The 2022 ARCA Menards Series East was the 36th season of the ARCA Menards Series East, a regional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season began on February 15 with the Race to Stop Suicide 200 at New Smyrna Speedway and ended on September 15 with the Sioux Chief Showdown 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Sammy Smith entered the season as the defending champion. He moved up to the main ARCA Series to replace Ty Gibbs in the No. 18 car for Kyle Busch Motorsports (previously a Joe Gibbs Racing car in 2021) in most of the races after turning 18 (the minimum age to race at all tracks) on June 4, 2022. However, Smith continued to drive full-time in the East Series in the KBM No. 18.
The race at Milwaukee also featured six female drivers competing in the race (Amber Balcaen, Toni Breidinger, Mandy Chick, Stephanie Moyer, Amber Slagle, and Rita Thomason), a record for the East Series.
Teams and drivers Complete schedule Manufacturer Team Driver Crew chief Chevrolet Brad Smith Motorsports 48 Brad Smith Terry Strange Jerry Willis Leo Kryger Carl Brown Jeff Smith Young's Motorsports 02 Leland Honeyman (R) Andrew Abbott Ford David Gilliland Racing 17 Taylor Gray Chad Johnston Toyota Kyle Busch Motorsports 18 Sammy Smith Mark McFarland Fast Track Racing 01 Stephanie Moyer Mike Sroufe Tim Monroe Dallas Frueh Toyota Ford 10 Ed Pompa Dick Doheny Wayne Peterson Tim Monroe Jeremy Petty Steven Barton Benny Chastain Nate Moeller Benny Chastain, the driver of the No. 10 Toyota for Fast Track Racing, crashed in practice for the race at Five Flags (race #2) and did not have a backup car. The team made a deal with Wayne Peterson Racing to renumber Nate Moeller's No. 06 Ford to the No. 10 and use their owner points in the race. Tim Monroe Matt Wilson Tanner Allen Toyota Ford Chevrolet 11 Willie Mullins Robert Bruce Dick Doheny Mike Sroufe Andy Hillenburg Ed Pompa Ryan Roulette Bryce Haugeberg Zachary Tinkle Toyota Chevrolet Ford 12 Tony Cosentino Tony Cosentino Tim Monroe Trey Galgon Dick Doheny Tim Monroe Tommy Vigh Jr. D. L. Wilson Zachary Tinkle
Limited schedule Manufacturer Team Driver Crew chief Rounds Chevrolet Bret Holmes Racing 23 Connor Mosack Shane Huffman CCM Racing 7 Eric Caudell Jeremy Petty 22 Steve Austin (R) Costner Weaver Motorsports 95 Caleb Costner Brian Bibeau GMS Racing 43 Daniel Dye Chad Bryant McGowan Motorsports 24 Amber Slagle Sean Samuels Niece Motorsports 40 Matt Gould Phil Gould Rev Racing 2 Nick Sanchez Matt Bucher 6 Rajah Caruth Brad Parrott Brad Means Richmond Motorsports 27 Tim Richmond Darrell Phillips Tim Goulet Enterprises 31 Rita Thomason Tim Goulet Ford Clubb Racing Inc. 03 Alex Clubb Brian Clubb David Gilliland Racing 51 Andrés Pérez de Lara Derek Smith Greg Van Alst Motorsports 35 Greg Van Alst Jim Long Rette Jones Racing 30 Max Gutiérrez Mark Rette Amber Balcaen Toyota ALH Motorsports 49 Ashton Higgins Tony Ponkauskas Jankowiak Motorsports 73 Andy Jankowiak Mike Dayton Joe Gibbs Racing 81 Brandon Jones Jeff Meendering Jacob Canter MAN Motorsports 95 Tanner Arms David Noble Mullins Racing 3 Mason Diaz Austin Simmons Phoenix Racing 1 Jake Finch Johnny Allen TC Motorsports 91 Justin Carroll Terry Carroll Vanco Racing 66 Ron Vandermeir Jr. Ron Vandermeir Sr. Venturini Motorsports 15 Conner Jones Kevin Reed Landon Pembelton Parker Chase 20 Jesse Love Shannon Rursch 25 Jake Finch Kevin Reed Jr. Toni Breidinger 55 Jonathan Shafer Dave Leiner Jr. Conner Jones Visconti Motorsports Team Chick Motorsports 74 Donald Theetge John Visconti III Mandy Chick Steve Chick Toyota Chevrolet Cook Racing Technologies 42 Christian Rose Sean Samuels John Holmes Ford Toyota Ferrier McClure Racing Vanco Racing 44 Mason Diaz Jeff McClure Brandon Varney Mason Mingus Ron Vandermeir Jr. Mike Goudie Chevrolet Ford Josh Williams Motorsports with Lira Motorsports 60 Logan Misuraca Tony Furr John Holmes Josh Williams Daniel Escoto (R) Michael Lira Ford Toyota Wayne Peterson Racing 0 Zachary Tinkle Michael Peterson Nate Moeller Nate Moeller Ford Chevrolet Wayne Peterson Racing Richmond Motorsports 06 Nate Moeller Wayne Peterson Unknown Michael Peterson Zachary Tinkle Tim Richmond A. J. Moyer
