The Statistics of the NASCAR West Series

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By Vincent Delforge, special to KickinTheTires.net

Here’s an overview of key ARCA Menards Series West stats since 1954, covering all iterations of the series from the initial NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Models to Winston West, and today’s ARCA sanctioning. Those statistics cover 999 races!

The Drivers

Top 10 drivers with the most wins

  Driver Wins
1 Jack McCoy 54
2 Ray Elder 47
3 Hershel McGriff 34
4 Jimmy Insolo 25
5 Bill Amick 21
6 Eddie Gray, Greg Pursley 20
7 Bill Schmitt 19
8 Eric Holmes, Bill Sedgwick 17
9 Austin Cameron, Parnelli Jones, Roy Smith 15
10 Dick Bown 14

Top 10 drivers with the most poles

  Driver Wins
1 Jack McCoy 55
2 Ray Elder 47
3 Hershel McGriff 37
4 Bill Schmitt 24
5 Bill Amick, Jimmy Insolo 23
6 Mike Duncan, Greg Pursley 20
7 Ron Eaton 17
8 Jim Bown 16
9 Butch Gilliland, Eddie Gray, Bill Sedgwick 15
10 Eddie Pagan 14

Top 10 drivers with the most top five

  Driver Wins
1 Ray Elder 156
2 Jack McCoy 118
3 Bill Schmitt 110
4 Hershel McGriff 100
5 Lloyd Dane 81
6 Jimmy Insolo 75
7 Scotty Cain 67
8 Dick Bown 63
9 Eric Holmes 59
10 Greg Pursley 58

Top 10 drivers with the most top 10

  Driver Wins
1 Ray Elder 189
2 Jack McCoy 148
3 Hershel McGriff, Bill Schmitt 147
4 Scotty Cain 120
5 Lloyd Dane 107
6 Jimmy Insolo 102
7 Jim Cook 96
8 Dick Bown 86
9 Scott Gaylord 84
10 Eric Holmes 78

The owners and teams

Next weekend, the arca menards series west will hold its' 1,000th race as the series dates back to the early days of nascar.
Photo by Sal Sigala, Jr. via Vincent Delforge.

A distinction must be made here between owners and teams. Why? Because since its creation, NASCAR and therefore necessarily also the West Series has known different rules concerning the number of cars that can be entered under the name of an owner. It was usually two. But many teams regularly entered a third or fourth car. To “get around” the rules, it was common to enter another car under the name of his wife, son, friend, co-owner.

Top Five Teams with the most wins

  Team Wins
1 Bill McAnally Racing 98
2 McCoy Racing 54
3 The Farmers 47
4 Bruncati Racing 40
5 Gene Price Motorsports 26

Top 10 owners with the most wins

  Owner Wins
1 Bill McAnally 74
2 Fred Elder 45
3 Ernie Conn 41
4 Bob Bruncati 40
5 Gene Price 26
6 Wayne Spears 25
7 Bill McAnally & Mike Curb 21
8 Beryl Jackson 20
9 Vel Miletich, Dick Niles 18
10 Bill Schmitt 16

Top Five Teams with the most poles

  Driver Wins
1 Bill McAnally Racing 79
2 McCoy Racing 57
3 The Farmers 47
4 Bruncati Racing 42
5 Gene Price Motorsports 33

Top 10 owners with the most poles

  Owner Poles
1 Bill McAnally 52
2 Fred Elder 47
3 Bob Bruncati 40
4 Ernie Conn 35
5 Gene Price 33
6 Gerald Craker 24
7 Charles Bell, Bill Schmitt, Wayne Spears 22
8 Bill McAnally & Mike Curb 21
9 Mike Duncan, Beryl Jackson 20
10 Ron Eaton 17

