BY ADAM FENWICK
It was a battle of two Smiths on Friday night at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Indiana.
When the checkered flag waved, it was Talking Rock, Georgia’s Chandler Smith who bested Sammy Smith to earn his first ARCA Menards Series victory of the season at the 0.686-mile asphalt oval.
The triumph also marked Chandler Smith’s third-straight ARCA Menards Series victory at the speedway dating back to 2019.
“Track position was pretty big,” said Chandler Smith. “You wouldn’t think short track racing (that) aero matters, but it really does. After you’ve done some mile-and-a-half races in Trucks you start coming back and picking up on this a little bit.”
Sammy Smith started from the pole and led the opening 88 laps, but Chandler Smith was able to wheel to the lead during a restart on lap 89.
Once in front of the field, Chandler Smith would hold the lead for the remainder of the event despite pressure from Sammy Smith during multiple restarts and scraping the outside wall on the final lap in turns 3 and 4.
Sammy Smith settled for second, his sixth top-five finish in seven ARCA Menards Series starts this season.
Taylor Gray, who had won the last two series events at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Pocono Raceway, crossed the finish line in third, with Daniel Dye in fourth, and Connor Mosack in fifth.
Jesse Love, Nick Sanchez, Rajah Caruth, Mamba Smith and Greg Van Alst rounded out the top 10.
ARCA Menards Series
Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park – Brownsburg, IN
Reese’s 200 – July 29, 2022
1. Chandler Smith
2. Sammy Smith
3. Taylor Gray
4. Daniel Dye
5. Connor Mosack
6. Jesse Love
7. Nick Sanchez
8. Rajah Caruth
9. Dylan Smith
10. Greg Van Alst
11. Tom Hessert
12. Dylan Fetcho
13. Bryce Haugeberg
14. Colton Collins
15. Zachary Tinkle
16. Brad Smith
17. Toni Breidinger
18. Mandy Chick
19. D.L. Wilson
20. Christian Rose
21. Amber Balcean
22. Chris Martin, Jr.
23. Alex Clubb
24. Tim Monroe