Mason Mitchell chases Iowa Speedway history in Saturday’s ARCA race

Mason Mitchell, who is from West Des Moines, considered winning the 2015 ARCA Series race at Iowa Speedway his Daytona 500. Mitchell hasn’t had a start in the 2016 season for ARCA, but he will be back at Iowa Speedway this weekend for the ARCA Racing Series ABC Supply Co. 150 presented by Casey’s General Store.

Can Mitchell make history at the Newton track Saturday night? There have been no repeat winners in ARCA races at Iowa. ARCA has run at Iowa Speedway nine out of its 10 years of existence. There was no ARCA race at Iowa in 2014.

Steve Wallace won the first ARCA race at Iowa in 2006, and hometown hero Mason Mitchell won the most recent in 2015. Other ARCA winners at Iowa include Frank Kimmel (2007), Matt Hawkins (2008), Parker Kligerman (2009), Tom Hessert (2010), Ty Dillon (2011), Alex Bowman (2012) and Grant Enfinger (2013). Dillon is the only repeat Menards Pole winner at Iowa, having done it in 2010 and 2011.

Practice for the ARCA ABC Supply Co. 150 is from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday with Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell following at 3:15 p.m. The green flag drops at 8 p.m. for the ABC Supply Co. 150, which will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 2.

“I can’t express how much I’m looking forward to getting back behind the wheel,” Mitchell said. “I can’t think of a better track on the ARCA schedule to make my first start of the 2016 season.”

The ARCA ABC Supply Co. 150 at Iowa marks the first of three ARCA races scheduled for Mitchell in 2016 to include Chicagoland Speedway September 15 and then closing out the season at Kansas Speedway October 14. Mitchell won both races with Karl Chevrolet on the hood of his No. 78 Chevrolet last year at Iowa and Kansas.

“I can’t thank Karl Chevrolet enough for their support and allowing me to represent their company again in 2016. We have a great relationship on and off the track. Hopefully, we can continue our winning streak with them being on the car Saturday night.”

To do that, Mitchell — the 2014 ARCA Series champion — will have to battle a field of drivers which include six of the top seven in the series points standings with 10 starts this season. Series points leader Chase Briscoe of Mitchell, Ind., is followed by Josh Williams of Port Charlotte, Fla., who took third in last year’s ARCA race at Iowa.

Also on the entry list for Saturday’s race are Tom Hessert of Cherry Hill, N.J., who was fourth at Iowa a year ago and is third in this year’s points standings. Matt Kurzejewski of Manfield, Pa., Thomas Praytor of Mobile, Ala. and Brad Smith of Shelby Township, Mich., round out the top seven in the points standings and will compete Saturday.

Not listed in the entry list are last year’s second-place finisher Kyle Weatherman, who has made 10 starts this season and is third in points, and the 2015 ARCA Series champion Grant Enfinger, who moved into the NASCAR Truck Series in 2016. Efinger will be in Kentucky for a truck race this weekend.

Williams has the lead in the ARCA Short Track Challenge point standings midway through the season. There are 11 races on the ARCA Series schedule involved in the Short Track Challenge including the stop at Iowa Speedway.

“This series is producing exciting racing right now,” Iowa Speedway President Jimmy Small said. “We believe Iowa Speedway is where names are made and stars are born. These guys and gals in ARCA are making their marks at this level to find opportunities to move into the NASCAR series racing.”

There has been nine different race winners in the first 10 ARCA Series races this season. Williams is the lone multi-race winner with two. Briscoe has one win and six top-five finishes to lead in points.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com