2023 ARCA Menards Series East explained

thumb|Luke Fenhaus finished second in the championship by 58 points.thumb|Lavar Scott finished third in the championship by 69 points.The 2023 ARCA Menards Series East was the 37th season of the ARCA Menards Series East, a regional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season began on March 25 with the Pensacola 200 at Five Flags Speedway and ended on September 14 with the Bush's Beans 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Sammy Smith, the defending series champion in 2021 and 2022, moved up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series to run full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2023 and therefore did not return to run full-time in the ARCA Menards Series East and defend his title. William Sawalich replaced him in the No. 18 car in 2023, which went back to being owned by JGR after being owned by Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2022.^[1] At the conclusion of the season, Sawalich clinched the ARCA Menards Series East championship.^[2]

Teams and drivers

Note: If a driver is listed as their own crew chief for a particular race, that means that their entry in that race was a start and park.

Complete schedule

Manufacturer	Team		Driver	Crew chief
Chevrolet	Pinnacle Racing Group^[3]	28	Luke Fenhaus (R)^[4]	Shane Huffman
	Rev Racing	6	Lavar Scott (R)^[5]	Jay Lupo
	Rise Motorsports	31	Rita Goulet (R) ^[6]	Sebastian LaForge Tim Goulet Rita Goulet
	Derrick McGrew Jr.
	Tim Goulet
Toyota	Fast Track Racing	11	Zachary Tinkle^[7]	Todd Parrott
	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	William Sawalich (R)	Matt Ross
	Shearer Speed Racing	98	Dale Shearer^[8]	Jimmy Edlin Alex Malycke Neal Shearer
	Venturini Motorsports	15	Sean Hingorani (R) ^[9]	Kevin Reed Jr. Monon Rahman Cayden Lapcevich
	Conner Jones
	20	Jake Finch	Johnny Allen Shannon Rursch
		Gio Ruggiero
		Billy Venturini
		Jesse Love ^[10]
Ford Chevrolet	Brad Smith Motorsports	48	Brad Smith ^[11] ^[12]	Carlos Leon Terry Strange Jeff Smith Steve Garrow Leo Kryger
	Rick Redig-Tackman		Rick Tackman Jr.
Ford Toyota Chevrolet	Fast Track Racing	01	Dallas Frueh	Dallas Frueh Tim Monroe Josh Duke Nathan Davis
	Tim Monroe ^[13]
	Brayton Laster
Ford Toyota	10	Ed Pompa	Dick Doheny Tim Monroe Mike Sroufe Ron Vandermeir Sr.
		Tim Monroe
		Ron Vandermeir Jr.
		D. L. Wilson
Toyota Chevrolet Ford	12	Tim Monroe	Tim Monroe John Szulczewski Daylan Hairston Dick Doheny Jeremy Petty
		C. J. McLaughlin
		Stephanie Moyer
		Ryan Roulette
		Matt Kemp
		D. L. Wilson

Limited schedule

Manufacturer	Team		Driver	Crew chief	Rounds
Chevrolet	Costner Weaver Motorsports	93	Isaac Johnson	Riley Higgins	^[14]
	CR7 Motorsports	97	Grant Enfinger	Todd Myers
	Landen Lewis^[15]
	Mullins Racing	3	Landon Pembelton^[16]	Austin Simmons
	Niece Motorsports	42	Matt Gould	Sean Samuels
	Rev Racing	2	Andrés Pérez de Lara	Jamie Jones
	51	Jack Wood	Steve Plattenberger
	Veer Motorsports^[17]	66	Jon Garrett^[18]	Mike Sroufe
Ford	AM Racing^[19]	32	Christian Rose^[20]	Ryan London
	Brad Smith Motorsports	49	Jeff Smith	Jeff Smith	^[21]
	Charles Buchanan Racing	87	Chuck Buchanan Jr.	Craig Wood
	Clubb Racing Inc.	03	Alex Clubb^[22]	Brian Clubb
	Casey Carden		Alex Clubb
	Greg Van Alst Motorsports^[23]	35	Greg Van Alst	Jim Long
	Lowden Jackson Motorsports	41	Tyler Reif (R)^[24]	Tony Jackson
	46	R. J. Smotherman	David Jackson
	Rette Jones Racing	30	Frankie Muniz^[25]	Mark Rette
Toyota	KLAS Motorsports	73	Andy Jankowiak	Mike Dayton
	MacZink Racing	65	Jeffery MacZink	Jarod MacZink
	MAN Motorsports	95	Tanner Arms	Tony Ponkauskas	^[26]
	Chris Martin Jr.		^[27]
	Phoenix Racing	1	Jake Finch	Johnny Allen
	Venturini Motorsports	25	Conner Jones^[28]	Kevin Reed Jr. Cayden Lapcevich
	Toni Breidinger
	55	Toni Breidinger^[29]	Cayden Lapcevich Monon Rahman
		Gus Dean
	Wayne Peterson Racing	0	Nate Moeller	Wayne Peterson
	06	Nate Moeller	Wayne Peterson Nate Moeller
		A. J. Moyer^[30]
Ford Toyota	Kimmel Racing Brad Smith Motorsports ^[31]	69	Will Kimmel	Bill Kimmel
	Scott Melton		Will Kimmel
	Mike Basham		Zach Berthiaume
	Brad Smith		Jeff Smith
Toyota Chevrolet	McGowan Motorsports	17	Landen Lewis	Richard Mason
	Kaden Honeycutt		Amber Slagle

