2020 ARCA Menards Series East

Sam Mayer won his second consecutive championship in 2020.
Ty Gibbs finished second behind Mayer in the championship by 32 points.
Nick Sanchez finished third in the championship.

The 2020 ARCA Menards Series East was the 34th season of the ARCA Menards Series East, a regional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR. It began on February 10 at New Smyrna Speedway with the Skip's Western Outfitters 175, and concluded on October 11 at Five Flags Speedway with the Pensacola 200. 2020 marked the first season the series was known as the ARCA Menards Series East, after it was known as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East for the previous ten years.

Sam Mayer entered the season as the defending champion, and won all but one race to score his second consecutive championship in the series.

When the season was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, drivers from all NASCAR series, including a few ARCA drivers, participated in the inaugural eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series during that time.

Teams and drivers

Complete schedule

Manufacturer Team No. Driver Crew chief
Chevrolet GMS Racing 21 Sam Mayer[1] Mardy Lindley
Ford DGR-Crosley 17 Tanner Gray[2] 1 Blake Bainbridge
Taylor Gray (R)[2] 5
Toyota Cook-Finley Racing 42 Parker Retzlaff[3] Charles Hoffmeyer 2
Sean Samuels 4
Joe Gibbs Racing 18 Ty Gibbs (R) Mark McFarland
Rev Racing 4 Chase Cabre[4] Glenn Parker
6 Nick Sanchez (R)[4] Steve Plattenberger
TC Motorsports 91 Justin Carroll Terry Carroll 1
Jim Long 5
Venturini Motorsports[5] 20 Corey Heim 3[6] Shannon Rursch 2
Billy Venturini 4
Ryan Repko 1
Chandler Smith 2
25 Mason Diaz[7] Kevin Reed 4
Dave Leiner Jr. 2
Toyota 3
Ford 2
Chevrolet 1 		Fast Track Racing 11 Chuck Hiers 1 Mike Sroufe 2
Andy Hillenburg 1
Mike Basham 1
Ed Pompa 1
Rick Clifton 1 Trey Galgon
Owen Smith 1
D. L. Wilson 1

Limited schedule

Manufacturer Team No. Driver Crew chief Rounds
Chevrolet Ben Kennedy Racing 43 Daniel Dye[8] Glenn Garrison 2
Brad Smith Motorsports 48 Brad Smith John Ward 1
Jeff Smith 1
Leo Kryger 1
Carlos Leon 1 		4
Bret Holmes Racing[9] 23 Bret Holmes Shane Huffman 3
Chad Bryant Racing 12 Kris Wright Donnie Richeson 1
Connor Okrzesik Racing 14 Connor Okrzesik Jeff McClure 1
Cook-Finley Racing[N 1] 41 Kyle Sieg Charles Hoffmeyer 1
Amber Slagle 1 		2
CR7 Motorsports 97 Jason Kitzmiller Todd Myers 2
Finney Racing Enterprises 80 Brian Finney Wally Finney 1
Robert Pawlowski Racing 11 Robert Pawlowski Aaron Brown 2
Ron Otto 1 		3
Spraker Racing Enterprises 63 Dave Mader III Jeff Spraker 2
Wayne Peterson Racing 0 Wayne Peterson Michael Peterson 1
Win-Tron Racing 32 Gus Dean Jamie Jones 1
Visconti Motorsports 74 Giovanni Bromante (R)[10] Steven Keller 2
Ford Joe Graf Jr. 1
Chad Bryant Racing 22 Derek Griffith (R)[11] Chad Bryant 1
Paul Andrews 2 		3
77 Grant Enfinger Chad Bryant 1
Charles Buchanan Racing 87 Chuck Buchanan Jr. Craig Wood 1
DGR-Crosley 4 Hailie Deegan Seth Smith 2
54 David Gilliland Derek Smith 1
Jett Motorsports 09 Stephen Nasse Chris Tater 1
Mullins Racing 3 Willie Mullins Tony Furr 1
Rette Jones Racing 30 Tristan Van Wieringen (R)[12] Mark Rette 1
Toyota Bill McAnally Racing 16 Gio Scelzi John Camilleri 1
19 Jesse Love Kyle Wolosek 1
50 Holley Hollan Henry Nascimento 1
99 Gracie Trotter Roger Bracken 1
Fast Track Racing 12 Mike Basham Mike Sroufe 1
Hattori Racing Enterprises 1 Max McLaughlin Dan Stillman 1
Dave McCarty 3 		4
Venturini Motorsports 15 Drew Dollar Shannon Rursch 3
Jesse Love[13] 1
25 Michael Self Kevin Reed 2
Troy Williams Racing 53 Max Gutiérrez Troy Williams 2
Wayne Peterson Racing 06 Tim Richmond Brad Frye 1
Con Nicolopoulos 1
Chevrolet 3
Ford 1 		Fast Track Racing 10 Tommy Vigh Jr. Dick Doheny 1
Owen Smith Tim Monroe 1
Mike Basham Mike Sroufe 1
Richard Garvie 1

