Two Points Separate Top Two, 34 Separate the Top Six
The 12th season of the ARCA Midwest Tour will go into the history books as the most competitive season ever…hands down. The 200-lap season finale at the 49th Annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend may come down to the last lap before a champion is crowned at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway in West Salem, WI.
After last Saturday night’s Escape to Wisconsin 100 at Dells Raceway Park in Wisconsin Dells, WI, current point leader Austin Nason, the only driver with two wins in the Tour so far this season, left the track with just a two-point lead over Dalton Zehr.
If you think that is close…just wait!
Casey Johnson is third in the standings, only 25 points behind Nason. 2011 champion Andrew Morrissey is fourth in the standings only 26 points behind the leader.
Paul Shafer Jr.is fifth in the standings, just 30 points back while the 2012 champion Jonathan Eilen is just 34 points back from capturing his second championship and is coming into Fest with back-to-back runner-up finishes.
With each driver having the opportunity to get a total of 118 points at each event, three more drivers are mathematically still eligible, but will need a lot of help.
John DeAngelis is seventh, 98 points back and current Rookie of the Year leader Billy Mohn is 107 behind Nason and Kulwicki Driver Development Program competitor Justin Mondeik is 113 points from the top of the leaderboard.
Every point will matter from qualifying to the heat races to the main event on Sunday afternoon, October 7th.
Even though there is still one race remaining, here are a few stats that any series promoter, sponsor, team, and fan would like to have with their favorite series. Here are a few stats…so far.
There have been seven different winners in eight events. As noted earlier, Nason is the only driver with two victories, the Joe Shear Classic and All-Star 100.
Of those seven drivers, four are first time winners. Nason at Madison, Shafer at Jefferson, Chase Purdy at the Dixieland 250 at WIR, and Carson Kvapil at Golden Sands.
Purdy and Kvapil each won in their ARCAMT debut event.
19 drivers have at least one top-five finish, while 27 different drivers have at least one top-ten finish.
75 drivers have competed in an ARCA Midwest Tour event so far in 2018.
The ARCA Midwest Tour cars will hit the track on Saturday, October 6th at Oktoberfest with qualifying and preliminary events. On Sunday, October 7th, drivers who haven’t earned a spot in the main event will get one last chance before the Oktoberfest 200 will cap off the four-day race weekend starting on Thursday, October 4th.
For more information about the 49th Annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend, please visit oktoberfestraceweekend.com.
Make your plans to be there and witness the greatest finale in the history of the ARCA Midwest Tour!
Visit midwesttour.racing for a full schedule and be sure to follow the ARCA Midwest Tour on Facebook (/midwesttour) and Twitter (@MidwestTour).