The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge championship will be settled in the series’ final short track event of 2018, Saturday’s rescheduled Shore Lunch 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway. Three drivers head into the finale with a mathematical chance at walking away with the coveted short track title.
Alpine, California’s Sheldon Creed (No. 28 United Rentals Toyota) leads the standings into Lucas Oil Raceway, over his MDM Motorsports teammates Chase Purdy (No. 8 Bama Buggies Toyota) and Zane Smith (No. 41 LaPaz Margarita Mix/ICON Vehicle Dynamics Toyota). Creed has a 50-point advantage over Purdy, and a 115-point lead on Smith.
However, the Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge counts only a driver’s ten best race finishes in the eleven-race championship, and counts race points only. There are no bonus points given for qualifying, leading a lap, or leading the most laps.
As things stand, all three drivers have an 18th-place finish as their worst short track result. So unless one has a really bad day, each will drop that specific race from their total.
While the scenarios for earning the title are many, for Creed and Smith one is very certain. If either of them win the race, they will win the Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge championship. For Purdy, it’s a little more complicated. If he wins the race, he has to hope Creed finishes tenth or worse and Smith finishes seventh or worse. For reference, each position is worth five points, with a 15 point bonus for winning. Race winners receive 235 points, second place 220 points, and five points less per position through the field.
“While there are a few cut-and-dried scenarios, we’re going into the finale of the Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge and we really don’t know who will win it,” said ARCA president Ron Drager. “It’s great going into the final race with a lot of unknowns. These drivers and their teams have worked hard all season and it all comes down to this.”
ARCARacing.com will have exclusive live coverage of all on-track activity from the Shore Lunch 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway for registered users, including live audio streams of practice starting at 2 pm ET and General Tire Pole Qualifying at 4:15 pm ET. ARCARacing.com will have an exclusive live four-camera video stream of the race starting at 7 pm ET. ARCARacing.com will also have live timing & scoring of all on track activity. Registration to access all of the exclusive content from the Shore Lunch 200 is free.
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