Notes

  1. ^ Entry was fielded in a collaboration with RSS Racing.

Changes

Teams

Drivers

  • On November 20, 2019, it was announced that Nick Sanchez would be driving full-time and for rookie of the year in the East Series for Rev Racing in 2020.[4]
  • On December 11, 2019, it was announced that Giovanni Bromante would drive full-time for Visconti Motorsports, running for rookie of the year in the No. 74 car.[10]
  • On December 14, 2019, it was announced that Mason Diaz would drive the Venturini Motorsports car for the full season as part of the team's expansion into the East Series.[7]
  • On December 16, 2019, it was announced that Tanner Gray would be moving up to the Truck Series full-time with DGR-Crosley, who he had driven for full-time in 2019 in the East Series in their No. 15 car. However, he ran a part-time schedule of races in ARCA East in 2020.[14]
  • On December 18, 2019, it was announced that Taylor Gray would run full-time and for rookie of the year in the No. 17 for DGR-Crosley in all races after he turned 15 on March 25, 2020.[2]
  • On January 16, 2020, it was announced that Corey Heim would be driving in three races for Venturini Motorsports.[6]
  • On January 30, 2020, it was announced that Parker Retzlaff would be driving the No. 42 for Cook-Finley Racing part-time with the possibility of a full season. He drove the No. 74 Visconti Motorsports entry part-time in 2019.[3]
  • On February 6, 2020, Rette Jones Racing announced that Tristan Van Wieringen would drive the No. 30 full-time and for rookie of the year with the team. [12] However, due to the financial impact after COVID-19, the team ran select races instead of full-time.[15]
  • On February 7, 2020, it was announced that Daniel Dye would be making his series debut in the East Series at New Smyrna Speedway, driving for Ben Kennedy in his No. 43. Dye was also scheduled to run select races in 2020.[8]
  • On March 10, 2020, it was announced that Derek Griffith would be running the full season and for rookie of the year with Chad Bryant Racing in the team's No. 2 car.[16] However, due to the financial impact after COVID-19, the team ran select races instead of full-time, even though Griffith would run a second car, the 22.[17]

Manufacturers

  • On December 11, 2019, DGR-Crosley announced a switch from Toyota to Ford beginning in 2020.[18]

Schedule

On November 6, 2019, NASCAR released the schedule for the 2020 season.[19] As part of the unification of the former K&N East and West series with the ARCA Menards Series, the schedule decreased from fourteen races in 2019 to eight races in 2020. The number of races was originally seven, however, an additional race at Fairgrounds Speedway was announced on December 14, 2019.[20]

The races at Memphis International Raceway, Iowa Speedway, Watkins Glen International as well as Bristol Motor Speedway's second race were taken and moved from the East Series schedule to the ARCA Menards Series schedule. New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which had two East Series races in 2019, retained only one race in 2020. Five Flags Speedway, Fairgrounds Speedway and Toledo Speedway were added to the East Series schedule, moving over from the ARCA schedule. Berlin Raceway, which hosted an East Series race in 2017, was added back. The races at South Boston Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway were completely dropped from the schedule.

