# 2023 ARCA Menards Series East

The 2023 ARCA Menards Series East was the 37th season of the ARCA Menards Series East, a regional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season began on March 25 with the Pensacola 200 at Five Flags Speedway and ended on September 14 with the Bush's Beans 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Sammy Smith, the defending series champion in 2021 and 2022, moved up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series to run full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2023 and therefore did not return to run full-time in the ARCA Menards Series East and defend his title. William Sawalich replaced him in the No. 18 car in 2023, which went back to being owned by JGR after being owned by Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2022. At the conclusion of the season, Sawalich clinched the ARCA Menards Series East championship.

## Teams and drivers

Note: If a driver is listed as their own crew chief for a particular race, that means that their entry in that race was a start and park.

### Complete schedule

| Manufacturer | Team | No. | Driver | Crew chief |
| Chevrolet | Pinnacle Racing Group | 28 | Luke Fenhaus (R) | Shane Huffman |
| Chevrolet | Rev Racing | 6 | Lavar Scott (R) | Jay Lupo |
| Chevrolet | Rise Motorsports | 31 | Rita Goulet (R) 6 | Sebastian LaForge 1 Tim Goulet 6 Rita Goulet 1 |
| Chevrolet | Rise Motorsports | 31 | Derrick McGrew Jr. 1 | Sebastian LaForge 1 Tim Goulet 6 Rita Goulet 1 |
| Chevrolet | Rise Motorsports | 31 | Tim Goulet 1 | Sebastian LaForge 1 Tim Goulet 6 Rita Goulet 1 |
| Toyota | Fast Track Racing | 11 | Zachary Tinkle | Todd Parrott |
| Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing | 18 | William Sawalich (R) | Matt Ross |
| Toyota | Shearer Speed Racing | 98 | Dale Shearer | Jimmy Edlin 2 Alex Malycke 5 Neal Shearer 1 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 15 | Sean Hingorani (R) 7 | Kevin Reed Jr. 6 Monon Rahman 1 Cayden Lapcevich 1 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 15 | Conner Jones 1 | Kevin Reed Jr. 6 Monon Rahman 1 Cayden Lapcevich 1 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 20 | Jake Finch 2 | Johnny Allen 1 Shannon Rursch 7 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 20 | Gio Ruggiero 1 | Johnny Allen 1 Shannon Rursch 7 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 20 | Billy Venturini 1 | Johnny Allen 1 Shannon Rursch 7 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 20 | Jesse Love 4 | Johnny Allen 1 Shannon Rursch 7 |
| Ford 3 Chevrolet 5 | Brad Smith Motorsports | 48 | Brad Smith 7 | Carlos Leon 1 Terry Strange 1 Jeff Smith 3 Steve Garrow 1 Leo Kryger 1 |
| Ford 3 Chevrolet 5 | Brad Smith Motorsports | 48 | Rick Redig-Tackman 1 | Rick Tackman Jr. |
| Ford 2 Toyota 4 Chevrolet 2 | Fast Track Racing | 01 | Dallas Frueh 3 | Dallas Frueh 2 Tim Monroe 2 Josh Duke 1 Nathan Davis 3 |
| Ford 2 Toyota 4 Chevrolet 2 | Fast Track Racing | 01 | Tim Monroe 2 | Dallas Frueh 2 Tim Monroe 2 Josh Duke 1 Nathan Davis 3 |
| Ford 2 Toyota 4 Chevrolet 2 | Fast Track Racing | 01 | Brayton Laster 3 | Dallas Frueh 2 Tim Monroe 2 Josh Duke 1 Nathan Davis 3 |
| Ford 5 Toyota 3 | Fast Track Racing | 10 | Ed Pompa 2 | Dick Doheny 3 Tim Monroe 3 Mike Sroufe 1 Ron Vandermeir Sr. 1 |
| Ford 5 Toyota 3 | Fast Track Racing | 10 | Tim Monroe 4 | Dick Doheny 3 Tim Monroe 3 Mike Sroufe 1 Ron Vandermeir Sr. 1 |
| Ford 5 Toyota 3 | Fast Track Racing | 10 | Ron Vandermeir Jr. 1 | Dick Doheny 3 Tim Monroe 3 Mike Sroufe 1 Ron Vandermeir Sr. 1 |
| Ford 5 Toyota 3 | Fast Track Racing | 10 | D. L. Wilson 1 | Dick Doheny 3 Tim Monroe 3 Mike Sroufe 1 Ron Vandermeir Sr. 1 |
| Toyota 3 Chevrolet 1 Ford 4 | Fast Track Racing | 12 | Tim Monroe 2 | Tim Monroe 2 John Szulczewski 1 Daylan Hairston 1 Dick Doheny 3 Jeremy Petty 1 |
| Toyota 3 Chevrolet 1 Ford 4 | Fast Track Racing | 12 | C. J. McLaughlin 1 | Tim Monroe 2 John Szulczewski 1 Daylan Hairston 1 Dick Doheny 3 Jeremy Petty 1 |
| Toyota 3 Chevrolet 1 Ford 4 | Fast Track Racing | 12 | Stephanie Moyer 1 | Tim Monroe 2 John Szulczewski 1 Daylan Hairston 1 Dick Doheny 3 Jeremy Petty 1 |
| Toyota 3 Chevrolet 1 Ford 4 | Fast Track Racing | 12 | Ryan Roulette 2 | Tim Monroe 2 John Szulczewski 1 Daylan Hairston 1 Dick Doheny 3 Jeremy Petty 1 |
| Toyota 3 Chevrolet 1 Ford 4 | Fast Track Racing | 12 | Matt Kemp 1 | Tim Monroe 2 John Szulczewski 1 Daylan Hairston 1 Dick Doheny 3 Jeremy Petty 1 |
| Toyota 3 Chevrolet 1 Ford 4 | Fast Track Racing | 12 | D. L. Wilson 1 | Tim Monroe 2 John Szulczewski 1 Daylan Hairston 1 Dick Doheny 3 Jeremy Petty 1 |