The crew chiefs

Top 10 crew chiefs with the most wins

  Crew chief Wins
1 Richard Elder 45
2 Ernie Conn 37
3 Bill Sedgwick 33
4 Parky Nall 30
5 Jerry Pitts 26
6 Pat McElreath 20
7 Jackie Johnson, Leon Ruther 19
8 Ty Joiner, Gary Nelson, Jeff Schrader 18
9 Jim Schmitt 15
10 David Gilliland, Chris Lawson 12

Top 10 crew chiefs with the most poles

  Crew chief Poles
1 Richard Elder 47
2 Bill Sedgwick 44
3 Ernie Conn 38
4 Jeff Schrader 25
5 Jerry Pitts 23
6 Jackie Johnson 20
7 Ty Joiner, Jim Schmitt 19
8 Pat McElreath, Gary Nelson 18
9 Jeff Jefferson 17
10 Parky Nall, Leon Ruther 16

The car numbers

Top 10 most wins by car numbers

Car number Wins
#7 85
#16 63
#96 43
#04 36
#98 31
#9 30
#75 26
#6 25
#26, #97 24
#45 23

 Top 10 most poles by car numbers

Car number Poles
#7 81
#96 47
#9, #16 46
#04 40
#98 30
#45 29
#26 27
#01 25
#73 24
#1, #75 22

The Manufacturers

Manufacturer’s wins

Manufacturer WINS
Ford 283
Chevrolet 245
Dodge 132
Toyota 74
Pontiac 61
Plymouth 38
Mercury 37
Buick 25
Oldsmobile 22
Chrysler 7
Hudson 3
T-Bird 2

Manufacturer’s poles

Manufacturer POLES
Chevrolet 255
Ford 245
Dodge 146
Toyota 68
Pontiac 63
Plymouth 42
Buick 36
Mercury 30
Oldsmobile 16
Hudson 4
Chrysler 4
T-Bird 1

The race tracks

Next weekend, the arca menards series west will hold its' 1,000th race as the series dates back to the early days of nascar.
Dick Rathman, Photo Courtesy of Vincent Delforge’s Archives.

Since 1954 there have been 111 different race tracks in the West Series. Tracks having had different configurations (lengths) such as Sonoma or Tooele are only counted once.

Type Races
Paved oval 667
Dirt oval 190
Road track 138
Street circuit 4

First Dirt oval = Race No. 1 at Oakland March 28, 1954

First Road track = Race No. 23 at Lancaster November 25, 1955

First Paved oval = Race No. 28 at Phoenix April 28, 1956

First Street circuit = Race No. 551 at Tacoma August 10, 1986

Most races per track:

Evergreen Speedway (Monroe, WA) = 60

Ascot Park (Gardena, CA) = 55

Phoenix International Raceway (Avondale, AZ) = 49

Mesa Marin (Bakersfield, CA) = 45

Irwindale Speedway (Irwindale, CA) = 32

Gardena Stadium (Gardena, CA) = 30

Various Other Records

Most caution flags, race = 17 – Mesa Marin Raceway, Bakersfield, CA (05/20/1990)

Most caution laps, race = 104 – Evergreen Speedway at Monroe, WA (08/18/1985)

Fewest caution flags, race = 0 – Multiple times

Fewest caution laps, race = 0 Multiple times

Most entries for a combination race = 113 – Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA (03/05/1972) with the Cup Series

Most entries for a stand-alone race = 49 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV (11/07/1998)

Largest field, race = 51 – Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA (2 times: 02/28/1971 & 03/05/1972)

Smallest field, race = 10 – Western Speedway, Victoria, B.C.

