PIT BOX: ARCA Menards Series invades Mid-Ohio for first road course of 2022

The ARCA Menards Series will embark upon its first road course event of the season Friday when the series travels to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, for the running of the Dawn 150.

The race, which is the ninth of the 2022 season and the fifth leg of the Sioux Chief Showdown, is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET and will be available to watch live on FS1. Audio coverage of the event will be available on MRN, SiriusXM and ARCARacing.com.

Friday’s race at the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course marks just the third time the series has raced at the track. The series returned to Mid-Ohio last season, with Ty Gibbs leading all but seven laps for the victory.

Tickets to Friday’s Dawn 150 are available. Below is everything to know about the event.

Dawn 150 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

Believe it or not, John Hunter Nemechek has never raced in the ARCA Menards Series.

That changes Friday afternoon at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series star will make his series debut aboard the No. 55 Toyota for Venturini Motorsports.

Nemechek, who will also race in the Truck Series event Saturday at Mid-Ohio for Kyle Busch Motorsports, will be looking to gain some extra experience at the popular road course as he continues his pursuit of the Truck Series championship.

He’s not the only Truck Series regular scheduled to compete Friday afternoon. Joining him in a trio of entries fielded by Bill McAnally Racing will be Jack Wood, Colby Howard and Blaine Perkins. Another Truck Series regular, Kris Wright, will compete aboard the No. 42 Chevrolet fielded by Cook Racing Technologies.

Headlining the list of series regulars is ARCA Menards Series championship leader Rajah Caruth, who enters Mid-Ohio with a five-point advantage on Rev Racing teammate Nick Sanchez. Both drivers will be looking for their first road course victories Friday.

MORE MID-OHIO: Schedule | Tickets | Entry List

Daniel Dye, who gained some extra road course experience earlier this season by competing in an ARCA Menards Series West event at Oregon’s Portland International Raceway, sits nine points behind Caruth in the standings. He’ll once again pilot the No. 43 Chevrolet for GMS Racing.

The winner of the last two ARCA Menards Series events, Sammy Smith, is also back in action aboard Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 18 Toyota. While he has no road course experience in ARCA competition, Smith has competed on road courses in the Trans Am Series, including just last weekend at Road America.

Dr. Ed Bull, who made his last ARCA Menards Series start during the 2013 season, returns to ARCA competition aboard the No. 7 fielded by Eric Caudell. He was scheduled to compete last year at Watkins Glen International but failed to start the race.

Other entries for Friday’s race include Taylor Gray, Jesse Love, Greg Van Alst, Dale Quarterley, Amber Balcaen, Parker Chase and Toni Breidinger.

The complete entry list for Friday’s Dawn 150 is available here.

RACING REFERENCE:

• Previous ARCA races at Mid-Ohio
• ARCA Menards Series drivers at Mid-Ohio

RACE FACTS

CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: The starting field for the Dawn 150 is limited to 26 plus provisional positions. This event will be run under the 2022 ARCA Menards Series rules, procedures, regulations and specifications.

QUALIFYING: Starting position will be set by each car’s fastest recorded lap in the practice / qualifying session.

RACE PIT STOP: Break pit stop procedure. Break at or near the conclusion of Lap 21. All cars will be required to make at least one pit stop prior to last 10 laps of 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: The maximum tire use at track for the event is 16. Per ARCA Rulebook, maximum number of tires allowed in pit box for use in race is eight (8). In the event of wet conditions, General Tire SC wet radial tires may be used on all four corners.