### Limited schedule

| Manufacturer | Team | No. | Driver | Crew chief | Rounds |
| Chevrolet | Costner Weaver Motorsports | 93 | Isaac Johnson | Riley Higgins | 1 |
| Chevrolet | CR7 Motorsports | 97 | Grant Enfinger | Todd Myers | 1 |
| Chevrolet | CR7 Motorsports | 97 | Landen Lewis | Todd Myers | 1 |
| Chevrolet | Mullins Racing | 3 | Landon Pembelton | Austin Simmons | 1 |
| Chevrolet | Niece Motorsports | 42 | Matt Gould | Sean Samuels | 1 |
| Chevrolet | Rev Racing | 2 | Andrés Pérez de Lara | Jamie Jones | 4 |
| Chevrolet | Rev Racing | 51 | Jack Wood | Steve Plattenberger | 1 |
| Chevrolet | Veer Motorsports | 66 | Jon Garrett | Mike Sroufe | 4 |
| Ford | AM Racing | 32 | Christian Rose | Ryan London | 4 |
| Ford | Brad Smith Motorsports | 49 | Jeff Smith | Jeff Smith | 1 |
| Ford | Charles Buchanan Racing | 87 | Chuck Buchanan Jr. | Craig Wood | 1 |
| Ford | Clubb Racing Inc. | 03 | Alex Clubb | Brian Clubb | 2 |
| Ford | Clubb Racing Inc. | 03 | Casey Carden | Alex Clubb | 1 |
| Ford | Greg Van Alst Motorsports | 35 | Greg Van Alst | Jim Long | 2 |
| Ford | Lowden Jackson Motorsports | 41 | Tyler Reif (R) | Tony Jackson | 1 |
| Ford | Lowden Jackson Motorsports | 46 | R. J. Smotherman | David Jackson | 1 |
| Ford | Rette Jones Racing | 30 | Frankie Muniz | Mark Rette | 4 |
| Toyota | KLAS Motorsports | 73 | Andy Jankowiak | Mike Dayton | 1 |
| Toyota | MacZink Racing | 65 | Jeffery MacZink | Jarod MacZink | 1 |
| Toyota | MAN Motorsports | 95 | Tanner Arms | Tony Ponkauskas | 3 |
| Toyota | MAN Motorsports | 95 | Chris Martin Jr. | Tony Ponkauskas | 1 |
| Toyota | Phoenix Racing | 1 | Jake Finch | Johnny Allen | 3 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 25 | Conner Jones | Kevin Reed Jr. 2 Cayden Lapcevich 3 | 4 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 25 | Toni Breidinger | Kevin Reed Jr. 2 Cayden Lapcevich 3 | 1 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 55 | Toni Breidinger | Cayden Lapcevich 1 Monon Rahman 3 | 3 |
| Toyota | Venturini Motorsports | 55 | Gus Dean | Cayden Lapcevich 1 Monon Rahman 3 | 1 |
| Toyota | Wayne Peterson Racing | 0 | Nate Moeller | Wayne Peterson | 1 |
| Toyota | Wayne Peterson Racing | 06 | Nate Moeller | Wayne Peterson 2 Nate Moeller 5 | 3 |
| Toyota | Wayne Peterson Racing | 06 | A. J. Moyer | Wayne Peterson 2 Nate Moeller 5 | 4 |
| Ford 4 Toyota 1 | Kimmel Racing 4 Brad Smith Motorsports 1 | 69 | Will Kimmel | Bill Kimmel | 1 |
| Ford 4 Toyota 1 | Kimmel Racing 4 Brad Smith Motorsports 1 | 69 | Scott Melton | Will Kimmel | 1 |
| Ford 4 Toyota 1 | Kimmel Racing 4 Brad Smith Motorsports 1 | 69 | Mike Basham | Zach Berthiaume | 2 |
| Ford 4 Toyota 1 | Kimmel Racing 4 Brad Smith Motorsports 1 | 69 | Brad Smith | Jeff Smith | 1 |
| Toyota 1 Chevrolet 1 | McGowan Motorsports | 17 | Landen Lewis | Richard Mason | 1 |
| Toyota 1 Chevrolet 1 | McGowan Motorsports | 17 | Kaden Honeycutt | Amber Slagle | 1 |
Notes
* 1 2 Brad Smith ran the full season split between the No. 48 car for his own team and the No. 69 Kimmel Racing car which he used the owner points of at Milwaukee.
* 1 2 3 Monroe ran the full season split between the Nos. 12, 01 and 10 cars for Fast Track Racing.
* ↑ Entry was fielded in a collaboration with Vanco Racing.
* ↑ Entries were fielded in a collaboration with Fast Track Racing.
* 1 2 It was a Brad Smith Motorsports entry using Kimmel Racing's owner points.

