The ARCA Menards Series has its biggest field at Michigan International Speedway since 2017, with 27 drivers entered. No former MIS victors are entered either, so the Henry Ford Health 200 should be wide open, right?
As noted in the Charlotte Motor Speedway preview article, Pinnacle Racing Group, Venturini Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing have combined to win every ARCA national race since the second race of the 2023 season.
That stayed true at Charlotte as Austin Green took the No. 82 PRG Chevrolet to victory lane.
Looking at MIS, those three organizations combined have won five of the past six ARCA races, including the previous two.
Green is not entered, but PRG is the reigning winning team at MIS. Brenden Queen won at Daytona International Speedway and Kansas Speedway so he is no stranger to winning at big racetracks this year.
JGR leads the owner standings on the strength of one win, two runner-up finishes, four top fives and five top 10s. Although William Sawalich has piloted the No. 18 at the big racetracks thus far, Gio Ruggiero will drive it at MIS. Ruggiero will use the ARCA event as preparation for his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race there the following day.
Surprisingly, while Ruggiero has been solid in his rookie Truck year, currently 48 points below the playoff cut line, he’s never won an ARCA national event.
Nope. Ruggiero won an ARCA Menards Series East standalone race, but in 10 main series starts, he has seven top fives, nine top 10s, 1 pole and 105 laps led.
JGR is no stranger to its newcomers winning, though. Brent Crews won his first race with the organization at Phoenix Raceway as well as the East return to Rockingham Speedway, and Max Reaves won his first three ARCA East races. Expect Ruggiero to be fast in the No. 18 Toyota.
Jake Finch accompanies Isabella Robusto and Lawless Alan in the Venturini stable. Robusto will make her MIS debut and she could use some good luck. In the five races this season, she has one top five, one top 10 and four DNFs.
Alan has one start at MIS, his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in 2024. He started 15th but wound up 35th due to a crash. Nevertheless, with the other contenders’ inexperience at MIS, Alan’s laps there could prove useful to him.
Finch has two ARCA starts at MIS. He started inside the top 10 in both and improved his finishing position from eighth in 2023 to fourth in ’24. Three spots better will land him in victory lane.
Rev Racing driver Lavar Scott leads the points but is winless. The last time Rev won an ARCA race was at Michigan in 2022.
Scott started ninth at Michigan last year, but problems early on left him 11 laps down in 15th place. He remains undeterred, though.
“Michigan for the past few years has been a really good track for us when it comes to speed and handling,” Scott said in a team release. “Last year we felt pretty good but then we had right front issues. So, with my experience on big tracks with Rev Racing I am confident we can get a good run out there.”
Scott’s teammate Eloy Sebastian is making his main series debut. Sebastian competed at The Rock in East competition earlier this year, impressively finishing third after qualifying 10th. Expect Sebastian to race with the frontrunners once again.
“I’m very excited to have another opportunity to race in ARCA for the second time with my team Rev Racing,” Sebastian added. “We earned an amazing P3 in our debut, and since then we’ve been working hard and learning every step of the way. This weekend we head to Michigan, a brand new track for me so the goal will be to adapt quickly, run all the laps, and keep learning. We have what it takes, and we’ll be pushing for another strong result just like we did in Rockingham.”
KLAS Motorsports wheelman Andy Jankowiak is slugging it out with the contenders. He is fourth in driver points and his KLAS No. 73 is fifth in owner points.
Jankowiak has been fast at Michigan, too. In two starts, he has two top-10 qualifying efforts and a fourth-place showing in ’23.
He wants his KLAS team to continue running ARCA races, with the team adding Berlin Raceway and the fall race at Kansas to its slate. However, the team needs further funding to continue beyond Berlin.
A top-five result, perhaps even better with some hard work and good luck, would be a welcome showcase for potential sponsors that Jankowiak can hold his own against the competition for an entire season.
If he wants to contend for the victory, he must start up front.
The last time the winning ARCA driver at Michigan started outside the top 10 was in 1997. The last time they started outside the top five was in 2012. Furthermore, four of the last 10 victors have started on the pole.
One final note: three of the last four Michigan winners won the series driver’s title that same season.
The 100-lap race will have two five-minute breaks at laps 35 and 70. The green flag will fly at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, June 6 with TV coverage provided by FOX Sports 2 and available on the FOX Sports App.
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.