Notes

Changes

Teams

• On December 9, 2022, it was announced that the No. 18 car would go back to being owned by Joe Gibbs Racing in 2023. It was owned by Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2022.^[1]
• On January 8, 2023, it was announced that Tim Goulet Enterprises would rename to Rise Motorsports in 2023 and continue to field the No. 31 car in the main ARCA Series and the East Series for Rita Goulet (nee Thomason) and Stephen Leicht.^[32] On February 13, it was announced that they would run the full East Series season with Rita in 2023.^[6] Goulet and Leicht were both scheduled to run the main ARCA/East Series combination race at Bristol.^{[32] [6]} Goulet would end up swapping out with her husband Tim and Leicht did not run the event.
• On January 13, 2023, Rev Racing announced that they would field a full-time car in the East Series again in 2023: the No. 6 driven by Lavar Scott. The team had last fielded a full-time East Series car in 2021 and only fielded part-time cars in the East Series in 2022.^[5]
• On January 18, 2023, it was announced that longtime main ARCA Series team Venturini Motorsports would field a full-time car in the East Series for the first time since 2020 in 2023: the No. 15 driven by Sean Hingorani.^[9]
• On February 3, 2023, it was announced that Shane Huffman, who was previously the crew chief for Bret Holmes Racing in the Truck and ARCA Series, would form a new ARCA and late model racing team, Pinnacle Racing Group, with spotter Lorin Ranier and former driver Josh Wise and would run full-time in the East Series in 2023, fielding the No. 28 Chevrolet.^[3]
• On February 24, 2023, it was revealed that Lowden Jackson Motorsports would debut in the East Series in 2023 after purchasing Fords from David Gilliland Racing which switched to Toyota and renamed to TRICON Garage. The team would field the No. 41 Ford driven by Tyler Reif for the full season.^[24]

Drivers

• On December 6, 2022, it was announced that Zachary Tinkle, who ran the full season in the main ARCA Series aside from the race at Mid-Ohio, would run full-time in the East Series in the No. 11 car for Fast Track Racing in 2023. Fast Track was one of the teams he drove part-time for in 2022.^[7]
• On December 9, 2022, it was announced that William Sawalich would drive the No. 18 car part-time in 2023 and the car would go back to being owned by Joe Gibbs Racing. It was owned by Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2022.^[1]
• On January 13, 2023, Rev Racing announced that Lavar Scott, who has been a driver for the team in late model racing, would drive full-time for the team in the East Series in 2023 in their No. 6 car. Andrés Pérez de Lara would also drive for Rev full-time in the main ARCA Series in the No. 2 car and was therefore in the four main combination races the East Series had with the main ARCA Series.^[5]
• On January 18, 2023, it was announced that Sean Hingorani, who drove part-time in the West Series for Nascimento Motorsports and Bill McAnally Racing in 2022, would drive full-time in the East Series for Venturini Motorsports in 2023 in their No. 15 car.^[9] Hingorani also drove the same car full-time in the West Series in 2023, attempting to win both championships in the same year.^[33]
• On February 13, 2023, Rise Motorsports announced that Rita Goulet (nee Thomason) would run full-time in the East Series in their No. 31 car in 2023.^[6]
• On February 24, 2023, Tyler Reif revealed to Frontstretch that he would run the full season in the East Series in 2023 in the Lowden Jackson Motorsports No. 41 car in addition to running full-time in the West Series for the team. He attempted to win both championships in the same year.^[24]

Schedule

The full schedule was announced on November 22.^[34] Some race dates were announced before then.^{[35] [36]} There were eight races on the 2023 schedule, up from seven in 2022.

