The ARCA Menard series returned to the Salem Speedway for the 110th ARCA visit in the track’s history on Saturday, July 27.  The speedway, Powered by the Hoosier Lottery, called the event Mid-Summer Classic 200.

Twenty-five cars qualified for the race. They were started straight up with the fastest qualifier on the post. The fastest qualifier was William Sawalich from Eden Prairie, Michigan. He led the whole way. Following him was Andres Perez.

At the fifty-lap mark it was Sawalich, Lavar Scott, and third was Corey Day.
The first break was on lap 75 and the second was at lap 150. At that time, a team could work on their car, change tires and add fuel.  The event was listed as an “eight-tire race”, four on the car and four in the pits. The tire rules and pit stops are for safety and help keep the costs down. Also, it contributes to safety in the pits.

At lap 132 Corey Day and Toni Breidinger got together on turn three, ending the day for both.

On Lap 142 local favorite Will Kimmel of Sellersburg wheeled his way up to third. Christian Rose and Isaac Johnson both chased Kimmel around. After the last break Sawalich lapped the field. Following him was Perez and Scott.  The top three were off like rockets and all three lapped the field. The three would finish in that order.

 At lap 176 Kimmel had dropped to four and would stay there. Kimmel, Christian Rose, and Isaac Johnson were one lap down.  The yellow flag laps count, but there were also two red flags stopping the race for track clean-ups. The race started at 8:15 and ended around 10:25 p.m.

During the race Dale Shearer suffered a possible heat-related problem. He was first treated by the Washington County Ambulance Service, then taken to a local hospital just to get checked out.

Twenty-five cars started and approximately fourteen were still running at lap 200. Lots of carnage was pulled to the middle of the track.

Sawalich’s victory was his fourth of the season in the first twelve races. The finish line celebration included a lot of water being showed and poured on the winner. After that was picture taking that included the changing of sponsors caps. This included Menards and General Tire caps, just to name a few.
There were three female drivers, Toni Breidinger, Amber Balcaen and Rita Goulet.

The support race was a fifty-lap event for the Great American Stocks. There were twelve cars entered, and seven were on the lead lap.

Three cars were knocked out as the green flag flew for the start of lap one.  This crashed ended the day for Joe Cooksey, Trent Bayer and John McLaren.

The winner was Heath Helton, who started on the tail and finished with a commanding lead.  Second was Austin Buam, and third was Jeff Caudill. Finishing fourth was Connor Popplewell, who had a mishap on lap 31 with Brian Bayer and drove back up to fourth. Bayer finished sixth.

The next race at the track will be the Classic Car Cruise‘In On The High Banks. Mark the calendar for Saturday night, Aug. 17, and enjoy all races on the high banks. This event will include CRA Late Model Sportsman 40 laps, GAS series Street Stocks 50 laps, Crown Vics 35 laps, and the Salem Super Cars for 25 laps.