ARCA Menards Series at Salem Speedway & ARCA Menards Series West at Shasta Speedway: Pre-race Notes

ARCA Menards Series

The Race: Salem ARCA 200

The Place: Salem Speedway

The Date: Saturday, July 27, 2024

The Time: 8 pm ET

TV: Live, FS1/FloRacing; 8 pm ET

Distance: 200 Laps/111 Miles

The Salem ARCA 200 is scheduled to be the eleventh of 20 races for the ARCA Menards Series in 2024. It will mark the series’ 111th race at the 0.555-mile high-banked oval dating to the first in October 1955 won by Jack Harrison. Salem Speedway has hosted more ARCA Menards Series races than any other track in series history.
Andres Perez (No. 2 Max Siegel Inc. Chevrolet) leads the ARCA Menards Series championship standings by 46 points over 2023 Daytona winner Greg Van Alst (No. 35 Zaki Ali Personal Injury Attorney / CB Fabricating Ford). Perez finished second at Salem in 2023 while Van Alst’s best finish at Salem came in his most recent start, 7th, in 2022.
With support from Hendrick Motorsports, Corey Day (No. 28 Chevrolet Performance/HendrickCars.com Chevrolet) will make his ARCA Menards Series debut driving for Pinnacle Racing Group. Day won his preliminary night feature at the 2023 Chili Bowl and finished third in the championship night main event. Day earned his first World of Outlaws victory in 2023 at Silver Dollar Speedway and has won at Knoxville Raceway and picked up an $62,000 payday at Skagit Speedway in 2024. He’s also scored several High Limit Racing Sprint Car Series wins in 2024.
William Sawalich (No. 18 Starkey / Sound Gear Toyota) finished sixth at Salem Speedway in 2023, the only time in his ARCA Menards Series career he finished in the top ten but not among the top five. Sawalich has three ARCA Menards Series wins so far in 2023, matched with Connor Zilisch to lead the series in victories.
Current ARCA Menards Series championship points leader Andres Perez (No. 2 Max Siegel Inc Chevrolet) finished a career-best second at Salem Speedway in 2023; Perez matched his career best finish last Friday night at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Isaac Johnson (No. 34 Endress + Hauser Ford) will make his fourth start of the season driving a second entry for Van Alst Motorsports. Johnson scored his first career top-ten finish at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park last Friday night.
The ARCA Menards Series track qualifying record at Salem Speedway was set by Chandler Smith in 2018 at 16.844 seconds/118.618 miles per hour.
The ARCA Menards Series track race record at Salem Speedway was set by Tom Hessert III in 2014 at one hour, nine minutes, 34 seconds/95.736 miles per hour.
The banking at Salem Speedway tops out at 33 degrees, matching Talladega Superspeedway as the track with the steepest banking on the ARCA Menards Series schedule.
The 25 cars on the entry list represent the most for an ARCA Menards Series race at Salem Speedway since April 2018 when 24 teams entered.
Salem Speedway closed for eight years from 1979 through 1987. The ARCA Menards Series was the first to race at the track when it reopened in 1987, and except for a two-year hiatus in 1989 and 1990 and in 2020 when the race was canceled due to the pandemic, the series has raced there at least once a year since. Winners since 1987 include Bob Keselowski (1987), Larry Moore (1988), Bob Brevak (1988), Bob Schacht (1989), Bob Strait (1992, 1993), Scott Neal (1994), Tim Steele (1995, 1996, 2 – 1997), Tobey Butler (1996), Frank Kimmel (2 – 1998, 2000, 2 – 2001, 2 – 2002, 2004, 2008), Bill Baird (1999), Ken Schrader (1999, 2015), Tracy Leslie (2000), Shelby Howard (2 – 2003), Jason Jarrett (2004), Chad Blount (2005), Joey Miller (2005), Billy Venturini (2006), Blake Bjorklund (2006), Brian Keselowski (2007), Justin Allgaier (2007, 2008), Patrick Sheltra (2009), Justin Loftin (2009), Steve Arpin (2010), Dakoda Armstrong (2010), Brennan Poole (2011), Chris Buescher (2011), Alex Bowman (2012), Tom Hessert III (2012, 2013, 2014), Kyle Benjamin (2013), Grant Enfinger (2014, 2015), Christopher Bell (2 – 2016), Dalton Sargeant (2017), Austin Theriault (2017), Christian Eckes (2018), Chandler Smith (2018), Michael Self (2019), Ty Gibbs (2019), Jesse Love (2021, 2023), and Sammy Smith (2022).
There will be two five-minute breaks for teams to perform service at or near lap 75 and lap 125. Teams can change tires and add fuel during the same stop, but not simultaneously. Teams can have a maximum of six tires in the pit stall.
Should the race need to be extended into overtime, there will be unlimited attempts at a two-lap “green-white-checkered” finish. If the caution is displayed after the white flag is displayed, there will be unlimited attempts at a one-lap “green and white together” finish.