Note: Races highlighted in gold are combination events with the ARCA Menards Series.

No	Race title	Track	Location	Date
1	Pensacola 200	Five Flags Speedway	Pensacola, Florida	March 25
2	General Tire 125	Dover Motor Speedway	Dover, Delaware	April 28
3	Music City 200	Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway		May 13
4	Dutch Boy 150	Flat Rock Speedway	Ash Township, Michigan	May 20
5	bgcolor=gold	Calypso Lemonade 150	Iowa Speedway	Newton, Iowa	July 15
6	bgcolor=gold	Reese's 200	Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park	Brownsburg, Indiana	August 11
7	bgcolor=gold	Sprecher 150	Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	August 27
8	bgcolor=gold	Bush's Beans 200	Bristol Motor Speedway	Bristol, Tennessee	September 14

Schedule changes

• On August 9, 2022, Mark Kristl from Frontstretch reported that Flat Rock Speedway could be added to the East Series schedule in 2023.^[37] This was officially announced by ARCA on November 18.^[38] The race at Flat Rock, which was held on May 20, replaced the race at New Smyrna Speedway, which had been the season-opener for the East Series from 2014 to 2022.
• On November 11, 2022, it was announced that the main ARCA Series race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park would be a combination race with the East Series in 2023, giving the series a fourth combination race on top of the three returning ones from 2022 (Iowa, Milwaukee and Bristol).^[36]

Broadcasting

After previously only broadcasting about half of the main ARCA Series races for several years, usually only the races that were on the same weekend at the same track as a NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and/or Truck race, Fox will broadcast all 20 main ARCA Series races in 2023 and this includes all four combination races with the East Series (Iowa, IRP, Milwaukee and Bristol). Previously, Bristol was the only East Series race televised on Fox as they were also broadcasting the Truck Series race there on that weekend.^[39]

Results and standings

Race results

No.	Race	Pole position	Most laps led	Winning driver		No.	Winning team	Report
1	Pensacola 200				Toyota	18	Joe Gibbs Racing	Report
2	General Tire 125				Toyota	20	Venturini Motorsports	Report
3	Music City 200				Chevrolet	28	Pinnacle Racing Group	Report
4	Dutch Boy 150				Toyota	18	Joe Gibbs Racing	Report
5	Calypso Lemonade 150				Chevrolet	28	Pinnacle Racing Group	Report
6	Reese's 200				Toyota	20	Venturini Motorsports	Report
7	Sprecher 150					18	Joe Gibbs Racing	Report
8	Bush's Beans 200				Toyota	18	Joe Gibbs Racing	Report

Drivers' championship

See also: List of NASCAR points scoring systems.

Notes:

• The pole winner also receives 1 bonus point, similar to the previous ARCA points system used until 2019 and unlike NASCAR.^[40]
• Additionally, after groups of 5 races of the season, drivers that compete in all 5 races receive 50 additional points.^[40] This points bonus will be given after the race at Iowa.
  • William Sawalich, Luke Fenhaus, Lavar Scott, Zachary Tinkle, Tim Monroe and Dale Shearer received this points bonus for having competed in the first 5 races of the season (Five Flags, Dover, Nashville Fairgrounds, Flat Rock, and Iowa).

(key)

Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led.