Notes
Changes Teams On August 30, 2021, Rev Racing confirmed that they will not field any full-time East Series cars in 2022 as they will now field 2 cars full-time in the main ARCA Series. On November 5, 2021, Alex Clubb announced that he would be starting his own ARCA team after having previously been a driver/co-owner of Tim Richmond's ARCA team until late in the 2021 season. His part-time schedule in his No. 03 car includes the combination races at Iowa and Milwaukee. On March 15, 2022, it was announced that Phoenix Racing would be returning to a NASCAR-sanctioned series for the first time since 2013 and Jake Finch, the son of team owner James Finch, would make his East Series debut at Five Flags Speedway in the team's No. 1 car. Finch and the team would also run the race at Nashville. On May 8, 2022, it was announced that Steve Austin, who previously drove for CCM Racing, would drive for a new team, T.C. Enterprises, full-time in 2023 with the possibility of partnering with another team to jointly field a car in some races in 2022.
Drivers On July 26, 2021, Taylor Gray stated to Mark Kristl from Frontstretch that he will return to the David Gilliland Racing No. 17 car full-time in 2022. Although he had plans to drive the car full-time in 2021, he only ran part-time after suffering an injury during the season. On August 30, 2021, it was announced that Rajah Caruth would drive full-time for Rev Racing in the main ARCA Series after driving full-time in the East Series in 2021. On October 29, 2021, GMS Racing announced that Daniel Dye would drive full-time in the main ARCA Series for the team after driving full-time in the East Series in 2021 for both them and Ben Kennedy Racing. On April 27, 2022, ARCA indefinitely suspended Dye due to his arrest on a felony battery charge in Volusia County, Florida. On May 13, ARCA announced that Dye would be reinstated after his charges were reduced by the Florida state attorney's office. On December 6, 2021, Steve Austin tweeted that he would be driving in the East Series for CCM Racing in the No. 22 car. He did not specify whether it would be full-time or part-time, although he has indicated that he and the team are trying to find sponsorship for him to run full-time and for Rookie of the Year. CCM team owner Eric Caudell was entered in the No. 22 car at Dover instead of Austin before withdrawing and Matt Wilson replaced Austin in the No. 22 at Nashville (until CCM withdrew the No. 22 and partnered with Fast Track Racing to jointly field the No. 10 car for Wilson in that race). On May 8, it was announced that Austin had left for, T.C. Enterprises, a new team that will run full-time in 2023 with the possibility of partnering with another team to jointly field a car in some races in 2022. On May 22, The Pit Lane revealed that Austin had been arrested on April 27 after a parole violation and has a history of legal issues (including identity theft as his real/legal name is Edward Hudson) and is a habitual felon. Despite this discovery, the sanctioning body has yet to officially announce that Austin will be suspended. On December 22, 2021, it was announced that Stephanie Moyer would run the full season in the No. 01 for Fast Track Racing after driving the majority of the 2021 season for the team. On January 18, 2022, it was announced that Caleb Costner would drive full time in the No. 14 for Last Chance Racing with Costner Motorsports. However, Costner only attempted New Smyrna for his own team Costner Weaver Motorsports. On January 28, 2022, it was announced that Leland Honeyman would run the full season in the No. 02 for Young's Motorsports. On the New Smyrna entry list, it was revealed that Ashton Higgins would make his debut in a No. 49 car owned by himself, but he withdrew. Instead, he