Saturday night’s ARCA Menards Series West event at Irwindale Speedway was a race of attrition, and it was the Agoura Hills, CA native Trevor Huddleston who took home the checkered flag for the NAPA Auto Parts BlueDEF 150.
Huddleston, who started fourth, played the long game and survived after the top drivers — Landen Lewis and Sean Hingorani — fell by the wayside with separate issues after both drivers raced inches apart and side-by-side for several laps.
“I’m so excited, man… I do this for all of you guys (his family)… I’ve never been this out of breath just from excitement,” the 27-year-old Huddleston said post-race.
Huddleston outlasted the others and had some luck on his side as both the top two in the ARCA West points standings had major issues.
Rookie contender and the second place man in the ARCA West point standings Hingorani, who won his first career ARCA West race at Irwindale earlier this season, slapped the wall coming off of Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 88 to bring out the caution. The damage to his No. 15 racecar was terminal, and the Venturini Motorsports Toyota would end up finishing 12th on the night.
Issues also hit Lewis and the No. 17 team. After Hingorani’s incident, the Portland winner was set to be the class of the field. However, on the restart, Lewis was black-flagged for jumping the restart late in the race. While he was able to stay on the lead lap, the West Series points leader ended up ninth on the night.
It was a career-best night for Eric Nascimento Jr. as he took home a career-best second-place finish on the night.
“We haven’t finished one this year. It’s a big monkey off our back,” Nascimento said post-race.
This was also Nascimento’s first top-five finish since 2021 at Colorado.
Tanner Reif also picked up his season best in the No. 16 for Bill McAnally with a third-place finish and his second top-five of the season. Todd Souza and Robbie Kennealy rounded out the top five. Both drivers picked up their first top fives of the 2023 season. For Kennealy, it was a good result for his first career ARCA Menards West Series start.
Official Results from the NAPA AUTO PARTS BLUEDEF 150
| Fin | St | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Diff | Status | Best Lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 50 | Trevor Huddleston | High Point Racing High Point Racing / Racecar Factory Ford | 150 | -- | Running | 18.999 |
| 2 | 8 | 4 | Eric Nascimento | Nascimento Motorsports Impact Transp / Phillipos Brothers Fab / Paul Cardoso Toyota | 150 | 3.354 | Running | 19.176 |
| 3 | 5 | 16 | Tanner Reif | Bill McAnally Racing NAPA AutoCare Chevrolet | 150 | 4.713 | Running | 19.146 |
| 4 | 7 | 13 | Todd Souza | Central Coast Racing Central Coast Cabinets Ford | 150 | 7.318 | Running | 19.152 |
| 5 | 13 | 1 | Robbie Kennealy | Robbie Kennealy Wiley X / American Swim Academy / Cover Ease | 150 | 11.539 | Running | 19.400 |
| 6 | 9 | 41 | Tyler Reif | Lowden Jackson Motorsports Travel Nevada / Power Gen Components / Stoneys Ford | 150 | 14.205 | Running | 19.295 |
| 7 | 10 | 55 | Jake Bollman | High Point Racing High Point Racing / Racecar Factory Ford | 150 | 14.572 | Running | 19.266 |
| 8 | 11 | 77 | Nick Joanides | Performance P-1 Motorsports Jan's Towing / King Taco / Wallace Sign Ford | 150 | 15.023 | Running | 19.346 |
| 9 | 3 | 17 | Landen Lewis | McGowan Motorsports MMI Chevrolet | 150 | 17.262 | Running | 18.715 |
| 10 | 14 | 7 | Takuma Koga | Jerry Pitts Racing Rise Up Toyota | 147 | 2 laps | Running | 19.488 |
| 11 | 15 | 05 | David Smith | Shockwave Motorsports Shockwave Maring Suspension Seating Toyota | 115 | 34 laps | Out | 19.864 |
| 12 | 1 | 15 | Sean Hingorani | Venturini Motorsports Mobil 1 Toyota | 90 | 59 laps | Out | 18.871 |
| 13 | 2 | 88 | Bradley Erickson | Naake-Klauer Motorsports L&S Framing / Podium Club Ford | 43 | 106 laps | Out | 19.184 |
| 14 | 6 | 21 | Ethan Nascimento | Nascimento Motorsports Impact Transp / Phillipos Brothers Fab / Paul Cardoso Toyota | 11 | 138 laps | Out | 19.284 |
| 15 | 12 | 70 | Kyle Keller | Jerry Pitts Racing KISMIF Foundation / EverReady Health / Battle Born Ford | 6 | 143 laps | Out | 20.209 |
Looking at the points, Lewis still holds the lead by 14 of Hingorani and the VMS team. Bradley Erickson now sits 19 back of the leader after a mechanical problem ended his night early, and he finished 13th.
STANDINGS – ARCA West (After 6 of 14 Races):
1. Landen Lewis 292pts
2. Sean Hingorani (-14)
3. Bradley Erickson (-19)
4. Tyler Reif (-22)
5. Trevor Huddleston (-27)
6. Tanner Reif (-36)
7. Todd Souza (-43)
8. Kyle Keller (-51)
9. Takuma Koga (-57)
10. David Smith (-57)— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) July 2, 2023
Up next the ARCA Menards Series West travels up to Anderson, CA, and Shasta Speedway for the Shasta 150 on Saturday, July 29th at 11:30 PM ET/8:30 PM PT. You can catch the race live on FloRacing.