Pos	Driver	FIF	DOV	NSV	FRS	IOW	IRP	MLW	BRI	Points
1	William Sawalich (R)	1**	4	2*	1	2*	4	1*	1	420
2	Luke Fenhaus (R)	2	3	1	5	1	2	6	29	362
3	Lavar Scott (R)	5	5	6	2	4	5	8	17	351
4	Zachary Tinkle	7	6	7	6	11	13	13	13	336
5	Tim Monroe	11	15	9	7	17	22	15	25	281
6	Dale Shearer	14	14	10	11	18	19	19	24	273
7	Sean Hingorani (R)	4	10	3	3*		3	3	15	272
8	Jake Finch	3	1*	5				9	4	203
9	Conner Jones		9			8	6	4	6	187
10	Brad Smith	Wth	11	12	13	15	21	20	30	186
11	Jesse Love					3	1*	2	2*	177
12	Rita Goulet (R)	15	12	11		16	16	17	QL	177
13						6	8	7	3	152
14	Toni Breidinger		7			5	9		12	143
15	Christian Rose					7	10	11	8	140
16	Frankie Muniz					9	11	12	23	121
17	Nate Moeller	13		15	14		23			111
18	Tanner Arms	8		8					11	105
19	Jon Garrett					10	14	21	26	105
20	A. J. Moyer					14	17	16	27	102
21	Dallas Frueh	12			15			22		83
22	Brayton Laster			14		20	20			78
23	Greg Van Alst						7		5	76
24	Alex Clubb					13		23	22	74
25	Ed Pompa	10	8							70
26	Landen Lewis		2						20	68
27	Ryan Roulette				12				18	58
28	D. L. Wilson						15		16	57
29	Gio Ruggiero			4						40
30	Billy Venturini				4					40
31	Grant Enfinger							5		39
32	Tyler Reif (R)	6								38
33	Landon Pembelton								7	37
34	Will Kimmel				8					36
35	R. J. Smotherman	9								35
36	Jeffery MacZink				9					35
37	Jack Wood								9	35
38	Derrick McGrew Jr.				10					34
39	Gus Dean							10		34
40	Andy Jankowiak								10	34
41	Scott Melton					12				32
42	Isaac Johnson						12			32
43	Mike Basham						24		32	32
44	C. J. McLaughlin		13							31
45	Stephanie Moyer			13						31
46	Rick Redig-Tackman							14		30
47	Caleb Costner								14	30
48	Jeff Smith				16					28
49	Chris Martin Jr.						18			26
50	Ron Vandermeir Jr.							18		26
51	Matt Kemp					19				25
52	Chuck Buchanan Jr.								19	25
53	Kaden Honeycutt								21	23
54	Casey Carden						25			19
55	Tim Goulet								28	16
56	Matt Gould								31	13
	Jalen Mack					Wth
	Tony Cosentino					Wth

See also

• 2023 NASCAR Cup Series
• 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series
• 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
• 2023 ARCA Menards Series
• 2023 ARCA Menards Series West
• 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
• 2023 NASCAR Pinty's Series
• 2023 NASCAR Mexico Series
• 2023 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series
• 2023 NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race
• 2023 SRX Series
• 2023 SMART Modified Tour

