2020 ARCA Menards Series East
# 2020 ARCA Menards Series East

The 2020 ARCA Menards Series East was the 34th season of the ARCA Menards Series East, a regional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR. It began on February 10 at New Smyrna Speedway with the Skip's Western Outfitters 175, and concluded on October 11 at Five Flags Speedway with the Pensacola 200. 2020 marked the first season the series was known as the ARCA Menards Series East, after it was known as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East for the previous ten years.

Sam Mayer entered the season as the defending champion, and won all but one race to score his second consecutive championship in the series.

When the season was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, drivers from all NASCAR series, including a few ARCA drivers, participated in the inaugural eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series during that time.

## Teams and drivers

### Complete schedule

| Manufacturer | Team | No. | Driver | Crew chief |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet | GMS Racing | 21 | Sam Mayer | Mardy Lindley |
| Ford | DGR-Crosley | 17 | Tanner Gray 1 | Blake Bainbridge |
| Ford | DGR-Crosley | 17 | Taylor Gray (R) 5 | Blake Bainbridge |
| Toyota | Cook-Finley Racing | 42 | Parker Retzlaff | Charles Hoffmeyer 2 Sean Samuels 4 |
| Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing | 18 | Ty Gibbs (R) | Mark McFarland |
| Toyota | Rev Racing | 4 | Chase Cabre | Glenn Parker |
| Toyota | Rev Racing | 6 | Nick Sanchez (R) | Steve Plattenberger |
| Toyota | TC Motorsports | 91 | Justin Carroll | Terry Carroll 1 Jim Long 5 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 20 | Corey Heim 3 | Shannon Rursch 2 Billy Venturini 4 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 20 | Ryan Repko 1 | Shannon Rursch 2 Billy Venturini 4 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 20 | Chandler Smith 2 | Shannon Rursch 2 Billy Venturini 4 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 25 | Mason Diaz | Kevin Reed 4 Dave Leiner Jr. 2 |
| Toyota 3 Ford 2 Chevrolet 1 | Fast Track Racing | 11 | Chuck Hiers 1 | Mike Sroufe 2 Andy Hillenburg 1 |
| Toyota 3 Ford 2 Chevrolet 1 | Fast Track Racing | 11 | Mike Basham 1 | Mike Sroufe 2 Andy Hillenburg 1 |
| Toyota 3 Ford 2 Chevrolet 1 | Fast Track Racing | 11 | Ed Pompa 1 | Mike Sroufe 2 Andy Hillenburg 1 |
| Toyota 3 Ford 2 Chevrolet 1 | Fast Track Racing | 11 | Rick Clifton 1 | Trey Galgon |
| Toyota 3 Ford 2 Chevrolet 1 | Fast Track Racing | 11 | Owen Smith 1 | Trey Galgon |
| Toyota 3 Ford 2 Chevrolet 1 | Fast Track Racing | 11 | D. L. Wilson 1 | Trey Galgon |