ARCA Menards Series West

The Race: Shasta 150

The Place: Shasta Speedway

The Date: Saturday, July 27, 2024

The Time: 11:45 pm ET/8:45 pm PT

TV: Live, FloRacing; 11:30 pm ET/8:30 pm PT

Distance: 150 Laps/56.25 Miles

The Shasta 150 will serve as the seventh race of 12 scheduled for the ARCA Menards Series West in 2024. It will be the sixteenth race for the ARCA Menards Series at Shasta Speedway dating to the first in 1967 won by Scott Cain.
Reigning ARCA Menards Series West champion Sean Hingorani (No. 5 Fidelity Capital Toyota) assumed the series championship lead after sweeping the Independence Day weekend doubleheader at Irwindale Speedway. Hingorani, who leads current runner-up Tyler Reif (No. 13 Central Coast Cabinets Toyota) by five points, is the defending winner at Shasta Speedway.
Jack Wood (No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet) heads to Shasta Speedway coming off his best career ARCA Menards Series West finish, second, at Irwindale Speedway on July 6. Wood is third in the series championship standings, 31 points out of the lead.
Trevor Huddleston (No. 50 High Point Racing/Racecar Factory Ford) started from the General Tire Pole and led 111 laps last year at Shasta Speedway before finishing second to Hingorani. Huddleston was challenging for the win before a cut tire scuttled his chances for victory in the July 6 race at Irwindale; he sits fourth in the series championship standings just three points behind Wood for third.
Kyle Keller (No. 12 Setting the Stage/Battleborn Racing Ford) finished sixth at Shasta Speedway in 2023. Keller, fifth in ARCA Menards Series West standings 41 points out of the lead, has five top-ten finishes in 2024 including a season-best seventh at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in April.
Jaron Giannini (No. 23 Sigma Performance Services Chevrolet) returns for his third ARCA Menards Series West start of 2024. Giannini had a strong debut weekend at Irwindale, finishing sixth in his debut and backing it up with a fifth-place finish on July 6.
Previous ARCA Menards Series West winners at Shasta Speedway include Scott Cain (1967), Bill Schmitt (1976, 1979), Jim Walker (1977), Jimmy Insolo (2 – 1978), Jim Robinson (1981, 1983, 1985), Ron Eaton (1982), Derrike Cope (1984), Bill Sedgwick (1992), Rick Carelli (1993), Chris Eggleston (2015), and Sean Hingorani (2023).
The ARCA Menards Series West track qualifying record at Shasta Speedway is 15.873 seconds/85.050 miles per hour, set by David Mayhew, in 2015.
The ARCA Menards Series West race record at Shasta Speedway is 70.508 miles per hour, set by Sean Hingorani, in 2023.
There will be no scheduled pit stops in the Shasta 150. The only pit stops will be for emergency purposes only. Teams will have two tires in their pit box, but any tire changes need to be approved by an ARCA official.
Should the race need to be extended into overtime, there will be unlimited attempts at a two-lap “green-white-checkered” finish. If the caution is displayed after the white flag is displayed, there will be unlimited attempts at a one-lap “green and white together” finish.