NBCSN carried television coverage of all races on a tape-delay basis.[21]

No. Race title Track Date
1 Skip's Western Outfitters 175 New Smyrna Speedway, New Smyrna Beach February 10
2 Herr's Potato Chips 200 presented by Federated Car Care Toledo Speedway, Toledo June 13[22]
3 General Tire 125 Dover International Speedway, Dover August 21
4 Royal Truck & Trailer 200[23] Toledo Speedway, Toledo September 12
5 Bush's Beans 200 Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol September 17
6 Pensacola 200 presented by Inspectra Thermal Solutions Five Flags Speedway, Pensacola October 11[22][N 1]
  1. ^ The Five Flags race was postponed from Saturday, October 10 to Sunday, October 11, due to Hurricane Delta.

Schedule changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The event at Five Flags Speedway, originally scheduled for March 14, was postponed to October 10 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[22] On August 25, 2020, series officials announced the cancellation of races at Berlin Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway and replaced them with a date at Toledo Speedway, which served as a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series.[24] The race at Fairgrounds Speedway was also cancelled.

Results and standings

Races

No. Race Pole Position Most laps led Winning driver Manufacturer No. Winning team
1 Skip's Western Outfitters 175 Derek Griffith Derek Griffith Sam Mayer Chevrolet 21 GMS Racing
2 Herr's Potato Chips 200 presented by Federated Car Care Sam Mayer Ty Gibbs Ty Gibbs Toyota 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
3 General Tire 125 Ty Gibbs Ty Gibbs Sam Mayer Chevrolet 21 GMS Racing
4 Royal Truck & Trailer 200 Sam Mayer Sam Mayer Sam Mayer Chevrolet 21 GMS Racing
5 Bush's Beans 200 Ty Gibbs Sam Mayer Sam Mayer Chevrolet 21 GMS Racing
6 Pensacola 200 presented by Inspectra Thermal Solutions Grant Enfinger Grant Enfinger Sam Mayer Chevrolet 21 GMS Racing

Drivers' championship

Further information: List of NASCAR points scoring systems

Note: The pole-winner also receives 1 bonus point, similar to the previous ARCA points system used until 2019 and unlike NASCAR.

(key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led.

Pos Driver NSM TOL DOV TOL BRI FIF Points
1 Sam Mayer 1 2 1 1* 1* 1 332
2 Ty Gibbs (R) 3 1* 12* 3 2 3 300
3 Nick Sanchez (R) 4 5 16 10 11 9 259
4 Parker Retzlaff 8 7 7 8 19 10 255
5 Mason Diaz 17 14 3 9 4 16 251
6 Justin Carroll 21 6 14 11 10 8 244
7 Chase Cabre 9 4 8 16 21 14 242
8 Taylor Gray (R) 8 9 5 7 4 187
9 Max McLaughlin 10 12 4 3 148
10 Bret Holmes 3 4 8 118
11 Corey Heim 7 6 2 117
12 Derek Griffith (R) 2* 9 13 111
13 Brad Smith 15 17 25 18 101
14 Drew Dollar 5 15 18 94
15 Robert Pawlowski 23 10 85
16 Mike Basham 13 12 24 83
17 Michael Self 7 5 77
18 Hailie Deegan 6 6 76
19 Giovanni Bromante (R) 5 11 72
20 Jesse Love 12 70
21 Chandler Smith 2 23 64
22 Daniel Dye 19 7 62
23 Max Gutiérrez 14 12 62
24 Kyle Sieg 11 17 60
25 Dave Mader III 20 11 57
26 Owen Smith 18 22 48
27 David Gilliland 2 42
28 Grant Enfinger 5* 42
29 Stephen Nasse 6 38
30 Ryan Repko 9 35
31 Chuck Buchanan Jr. 10 34
32 Jason Kitzmiller DNS 13 34
33 Tristan Van Wieringen (R) 11 33
34 Gus Dean 12 32
35 Gio Scelzi 13 31
36 Ed Pompa 13 31
37 Tim Richmond 13 31
38 Brian Finney 14 30
39 Holley Hollan 15 29
40 Tommy Vigh Jr. 15 29
41 Kris Wright 15 29
42 Richard Garvie 15 29
43 Gracie Trotter 16 28
44 Con Nicolopoulos 16 28
45 Joe Graf Jr. 17 27
46 Connor Okrzesik 17 27
47 Tanner Gray 18 26
48 Rick Clifton 19 25
49 D. L. Wilson 19 25
50 Willie Mullins 20 24
51 Chuck Hiers 22 22
52 Wayne Peterson 26 18

