ARCA: Engine issues continue to hamper Tim Richmond’s season
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| PHOTO: @Premium5562 |
LASTCAR.info Guest Contributor
Tim Richmond finished last for the first time in his ARCA Menards Series career in Friday’s Calypso Lemonade 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway when his #06 GreatRailing.com / Wayne Peterson Racing Toyota cited electrical issues, though he did not start the race due to engine issues.
The finish came in Richmond’s 21st career series start.
North-central Illinois native Tim Richmond has no relation to the NASCAR luminary, although he was named after the former Cup Series driver. This Richmond had a fairly normal road racing career progression in his early years, running go-karts and then moving up to Spec Miatas. He attended Marquette High School in Ottawa, where he played tight end and outside linebacker on the school’s football team before graduating in 2017. Before 2019, Richmond’s father Dave met longtime ARCA team owner Wayne Peterson, and the two eventually agreed to run a short-track schedule for 2019 with Tim in the car. With enough funding to improve some of the WPR equipment, Richmond ran 17 of last year’s 20 races and finished 11 of them en route to a ninth-place finish in the season standings. The family re-upped for a full 2020 season in the 06 car with renewed hopes. However, engine issues took the car out of the Talladega race and were not fixable in a week’s time, derailing the full season and forcing Richmond to skip Pocono. However, he was back on the entry list for Lucas Oil, signaling a return for one of the series’ most consistent underdogs.
Nineteen other cars besides Richmond entered the Calypso Lemonade 200. The short-track crew returned, including Chandler Smith, Sam Mayer and Ty Gibbs. Bret Holmes, Max McLaughlin and Derek Griffith came over from primarily ARCA East schedules. Howie DiSavino III his part-time schedule for Win-Tron Racing. Brian Finney (driving for Kimmel Racing) as well as Mike Basham and Dick Doheny (driving for Fast Track Racing) made season debuts. There were also three series debuts: Taylor Gray, driving for DGR-Crosley in the first race he was eligible for after turning 15; Justin Carroll, who had previously made K&N East starts at a number of tracks, and super late model racer Kyle Sieg - the younger brother of Ryan Sieg - driving in a Bruce Cook Racing car.
At Lucas Oil, there were fans, there was practice, and there was qualifying, signaling a much more normal race weekend than in recent months. In practice, Michael Self led the field with a lap of 22.39 seconds, while Doheny anchored the charts with a lap of 27.12 seconds. Chandler Smith stormed from eighth in practice to the pole, putting down a 22.15-second lap. Of the 18 cars that took time, Doheny was once again last in the unsponsored #12 car, picking up about eight-tenths from qualifying.
Where was Richmond? According to Anthony Liquori on Twitter, the car never got on track, never able to get over the engine problems that have become a cloud hanging over the 06 team’s season. He was still listed on the MAVTV broadcast as a did not start. But on the official results, he was listed out with "electrical" issues.
Basham parked 20 laps in, followed by Doheny five laps later and Brad Smith another six laps later. Fast Track Racing’s third car, Ryan Huff, completed the Bottom Five after retiring with drive shaft issues, having completed 74 laps.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
20) #06-Tim Richmond / 0 laps / electrical (technically a "did not start")
19) #11-Mike Basham / 20 laps / overheating
18) #12-Dick Doheny / 25 laps / brakes
17) #48-Brad Smith / 31 laps / brakes
16) #10-Ryan Huff / 74 laps / drive shaft
2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Wayne Peterson Racing (2)
2nd) DGR-Crosley, Fast Track Racing, Reeves Racing (1)
2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet, Toyota (2)
2nd) Ford (1)
2020 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
