ARCA Menards Series standings: Breaking down the top 10 in points after Bristol

Only two races remain in the battle for the 2022 ARCA Menards Series championship, and the gap between Nick Sanchez and Daniel Dye has only decreased following Thursday’s Bush’s Beans 200 | Sioux Chief Showdown at Bristol Motor Speedway.

With Sanchez’s 12th-place finish Thursday evening, he leaves Bristol with a narrow, five-point advantage. Dye, who entered the race 12 points behind Sanchez, finished fifth to close the gap on Sanchez in a big way.

RELATED: Complete Bristol Motor Speedway results

With events at Salem Speedway (Oct. 1) and Toledo Speedway (Oct. 8) remaining on the schedule, Sanchez and Dye appear set to settle things amongst themselves.

Below is a breakdown of the how the top 10 drivers in the standings fared in the Bush’s Beans 200 | Sioux Chief Showdown, as well as a complete look at the ARCA Menards Series standings.

1. Nick Sanchez: 844 points

Thursday’s Bush’s Beans 200 | Sioux Chief Showdown was not Sanchez’s best performance of the season. He struggled to find speed throughout the 200-lap event and made multiple pit stops during the race. He eventually finished 12th, his second worst finish of the season.

2. Daniel Dye: 839 points

Despite being winless this year, Dye continues to keep himself in the hunt for the ARCA Menards Series championship thanks to consistent races like the one he enjoyed Thursday at Bristol. He was never a serious threat to race winner Sammy Smith, but he kept himself in the top five for much of the race and was able to cross the finish line fifth to take a big chunk out of Sanchez’s point lead.

3. Rajah Caruth: 814 points

While it’s now unlikely Rajah Caruth will win the ARCA Menards Series championship this year, that doesn’t mean he’s given up. He raced like he was racing for a championship Thursday night at Bristol. He was one of a few drivers who were able to keep up with Smith and got as high as second in the race before eventually finishing fourth.

4. Greg Van Alst: 719 points

After crashing out of the most recent race at Kansas Speedway, Greg Van Alst wanted a clean and uneventful race at Bristol. That’s exactly what he got. He started 19th, stayed out of trouble and finished 14th, two laps behind Smith.

5. Toni Breidinger: 708 points

Despite being swept up in a crash not of her making early in the race, Toni Breidinger was able to continue and finished the Bush’s Beans 200 | Sioux Chief Showdown in the 16th position. She was six laps down at the checkered flag.

6. Sammy Smith: 706 points

The hottest driver in ARCA Menards Series competition continues to be Smith, who dominated the Bush’s Beans 200 | Sioux Chief Showdown. He led the final 189 laps on his way to his fourth victory of the season, which helped him lock up the ARCA Menards Series East and Sioux Chief Showdown championships. With two races left in the ARCA Menards Series, Smith has a chance to get as high as fourth in the series standings by the end of the year.

7. Amber Balcaen: 655 points

The summer of bad luck continued Thursday night for Amber Balcaen, as she was clipped by Justin Carroll early in the race at Bristol, which sent her spinning into the outside wall in Turns 1 and 2. She was unable to continue and finished last in the 31-car field.

8. Brad Smith: 600 points

Veteran Brad Smith started 29th in the Bush’s Beans 200 | Sioux Chief Showdown and was able to complete 92 laps before retiring from the race due to handling issues. He finished 24th, six positions better than he started.

9. Taylor Gray: 527 points

Taylor Gray entered Thursday’s race at Bristol with an outside shot at winning the ARCA Menards Series East championship, but a dominant performance from Smith prevented that from happening. Gray was involved in a multi-car accident on Lap 122 that sent his No. 17 Ford Mustang spinning, but he was able to recover and race his way to a third-place finish.

10. Zachary Tinkle: 519 points

Zachary Tinkle kept mostly out of trouble during the Bush’s Beans 200 | Sioux Chief Showdown, but he did spin to bring out a caution flag on Lap 149. He was able to continue and finished 20th after starting 24th.

