PIT BOX: Battle for ARCA Menards Series East championship heads to Milwaukee Mile

One of the United States’ oldest venues for auto racing, the Milwaukee Mile, welcomes back the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East this Sunday afternoon for the running of the Sprecher 150 (12 p.m. CT / 1 p.m. ET on FS1).

The venue, which hosted its first auto racing event in 1903, has welcomed the ARCA Menards Series 12 times dating back to 1958. Fred Lorenzen earned his first ARCA Menards Series victory at the legendary mile on July 13, 1958. The venue welcomed the series five times through 1960, with star drivers Tony Bettenhausen and Rodger Ward joining Lorenzen as winners.

After a long wait, ARCA returned to the Milwaukee Mile in 1982 and 1983, with Dean Roper and Dave Weltmeyer scoring wins. Another long hiatus followed, with ARCA returning for three events from 2005-07, with Frank Kimmel winning two of them and Phil Bozell claiming the other. The series returned once again in 2021, with Ty Gibbs and Sammy Smith claiming the two most recent ARCA events at the venue.

The two most recent events also doubled as combination races with the ARCA Menards Series East and are the only two trips by the series to the legendary oval.

Tickets for Sunday’s Sprecher 150 can be purchased here. Below is everything to know about the event.

Sprecher 150 at the Milwaukee Mile

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

With two races remaining in the 2023 ARCA Menards Series East season, the battle for the series championship is as tight as ever between William Sawalich and Luke Fenhaus, with Sawalich leading Fenhaus by nine points ahead of Sunday’s Sprecher 150.

Both drivers will look to gain the upper hand on Sunday at the Milwaukee Mile, but they’ll face a strong field of competitors looking to add their names to the list of winners at one of auto racing’s most historic venues.

Chief among them will be Jesse Love, the ARCA Menards Series national points leader who is coming off finishes of first and third at Watkins Glen International and the Illinois State Fairgrounds, respectively. He’ll be joined by Venturini Motorsports teammates, Conner Jones, Sean Hingorani and Gus Dean for the Sprecher 150.

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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship contender Grant Enfinger joins the field for his second ARCA start of the year aboard Codie Rohrbaugh’s No. 97 Chevrolet. He finished fourth at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May in Rohrbaugh’s entry.

Rev Racing will field entries for Andres Perez de Lara and Lavar Scott, and Rette Jones Racing will once again have Frankie Muniz in the No. 30 Ford Mustang.

Other notable entries include Zachary Tinkle, Christian Rose and Ron Vandermeir Jr., among others.

The full entry list for Sunday’s Sprecher 150 will be available later this week.

RACING REFERENCE:

• Previous ARCA races at Milwaukee
• ARCA Menards Series drivers at Milwaukee

RACE FACTS:

CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: The starting field for the Sprecher 150 is limited to 26 starters plus provisionals. This event will run under the 2023 ARCA Menards Series rules, procedures, regulations and specifications.

QUALIFYING: By timed session. All cars must make a qualifying attempt, and all drivers must practice before they can qualify.

RACE PIT STOP: Break pit stop procedure. Break or near the conclusion of lap 75. 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. (Learn about all of ARCA’s pit stop procedures here.)

TIRE ALLOTMENT: The maximum tire use at track (total, “from home” plus purchased 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).