The only thing standing between Sean Hingorani and back-to-back ARCA Menards Series West championships is a 100-lap contest at Phoenix Raceway. Heading into Friday’s Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100, Hingorani maintains a 14-point advantage over Tyler Reif for the top spot in the championship standings.
Hingorani, who has three wins (the latest coming at Kern Raceway on October 27) so far throughout the 2024 ARCA West season, secured the championship with a third-place run in this event a season ago. He’ll look to pull it off again as he’ll drive the No. 15 Venturini Motorsports Toyota.
With 24 drivers on the entry list for Friday’s race, the championship race is no slam dunk for Hingorani as we saw Connor Zilisch have a healthy point lead heading into the final race of the ARCA Menards Series East season wiped out due to a crash not of his doing at Bristol Motor Speedway. Hingorani will look to avoid disaster and close out his championship.
Reif is hopeful that he can cap off what has been a career-best season with a come-from-behind championship win at Phoenix Raceway. While Hingorani has had the best season of anyone in the ARCA West ranks this year, Reif has been no slouch. The Central Cabinets Racing driver has recorded an average finish of 4.6 this season, and he’s led 296 laps of the 1,444 laps completed in the ARCA Menards Series West so far in 2024.
However, if Reif is going to capitalize on misfortune from Hingorani, he’ll have to be more competitive at the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway than he was in the Spring when he finished 11th.
Another interesting storyline for this event is Marco Andretti, who is making his debut behind the wheel of a Venturini Motorsports Toyota. In an October 28 press release, Venturini Motorsports and Andretti indicated that this partnership could continue into the 2025 season.
Andretti, son of open-wheel legend Michael Andretti and grandson of Mario Andretti — one of the greatest racers of all time, made 11 starts in the ARCA Menards Series this season for Cook Racing Technologies, and in his 11 starts in the main ARCA Series, Andretti scored a best finish of fifth.
In addition to the ARCA/ARCA West combination event at Phoenix, where he finished 21st in March, Andretti has two other starts in the ARCA Menards Series West competition this season. Those two races were on road courses at Portland and Sonoma, and Andretti notched a seventh-place run at Portland, and 11th at Sonoma.
The 37-year-old, who was a two-time NTT IndyCar Series race winner and was the 2023 Camping World SRX Series champion, will look to snag a career-best finish in the West Series this weekend driving arguably the best equipment of his stock car racing career in the No. 25 Venturini Motorsports Toyota with sponsorship from Rich Mar Florist.
While all eyes will be on the point battle between Hingorani and Reif, the favorite to pick up the win in this race has to be 18-year-old William Sawalich, who recently secured his second-consecutive ARCA Menards Series East championship driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.
The native of Eden Prairie, Minnesota has already amassed 13 wins in the ARCA Menards Series, as well as seven wins in the ARCA Menards Series East, and three wins in the ARCA Menards Series West. In three West Series starts this season, Sawalich has two wins and a worst finish of fourth. Sawlich won the season-opening race at Phoenix Raceway in March.
In addition to Sawalich, Hingorani, and Reif, other drivers expected to be in contention for the win on Friday include Jack Wood, in the No. 16 Bill McAnally Racing Chevrolet, Gio Ruggiero, in the No. 20 Venturini Motorsports Toyota, Brent Crews, in the No. 22 Venturini Motorsports Toyota, Connor Zilisch, in the No. 28 Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet, and Jake Finch, in the No. 55 Venturini Motorsports Toyota.
Tune In Info:
The ARCA Menards Series Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100 at Phoenix Raceway is scheduled for Friday, November 8. While there will be no live television coverage of the event, the race can be streamed live on the FloRacing subscription streaming service beginning at 1:30 PM ET. For those unable to attend the race or to watch on FloRacing, the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will provide the radio broadcast of the 100-mile ARCA West season finale.
Entry List: Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100 at Phoenix
| Entry | No. | Driver | Team | Crew Chief |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Sebastian Arias | Rev Racing Brady Plus Chevrolet | Glenn Parker |
| 2 | 3 | Todd Souza | Central Coast Racing Central Coast Cabinets Toyota | Jason Dickenson |
| 3 | 4 | Eric Nascimento Jr | Nascimento Motorsports Impact Transportation / Nascimento Joiner Motorsports Chevrolet | Ty Joiner |
| 4 | 05 | David Smith | Shockwave Motorsports Shockwave Marine Suspension Seating Toyota | Brandon Carlson |
| 5 | 6 | Lavar Scott | Rev Racing Chevy Performance / Max Siegel Inc Chevrolet | Danny Johnson |
| 6 | 7 | Takuma Koga | Jerry Pitts Racing MACNICA Toyota | Denny Moyer |
| 7 | 9 | Kyle Keller | Jan's Towing Racing Jan’s Towing / Jan’s Racing / Argus Construction Ford | Brian Kizer |
| 8 | 13 | Tyler Reif | Central Coast Racing Central Coast Cabinets Toyota | Michael Munoz |
| 9 | 15 | Sean Hingorani | Venturini Motorsports Fidelity Capital Toyota | Tyler Barrett |
| 10 | 16 | Jack Wood | Bill McAnally Racing NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet | Kevin Bellicourt |
| 11 | 18 | William Sawalich * | Joe Gibbs Racing Starkey / Soundgear Toyota | Matt Ross |
| 12 | 19 | Eric Johnson Jr. * | Bill McAnally Racing Pacific Office Automation Chevrolet | John Camilleri |
| 13 | 20 | Gio Ruggiero * | Venturini Motorsports JBL Toyota | Taylor DeWolf |
| 14 | 21 | Alex Malycke * | Nascimento Motorsports Dominion Dive Club / Steak King Toyota | Mike Nascimento |
| 15 | 22 | Brent Crews * | Venturini Motorsports Mobil 1 Toyota | Shane Everts |
| 16 | 23 | Kaden Honeycutt | Sigma Performance Services SPS / GMS Fabrication Chevrolet | Chris Bray |
| 17 | 25 | Marco Andretti * | Venturini Motorsports Rich Mar Florist Toyota | Matt Bayyouk |
| 18 | 27 | Bobby Hillis Jr. | Fierce Creature Racing First Imprsn Press / LT&T Lawn / RV Nerd / Camping World Chevrolet | Tony Huffman |
| 19 | 28 | Connor Zilisch | Pinnacle Racing Group Pristine Auction Chevrolet | Shane Huffman |
| 20 | 50 | Trevor Huddleston | High Point Racing High Point Racing / Racecar Factory Ford | Jeff Schrader |
| 21 | 55 | Jake Finch * | Venturini Motorsports Phoenix Construction Toyota | Gregory Papp |
| 22 | 71 | Rip Michels * | Jan's Towing Racing Jan’s Towing Ford | Marco Peaz |
| 23 | 72 | Jonathan Reaume * | Reaume Brothers Racing Mountain Top Media / RBR Engineering Chevrolet | John Reaume |
| 24 | 76 | Kole Raz * | AM Racing Cyclum Renewables Truck Stops Ford | Ryan London |
