TOLEDO, Ohio — Not only is there a terrific championship battle for the ARCA Menards Series drivers championship, there is an even closer battle for the series’ owners title headed into the Shore Lunch 200 this Saturday at Toledo Speedway.
Nick Sanchez has a two-point cushion over Daniel Dye headed into the season finale, meaning Dye needs to either win or finish three positions ahead of Sanchez to steal away the title. And it’s even closer on the owner’s side of things.
The Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 18 team leads the standings by just one point over the Venturini Motorsports No. 20 team.
Team owner Kyle Busch, who is a five-time winner in ARCA Menards Series competition, has scored five wins as an owner this year with Sammy Smith at the wheel, including the last two races at Bristol Motor Speedway and Salem Speedway.
Smith is the reigning two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion and currently holds the top spot in the standings.
Billy Venturini, the 2019 ARCA Menards Series champion owner, looks to score his second owner’s title with the No. 20 team. Corey Heim has scored a pair of wins at Daytona International Speedway and the September race at Kansas Speedway.
Jesse Love, two-time ARCA Menards Series West champion, has also scored a win at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.
If either driver wins, their team owner will win the owner’s title.
Love will need to finish two positions ahead of Smith to give the No. 20 the championship. If Smith earns a bonus point for winning the pole, leading a lap or leading the most laps, that will give him an extra position as a buffer.
If Love earns bonus points, it eliminates those positions and could potentially mean he could finish behind Smith by a position and still win the title. Additionally, if they both earn the same number of bonus points, it effectively cancels each other out and it remains a two-position buffer for Smith.
Love needs to finish two positions ahead to win because the No. 18 team holds the tie breaker, which per the ARCA Menards Series rule book would fall to whichever team had the most wins. The No. 18 has the advantage, five to three.
The Shore Lunch 200 is set for 4 p.m. (ET) this Saturday.