### Limited schedule

| Manufacturer | Team | No. | Driver | Crew chief | Rounds |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Chevrolet | Ben Kennedy Racing | 43 | Daniel Dye | Glenn Garrison | 2 |
| Chevrolet | Brad Smith Motorsports | 48 | Brad Smith | John Ward 1 Jeff Smith 1 Leo Kryger 1 Carlos Leon 1 | 4 |
| Chevrolet | Bret Holmes Racing | 23 | Bret Holmes | Shane Huffman | 3 |
| Chevrolet | Chad Bryant Racing | 12 | Kris Wright | Donnie Richeson | 1 |
| Chevrolet | Connor Okrzesik Racing | 14 | Connor Okrzesik | Jeff McClure | 1 |
| Chevrolet | Cook-Finley Racing | 41 | Kyle Sieg | Charles Hoffmeyer 1 Amber Slagle 1 | 2 |
| Chevrolet | CR7 Motorsports | 97 | Jason Kitzmiller | Todd Myers | 2 |
| Chevrolet | Finney Racing Enterprises | 80 | Brian Finney | Wally Finney | 1 |
| Chevrolet | Robert Pawlowski Racing | 11 | Robert Pawlowski | Aaron Brown 2 Ron Otto 1 | 3 |
| Chevrolet | Spraker Racing Enterprises | 63 | Dave Mader III | Jeff Spraker | 2 |
| Chevrolet | Wayne Peterson Racing | 0 | Wayne Peterson | Michael Peterson | 1 |
| Chevrolet | Win-Tron Racing | 32 | Gus Dean | Jamie Jones | 1 |
| Chevrolet | Visconti Motorsports | 74 | Giovanni Bromante (R) | Steven Keller | 2 |
| Ford | Visconti Motorsports | 74 | Joe Graf Jr. | Steven Keller | 1 |
| Ford | Chad Bryant Racing | 22 | Derek Griffith (R) | Chad Bryant 1 Paul Andrews 2 | 3 |
| Ford | Chad Bryant Racing | 77 | Grant Enfinger | Chad Bryant | 1 |
| Ford | Charles Buchanan Racing | 87 | Chuck Buchanan Jr. | Craig Wood | 1 |
| Ford | DGR-Crosley | 4 | Hailie Deegan | Seth Smith | 2 |
| Ford | DGR-Crosley | 54 | David Gilliland | Derek Smith | 1 |
| Ford | Jett Motorsports | 09 | Stephen Nasse | Chris Tater | 1 |
| Ford | Mullins Racing | 3 | Willie Mullins | Tony Furr | 1 |
| Ford | Rette Jones Racing | 30 | Tristan Van Wieringen (R) | Mark Rette | 1 |
| Toyota | Bill McAnally Racing | 16 | Gio Scelzi | John Camilleri | 1 |
| Toyota | Bill McAnally Racing | 19 | Jesse Love | Kyle Wolosek | 1 |
| Toyota | Bill McAnally Racing | 50 | Holley Hollan | Henry Nascimento | 1 |
| Toyota | Bill McAnally Racing | 99 | Gracie Trotter | Roger Bracken | 1 |
| Toyota | Fast Track Racing | 12 | Mike Basham | Mike Sroufe | 1 |
| Toyota | Hattori Racing Enterprises | 1 | Max McLaughlin | Dan Stillman 1 Dave McCarty 3 | 4 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 15 | Drew Dollar | Shannon Rursch | 3 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 15 | Jesse Love | Shannon Rursch | 1 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 25 | Michael Self | Kevin Reed | 2 |
| Toyota | Troy Williams Racing | 53 | Max Gutiérrez | Troy Williams | 2 |
| Toyota | Wayne Peterson Racing | 06 | Tim Richmond | Brad Frye | 1 |
| Toyota | Wayne Peterson Racing | 06 | Con Nicolopoulos | Brad Frye | 1 |
| Chevrolet 3 Ford 1 | Fast Track Racing | 10 | Tommy Vigh Jr. | Dick Doheny | 1 |
| Chevrolet 3 Ford 1 | Fast Track Racing | 10 | Owen Smith | Tim Monroe | 1 |
| Chevrolet 3 Ford 1 | Fast Track Racing | 10 | Mike Basham | Mike Sroufe | 1 |
| Chevrolet 3 Ford 1 | Fast Track Racing | 10 | Richard Garvie | Mike Sroufe | 1 |

**Notes**

* ↑ Entry was fielded in a collaboration with RSS Racing.

### Changes

**Teams**

* Perennial ARCA Menards Series team Venturini Motorsports entered the series in advance of the 2020 season.
* Cook-Finley Racing announced an entry with Parker Retzlaff as the driver of the No. 42.