### Changes
#### Teams

* On December 9, 2022, it was announced that the No. 18 car would go back to being owned by Joe Gibbs Racing in 2023. It was owned by Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2022.
* On January 8, 2023, it was announced that Tim Goulet Enterprises would rename to Rise Motorsports in 2023 and continue to field the No. 31 car in the main ARCA Series and the East Series for Rita Goulet (nee Thomason) and Stephen Leicht. On February 13, it was announced that they would run the full East Series season with Rita in 2023. Goulet and Leicht were both scheduled to run the main ARCA/East Series combination race at Bristol. Goulet would end up swapping out with her husband Tim and Leicht did not run the event.
* On January 13, 2023, Rev Racing announced that they would field a full-time car in the East Series again in 2023: the No. 6 driven by Lavar Scott. The team had last fielded a full-time East Series car in 2021 and only fielded part-time cars in the East Series in 2022.
* On January 18, 2023, it was announced that longtime main ARCA Series team Venturini Motorsports would field a full-time car in the East Series for the first time since 2020 in 2023: the No. 15 driven by Sean Hingorani.
* On February 3, 2023, it was announced that Shane Huffman, who was previously the crew chief for Bret Holmes Racing in the Truck and ARCA Series, would form a new ARCA and late model racing team, Pinnacle Racing Group, with spotter Lorin Ranier and former driver Josh Wise and would run full-time in the East Series in 2023, fielding the No. 28 Chevrolet.
* On February 24, 2023, it was revealed that Lowden Jackson Motorsports would debut in the East Series in 2023 after purchasing Fords from David Gilliland Racing which switched to Toyota and renamed to TRICON Garage. The team would field the No. 41 Ford driven by Tyler Reif for the full season.

#### Drivers

* On December 6, 2022, it was announced that Zachary Tinkle, who ran the full season in the main ARCA Series aside from the race at Mid-Ohio, would run full-time in the East Series in the No. 11 car for Fast Track Racing in 2023. Fast Track was one of the teams he drove part-time for in 2022.
* On December 9, 2022, it was announced that William Sawalich would drive the No. 18 car part-time in 2023 and the car would go back to being owned by Joe Gibbs Racing. It was owned by Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2022.
* On January 13, 2023, Rev Racing announced that Lavar Scott, who has been a driver for the team in late model racing, would drive full-time for the team in the East Series in 2023 in their No. 6 car. Andrés Pérez de Lara would also drive for Rev full-time in the main ARCA Series in the No. 2 car and was therefore in the four main combination races the East Series had with the main ARCA Series.
* On January 18, 2023, it was announced that Sean Hingorani, who drove part-time in the West Series for Nascimento Motorsports and Bill McAnally Racing in 2022, would drive full-time in the East Series for Venturini Motorsports in 2023 in their No. 15 car. Hingorani also drove the same car full-time in the West Series in 2023, attempting to win both championships in the same year.
* On February 13, 2023, Rise Motorsports announced that Rita Goulet (nee Thomason) would run full-time in the East Series in their No. 31 car in 2023.
* On February 24, 2023, Tyler Reif revealed to Frontstretch that he would run the full season in the East Series in 2023 in the Lowden Jackson Motorsports No. 41 car in addition to running full-time in the West Series for the team. He attempted to win both championships in the same year.

