Kansas Speedway
Cars take the green flag in the Dawn 150 for the ARCA Menards Series at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas, on July 24, 2020. (Ed Zurga/ARCA Racing)

PIT BOX: Drivers Meet Kansas Speedway With Excitement, Anticipation

One would think Ty Gibbs is the ARCA Menards Series driver most looking forward to Saturday’s Dutch Boy 150 at Kansas Speedway (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1). The fourth race of the 2021 season represents a chance for the 18-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing driver to rebound from his disappointing finish last week at Talladega.

Yet one would be hard-pressed to find a driver heading to Kansas City with a bigger smile on his or her face than that of Corey Heim.

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Heim, the 18-year-old championship points leader for Venturini Motorsports, has won three of the last four ARCA Menards Series races. That includes last season’s finale at Kansas, where he led 82 of 100 laps en route to his first series win.

Saturday’s race at the 1.5-mile tri-oval is an opportunity for Heim to extend his points lead, but Gibbs and other contenders won’t make it easy on the hottest driver in the series.

Fans will be able to attend Saturday’s race at Kansas (buy tickets) and can watch the race live on FS1 or Fox Sports Go.


Dutch Boy 150

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

21 Ksc Dutch Boy 150 4c

Heim obviously was thrilled to emerge from a wild Talladega race victorious. But it was a question about the ARCA Menards Series’ return to Kansas that made him beam with the most joy during a post-event media session.

“I am freakin’ pumped to go to Kansas,” said Heim. “I’m on cloud nine right now. Just won Talladega and get to go to Kansas next week. It’s awesome.”

The elation is warranted. Not only did Heim dominate the October race at Kansas last season, but he finished fourth — and, in his mind, should have placed second — in the July race at the same track. He was named the K&N Filters Hard Charger of the race that day after starting 10th.

Early car trouble kept Gibbs out of contention when the series last visited Kansas; he finished 40 laps down in 14th. But that race was among the five out of 30 ARCA Menards Series races over the last two-plus years in which Gibbs did not place in the top 10.

With mechanical luck on his side this time, Gibbs will be a factor Saturday.

In addition to Heim in the No. 20 JBL Toyota, Venturini Motorsports at Kansas will field Drew Dollar in the No. 15 Sunbelt Rentals Toyota and Derek Griffith in the No. 25 SpotON Toyota. Both figure to be strong contenders.

Kyle Sieg, who is one of three drivers (Heim and Dollar) who have top-10 finishes in all three ARCA Menards Series races thus far this season, will make his first start at Kansas driving the No. 28 RSS Racing Chevrolet for his family-owned team.

Jack Wood will make his first start on a 1.5-mile track at Kansas in the No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet. The team will use the chassis that Sam Mayer drove to top-five finishes at Kentucky and Pocono last season.

Coming off his third-place run at Talladega, Nick Sanchez is entered at Kansas in the No. 2 Max Siegel Inc. Chevrolet for Rev Racing. Also entered at Kansas is Thad Moffitt, who finished sixth at Talladega, in the No. 46 Clean Pacs Ford for David Gilliland Racing.

Other top-10 finishers from Talladega who will race Saturday include defending series champion Bret Holmes, who won the July race at Kansas last season before finishing second and clinching the title at the same track in October, plus Eric Caudell and Scott Melton.

Toni Briedinger, who finished 12th at Talladega, will race again at Kansas in the No. 02 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet.

The complete entry list for Saturday’s Dutch Boy 150 at Kansas Speedway can be viewed here.

RACING REFERENCE:

RACE FACTS

RACE Dutch Boy 150
PLACE Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas
DATE Saturday, May 1, 2021
TIME 12:30 p.m. CT / 1:30 p.m. ET
TV/LIVE STREAM FS1 / Fox Sports Go
RADIO MRN / SiriusXM (XM channel 391, online channel 981)
TRACK LAYOUT 1.5-mile paved tri-oval
LAPS 100
MILES 150
EVENT SCHEDULE Saturday, April 24: Garage opens at 8 a.m.; Practice/Qualifying at 10 a.m.; Dutch Boy 150 at 12:30 p.m. (All times CT)
TWITTER @ARCA_Racing, @NASCARRoots, @kansasspeedway, @FS1, @MRNRadio
HASHTAG #ARCAMenards

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CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: The starting field for the Dutch Boy 150  is limited to 30 plus provisional positions. This event will be run under the 2021 ARCA Menards Series rules, procedures, regulations and specifications.

QUALIFYING: Field will be set by practice/qualifying session plus provisionals.

RACE PIT STOP: Modified live pit stop procedure. There will be a competition caution at or near Lap 50. All cars will be required to make at least one pit stop prior to the last 10 laps of the race. No adding or moving tires to or from pit box once race has started.

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