After a tough week at the Bullring, Kaden Honeycutt and the Cook Racing Technologies No. 17 came out swinging and dominated the competition by leading every lap en route to winning his second career ARCA Menards Series West race at Madera Speedway.
The Woodlands, TX native was able to overcome a slew of restarts in the latter half of the race, plus some adversity of speedy dry left on the track to hold off his fellow competitors late to bring home the checkered flag.
“It just feels so good. These guys work their butts off and they deserve this type of stuff every freaking week. This car was phenomenal,” Honeycutt said post-race.
“I was so worried about the speedy dry. There was so much put down in one and two where I wanted to run. I executed on that restart. Got down on the bottom, and kicked their freaking butt. That’s what this team is about…Last week was tough, but we pulled together and got another one,” he added about the last restart on the night.
Hanging with the fans. Such a cool celebration.#ARCAMenards https://t.co/iSUhh2M1ld
— old ben (gone and forgotten) (@BrBranscum43) October 22, 2023
This now sets the team up in a great position to win the 2023 Owner’s Title at Phoenix Raceway.
Coming up just shy of his second career West Series win, but still having a night to be proud of was Todd Souza.
“We’ve been struggling all year. Last month or so we’ve been making a run at it. Improving each week getting the car better and better, and not tearing up a whole lot. So we got something to go off of for the next race. I think we’re close,” the veteran said after coming home in second.
He and the Coastal Cabinets Racing team credit the addition of the second car with Tyler Reif benefiting the team overall.
“It helps a lot. We got two cars to go off of in practice. We can try twice as much as you can with one car. Helps us get the car better faster…It’s definitely improved us. Our team is moving to the top,” he added. This marks his fourth straight top-10 finish on the season.
After the No. 88 Ford took home the win last weekend at the Bullring, this time, they would have to settle with a third place with Joey Iest back behind the wheel.
Bradley Erickson and Sean Hingorani rounded out the top five.
It was an up-and-down night for Hingorani. After starting in the back, working his way to fifth, and then getting collected in a wreck, the Newport Beach, CA. native and No. 15 team were able to recover nicely. Keeping him and the car in both title fights heading to the finale.
The finish of the race wasn’t good for all though, as contact between Trevor Huddleston and Tyler Reif sent the No. 50 around in turn three as the checkered flag flew, costing him valuable points in the Driver’s Title battle. Huddleston was credited with 10th and Tyler Reif 11th on the night.
Disappointment also came for Tanner Reif as his No. 16 NAPA Toyota had mechanical issues and stopped on track. He and the team were able to make repairs, and he finished the race under his power. He managed to come home 17th.
Up next, it’s the 2023 season finale as the ARCA Menards Series West travels to Champions Weekend at Phoenix Raceway. You can watch the race live on FloRacing on Friday, November 3rd.
Official Results for the 51FIFTY Jr Homecoming ARCA 150 at Madera Speedway
| Finsh | Start | # | Driver | Team | Laps | Diff | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 17 | Kaden Honeycutt | Cook Racing Technologies MMI - Sunwest Construction Chevrolet | 150 | 0.000 | |
| 2 | 3 | 3 | Todd Souza | Central Coast Racing Central Coast Cabinets Ford | 150 | 4.248 | |
| 3 | 12 | 88 | Joey Iest | Naake-Klauer Motorsports Basila Farms Ford | 150 | 6.067 | |
| 4 | 6 | 23 | Bradley Erickson | Sigma Performance Services L&S Framing Toyota | 150 | 6.855 | |
| 5 | 5 | 15 | Sean Hingorani | Venturini Motorsports Mobil 1 Toyota | 150 | 7.661 | |
| 6 | 1 | 4 | Eric Nascimento | Nascimento-Joiner Racing 51fifty Gloves Not Drugs Chevrolet | 150 | 7.954 | |
| 7 | 10 | 70 | Kyle Keller | Kyle Keller Racing Setting the Stage Ford | 150 | 8.279 | |
| 8 | 16 | 71 | Nick Joanides | Joanides Racing Jan's Towing Ford | 150 | 12.218 | |
| 9 | 14 | 52 | Ryan Philpott | Ryan Philpott Racing Hacienda Pools Chevrolet | 150 | 12.777 | |
| 10 | 8 | 50 | Trevor Huddleston | High Point Racing Racecar Factory Ford | 150 | 25.052 | |
| 11 | 4 | 13 | Tyler Reif | Central Coast Racing Central Coast Cabinets Ford | 145 | 5.018 | |
| 12 | 17 | 49 | Monty Tipton | 3K Motorsports Tether Studios Ford | 132 | 5 laps | |
| 13 | 19 | 05 | David Smith | Shockwave Racing Shockwave Marine Suspension Seating Toyota | 130 | 18 laps | |
| 14 | 11 | 21 | Ethan Nascimento | Nascimento-Joiner Racing Philip Brothers Chevrolet | 129 | 20 laps | |
| 15 | 15 | 7 | Takuma Koga | Jerry Pitts Racing GR Garage Toyota | 21 laps | ||
| 16 | 13 | 1 | Robbie Kennealy | 3K Motorsports Setting the Stage Ford | 129 | 21 laps | |
| 17 | 7 | 16 | Tanner Reif | Bill McAnally Racing NAPA Chevrolet | 100 | 50 laps | |
| 18 | 9 | 5 | Dustin Ash | Jerry Pitts Racing Toyota | 93 | 57 laps | |
| 19 | 18 | 77 | Brody Armtrout | Performance P1 Motorsports REX MD Toyota | 93 | 57 laps |