Largest Margin of victory, race = 8 laps – Ron Hornaday, Sr. at Champion Speedway, Brisbane, CA (11/15/1964)

Smallest Margin of victory, race = 0.003 second – Jim Robinson at Shasta Speedway, Anderson, CA (05/11/1985)

Most running at finish = 33 – Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA (03/05/1972)

Fewest running at finish = 7 – Race City Speedway, Calgary, Alberta (08/03/1986)

Most driver in lead lap = 27 Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, CA (06/23/2007)

Fewest driver on lead lap = 1 multiples times (most recently at Mesa Marin, Bakersfield, CA – 10/12/1996)

Most leaders, race = 10 – Mesa Marin Raceway, Bakersfield, CA (10/12/1990)

Most lead changes, race = 36 – Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA (03/05/1972)

Most recent Wire-to-wire win = Jake Drew, Irwindale Speedway, Irwindale, CA (07/02/2022)

Longest race (Distance) = 500 miles (multiple times at Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, CA and Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA)

Longest race (Time) = 5 hours 20 minutes 43 seconds at Evergreen Speedway, Monroe, WA (07/14/1991)

Shortest race (Distance) = 12.5 miles at Tucson Speedway, Tucson, AZ (08/09/1963)

Shortest race (Time) = 16 minutes 50 seconds at Tucson Speedway, Tucson, AZ (08/09/1963)

Fastest Average Speed, race = 152.316 mph at California, Speedway, Fontana, CA (04/28/2001)

Slowest Average speed, race = 31.915 mph at Salem Speedway, Salem, OR (05/13/1967)

Fastest pole speed = 181.333 mph at California Speedway, Fontana, CA by Eric Norris (04/27/2002)

Slowest pole speed = 34.070 mph at Eureka Speedway, Eureka, CA by Johnny Kieper (05/30/1965)

Youngest champion = Jesse Love in 2020 (15 years, 9 months, 24 days)

Oldest champion = Hershel McGriff in 1986 (58 years, 11 months, 2 days)

Youngest rookie of the year = Jesse Love In 2020 (15 years, 9 months, 24 days)

Oldest rookie of the year = Billy Jac Shaw in 1991 at 45 years, 5 months

Youngest race winner = Jesse Love 06/27/2020 at 15 years, 5 months, 13 days

Oldest race winner = Hershel McGriff (05/13/1991) at 61 years 4 months, 29 days

Youngest pole winner = Jesse Love (07/04/2020) at 15 years, 5 months, 20 days

Oldest pole winner = Hershel McGriff (04/17/1993) at 65 years, 4 months, 3 days

Youngest race starter = Cameron Hayley (08/13/2011) at 15 years, 23 days

Oldest race starter = Hershel McGriff (05/05/2018) at 90 years, 4 months, 21 days

Most wins in a season = 12 – Hershel McGriff in 1972

Most consecutive wins in a season = 5 – Jack McCoy in 1969 and Hershel McGriff in 1972

Most consecutive wins in history = 6 – Parnelli Jones (the last four in 1958 and the firs two in 1959)

Most different race winners in a season = 13 in 1956 and 1977

Fewest race winners in a season = 3 in 1958, 1959, 1990 and 1992

Fewest pole winners in a season = 3 in 1983

Most different pole winners in a season = 13 in 1956

Most poles in a season = 12 –Hershel McGriff in 1972

Most consecutive poles in a season = 5 – Jack McCoy in 1968

Most consecutive starts = 121 – Ray Elder (01/10/1971 – 01/18/1976)

Most top five finishes in a season = 22 – Hershel McGriff in 1972

Most top 10 finishes in a season = 27 – Ray Elder in 1972

First race winner = Dick Rathman (03/28/1954 = race No. 1)

100th race winner = Gary Collins (04/24/1994 = race No. 625)

200th race winner = Jake Drew (06/04/2022 = race No. 997)

First pole winner = Hershel McGriff (03/28/1954 = race No. 1)

100th pole winner = Lance Wade (09/03/1994 = race No. 634)

200th pole winner = Sam Mayer (11/09/2019 = race No. 973)

Best starting position winning a race = 1th (pole and draw) = 303

Worst starting position winning a race = 26th = one time in the first ever race (03/28/1954), the oldest record that still stands!)