ARCA Menards Series standings

Pos.	Driver	Races	Wins	Top fives	Top 10s	Poles	Laps	Laps led	Average start	Average finish	Points	Diff.
1	Nick Sanchez	18	3	9	14	0	2143	113	6.2	6.3	844	—
2	Daniel Dye	18	0	12	16	1	2089	224	6.8	5.9	839	-5
3	Rajah Caruth	18	0	7	13	0	2079	34	8.3	7.3	814	-30
4	Greg Van Alst	18	0	1	9	0	1911	0	11.7	12.4	719	-125
5	Toni Breidinger	18	0	0	5	0	1931	0	12.2	13	708	-136
6	Sammy Smith	14	4	13	13	7	1806	826	2.2	3.2	706	-138
7	Amber Balcaen	18	0	0	4	0	1231	0	14.2	15.9	655	-189
8	Brad Smith	18	0	0	1	0	1321	0	22.1	19	600	-244
9	Taylor Gray	12	3	8	10	0	1478	112	6.1	5.4	527	-317
10	Zachary Tinkle	17	0	0	0	0	1063	0	19.1	19.4	519	-325
11	Jesse Love	12	1	6	10	3	1596	168	3.1	5.9	517	-327
12	D.L. Wilson	12	0	0	0	0	883	0	19.8	18.7	354	-490
13	Parker Chase	9	0	2	6	0	833	1	6.7	9.3	313	-531
14	Tim Monroe	12	0	0	1	0	227	0	19.5	22.7	306	-538
15	Connor Mosack	8	0	4	7	0	1006	11	5.8	7.3	296	-548
16	Corey Heim	7	2	5	6	4	585	311	2.7	4.9	294	-550
17	Alex Clubb	12	0	0	0	0	667	0	21.3	20.3	284	-560
18	Bryce Haugeberg	10	0	0	1	0	1150	0	21.2	17.8	262	-582
19	Brandon Jones	5	3	5	5	1	555	76	3.2	1.6	227	-617
20	Ron Vandermeir, Jr.	5	0	0	3	0	842	0	13.8	10.2	192	-652
21	Christian Rose	8	0	0	1	0	742	0	15.6	20.3	190	-654
22	Andy Jankowiak	6	0	0	2	0	444	0	14.7	15	174	-670
23	Ryan Huff	5	0	1	3	0	422	0	17.6	10	170	-674
24	Gus Dean	4	0	4	4	0	348	0	8.8	4.8	157	-687
25	Will Kimmel	5	0	0	1	0	220	0	16	19	125	-719
26	Scott Melton	5	0	0	0	0	373	0	17.8	19	125	-719
27	Drew Dollar	4	0	0	1	1	218	51	3.5	16.3	114	-730
28	Tom Hessert III	3	0	1	2	0	648	0	6.3	6.3	113	-731
29	Sean Corr	4	0	1	2	0	244	6	15.3	16.8	110	-734
30	Tim Richmond	4	0	0	0	0	276	0	14.3	21.8	107	-737
31	Jason Kitzmiller	4	0	0	1	0	280	0	14.5	17.3	107	-737
32	Jake Finch	3	0	0	2	0	412	0	8.7	9.3	104	-740
33	Dale Quarterley	3	0	0	2	0	161	0	12.3	10.3	101	-743
34	Dallas Frueh	4	0	0	0	0	13	0	14.8	19	100	-744
35	Rita Thomason	4	0	0	0	0	123	0	22.3	19	100	-744
36	Willie Mullins	3	0	0	1	0	394	0	15.3	12.7	94	-750
37	Stephanie Moyer	4	0	0	0	0	230	0	22	21.3	91	-753
38	Conner Jones	3	0	1	2	0	267	1	8	14	91	-753
39	Ryan Unzicker	2	1	2	2	0	151	63	20	2	89	-755
40	Jon Garrett	3	0	0	1	0	231	0	14.7	15	87	-757
41	Leland Honeyman	3	0	0	1	0	347	0	16	15	87	-757
42	Bret Holmes	2	0	1	2	0	168	9	9.5	4.5	80	-764
43	Landon Pembelton	2	0	1	2	0	400	0	3.5	4.5	79	-765
44	Ed Pompa	2	0	0	0	0	89	0	21.5	18.5	78	-766
45	Kris Wright	2	0	0	2	0	106	3	8.5	7	75	-769
46	Bryan Dauzat	4	0	0	0	0	143	0	20.8	25.8	73	-771
47	Stanton Barrett	2	0	0	1	0	83	0	13.5	9.5	69	-775
48	Cody Coughlin	2	0	0	1	0	189	4	7	11.5	66	-778
49	Ken Schrader	2	0	0	1	0	93	0	9	12.5	63	-781
50	Kelly Kovski	2	0	0	1	0	100	0	21	12.5	63	-781
51	Matt Wilson	2	0	0	0	0	186	0	18	13	62	-782
52	Colton Collins	2	0	0	0	0	431	0	15	13.5	61	-783
53	Tony Cosentino	2	0	0	1	0	106	0	15.5	14.5	59	-785
54	Mason Diaz	2	0	0	1	0	171	0	7	16	56	-788
55	Arnout Kok	1	0	0	0	0	38	0	17	14	55	-789
56	Mandy Chick	2	0	0	0	0	267	0	15	17	54	-790
57	Ed Bull	2	0	0	0	0	62	0	20.5	18.5	51	-793
58	Buck Stevens	2	0	0	0	0	27	0	18.5	18.5	51	-793