See also

References

  1. ^ "GMS Racing sets 2020 Gander Trucks lineup". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. October 25, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Tomlinson, Joy (December 18, 2019). "Taylor Gray Running Full ARCA Schedule for DGR-Crosley". Frontstretch.
  3. ^ a b c Christley, Jason (January 30, 2020). "Opportunity Knocks For Parker Retzlaff". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c "NASCAR, Rev Racing Announce 2020 Drive for Diversity Driver Development Team". Motor Racing Network. November 20, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  5. ^ "Venturini Motorsports looks to expand to NASCAR K&N Pro Series competition in 2020 season". Catchfence. September 5, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Krall, Charles (January 16, 2020). "Corey Heim Joins Venturini Motorsports for Seven-race ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East/West Run". ARCARacing.com.
  7. ^ a b c Fenwick, Adam (December 14, 2019). "Mason Diaz Joins Venturini For ARCA East Schedule". Speed Sport.
  8. ^ a b "Florida Young Gun Making Five ARCA Starts in 2020". Speed 51. February 7, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  9. ^ "Bret Holmes Racing Announces 2020 Plans". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  10. ^ a b Krall, Charles (December 11, 2019). "Late Model Hot Shoe Giovanni Bromante Signs with Visconti Motorsports for ARCA Menards Series East Rookie Run in 2020". ARCARacing.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  11. ^ Owens, Chris (March 11, 2020). "Derek Griffith looking to put a 'licking' on the ARCA Menards Series East competition". Chad Bryant Racing. ChrisOwens62. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Van Wieringen's Double Down With Rette Jones Racing". Speed Sport. February 6, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  13. ^ Seelman, Jacob (October 6, 2020). "Love Back With Venturini For ARCA East Finale". Speed Sport.
  14. ^ Page, Scott (December 16, 2019). "Gray set to run full Truck series schedule in 2020". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  15. ^ "Rette Jones Racing adjusts ARCA Menards Series East plans". Rettejonesracing.com. Rette Jones Racing. June 11, 2020.
  16. ^ Sullivan, Connor (March 11, 2020). "Griffith Gets Backing to Run Full ARCA East Season". Speed51. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  17. ^ "Chad Bryant Racing adjusts ARCA Menards Series East plans". Chadbryantracing.com. Chad Bryant Racing. June 11, 2020.
  18. ^ "DGR-Crosley, Ford Performance announce partnership". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. December 11, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  19. ^ Coburn, Wesley. "2020 ARCA Menards Series". Frontstretch. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  20. ^ McFadin, Daniel (December 14, 2019). "Sioux Chief to sponsor ARCA Showdown, East Series to race at Nashville Fairgrounds". NASCAR on NBC. NBC Sports. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  21. ^ "NASCAR, ARCA announce framework for four championship series in 2020". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media Group, LLC. October 2, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
  22. ^ a b c "ARCA Menards East Races At Toledo, Five Flags Rescheduled". ARCARacing.com. May 23, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  23. ^ "Toledo, Winchester Announce Race Sponsors". ARCARacing.com. September 10, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  24. ^ "ARCA Adds Toledo Date For Two Series Amid Adjustments". ARCA Menards Series. Retrieved August 26, 2020.