MDM Motorsports ARCA Racing Series Review: Lucas Oil Raceway

The ARCA Racing Series (ARS) Presented by Menards made its annual stop at Lucas Oil Raceway located in Brownsburg, Ind., on Friday, July 21. MDM Motorsports fielded two entries in the Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 for drivers Michael Self and Sheldon Creed.

 

The 200-lap event went green shortly after 9 p.m., ET. Self, driving the No. 28 Sinclair Chevrolet started ninth and Creed, driving the No. 12 United Rentals/AM Ortega Toyota started sixth. Creed quickly cracked the top-five and appeared to have a car capable of competing for a win. Both drivers led laps in the ARS Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200, and at one point late in the event, raced side-by-side for the lead, swapping the top spot lap after lap. Creed’s car got tight as the laps wound down and he began to fade. Rain began to fall with just a handful of laps remaining while Self was leading. During the caution for rain, a few other cars mired near the back of the pack, took a risk and pitted for tires. That risk worked out. The race resumed with less than five laps to go, and Self had company at the front of the field. He went on to finish second, while teammate Creed finished fifth.

 

Michael Self, driver of the Sinclair Oil No. 28… Salt Lake City, Utah native Michael Self returned to MDM Motorsports for his fourth ARS start of the season with sponsorship from Sinclair Oil Corporation. Self qualified ninth and raced inside the top-10 the entire race. Once he cracked the top-five, there was no looking back. With his teammate following, Self marched to the front of the pack after pitting and took the lead. When the rain began to fall, it appeared that he might be in a good position. ARS officials were able to dry the track quickly and resume green flag racing. During that caution however, other competitors towards the pack of the field took tires. Self lost the lead to a driver with fresher tires with less than five to go and wasn’t able to recover. He went on to finish second.

 

Self on Lucas Oil Raceway: “Finishing second is not fun, but they knew we were here tonight. The balance of our Sinclair Chevrolet was awesome at the end of the race but we just got beat by tires. Tires made you feel like superman for the first 10 laps of a run, no matter how your car was handling. I sure want to win one of these things soon; we’ve been knocking on the door but just haven’t been able to get it done yet. If we keep running up front like this and leading laps though, the win will come. It was so cool to have guests from Sinclair join us at the track today. I hope they had as much fun as I did.”

 

Sheldon Creed, driver of the United Rentals/AM Ortega No. 12… Two-time Speed Energy Stadium Super Truck Champion, Sheldon Creed, returned to the seat of the No. 12 United Rentals/AM Ortega Toyota this weekend after a trip to New Hampshire Motor Speedway last weekend with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East. Creed scored a career best third-place finish in the last ARS event at Iowa Speedway on July 8. On Friday at Lucas Oil Raceway, the 19-year-old Alpine, Calif., native showed once again that he was fast. He qualified sixth, and when the green waved he moved forward. He ran inside the top-five for most of the event and led several laps as well. Ultimately, strategy didn’t play into his favor and he went on to finished fifth.

 

Creed on Lucas Oil Raceway: “We continue to show speed everywhere we go. We just haven’t been able to put it all together yet. We’ll keep working towards our goal of putting this United Rentals/AM Ortega Toyota in victory lane. I’m pretty excited to get to Pocono next weekend. It will be nice to return to a track we were just at a few weeks ago. We ran well there, and I expect to be competitive once again. This MDM Motorsports team has had a great season, and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season.”

 

For more information about MDM Motorsports, please visit www.MDMMotorsports.com.

 

MDM Motorsports PR