Ty Gibbs
Ty Gibbs (Photo: Jacob Kupferman/ARCA Racing)

NOTEBOOK: Ty Gibbs aims to win Sioux Chief Showdown championship at Salem

www.arcaracing.com October 1, 2021

Multiple championships are on the line Saturday at Salem Speedway with the running of the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 presented by Scott County Tourism.

But only one is sure to be decided by the 200-lap race on the historic, 0.555-mile paved oval in Salem, Indiana.

Unless he ends up with his first last-place finish in his three-year ARCA Menards Series career, Ty Gibbs will leave Salem as the 2021 Sioux Chief Showdown champion.

Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200: Entry List | Schedule | Preview

The Sioux Chief Showdown is a 10-race series within the ARCA Menards Series schedule. With drivers under the age of 18 not permitted to race on most larger ovals, the Showdown allows drivers from the ARCA Menards Series East and West to compete with ARCA Menards Series regulars for a championship on short tracks and road courses.

Gibbs, who also enters the 19th of 20 ARCA Menards Series races this season with a hefty lead over rival Corey Heim in the overall series championship standings (more on that later), has a 17-point lead over Heim in the Showdown standings entering that series’ finale at Salem.

With 18 cars entered at Salem, that means Heim has to win the race in order to give himself a chance to win the Showdown title. He of course also needs Gibbs to finish last.

Only race points (no bonus points) count toward the Showdown standings. Below is a look at the point totals Gibbs and Heim could end up with by night’s end Saturday. Gibbs holds the tiebreaker by virtue of his six Showdown wins this season to Heim’s two.

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Gibbs, who at 18 is technically an ARCA Menards Series rookie running his first full season on the platform, has dominated the Showdown in 2021.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver led 153 of 200 laps in the Showdown opener at Toledo Speedway in May. He led 35 of 42 laps en route to his win at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in June. He led all but one lap at Iowa Speedway in July.

He led only 30 of 205 laps in his win at Indiana’s Winchester Speedway in July, but he followed that by leading every lap at the Milwaukee Mile in August. In the latest Showdown event, last month at Bristol Motor Speedway, Gibbs led all but three laps.

Should Gibbs take care of business Saturday and finish 17th or better at Salem, he will be a worthy Showdown champion.

The triumph would mark his first championship on the ARCA Menards Series platform, and it would set him up for a second later this month.

Overall championship implications

Ty Gibbs and Corey Heim
Ty Gibbs and Corey Heim (Nic Antaya/ARCA Racing)

Gibbs reached Victory Lane the last time the ARCA Menards Series raced at Salem Speedway, in the fall of 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 event. He led 196 of 200 laps to pick up what was then his second series win.

Should Gibbs repeat at Salem on Saturday, there’s a chance he will have clinched the 2021 ARCA Menards Series championship.

With two races remaining, Gibbs holds a 26-point lead over second-place Heim in the standings. So Heim’s chances to win the title in the season finale at Kansas Speedway on Oct. 23 will depend on two things.

One factor is Saturday’s Salem race. Heim needs to do all he can to shrink Gibbs’ points lead heading into the finale. If Gibbs’ lead grows, Heim’s title chance might disappear depending on the second factor: the car count at Kansas.

Bonus points of course do count toward the overall ARCA Menards Series championship. So General Tire Pole Qualifying at Salem on Saturday — and the bonus point that goes with the Pole Award — will be key.

If Heim can qualify on the pole, he will have a chance to also lead the most laps. He needs as many bonus points as possible knowing Gibbs is unlikely to finish at the back of the pack.

Gibbs in his 2019 victory at Salem hogged all six available bonus points: one for the Pole Award, one for leading a lap, one for most laps led and three for the race win.

Heim can’t afford to let his rival do that again in 2021.

Schrader!

The initial Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 entry list included the No. 12 Fast Track Racing Toyota with a driver to be announced. A couple days later, that driver was announced as none other than Ken Schrader.

Schrader, the 66-year-old auto racing icon from Fenton, Missouri, returned to the ARCA Menards Series earlier this season for the first time in two years. He finished third racing for his friend Andy Hillenburg at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds last month.

At Salem, Schrader again will race for Hillenburg, continuing their full-circle relationship. It was Schrader in the early 1990s who gave Hillenburg his first ARCA driving opportunity. Hillenburg won the 1995 series championship, and he began that season taking Schrader’s car to Victory Lane in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.

Including the DuQuoin race earlier this season, Schrader has 85 ARCA Menards Series starts dating back to 1981. He has 18 victories in that span.

His latest ARCA Menards Series victory came in 2015 … at Salem Speedway.