Father-Son-Grandson race winners: Butch Gilliland (13) – David Gilliland (5) – Todd Gilliland (13)

Father-Son-Grandson pole winners: Butch Gilliland (15) – David Gilliland (5) – Todd Gilliland (13)

Most race by a race team = 568 – Kieper Racing

Most top fives by a race team = 369 – Bill McAnally Racing

Most top 10s by a race team = 596 – Bill McAnally Racing

Most consecutive race by a race team = 328 – Bill McAnally Racing (since Tucson 05/10/1997 = race n°672)

Most entries by a race team = 915 – Bill McAnally Racing

Most DNQs by a driver = 27 – St. James Davis

Number of female drivers = 34

First female driver = FiFi Scott-McGillicuddy (10/10/1954 = race No. 9)

First top 10 by a female driver = Sharon Bishop (09/08/1979 = race No. 473)

First top five by a female driver = Nicole Behar (04/11/2015 = race No. 906)

First pole by a female driver = Hailie Deegan (09/13/2018 = race No. 956)

First win by a female driver = Hailie Deegan (09/29/2018 = race No. 957)

Most female drivers in a single race = 5 – Amber Balcaen, Mariah Boudrieau, Bridget Burgess, Amber Slagle and Jolynn Wilkinson (09/23/2021 = race No. 991)

Most races by a female driver = 34 – Nicole Behar

Most top 10s by a female driver = 23 – Nicole Behar, Hailie Deegan

Most top fives by a female driver = 13 Hailie Deegan

Most poles by a female driver = 5 – Hailie Deegan

Most wins by a female driver = 3 – Hailie Deegan

Best driver standings by a female driver = 3rd – Hailie Deegan in 2019

Number of foreign drivers = 106

First foreign driver = Allen Heath (Canada) (05/30/1954 = race No. 2)

First top 10 by a foreign driver = Allen Heath (Canada) (01/01/1957 = race No. 56)

First top five by a foreign driver = Norm Ellefson (Canada) (06/30/1973 = race No. 344)

First pole by a foreign driver = Roy Smith (Canada) (06/30/1976 = race No. 408)

Most poles by a foreign driver = 12 – Roy Smith (Canada)

First win by a foreign driver = George Stuart (Canada) (06/29/1977 = race No. 428)

Most wins by a foreign driver = 15 – Roy Smith (Canada)

Most top fives by a foreign driver = 48 – Roy Smith (Canada)

Most top 10s by a foreign driver = 67 – Roy Smith (Canada)

Most races by a foreign driver = 109 – Roy Smith (Canada)

Most foreign drivers in a single race = 6 – Multiple times

Most different nationalities in a single race = 5 Multiple times

Best driver standings by a foreign driver = Champion – Roy Smith (Canada) (4 times in 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1988)

Number of different nationalities represented = 16 (Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, England, Finland, France, Italia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Sweden)

First West Series race run outside of the USA = Victoria, B.C. Canada (09/07/1970 race No. 278)

First NASCAR series race counting for a championship run outside of the North American continent = Motegi, Japan (11/20/1999 race No. 710)

Rookie of the Year and Champion in the same year = 4 drivers with: Lance Hooper (1996), Scott Lynch (2003), Todd Gilliland (2016) and Jesse Love (2020)

Driver who won in their first career start = 25 drivers with: Dick Rathman (1954), Tim Flock (1955), Norm Nelson (1955), Chuck Stevenson (1955), Dempsey Wilson (1956), Dan Gurney (1964), Cale Yarborough (1977), Tim Williamson (1978), Geoffrey Bodine (1991), Andy Houston (1998), Jerry Nadeau (1999), Johnny Benson, Jr. (2000), C.T. Tavo Hellmund (2001), Frank Kimmel (2001), Jason Jefferson (2003), Brian Vickers (2006), Joey Logano (2007), Andrew Ranger (2010), Ryan Blaney (2011), Kyle Larson (2014), Christian PaHud (2014), Todd Gilliland (2015), Dalton Sargeant (2015), Ty Gibbs (2019), Landen Lewis (2022).

The history of NASCAR’s Western division, the ARCA Menards Series West, continues to be written with the 1,000th race this weekend.

Featured Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy of Doug McGriff via Vincent Delforge.

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