ARCA: Lucas Oil Raceway Calypso Lemonade 200 Preview Featured
The ARCA Menards Series heads to Indianapolis for the Calypso Lemonade 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway. The event marks the fourth race of the season and the 13th time they have visited the 0.686-mile oval since 1983.
20 drivers make up the entry list including Hailie Deegan, Drew Dollar, Tanner Gray, Ty Gibbs, Chandler Smith, Sam Mayer, Michael Self and Thad Moffitt. Smith, piloting the No. 20 Toyota on Friday, is the only previous winner at Lucas Oil Raceway entered.
Sam Mayer seeks his first victory of the season on Friday. Mayer, piloting the No. 21 Chevrolet for GMS Racing, enters the track coming off a third-place finish last week at Pocono Raceway.
"We had probably the second fastest car last year," said Mayer. "We just missed it on the last pit stop. We went a little too far on the adjustment. If we hit our marks this time — and I give the correct information — (crew chief) Mardy (Lindley) is obviously going to make a really good call, no matter what, we’ll definitely have the car to beat if everything goes to plan."
Mayer left the track in Indianapolis with a third-place finish. The 17-year old racer wasn’t satisfied with the result though.
"That was a tough pill to swallow; that would have been my first ARCA Menards win," Mayer continued. "Hopefully, it comes soon. Hopefully, we can show up this weekend and go out and win."
Mayer holds one top five finish through two starts.
Last year’s winner Chandler Smith, who is already a race winner in 2020, enters the track with two top five and top 10 finishes in only two starts. Smith started third and led seven laps en route to his fifth win of 2019.
One of the other drivers to watch on Friday will be Ty Gibbs in the No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota. The Charlotte native led 65 of the 80 circuits to win last weekend at Pocono Raceway -- scoring his third career ARCA Menards Series victory.
The Calypso Lemonade 200 will air live on MAVTV and NBC Sports Gold TrackPass at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Brett Winningham
Brett has been following the sport of NASCAR since the beginning of the 2006 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Since Brett was 13, he has had a passion of chasing a job in sports that not many get the opportunity of doing. He has been in the NASCAR media since the middle of the 2010 season. Since then, he has been a part of many racing podcast shows to improve his talents. You can find him on twitter @NASCAR_Brett.