59	Michael Lira	2	0	0	0	0	273	0	20.5	19	50	-794
60	Casey Carden	2	0	0	0	0	42	0	21.5	19	50	-794
61	Brayton Laster	2	0	0	0	0	128	0	24	19.5	49	-795
62	Chandler Smith	1	1	1	1	0	200	111	3	1	48	-796
63	Eric Caudell	3	0	0	0	0	152	0	23.7	28.3	47	-797
64	Max Gutierrez	2	0	0	1	0	131	0	21.5	21	46	-798
65	Nate Moeller	2	0	0	0	0	31	0	21	21	46	-798
66	John Hunter Nemechek	1	0	1	1	1	42	31	1	4	43	-801
67	A.J. Moyer	2	0	0	0	0	160	0	32	23	42	-802
68	Buddy Kofoid	1	0	1	1	0	73	0	6	2	42	-802
69	Thad Moffitt	1	0	1	1	0	68	0	25	4	40	-804
70	Jonathan Shafer	1	0	1	1	0	150	0	7	4	40	-804
71	Jake Drew	1	0	1	1	0	154	0	9	5	39	-805
72	Austin Wayne Self	1	0	0	1	0	41	0	10	7	37	-807
73	Andres Perez De Lara	1	0	0	1	0	200	0	16	7	37	-807
74	Brian Kaltreider	3	0	0	0	0	87	0	35.7	32	36	-808
75	Dave Mader III	1	0	0	1	0	80	0	24	8	36	-808
76	Josh Berry	1	0	0	1	0	154	0	11	8	36	-808
77	Joe Cooksey	1	0	0	1	0	74	0	13	8	36	-808
78	Con Nicolopoulos	2	0	0	0	0	76	0	28.5	26.5	35	-809
79	Derek Kraus	1	0	0	1	0	154	0	14	9	35	-809
80	Dylan Smith	1	0	0	1	0	199	0	8	9	35	-809
81	Morgen Baird	1	0	0	1	0	100	0	13	10	34	-810
82	Matthew Gould	1	0	0	1	0	149	0	12	10	34	-810
83	Cole Moore	1	0	0	0	0	154	0	19	11	33	-811
84	Todd Souza	1	0	0	0	0	154	0	13	12	32	-812
85	Dylan Fetcho	1	0	0	0	0	198	0	12	12	32	-812
86	Joey Iest	1	0	0	0	0	154	0	12	13	31	-813
87	Austin Herzog	1	0	0	0	0	154	0	16	14	30	-814
88	Jeffery MacZink	1	0	0	0	0	95	0	21	14	30	-814
89	Chuck Hiers	1	0	0	0	0	80	0	10	15	29	-815
90	Tanner Arms	1	0	0	0	0	197	0	20	15	29	-815
91	Tanner Reif	1	0	0	0	0	154	0	17	16	28	-816
92	Kevin Hinkle	1	0	0	0	0	61	0	18	16	28	-816
93	Jason White	1	0	0	0	0	80	0	25	17	27	-817
94	Paul Pedroncelli, Jr.	1	0	0	0	0	153	0	15	17	27	-817
95	Colby Howard	1	0	0	0	0	32	0	6	17	27	-817
96	Takuma Koga	1	0	0	0	0	151	0	20	18	26	-818
97	Blaine Perkins	1	0	0	0	0	27	0	13	18	26	-818
98	Chris Werth	1	0	0	0	0	32	0	16	18	26	-818
99	Amber Slagle	1	0	0	0	0	145	0	28	18	26	-818
100	Tim Spurgeon	1	0	0	0	0	150	0	18	19	25	-819
101	Thomas Praytor	1	0	0	0	0	67	0	29	19	25	-819
102	Ashton Higgins	1	0	0	0	0	190	0	18	19	25	-819
103	Tanner Allen	1	0	0	0	0	52	0	19	20	24	-820
104	Tommy Vigh, Jr.	1	0	0	0	0	17	0	21	21	23	-821
105	Ryan Roulette	1	0	0	0	0	144	0	30	22	22	-822
106	Dick Doheny	1	0	0	0	0	16	0	23	22	22	-822
107	Chris Martin, Jr.	1	0	0	0	0	45	0	21	22	22	-822
108	Bridget Burgess	1	0	0	0	0	142	0	27	23	21	-823
109	Mike Goudie	1	0	0	0	0	77	0	18	23	21	-823
110	Benny Chastain	1	0	0	0	0	78	0	35	25	19	-825
111	Sebastian Arias	1	0	0	0	0	126	0	26	25	19	-825
112	Richard Garvie	1	0	0	0	0	48	0	6	25	19	-825
113	Josh White	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	24	25	19	-825
114	Jack Wood	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	25	19	-825
115	Bobby Hillis, Jr.	1	0	0	0	0	124	0	31	26	18	-826
116	Justin S. Carroll	1	0	0	0	0	89	0	15	26	18	-826
117	Chris Lowden	1	0	0	0	0	54	0	34	31	13	-831
118	Kyle Keller	1	0	0	0	0	45	0	24	32	12	-832
119	Andrew Tuttle	1	0	0	0	0	26	0	37	35	9	-835
120	Paul Pedroncelli	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	32	38	6	-838