and his team debuted at Five Flags. Higgins and the No. 49 car also withdrew from the race at Nashville. Higgins' 49 car would attempt the race at Bristol. Daniel Escoto was going to drive the No. 60 car for Josh Williams Motorsports in the season-opener at New Smyrna, but due to illness, he was replaced by Logan Misuraca. On March 15, 2022, it was announced that Escoto would run the remainder of the season in the car. However, Michael Lira would replace Escoto at Nashville. Lira would also attempt the season-finale at Bristol. On March 1, 2022, it was revealed that Tanner Arms would make his home-track debut at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. He would drive that car again at Bristol. On March 18, 2022, just after practice, Nate Moeller renumbered his No. 06 car to the No. 10 car for Fast Track Racing, since their normal driver Benny Chastain crashed his car in practice and had no backup. On April 1, 2022, it was revealed that Christian Rose would attempt 9 races in the main ARCA series, 5 races in the East Series, and 3 races in the West Series for Cook Racing Technologies. On May 25, 2022, it was announced that Brandon Jones would return to the East Series for the first time since 2019 as he would run two of the combination races with the main ARCA Series (Iowa and Bristol) in the No. 81 car for Joe Gibbs Racing. Although JGR sold their ARCA team to Kyle Busch Motorsports before the start of the 2022 season, this entry will be a JGR car and not a KBM car.
Crew chiefs On January 11, 2022, it was announced that Brad Parrott would be the crew chief for Rajah Caruth's No. 6 car for Rev Racing in 2022. Glenn Parker was Caruth's crew chief in 2021 when he ran part-time in the main ARCA Series and full-time in the East Series. His Rev Racing teammate Nick Sanchez also got a new crew chief for 2022, as Matt Bucher replaced Steve Plattenberger.
Manufacturers On October 7, 2021, a Frontstretch article revealed that Rev Racing would receive manufacturer support from Chevrolet in 2022, which they did not have in 2021 despite being a Chevrolet team.
Schedule Dover Motor Speedway announced their 2022 race date in a tweet on September 29. The rest of the schedule was announced on November 19.
Note: Races highlighted in gold are combination events with the ARCA Menards Series.
No Race title Track Date 1 Race to Stop Suicide 200 presented by Place of Hope New Smyrna Speedway, New Smyrna Beach, Florida February 15 2 Pensacola 200 Five Flags Speedway, Pensacola, Florida March 19 3 General Tire 125 Dover Motor Speedway, Dover, Delaware April 29 4 Music City 200 Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville, Tennessee May 7 5 Calypso Lemonade 150 Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa June 11 6 Sprecher 150 Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wisconsin August 28 7 Bush's Beans 200 Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee September 15
Schedule changes The race at Southern National Motorsports Park was taken off the schedule and not replaced with another race at a different track, so there are now 7 races on the schedule instead of 8. The race at Five Flags Speedway moves from February to March. The race at Dover Motor Speedway moves two weeks earlier along with the weekend's Cup Series race, making it the third race of the season which makes the race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway (which is on the same weekend in 2022 that it was in 2021) the fourth race of the season. The combination race at Iowa Speedway moves from July to June.
Broadcasting The TV lineup is similar to what it looked like in 2021, with NBC airing all of the non-combination races on tape delay, MAVTV airing the combination races at Iowa and Milwaukee, and Fox airing the season-finale at Bristol (which is also a combination race). However, USA Network will be the channel that the NBC races are aired on instead of NBCSN, which was shut down at the end of 2021.