Sioux Chief Showdown Preview: Calypso Lemonade 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway The Calypso Lemonade 200 at the Indianapolis-area Lucas Oil Raceway will mark the long-awaited second race of the for the 2020 ARCA Menards Series Sioux Chief Showdown. The Showdown, a revamped and reloaded version of the “Short Track Challenge” of years past, is open to teams from the ARCA Menards Series East & West as well and now featuring an increased overall payout with nearly $1 million in race purses, point fund money, and bonus programs available over the ten-race series-within-a-series. The Sioux Chief Showdown is scheduled to consist of ten races at a variety of tracks, ranging from the tight three-eighths mile bullring of Elko Speedway to the mile and a quarter WWT Raceway at Gateway to the road courses at Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen. The Showdown champion is scheduled to be crowned at Memphis International Raceway on Saturday, September 26, 2020. The Sioux Chief Showdown will bring together the best of the best from the ARCA Menards Series, the ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards Series West (formerly known as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series). These ten events offer drivers who may not be able or eligible to run the full 20-race ARCA Menards Series schedule the opportunity to run for a title. Combined with the overall ARCA Menards Series crown as well as the ARCA Menards East and ARCA Menards West championships, drivers will have four unique titles to compete for in 2020. Formerly known as the Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge, an expanded partnership with Sioux Chief will increase the event purse and point fund significantly, as well as add prestige and a variety of venues to the in-season championship. New guidelines and common rule packages are aimed at drawing in teams and drivers from both the ARCA Menards East and ARCA Menards West series too, which were previously run as distinct separate entities from the ARCA Menards Series. Christian Eckes, now a challenger for rookie of the year honors in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, won both the Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge and the ARCA Menards Series overall championship in 2019, clinching both titles in the final race of each championship. The Calypso Lemonade 200 returns to a summertime date for the first time since 2017, having been contested in October each of the past two seasons. The hot, slick track will be a challenge for the drivers at Lucas Oil Raceway, especially with just 45 minutes of practice for the teams to get the cars dialed in to their liking. Chandler Smith is the defending winner of the event, leading just 7 of the 167 laps last October in a rain-shortened event. Ty Gibbs, a winner just a week ago at Pocono Raceway, dominated last year’s race as he led the first 143 laps before being collected in a crash. The first race of the Sioux Chief Showdown, the General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway in March, saw a similar outcome for Gibbs and Smith – Gibbs led 122 laps but finished third while Smith only led the final 11 laps before pulling into victory lane as the first winner of a Sioux Chief Showdown race. Smith is the only former winner in the field, but among his chief competition will be Sam Mayer with a special asset on his side in the form of crew chief Mardy Lindley – a winner at Lucas Oil Raceway in 2004 in the old Hooters Pro Cup series. Mayer celebrated his 17th birthday last Friday by finishing third at Pocono. Michael Self, the overall ARCA Menards Series championship points leader, finished second in his LOR debut in 2017 but has finished outside of the top five at the track in each of the last two seasons. Bret Holmes has finished no worse than fourth in three races across the ARCA Menards Series as well as the ARCA Menards Series East since the resumption of racing and will look to keep the momentum up at LOR. 2020 Sioux Chief Showdown Schedule & Current Standings DRIVER TEAM CAR OWNER PHX TOTAL Chandler Smith #20 JBL Audio Toyota Billy Venturini 43 43 Michael Self #25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota Cathy Venturini 42 42 Ty Gibbs #18 Monster Energy Toyota Coy Gibbs 41 41 Tanner Gray #17 Ford Performance Ford David Gilliland 40 40 Zane Smith #17W MMI Services Chevrolet Steve McGowan 39 39 Nick Sanchez #6 Max Siegel Inc. Toyota Max Siegel 38 38 Hailie Deegan #4 Toter Ford David Gilliland 37 37 Chase Cabre #4 Eibach Springs Toyota Max Siegel 36 36 Lawless Alan #12W AutoParkit Toyota Alex McAnally 35 35 Gio Scelzi #16 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Mike Curb 34 34 Dawson Cram #11 KMI Trucking Toyota Andy Hillenburg 33 33 Christian McGhee #22 Power Grade Inc. Ford Chad Bryant 32 32 Takuma Koga #77 PP1M Toyota Joe Nava 31 31 Drew Dollar #15 Dollar Concrete Construction Toyota Bill Venturini 30 30 Bret Holmes #23 Holmes II Excavation Chevrolet Stacy Holmes 29 29 Jesse Love #19 NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota Alex McAnally 28 28 Armani Williams #01 Centria Autism Ford Michelle Hillenburg 27 27 Thad Moffitt #46 Richard Petty’s Performance Plus Ford Bo LeMastus 26 26 Tom Berte #12 CGS Premier Toyota Michelle Hillenburg 25 25 Sam Mayer #21 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet Maury Gallagher 24 24 Howie DiSavino III #32 Kees Travel Chevrolet Kevin Cywinski 23 23 Gracie Trotter #99 ENEOS Toyota Bill McAnally 22 22 Tim Richmond #06 Great Railing Toyota Wayne Peterson 21 21 Ryan Huff #10 Land & Coates Toyota Andy Hillenburg 20 20 March 6 Phoenix Raceway – Avondale, AZ Chandler Smith July 3 Lucas Oil Raceway – Brownsburg, IN .686 Mile Oval July 18 Iowa Speedway – Newton, IA .875 Mile Oval August 2 World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway – Madison, IL 1.25 Mile Oval August 14 Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, NY 2.45 Mile Road Course September 17 Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, TN .533 Mile Oval September 26 Memphis International Raceway – Memphis, TN .750 Mile Oval TBA Salem Speedway – Salem, IN .555 Mile Oval TBA Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – Lexington, OH 2.258 Mile Road Course TBA Elko Speedway – Elko New Market, MN .375 Mile Oval .