J.P.’s debut

One driver in Saturday’s field will make his debut on the ARCA Menards Series platform: Jean-Philippe “Bergy” Bergeron of Lanaudière, Quebec, Canada.

David Gilliland Racing earlier this week announced Bergeron would join the team to pilot one of its Fords on the ARCA Menards platform for three races to conclude the 2021 season. In addition to Salem, he will compete at Kansas Speedway on Oct. 23 with the ARCA Menards Series and at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 6 with the ARCA Menards Series West.

“We had the chance to see Jean-Philippe Bergeron perform on the oval track at the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna in February, and we are very happy to have him with us to finish the 2021 season,” said David Gilliland, team co-owner.

Added Bergeron: “It is an honor to be able to drive for one of the best developmental stock car teams in the United States. You only get one chance to make a good first impression, and I intend to give it my all to impress those who have encouraged and supported me over the past few years.

“I know that I am in good hands with DGR, and this experience will certainly have a major impact on my career as a professional driver.”

Kody Swanson’s return

Kody Swanson, the 32-year-old, five-time USAC Silver Crown Series champion, will make his second ARCA Menards Series start in as many years when he competes for GMS Racing at Salem.

Swanson has 33 USAC Silver Crown wins in his career. The winningest driver in Silver Crown history, the Zionsville, Indiana, native has a record five consecutive wins in the James/O’Connor Memorial Silver Crown race at Salem Speedway, along with the track record lap time in a Silver Crown car.

Earlier this season, he made his debut with the ARCA/CRA Super Series at Salem, setting the fast time and winning in his first start.

Many remember Swanson from the Camping World SRX Series race at Eldora Speedway in June, when he fought Tony Stewart for the win and finished second. His efforts caught the attention of GMS Racing president Mike Beam, who served as his celebrity crew chief during the event.

“I am really excited and grateful to have an opportunity to race with GMS Racing, and to continue pursuing different avenues with my career,” Swanson said. “This whole deal started with the opportunity to compete in the SRX Series earlier this year. I was invited to race at Eldora Speedway as the Local All-Star for the event, and that was where I met Mike Beam.”

In the ARCA Menards Series, Swanson finished eighth at Iowa Speedway last season driving for then-team owner Chad Bryant. After that race, Bryant, who currently serves as crew chief of the No. 21 GMS Racing ARCA team, fielded Swanson in four late model stock races at Hickory Motor Speedway. (Swanson finished as high as second.)

Earlier this year, Swanson made his pro late model debut, winning the 2021 World Series of Asphalt and track championship at New Smyrna Speedway.

“I’m looking forward to going to Salem Speedway,” Swanson added. “I have never driven an ARCA car there before, but I’m encouraged to have had some experience there with the USAC Silver Crown series, and the ARCA/CRA Super series. I hope that I’m able to adapt well enough to these new cars to do a good job, and run well for the team this weekend.”

Salem Speedway
Salem Speedway (Jay Alley/ARCA Racing)

And more:

  • Saturday’s Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 marks the ARCA Menards Series’ throwback weekend. Teams were invited to sport throwback paint schemes on their cars; series veteran Ed Pompa and his Fast Track Racing team are among those participating. Pompa will sport a bright, neon yellow scheme that resembles the ride of all-time ARCA Menards Series championships and wins leader Frank Kimmel.
  • Gracie Trotter at Salem will make her ninth ARCA Menards Series start of the season driving for Venturini Motorsports. The 19-year-old has a top five and four top-10 finishes thus far this season. She made history last year when she became the first female driver to win on the ARCA Menards platform in the West Series race at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
  • In addition to Heim and Trotter, a third VMS entry at Salem will be Jesse Love, the defending West Series champion and current points leader who has competed in select ARCA Menards Series races this season. With four top fives to boot, Love has a top-10 finish in all nine of his ARCA Menards Series starts this season.
  • Rev Racing will field two cars at Salem. Along with ARCA Menards Series regular Nick Sanchez, East Series regular Rajah Caruth will race Saturday, marking his fourth ARCA Menards Series start. It will be Caruth’s first standalone ARCA Menards Series start, as his first three were AMS/East Series combination races. Caruth is slated to drive full-time for Rev Racing in the ARCA Menards Series next season.
  • One of two drivers not named Gibbs or Heim who have won an ARCA Menards Series race this season (the other being Daniel Dye), Landen Lewis is in the field at Salem for his second run this year with Rette Jones Racing. Lewis won in his series debut at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds last month.
  • A few days after his 41st birthday, Willie Mullins at Salem will make his third start of the season driving his own No. 01 Crow Wing Recycling-CW Metals Ford.