## Schedule

The full schedule was announced on November 22. Some race dates were announced before then. There were eight races on the 2023 schedule, up from seven in 2022.
Note: Races highlighted in gold are combination events with the ARCA Menards Series.
| No | Race title | Track | Location | Date |
| 1 | Pensacola 200 | Five Flags Speedway | Pensacola, Florida | March 25 |
| 2 | General Tire 125 | Dover Motor Speedway | Dover, Delaware | April 28 |
| 3 | Music City 200 | Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway | Nashville, Tennessee | May 13 |
| 4 | Dutch Boy 150 | Flat Rock Speedway | Ash Township, Michigan | May 20 |
| 5 | Calypso Lemonade 150 | Iowa Speedway | Newton, Iowa | July 15 |
| 6 | Reese's 200 | Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park | Brownsburg, Indiana | August 11 |
| 7 | Sprecher 150 | Milwaukee Mile | West Allis, Wisconsin | August 27 |
| 8 | Bush's Beans 200 | Bristol Motor Speedway | Bristol, Tennessee | September 14 |

### Schedule changes

* On August 9, 2022, Mark Kristl from Frontstretch reported that Flat Rock Speedway could be added to the East Series schedule in 2023. This was officially announced by ARCA on November 18. The race at Flat Rock, which was held on May 20, replaced the race at New Smyrna Speedway, which had been the season-opener for the East Series from 2014 to 2022.
* On November 11, 2022, it was announced that the main ARCA Series race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park would be a combination race with the East Series in 2023, giving the series a fourth combination race on top of the three returning ones from 2022 (Iowa, Milwaukee and Bristol).

### Broadcasting

After previously only broadcasting about half of the main ARCA Series races for several years, usually only the races that were on the same weekend at the same track as a NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and/or Truck race, Fox will broadcast all 20 main ARCA Series races in 2023 and this includes all four combination races with the East Series (Iowa, IRP, Milwaukee and Bristol). Previously, Bristol was the only East Series race televised on Fox as they were also broadcasting the Truck Series race there on that weekend.

## Results and standings
### Race results

| No. | Race | Pole position | Most laps led | Winning driver | Manufacturer | No. | Winning team | Report |
| 1 | Pensacola 200 | William Sawalich | William Sawalich | William Sawalich | Toyota | 18 | Joe Gibbs Racing | Report |
| 2 | General Tire 125 | William Sawalich | Jake Finch | Jake Finch | Toyota | 20 | Venturini Motorsports | Report |
| 3 | Music City 200 | William Sawalich | William Sawalich | Luke Fenhaus | Chevrolet | 28 | Pinnacle Racing Group | Report |
| 4 | Dutch Boy 150 | Sean Hingorani | Sean Hingorani | William Sawalich | Toyota | 18 | Joe Gibbs Racing | Report |
| 5 | Calypso Lemonade 150 | William Sawalich | William Sawalich | Luke Fenhaus | Chevrolet | 28 | Pinnacle Racing Group | Report |
| 6 | Reese's 200 | Jesse Love | Jesse Love | Jesse Love | Toyota | 20 | Venturini Motorsports | Report |
| 7 | Sprecher 150 | William Sawalich | William Sawalich | William Sawalich | Toyota | 18 | Joe Gibbs Racing | Report |
| 8 | Bush's Beans 200 | William Sawalich | Jesse Love | William Sawalich | Toyota | 18 | Joe Gibbs Racing | Report |