**Drivers**

* On November 20, 2019, it was announced that Nick Sanchez would be driving full-time and for rookie of the year in the East Series for Rev Racing in 2020.
* On December 11, 2019, it was announced that Giovanni Bromante would drive full-time for Visconti Motorsports, running for rookie of the year in the No. 74 car.
* On December 14, 2019, it was announced that Mason Diaz would drive the Venturini Motorsports car for the full season as part of the team's expansion into the East Series.
* On December 16, 2019, it was announced that Tanner Gray would be moving up to the Truck Series full-time with DGR-Crosley, who he had driven for full-time in 2019 in the East Series in their No. 15 car. However, he ran a part-time schedule of races in ARCA East in 2020.
* On December 18, 2019, it was announced that Taylor Gray would run full-time and for rookie of the year in the No. 17 for DGR-Crosley in all races after he turned 15 on March 25, 2020.
* On January 16, 2020, it was announced that Corey Heim would be driving in three races for Venturini Motorsports.
* On January 30, 2020, it was announced that Parker Retzlaff would be driving the No. 42 for Cook-Finley Racing part-time with the possibility of a full season. He drove the No. 74 Visconti Motorsports entry part-time in 2019.
* On February 6, 2020, Rette Jones Racing announced that Tristan Van Wieringen would drive the No. 30 full-time and for rookie of the year with the team. However, due to the financial impact after COVID-19, the team ran select races instead of full-time.
* On February 7, 2020, it was announced that Daniel Dye would be making his series debut in the East Series at New Smyrna Speedway, driving for Ben Kennedy in his No. 43. Dye was also scheduled to run select races in 2020.
* On March 10, 2020, it was announced that Derek Griffith would be running the full season and for rookie of the year with Chad Bryant Racing in the team's No. 2 car. However, due to the financial impact after COVID-19, the team ran select races instead of full-time, even though Griffith would run a second car, the 22.

**Manufacturers**

* On December 11, 2019, DGR-Crosley announced a switch from Toyota to Ford beginning in 2020.

## Schedule

On November 6, 2019, NASCAR released the schedule for the 2020 season. As part of the unification of the former K&N East and West series with the ARCA Menards Series, the schedule decreased from fourteen races in 2019 to eight races in 2020. The number of races was originally seven, however, an additional race at Fairgrounds Speedway was announced on December 14, 2019.

The races at Memphis International Raceway, Iowa Speedway, Watkins Glen International as well as Bristol Motor Speedway's second race were taken and moved from the East Series schedule to the ARCA Menards Series schedule. New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which had two East Series races in 2019, retained only one race in 2020. Five Flags Speedway, Fairgrounds Speedway and Toledo Speedway were added to the East Series schedule, moving over from the ARCA schedule. Berlin Raceway, which hosted an East Series race in 2017, was added back. The races at South Boston Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway were completely dropped from the schedule.

NBCSN carried television coverage of all races on a tape-delay basis.

| No. | Race title | Track | Date |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Skip's Western Outfitters 175 | New Smyrna Speedway, New Smyrna Beach | February 10 |
| 2 | Herr's Potato Chips 200 presented by Federated Car Care | Toledo Speedway, Toledo | June 13 |
| 3 | General Tire 125 | Dover International Speedway, Dover | August 21 |
| 4 | Royal Truck & Trailer 200 | Toledo Speedway, Toledo | September 12 |
| 5 | Bush's Beans 200 | Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol | September 17 |
| 6 | Pensacola 200 presented by Inspectra Thermal Solutions | Five Flags Speedway, Pensacola | October 11 |

* ↑ The Five Flags race was postponed from Saturday, October 10 to Sunday, October 11, due to Hurricane Delta.
* Races highlighted in gold are combination events with the ARCA Menards Series.

### Schedule changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The event at Five Flags Speedway, originally scheduled for March 14, was postponed to October 10 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On August 25, 2020, series officials announced the cancellation of races at Berlin Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway and replaced them with a date at Toledo Speedway, which served as a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series. The race at Fairgrounds Speedway was also cancelled.

## Results and standings

### Races

| No. | Race | Pole Position | Most laps led | Winning driver | Manufacturer | No. | Winning team |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Skip's Western Outfitters 175 | Derek Griffith | Derek Griffith | Sam Mayer | Chevrolet | 21 | GMS Racing |
| 2 | Herr's Potato Chips 200 presented by Federated Car Care | Sam Mayer | Ty Gibbs | Ty Gibbs | Toyota | 18 | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 3 | General Tire 125 | Ty Gibbs | Ty Gibbs | Sam Mayer | Chevrolet | 21 | GMS Racing |
| 4 | Royal Truck & Trailer 200 | Sam Mayer | Sam Mayer | Sam Mayer | Chevrolet | 21 | GMS Racing |
| 5 | Bush's Beans 200 | Ty Gibbs | Sam Mayer | Sam Mayer | Chevrolet | 21 | GMS Racing |
| 6 | Pensacola 200 presented by Inspectra Thermal Solutions | Grant Enfinger | Grant Enfinger | Sam Mayer | Chevrolet | 21 | GMS Racing |

### Drivers' championship

Note: The pole-winner also receives 1 bonus point, similar to the previous ARCA points system used until 2019 and unlike NASCAR.

