a slim lead early on before dropping back through the pack, ceding the point to Drew Dollar (No. 15 Sunbelt Rentals Toyota) for seven laps and then Bret Holmes (No. 23 Holmes II Excavation Chevrolet). Holmes appeared to be the dominant car on the day, becoming the Richmond Water Heaters Halfway Leader for the fourth time in 2020 and the Valvoline Lap Leader for leading 135 laps. Gibbs got back past Holmes with 47 laps to go and led a total of 58 laps in his win. Gibbs has already clinched the yearlong lap leader title, increasing his season total to 969 laps now. Sam Mayer is second with 446 laps led and Holmes rose to third with 375 laps led.

Gibbs was named the Bounty Rookie of the Race with his win. In the Bounty Rookie of the Year standings, Hailie Deegan (No. 4 Monster Energy Ford) finished one spot ahead of Drew Dollar and extended her advantage in the rookie standings to 23 points with two races remaining. Deegan is seeking to become the first woman in ARCA Menards Series history to be named the series rookie of the year.

The win from the pole earned No. 18 team crew chief Mark McFarland the Cometic Crew Chief of the Race nod, furthering his lead in the Cometic Crew Chief of the Year standings. McFarland holds a 47-point lead in the yearlong standings over Kevin Reed, crew chief for Michael Self and the No. 25 Venturini Motorsports group.

With another lead lap finish, Bret Holmes maintained his narrow lead in the S&S Volvo Laps Completed standings over Michael Self. Holmes has completed 2,506 of 2,511 laps this season, while Self has completed 2,503 laps. A total of 200 more laps are scheduled to be run in 2020, consisting of 100 each at the Springfield Mile and Kansas Speedway.

Thad Moffitt (No. 46 CleanPacs Ford) returned to AMS competition after missing five races due to sponsorship woes. Moffitt qualified 10th and came home in fourth, earning recognition as the K&N Filters Hard Charger for the Memphis race. The fourth-place finish was a new career-best for Moffitt in his 28th AMS start.

Even though Ty Gibbs won the race at Memphis, with a second-place finish, Sam Mayer clinched the Sioux Chief Showdown championship over Gibbs by a margin of five points. Mayer won four Showdown races and recovered from a mechanical DNF in the first Showdown race of the year at Phoenix in March to rally back and take the crown. Gibbs won three Showdown events on his way to finishing as the runner-up. The top five was rounded out by Michael Self (one Showdown win), Bret Holmes and Chandler Smith (two Showdown wins).

The CGS Imaging Four Crown has one race remaining following the short track race at Memphis. Consisting of four races at four distinct types of racetracks, only the dirt race at Springfield is yet to be run. The superspeedway race at Michigan and the road course round at Daytona served as the first two legs of the in-season championship.

Michael Self leads the Four Crown standings with 122 points, holding a three-point lead over Bret Holmes in second. Holmes, the defending CGS Imaging Four Crown champion, in turn leads third-place Hailie Deegan by six points. With three drivers separated by less than 10 points, the fight will go down to the final race – the Allen Crowe 100 at Springfield.

The 19th and penultimate race on the ARCA Menards Series schedule in 2020 will be the Illinois Truck & Equipment Allen Crowe 100 at the Springfield Mile. The green flag will drop at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 4, and the race will be carried live by MAVTV as well as the TrackPass subscription service from NBC Sports Gold.