### Drivers' championship

Notes:
* The pole winner also receives 1 bonus point, similar to the previous ARCA points system used until 2019 and unlike NASCAR.
* Additionally, after groups of 5 races of the season, drivers that compete in all 5 races receive 50 additional points. This points bonus will be given after the race at Iowa.
** William Sawalich, Luke Fenhaus, Lavar Scott, Zachary Tinkle, Tim Monroe and Dale Shearer received this points bonus for having competed in the first 5 races of the season (Five Flags, Dover, Nashville Fairgrounds, Flat Rock, and Iowa).
(key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led.
| Pos | Driver | FIF | DOV | NSV | FRS | IOW | IRP | MLW | BRI | Points |
| 1 | William Sawalich (R) | 1** | 4 | 2* | 1 | 2* | 4 | 1* | 1 | 420 |
| 2 | Luke Fenhaus (R) | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 29 | 362 |
| 3 | Lavar Scott (R) | 5 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 351 |
| 4 | Zachary Tinkle | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 336 |
| 5 | Tim Monroe | 11 | 15 | 9 | 7 | 17 | 22 | 15 | 25 | 281 |
| 6 | Dale Shearer | 14 | 14 | 10 | 11 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 24 | 273 |
| 7 | Sean Hingorani (R) | 4 | 10 | 3 | 3* | | 3 | 3 | 15 | 272 |
| 8 | Jake Finch | 3 | 1* | 5 | | | | 9 | 4 | 203 |
| 9 | Conner Jones | | 9 | | | 8 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 187 |
| 10 | Brad Smith | Wth | 11 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 21 | 20 | 30 | 186 |
| 11 | Jesse Love | | | | | 3 | 1* | 2 | 2* | 177 |
| 12 | Rita Goulet (R) | 15 | 12 | 11 | | 16 | 16 | 17 | QL | 177 |
| 13 | Andrés Pérez de Lara | | | | | 6 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 152 |
| 14 | Toni Breidinger | | 7 | | | 5 | 9 | | 12 | 143 |
| 15 | Christian Rose | | | | | 7 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 140 |
| 16 | Frankie Muniz | | | | | 9 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 121 |
| 17 | Nate Moeller | 13 | | 15 | 14 | | 23 | | | 111 |
| 18 | Tanner Arms | 8 | | 8 | | | | | 11 | 105 |
| 19 | Jon Garrett | | | | | 10 | 14 | 21 | 26 | 105 |
| 20 | A. J. Moyer | | | | | 14 | 17 | 16 | 27 | 102 |
| 21 | Dallas Frueh | 12 | | | 15 | | | 22 | | 83 |
| 22 | Brayton Laster | | | 14 | | 20 | 20 | | | 78 |
| 23 | Greg Van Alst | | | | | | 7 | | 5 | 76 |
| 24 | Alex Clubb | | | | | 13 | | 23 | 22 | 74 |
| 25 | Ed Pompa | 10 | 8 | | | | | | | 70 |
| 26 | Landen Lewis | | 2 | | | | | | 20 | 68 |
| 27 | Ryan Roulette | | | | 12 | | | | 18 | 58 |
| 28 | D. L. Wilson | | | | | | 15 | | 16 | 57 |
| 29 | Gio Ruggiero | | | 4 | | | | | | 40 |
| 30 | Billy Venturini | | | | 4 | | | | | 40 |
| 31 | Grant Enfinger | | | | | | | 5 | | 39 |
| 32 | Tyler Reif (R) | 6 | | | | | | | | 38 |
| 33 | Landon Pembelton | | | | | | | | 7 | 37 |
| 34 | Will Kimmel | | | | 8 | | | | | 36 |
| 35 | R. J. Smotherman | 9 | | | | | | | | 35 |
| 36 | Jeffery MacZink | | | | 9 | | | | | 35 |
| 37 | Jack Wood | | | | | | | | 9 | 35 |
| 38 | Derrick McGrew Jr. | | | | 10 | | | | | 34 |
| 39 | Gus Dean | | | | | | | 10 | | 34 |
| 40 | Andy Jankowiak | | | | | | | | 10 | 34 |
| 41 | Scott Melton | | | | | 12 | | | | 32 |
| 42 | Isaac Johnson | | | | | | 12 | | | 32 |
| 43 | Mike Basham | | | | | | 24 | | 32 | 32 |
| 44 | C. J. McLaughlin | | 13 | | | | | | | 31 |
| 45 | Stephanie Moyer | | | 13 | | | | | | 31 |
| 46 | Rick Redig-Tackman | | | | | | | 14 | | 30 |
| 47 | Caleb Costner | | | | | | | | 14 | 30 |
| 48 | Jeff Smith | | | | 16 | | | | | 28 |
| 49 | Chris Martin Jr. | | | | | | 18 | | | 26 |
| 50 | Ron Vandermeir Jr. | | | | | | | 18 | | 26 |
| 51 | Matt Kemp | | | | | 19 | | | | 25 |
| 52 | Chuck Buchanan Jr. | | | | | | | | 19 | 25 |
| 53 | Kaden Honeycutt | | | | | | | | 21 | 23 |
| 54 | Casey Carden | | | | | | 25 | | | 19 |
| 55 | Tim Goulet | | | | | | | | 28 | 16 |
| 56 | Matt Gould | | | | | | | | 31 | 13 |
| | Jalen Mack | | | | | Wth | | | | |
| | Tony Cosentino | | | | | Wth | | | | |