Notes and References

1. Web site: Joseph . Srigley . William Sawalich Signs Multi-Year Deal with Joe Gibbs Racing, Competing in 20 ARCA Events in 2023 . TobyChristie.com . December 9, 2022 . December 15, 2022.
2. Web site: Toyota driver William Sawalich wins 2023 ARCA East championship . . NASCAR Digital Media . September 14, 2023 . September 15, 2023.
3. Web site: Pinnacle Racing Group launching motorsports development program, will compete on ARCA platform in 2023 . ARCARacing.com . February 3, 2023 . February 26, 2023.
4. Web site: Press Release . Pinnacle Racing Group and Luke Fenhaus to contend for ARCA Menards Series East championship . ARCA Racing.com . ARCA Racing . March 4, 2023 . March 4, 2023.
5. Web site: Kevin . Rutherford . Andres Perez de Lara Running ARCA for Rev . Frontstretch . January 13, 2023 . January 14, 2023.
6. Web site: Kevin . Rutherford . Rita Goulet Running Full ARCA East Schedule . Frontstretch . February 13, 2023 . February 26, 2023.
7. Web site: R. J. . Starcevic . Zachary Tinkle Joins Fast Track Racing for Full-Time ARCA East Campaign . TobyChristie.com . December 6, 2022 . December 15, 2022.
8. Web site: Mark . Kristl . Dale Shearer Running Full-Time ARCA East . Frontstretch . March 9, 2023 . March 21, 2023.
9. Web site: Kevin . Rutherford . Sean Hingorani Running Partial ARCA Schedule for Venturini . Frontstretch . January 18, 2023.
10. Web site: Toby . Christie . Jesse Love Running For 2023 ARCA Menards Series Championship With Venturini . TobyChristie.com . January 10, 2023 . January 14, 2023.
11. Web site: Mark . Kristl . Brad Smith Returning for Full ARCA Schedule in 2023 . Frontstretch . September 8, 2022 . December 30, 2022.
12. Brad Smith ran the full season split between the No. 48 car for his own team and the No. 69 Kimmel Racing car which he used the owner points of at Milwaukee.
13. Monroe ran the full season split between the Nos. 12, 01 and 10 cars for Fast Track Racing.
14. Web site: Caleb Costner, Costner Weaver Motorsports to compete in ARCA opener at Daytona, additional races . ARCARacing.com . January 4, 2023 . January 6, 2023.
15. Web site: (Twitter post) . . . September 14, 2023 . November 3, 2023 . "I am so thankful to Jason, Cody and the entire @cr7motorsports team for the opportunity & bringing me a fast car.".
16. Web site: Benjamine . Branscum . Landon Pembelton and Mullins Racing Team Up For Bristol . TobyChristie.com . August 29, 2023 . August 31, 2023.
17. Entries were fielded in a collaboration with Fast Track Racing.
18. Web site: (Twitter post) . . . December 12, 2022 . December 15, 2022.
19. Web site: Brett Moffitt running full 2023 Xfinity season with AM Racing . . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC . December 12, 2022 . December 15, 2022.
20. Web site: Toby . Christie . Christian Rose to Battle For 2023 ARCA Championship and Run Select Truck Series Races With AM Racing . TobyChristie.com . January 10, 2023 . January 14, 2023.
21. Web site: (Twitter post) . . . December 19, 2022 . December 30, 2022 . "The #26 will ride again in ARCA possibly as soon as Daytona. We have been working on a second car for a while and it is almost ready to roll. We are also working on a back-up car ourselves for 2023. We fully expect to be a two-car team for all of the upcoming season. From Brad".
22. Web site: Mark . Kristl . Casey Carden Returning to ARCA With Clubb . Frontstretch . December 2, 2022 . December 15, 2022.
23. Web site: Mark . Kristl . Greg Van Alst Returning to ARCA Full Time in 2023 . Frontstretch . September 22, 2022 . December 15, 2022.
24. Web site: Mark . Kristl . Tyler Reif Running Full ARCA East Schedule . Frontstretch . February 24, 2023 . February 26, 2023.
25. Web site: Joseph . Srigley . Frankie Muniz Joins Rette Jones Racing for 2023 ARCA Campaign . TobyChristie.com . January 11, 2023 . January 14, 2023.
26. Web site: MAN Motorsports Announces Partial ARCA Schedule with Driver Tanner Arms . RacingToday.com . February 2, 2023 . February 26, 2023.
27. Web site: Christopher Martin Jr. set to run IRP race with MAN Motorsports . August 4, 2023 . August 4, 2023.
28. Web site: Toby . Christie . Conner Jones Expands ARCA Schedule to 12 Races With Venturini in 2023 . TobyChristie.com . January 9, 2023 . January 14, 2023.
29. Web site: Benjamine . Branscum . Toni Breidinger Returning to Venturini Motorsports for 11 ARCA Races in 2023 . January 11, 2023 . January 14, 2023.
30. Web site: (Twitter post) . . TTL Racing Network . October 31, 2022 . December 15, 2022.
31. It was a Brad Smith Motorsports entry using Kimmel Racing's owner points.
32. Web site: Mark . Kristl . ARCA Team Rise Motorsports Forms with Rita Goulet, Stephen Leicht . Frontstretch . January 8, 2023 . February 26, 2023.
33. Web site: Sean Hingorani, Venturini Motorsports add West Series championship run to 2023 race schedule . ARCARacing.com . February 15, 2023 . February 26, 2023.
34. Web site: ARCA Menards Series East and West schedules for 2023 announced . ARCARacing.com . November 22, 2022 . December 15, 2022.
35. Web site: Tadd . Haislop . Pieces of 2023 ARCA Menards Series schedule come together with NASCAR national series release . ARCARacing.com . September 14, 2022 . December 15, 2022.
36. Web site: ARCA Menards Series releases 2023 schedule . ARCARacing.com . November 11, 2022 . December 15, 2022.
37. Web site: (Twitter post) . . Mark Kristl . August 9, 2022 . December 15, 2022.
38. Web site: ARCA Menards Series East to race at Flat Rock Speedway in 2023 . ARCARacing.com . November 18, 2022 . December 15, 2022.
39. Web site: ARCA Menards Series extends broadcast rights agreement with FOX Sports, announces 2023 broadcast schedule . ARCARacing.com . December 9, 2022 . December 15, 2022.
40. Web site: ARCA Menards Series Changes Points System . . January 24, 2020 . June 16, 2022.