Several drivers split ARCA’s special awards at Winchester

July in the ARCA Menards Series opened and closed with heated battles for a race win between championship adversaries Ty Gibbs and Corey Heim, and both times, the night’s dominant driver was bumped out of the way by the eventual winner.

Heim at Elko Speedway on July 10 put the bumper to Gibbs, but on Saturday night at Indiana’s Winchester Speedway, it was Gibbs who made contact with Heim and celebrated with the trophy. Heim was left with some of ARCA’s special awards as consolation prizes.

The proceedings for the Calypso Lemonade 200 at Winchester began with General Tire Pole Qualifying, and Heim became the second driver to start from the pole on multiple occasions this season thanks to a lap of 15.796 seconds/113.953 mph. Heim, who was also the polesitter at Mid-Ohio, joined Gibbs in that category. With eight poles in 2021, Gibbs is close to clinching the yearlong title for the most poles in the ARCA Menards Series.

Heim and Gibbs raced side-by-side for several laps after the drop of the green flag before Heim was able to clear his rival. The advantage was short-lived, as Gibbs got past Heim to take the lead on Lap 12. He held the spot until trouble struck 22 laps later.

As Gibbs worked to put Brandon Varney a lap down, both drivers were attempting to maneuver around an even slower car. Varney went for a spin when he was forced to check up in front of Gibbs, who appeared to be on the verge of escaping with minimal damage until he clipped Varney’s car as it spun back around. Both Gibbs and Varney were able to continue after pit stops, but it also meant Heim would retake the top spot.

That sequence allowed Heim to become the Richmond Water Heaters Halfway Leader for the first time in 2021.

A long green flag run followed the second scheduled pit break at Winchester. Leaders Heim and Gibbs ticked off the laps quickly, and the drivers were on the verge of lapping into the top five with the checkered flag in sight. With three laps to go, Heim moved to put fifth-place Thad Moffitt a lap down when Gibbs hit Heim from behind, sending the No. 20 spinning out of the lead.

Gibbs easily held his ground on the ensuing green-white-checkered finish, and Heim was left as the hard-luck Valvoline Lap Leader who led 175 laps but could only finish third.

Heim moved to second in the yearlong Valvoline Lap Leader standings with an even 300 laps led this season. Gibbs added 30 laps led to his season total, which now sits at an unbelievable 975 out of a possible 1,635 laps. Heim is the only driver to run all 1,635 laps to date, keeping him atop the S&S Volvo Laps Completed standings.

Moffitt was awarded the K&N Filters Hard Charger honors for qualifying 10th and driving up to fourth at the checkered flag, gaining six total positions.

For coaching Gibbs to victory, No. 18 crew chief Mark McFarland was named the Cometic Crew Chief of the Race. McFarland also assumed the lead in the Cometic Crew Chief of the Year standings for the first time this season, swiping the lead from No. 20 crew chief Shannon Rursch by a single point.

The win continued Gibbs’ streak of perfection in CGS Imaging Four Crown races, going three-for-three with wins at the superspeedway race at Kansas, the road course race at Mid-Ohio and now the short track race at Winchester. An in-season test of driver skills at each of the four different track types on the ARCA Menards Series schedule, Gibbs has a 10-point lead in the standings over Corey Heim and Thad Moffitt with only the dirt race at DuQuoin left on the Four Crown schedule.

The fight is far from over, though. Gibbs has two AMS starts on dirt, both coming at Springfield and both resulting in his finishing many laps down.

Gibbs also maintained his lead in the prestigious Sioux Chief Showdown standings with the victory at Winchester, his fourth in the six Showdown events held so far. Gibbs leads Heim by 10 points with four Showdown races remaining, the next coming at the road course of Watkins Glen.

One award category in which Heim does hold an advantage over Gibbs is the Bounty Rookie of the Year chase, where Heim leads Gibbs by 16 markers. Despite Gibbs being named the Bounty Rookie of the Race for winning at Winchester, he still trails Heim largely because the rookie standings count race points only towards its running tally, disregarding any bonus points a driver would otherwise receive for qualifying on the pole, leading laps or winning the race.

The closing-laps chaos between Heim and Gibbs was not the largest incident of the evening. Daniel Dye doored Taylor Gray as Dye made a pass coming through Turns 3-4 on Lap 84, to which Gray responded by hooking Dye into the frontstretch wall. As Dye slid down the banking near the first turn, he clipped Nick Sanchez, destroying both drivers’ Chevrolets. In turn, Sanchez hit the outside wall and began to slide down the banking himself with the field still bearing down on the scene at speed.

WINNER: Parker Chase somehow avoids a pair of spinning cars pic.twitter.com/5tPPYbQ2vh

— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) August 1, 2021

Miraculously, Kris Wright and Parker Chase narrowly dodged the wrecked No. 2, with Chase’s superb wreck avoidance voted as the Reese’s Sweet Move of the Race.

A stretch of five races in five weeks will come to a close for the ARCA Menards Series with the running of the Clean Harbors 100 at Watkins Glen International on Friday, Aug. 6 at starting at 6 p.m. ET.

The second road course event of 2021 for the series, the 41-lap race will also serve as the seventh round of the Sioux Chief Showdown.

FS1 will carry live television coverage while MRN will handle the live radio call, which will also be available on Sirius XM.