(key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led.

| Pos | Driver | NSM | TOL | DOV | TOL | BRI | FIF | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Sam Mayer | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1* | 1* | 1 | 332 |
| 2 | Ty Gibbs (R) | 3 | 1* | 12* | 3 | 2 | 3 | 300 |
| 3 | Nick Sanchez (R) | 4 | 5 | 16 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 259 |
| 4 | Parker Retzlaff | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 19 | 10 | 255 |
| 5 | Mason Diaz | 17 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 16 | 251 |
| 6 | Justin Carroll | 21 | 6 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 244 |
| 7 | Chase Cabre | 9 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 21 | 14 | 242 |
| 8 | Taylor Gray (R) | | 8 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 187 |
| 9 | Max McLaughlin | 10 | 12 | 4 | | 3 | | 148 |
| 10 | Bret Holmes | | 3 | | 4 | 8 | | 118 |
| 11 | Corey Heim | 7 | | 6 | | | 2 | 117 |
| 12 | Derek Griffith (R) | 2* | | | | 9 | 13 | 111 |
| 13 | Brad Smith | | 15 | | 17 | 25 | 18 | 101 |
| 14 | Drew Dollar | | | 5 | 15 | 18 | | 94 |
| 15 | Robert Pawlowski | 23 | 10 | | | | | 85 |
| 16 | Mike Basham | | 13 | | 12 | 24 | | 83 |
| 17 | Michael Self | | | | 7 | 5 | | 77 |
| 18 | Hailie Deegan | | | | 6 | 6 | | 76 |
| 19 | Giovanni Bromante (R) | 5 | 11 | | | | | 72 |
| 20 | Jesse Love | 12 | | | | | | 70 |
| 21 | Chandler Smith | | | | 2 | 23 | | 64 |
| 22 | Daniel Dye | 19 | | | | | 7 | 62 |
| 23 | Max Gutiérrez | | | | | 14 | 12 | 62 |
| 24 | Kyle Sieg | | | 11 | | 17 | | 60 |
| 25 | Dave Mader III | | | | | 20 | 11 | 57 |
| 26 | Owen Smith | | | | 18 | 22 | | 48 |
| 27 | David Gilliland | | | 2 | | | | 42 |
| 28 | Grant Enfinger | | | | | | 5* | 42 |
| 29 | Stephen Nasse | 6 | | | | | | 38 |
| 30 | Ryan Repko | | 9 | | | | | 35 |
| 31 | Chuck Buchanan Jr. | | | 10 | | | | 34 |
| 32 | Jason Kitzmiller | | | DNS | | 13 | | 34 |
| 33 | Tristan Van Wieringen (R) | 11 | | | | | | 33 |
| 34 | Gus Dean | | | | | 12 | | 32 |
| 35 | Gio Scelzi | 13 | | | | | | 31 |
| 36 | Ed Pompa | | | 13 | | | | 31 |
| 37 | Tim Richmond | | | | 13 | | | 31 |
| 38 | Brian Finney | 14 | | | | | | 30 |
| 39 | Holley Hollan | 15 | | | | | | 29 |
| 40 | Tommy Vigh Jr. | | | 15 | | | | 29 |
| 41 | Kris Wright | | | | | 15 | | 29 |
| 42 | Richard Garvie | | | | | | 15 | 29 |
| 43 | Gracie Trotter | 16 | | | | | | 28 |
| 44 | Con Nicolopoulos | | | | | 16 | | 28 |
| 45 | Joe Graf Jr. | | | 17 | | | | 27 |
| 46 | Connor Okrzesik | | | | | | 17 | 27 |
| 47 | Tanner Gray | 18 | | | | | | 26 |
| 48 | Rick Clifton | | | | 19 | | | 25 |
| 49 | D. L. Wilson | | | | | | 19 | 25 |
| 50 | Willie Mullins | 20 | | | | | | 24 |
| 51 | Chuck Hiers | 22 | | | | | | 22 |
| 52 | Wayne Peterson | | | | | 26 | | 18 |
