In terms of the bigger picture that is the 2022 ARCA Menards Series East season, Saturday night’s Music City 200 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway was more of the same.

Sammy Smith, last year’s East Series champion, led 156 of 200 laps on the half-mile paved oval en route to his third victory in four races this year. His championship rival, Taylor Gray, wasn’t far behind with a third-place finish.

Yet the fourth event of the 2022 East Series season was telling, both in the confirmation that Smith is the driver to beat on short tracks and that Gray absolutely remains a player in the title hunt despite Smith’s growing win tally.\

Plus, rookie Jake Finch taught us that Smith and Gray should not be alone as co-favorites to win East Series races in 2022.

Below are the key takeaways from Saturday’s Music City 200 at the historic Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.

Sammy Smith becoming short-track king of East Series

Three of the four races to begin the 2022 East Series season played out on tracks a half-mile in length, with the opening events at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway and Five Flags Speedway (Pensacola, Florida) combined with Saturday’s race at Nashville Fairgrounds.

Smith won all three of those events, with Gray taking the checkered flag on the one-mile concrete over at Dover Motor Speedway to begin the month of May.

Including his three East Series victories last year en route to the championship, Smith’s six wins on the platform all came at short tracks. He also won at Five Flags and Nashville last year before emerging victorious at Southern National Motorsports Park in Kenly, North Carolina.

This is a good sign for the 18-year-old defending champ considering short tracks make up the majority of the 2022 East Series schedule, which already has surpassed its halfway point.

On June 11, the series will visit Iowa Speedway for a combination event with the ARCA Menards Series and Sioux Chief Showdown. Then it’s back to a one-mile oval when the East Series heads to the Milwaukee Mile on Aug. 28 for another combo race.

The East Series concludes Sept. 15 with a third combination event, at the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway. That’s where Smith celebrated his East Series championship last year.

If he continues to thrive in this way, he will have a good chance to celebrate a title at Bristol once again.

Taylor Gray staying within striking distance in points

Smith may have three victories in four East Series races this season, but one would not notice based on the points standings. His lead over Gray is just nine points heading into the final trio of events.

This is the product of Gray’s consistency. He has not finished worse than third through the four events. That of course includes his dominant win at Dover in David Gilliland Racing’s new Ford Mustang.

Gray was fast at Nashville on Saturday night, but he could never develop enough speed to keep up with Smith on longer runs. He also conceded the second position to Finch late in the race.

Yet Gray proved at Dover he can be just as dominant as Smith was at Nashville. One can assume the No. 17 team has the Milwaukee Mile race circled as key to the championship hunt.

A win there could position Gray for a showdown with Smith in the championship race at Bristol, where an expected strong car count in a combination race will create more points scenarios.

Jake Finch showing more speed

A rookie almost spoiled the Smith party at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on Saturday night. Instead, Finch had to settle for second place.

When Finch made his ARCA Menards platform debut earlier this year in the East Series race at Five Flags, he qualified third. He would have finished that event better than eighth had he not blown a tire late in the race.

Fast-forward to Saturday’s race in Nashville, where the Lynn Haven, Florida, native, proved how strong he can be.

After starting on the General Tire Pole with the fastest lap in the afternoon’s combined practice/qualifying session, Finch led the first 44 laps of the Music City 200 before Smith made what turned out to be the winning pass. They marked Finch’s first laps led in ARCA competition.

Finch may not have reached the lead again, but he was able to run with Smith in a way that was unexpected given the latter’s dominance this season. Finch also ran down and passed Gray for second place, an overtake that was nominated for the Reese’s Sweet Move of the Race award.

Finch did this in a family-owned Chevrolet with Phoenix Construction as a partner. He raced the same car at Five Flags earlier this year. When he finished sixth after starting seventh at Dover to begin the month, he did so driving the No. 25 Toyota for Venturini Motorsports.

Those results suggest Finch doesn’t need the benefit of driving for a powerhouse ARCA Menards team. His runs in the No. 1 car have been worthy of a checkered flag.

NOTES:

• Driving for Young’s Motorsports, East Series rookie Leland Honeyman notched another top-five finish (fifth) at Nashville, his third such result in four races this season. He is nestled comfortably in third place in the series standings, 25 points behind the leader Smith and 16 points behind Gray.
• Mason Mingus, who finished third last year at Nashville driving for Jeff McClure, was back in action Saturday night again in McClure’s car. He finished fourth after a late charge.
• Tanner Arms finished sixth in his ARCA Menards platform debut. Arms is a track champion in the Pro Modified and Super Truck classes at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
• Six drivers have competed in all four East Series races this season. Smith, Gray and Honeyman are the top three in points followed by Christian Rose in fourth, Stephanie Moyer in fifth and Brad Smith in sixth. Rose has a pair of top-10 finishes this year; Moyer has one.
• Saturday night’s Music City 200 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway marked the East Series’ fourth and final standalone race of the season. All three events to close the year — Iowa Speedway on June 11, the Milwaukee Mile on Aug. 28 and Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 15 — will be combination races with the ARCA Menards Series.