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

www.arcaracing.com September 19, 2022

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.

Sammy Smith, driver of the #18 TMC Toyota, races Brandon Jones, driver of the #81 Menards-Homewerks Toyota, during the Bush’s Beans 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway for the ARCA Menards Series in Bristol, Tennessee on September 15, 2022. (Jacob Kupferman/ARCA Racing)
Sammy Smith, driver of the No. 18 TMC Toyota, races Brandon Jones, driver of the No. 81 Menards-Homewerks Toyota, during the Bush’s Beans 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway for the ARCA Menards Series on September 15, 2022. (Photo: Jacob Kupferman/ARCA Racing)
  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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. 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