Chandler Smith (No. 20 Craftsman/828 Logistics Toyota) was fastest in an abbreviated 30-minute practice for the ARCA Menards Series General Tire Music City 200 presented by Inspectra Thermal Solutions at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville. Smith turned a fast lap of 19.349 seconds/110.889 miles per hour.
An impending weather front has forced ARCA Menards Series officials to scrub General Tire Pole qualifying and the field will be set by practice speeds meaning Smith will start from the pole and earn the General Tire Pole Award. The afternoon schedule was accelerated by series and track officials due to the threat of that inclement weather. ARCA Menards Series practice was moved up to 12:45 pm CT and was immediately followed by practice for the super late model teams entered in the North/South Shootout 100.
“We are going to be pretty solid,” Smith said. “We unloaded really fast and went P1 right off the bat. We wanted to get it off the right front tire a little and over on to the left front because tire wear is so critical here. If you burn off that right front you’ll be slipping and sliding all night long. We’ve got a pretty good feel for it. It’s great to win the pole again for the second time this season. I am a little frustrated because if I didn’t mess up and Salem I think I’d have three poles this season.”
Smith led Ty Gibbs (No. 18 Monster Energy/ORCA Coolers/Terrible Herbst/Advance Auto Parts Toyota), who timed in at 19.376 seconds/110.735 miles per hour. Gibbs, grandson of legendary NFL coach and NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs, is making his first appearance at Nashville. They were followed by Christian Eckes (No. 15 JBL Audio Toyota), who timed in at 19.377 seconds/110.729 miles per hour, Bret Holmes (No. 23 Holmes II Excavation/Southern States Bank Chevrolet), who timed in at 19.411 seconds/110.336 miles per hour, and Five Flags and Salem winner Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota), who turned in a fast lap of 19.446 seconds/110.336 miles per hour.
Kaden Honeycutt (No. 38 C&S Trailer Sales Ford) was sixth, Corey Heim (No. 22 Speedway Children’s Charities Ford) was seventh, Travis Braden (No. 27 MatrixCare/Consonus Health Care/Liberty Village Ford) was eighth, Carson Hocevar (No. 28 GM Parts Now/KBR Development Chevrolet) was ninth, and Joe Graf, Jr. (No. 77 EAT SLEEP RACE Ford) was tenth.
With qualifying canceled, the next on-track activity at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville will be the North/South Shootout 100 for the ARCA/CRA Super Series, Southern Super Series, and CARS Tour super late models, scheduled to go green at 5:45 pm CT. That race will be carried on live pay-per-view on Speed51.com. The General Tire Music City 200 presented by Inspectra Thermal Solutions is slated for a 9 pm ET/8 pm CT and will be televised live on MAVTV. ARCA for Me members can access live timing & scoring, live track updates, and live user chat at ARCARacing.com. New users can register for free with a valid email at ARCARacing.com/login.
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