Five drivers to watch in Saturday afternoon’s ARCA Menards race at Kansas Speedway

The ARCA Menards Series will make the first of two stops at Kansas Speedway this season at 1 p.m. Saturday. Here are five drivers to watch in the Dutch Boy 150.

Nick Sanchez, No. 2 Chevrolet

Sanchez, in just his 22nd career start, won the first ARCA race last fall in a surprising finish at Kansas Speedway. Sanchez, 20 and a native of Miami, is off to a good start in 2022, having won at Talladega and finished seventh at Phoenix. He started the Xfinity series race at Phoenix and finished 26th.

Drew Dollar, No. 18 Toyota

Dollar will drive the Kyle Busch Motorsports truck that Ty Gibbs piloted to victory last year when he led all 100 laps. Dollar, 21, owns one career ARCA victory, at Talladega in 2020. He has five top 10 finishes in five ARCA starts for Venturini Motorsports, including a second-place finish to Gibbs last spring.

Rajah Caruth, No. 6 Chevrolet

Caruth, 19, is the first Black driver to ever lead the series standings, holding a four-point lead over Sanchez. Caruth, from Washington, D.C., is still looking for his first career win in nine ARCA starts. He finished fourth at Phoenix and sixth at Talladega. Caruth, who also has made two starts in the Xfinity series this year, was ninth at Kansas last year.

Gus Dean, No. 55 Toyota

Dean, driving a partial schedule for Venturini Motorsports, has scored fifth-place finishes at Daytona and Talladega in his only two starts. He owns two career ARCA wins, at Talladega in 2016 and Elko in 2018. Dean has made four starts at Kansas, with a best finish of 10th in 2019.

Corey Heim, No. 20 Toyota

Heim, 19, has made two ARCA starts this season, winning at Daytona and at Talladega. He posted the first of his eight career ARCA wins at Kansas in 2020. Heim, who won the NASCAR trucks race at Atlanta in March, will also compete in the Heart of America 200 NASCAR trucks race on Saturday night