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ARCA Preview: General Tire 150 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

The ARCA Menards Series heads to the Charlotte Motor Speedway on Thursday for the General Tire 150. It’ll be the second straight visit to the speedway and 21st ARCA race. ARCA debuted at Charlotte in 1996 with Tim Steele earning the first three victories. Drivers like Adam Petty, Ryan Newman, Kerry Earnhardt, Frank Kimmel, and most recently Brandon Jones have earned victories in the ARCA Menards Series at Charlotte. Jones will not defend his victory from 2018.

Charlotte Motor Speedway is just the next chapter in the seasons wild championship battle. After crashing last weekend in Toledo, Travis Braden lost the points lead giving it back to Michael Self. Christian Eckes also capitalized on Joe Graf Jr.‘s accident with Hailie Deegan to move into fourth in the championship points standings. Bret Holmes sits within the battle in third place, 35 points out of the points lead. By the checkered flag Thursday night, the ARCA points landscape may look a little different.

Venturini Motorsports will look to continue their domination of the series with three strong entries. Self and Eckes are in the middle of the tight points battle while Harrison Burton makes his return to the series for the first time since filling in for Eckes at Salem. After being put in last minute, Burton finished eighth and kept the No. 15 in the owners’ championship battle. Burton returns to the No. 20 this weekend, the same car he won at Daytona with. That same car won last weekend with Chandler Smith in the rain-shortened race at Toledo, Burton will look to earn his fourth career victory.

2018 ARCA Menards Series champion Sheldon Creed returns to the ARCA Menards Series for the first time since his championship victory. Creed will pilot the No. 21 entry for GMS Racing that has been run by Sam Mayer this season. Mayer finished fifth last weekend at Toledo and in two of the three starts he’s finished top-five. Creed led eight laps in ARCA’s return to Charlotte last season, finishing third. Last weekend in the Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Charlotte, Creed finished 12th after starting 10th.

Brandon McReynolds returns in the No. 28 for KBR Development after a successful few weeks with Carson Hocevar behind the wheel. Hocevar tallied two top-five finishes with a best of fourth at Nashville. McReynolds had a stout looking car at Talladega but didn’t have the opportunity to show it after mechanical issues put him a few laps behind.

Willie Mullins returns to the ARCA Menards Series for the first time since his Daytona disappointment. Mullins was looking to follow up his secon- place finish from the 2018 Daytona ARCA race, but was involved in a very early accident with Self. Mullins will make his 15th career start in the ARCA Menards Series Thursday night and his first at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Runner-up finishes must be the new normal for the No. 18 for Joe Gibbs Racing. Ty Gibbs has tallied two straight second-place finishes and in his last race with JGR at Talladega, Riley Herbst finished second. Herbst returns to the series this weekend and will look to one-up his second place finish at Charlotte last season. He’ll be chasing his second career victory in the ARCA Menards Series.

Ty Majeski joins Chad Bryant Racing again this week behind the wheel of the No. 22. He has one start on the Charlotte Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Roush Fenway Racing. Majeski has a career-best finish of 22nd at Charlotte in one start. Majeski also competed in the inaugural Xfinity ROVAL race at Charlotte finishing 34th. Majeski finished fourth at Talladega in his first race in ARCA since 2017. This will be his second of six scheduled starts in the ARCA Menards Series for Majeski.

Tanner Gray will run the No. 54 for DGR-Crosely for the second-straight weekend. Gray finished eighth last weekend at Toledo, one position off of his career-best finish in the ARCA Menards Series. It’ll be his third start and first on the oval track in Charlotte. Gray has experience in Charlotte, just across the street at Z-Max Dragway in the NHRA Carolina Nationals.

Devin Dodson makes his ARCA Menards Series debut with Vizion Motorsports. He has a combined five starts in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series (East and West) with the best finish of sixth at Tucson last season with Jeff Jefferson. Jason Miles will also make his ARCA debut with Fast Track Racing. Miles made his K&N Pro Series East debut during the South Boston Twins earlier this season finishing 13th in both races.

Andy Seuss, Codie Rohrbaugh, Thad Moffitt, Bryan Dauzat, Scott Melton, Con Nicolopoulos, and CJ McLaughlin return to the ARCA Menards Series this weekend after being off the entry list for Nashville and Toledo.

ARCA MENARDS SERIES GENERAL TIRE 150 ENTRY LIST

The General Tire 150 goes live on FOX Sports 1 at 9 p.m./ET.

About the author

His favorite tracks on the circuit include Barber Motorsports Park, Iowa Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, and Bristol Motor Speedway.

During the season, Christian also spends time as a photographer with multiple other outlets shooting Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Minor League & Major League Baseball, and NCAA Football.

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