Jesse Love, driver of the #15 Mobil 1 Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 presented by Scott County Tourism for the ARCA Menards Series at Salem Speedway in Salem, Indiana on October 2, 2021. (Jon Cherry/ARCA Racing)
Jesse Love, driver of the No. 15 Mobil 1 Toyota, celebrates winning the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 presented by Scott County Tourism for the ARCA Menards Series at Salem Speedway in Salem, Indiana, on Oct. 2, 2021. (Jon Cherry/ARCA Racing)

Jesse Love, Ty Gibbs, Rajah Caruth split special awards at Salem

www.arcaracing.com October 5, 2021

The 2021 ARCA Menards Series season may be in its final month on the calendar, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late for surprises.

That’s what we got at Salem Speedway on Saturday night, when the dominant Ty Gibbs was snookered on the final restart of the race by 2020 ARCA Menards Series West champion Jesse Love, who pulled away in the closing laps to earn his first career ARCA Menards Series victory.

Gibbs had been well on his way to successfully defending his 2019 win at the high-banked half mile in Salem, Indiana, but he had to settle for a host of other honors, instead, in the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 presented by Scott County Tourism.

RELATED: What we learned Saturday at Salem

The evening began with General Tire Pole Qualifying, and as predicted by many, the session saw Gibbs post the fastest lap time. He earned his 13 pole of 2021 with a time of 17.176 seconds/116.325 mph.

It was not the runaway Gibbs has been known to dial up this year, though, as just 0.720 seconds separated the top 15 qualifiers in a field of 18.

Fueled by the popularity of NASCAR’s throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway, a similar tradition began at Salem in the fall of 2016 to coincide with the 100th ARCA Menards Series race at the half-mile oval. (The venue that has hosted more ARCA Menards Series races than any other track.) In 2019, ARCA created the Jack Harrison Trophy to be awarded to the driver with the best throwback scheme based on the cheers of the fans in the grandstands.

Ed Pompa took the inaugural trophy with a throwback to NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip’s “chrome car” from 1997. Pompa was among the four drivers that donned throwback schemes Saturday, this time giving a nod to Frank Kimmel’s 2013 series championship car with its unmistakable bright yellow Menards wrap.

Pompa’s Fast Track Racing teammate, Mason Mingus honored the late Jack Ingram, an early legend of what is now the NASCAR Xfinity Series, taking to the track with a green and white Skoal Bandit lookalike Ford. GMS Racing and Kody Swanson ran a throwback to Ricky Craven’s Tide car from the early 2000s, when current GMS team president Mike Beam was the crew chief for Craven. The car also paid tribute to longtime ARCA car owner Briggs Cunningham III, who passed away earlier in the week.

The fans voted local favorite Will Kimmel as the winner of the 2021 Jack Harrison Trophy with his throwback to fellow Indiana native “Chargin’ Charlie” Glotzbach. Glotzbach, who passed away at the age of 82 in April, was a regular fixture at pre-race autograph sessions at Salem as part of the group of ARCA legends invited to the track each year. Kimmel further added to the atmosphere by wearing a slick Glotzbach-style firesuit for the race.

When the green flag waved, Gibbs wasted no time establishing himself as the early leader. The class of the field, Gibbs led the opening 155 laps, cruising to the Richmond Water Heaters Halfway Leader award for the 11th time in 2021. He also eased to the Valvoline Lap Leader award for the race, raising his yearly laps led total to a mind-boggling 1,590.

The pivotal moment in the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 came on a restart on Lap 155. Gibbs chose the bottom lane for the restart instead of the top, which he had picked for the first four restarts of the race. Suddenly finding himself in the preferred line, Love made the most of the unexpected opportunity and raced Gibbs hard for the lead.

Love was credited with the lead by the time the duo made it back to the start/finish line, but it took several laps of side-by-side racing before Love was able to clear Gibbs. The pass for the win was voted the Reese’s Sweet Move of the Race, as Love used the maneuver to pull away over the last 45 laps.

Love was named the Bounty Rookie of the Race, besting his previous career-high result of second place at Minnesota’s Elko Speedway in July. Though Gibbs came home second at Salem, he jumped to the lead in the Bounty Rookie of the Year standings for the first time this season after Corey Heim finished outside of the top five for the third time in the last four races.

Gibbs is a single point ahead of Heim in the rookie standings with only the Kansas finale remaining. Gibbs can clinch the Bounty Rookie of the Year title outright by finishing ahead of Heim at Kansas. If Heim finishes one position ahead of Gibbs, the pair will be tied on points, and the tiebreaker will lean in Gibbs’ favor thanks to his 10 wins to Heim’s six. If Heim finishes two or more positions ahead of Gibbs at Kansas, Heim will clinch the Bounty Rookie of the Year title outright.

Despite his driver fading late, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota crew chief Mark McFarland was named the Cometic Crew Chief of the Race for leading Gibbs to a second-place finish after starting from the pole.

McFarland also leads the Cometic Crew Chief of the Year standings by 28 points over Shannon Rursch, crew chief for Venturini Motorsports’ No. 20 Toyota with Heim. Crew chief points are tallied by adding together a driver’s finishing position and their starting position (when General Tire Pole Qualifying is held) with the aim at having the lowest score. Crew chiefs are only eligible for the yearly title if they serve in that role at the track for all 20 races of the ARCA Menards Series season.

Love wasn’t the only driver in the field to set a new career-best finish at Salem. In just his fourth AMS start, Rajah Caruth piloted his No. 6 Rev Racing Chevrolet to a third-place finish. Caruth was hardly optimistic about his chances on the tricky high banks after qualifying well down the order in 12th. Any changes in his approach he made for the race clearly worked, as he marched up nine positions on the leaderboard by the time the checkered flag waved, cementing his status as the K&N Filters Hard Charger for the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200.

The 20th and final race of the 2021 ARCA Menards Series season will be the Reese’s 150 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, Oct. 23. Part of a same-day doubleheader with the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the green flag is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

The Reese’s 150 will be broadcast live on MAVTV and NBC Sports Gold’s TrackPass. Live radio coverage can be found on MRN/Sirius XM.