By Vincent Delforge, Special to Kickin’ the Tires
The first of two road races of the season was held in Portland, Oregon at the Portland International Raceway. It was William Sawalich who won the Portland 112, showing great mastery in keeping his opponents at bay, including pole sitter Brandon Jones, who came to acquire seat time for his NASCAR Xfinity Series race the next day.
This third race of the 2024 season was full of twists and turns. Sean Hingorani, who arrived as leader of the championship, experienced brake problems and it was Tyler Reif, author of a new top-five, who took first position with 10 points ahead of Hingorani.
For a complete recap of the race, I invite you to read the article « Race review » available here: www.kickinthetires.net/nascar/arca-west-2024-portland-race-review/
Complete race results: www.racing-reference.info/race-results/2024-03/AW/
The top-five in the championship being the following: Tyler Reif (117 points), Sean Hingorani (107), Trevor Huddleston (106), Jack Wood (101) and Kyle Keller (98). William Sawalich despite one less race is sixth with 97 points.
Driver & owner point standings: www.racing-reference.info/standings/2024/AW/
We’ll meet again this Friday, June 7 for the second road race, this time at Sonoma Raceway in California for the General Tire 200.
As after each race we are going to detail the statistics for each driver, embellished with the reactions collected from many of them, drivers, owners and crew chiefs.
ARCA West Quick stats
-71st season in history.
-Race No. 1019 since the inception of the West Series in 1954.
-2024 race No. 3 of 12.
-Race No. 10 at Portland International Raceway (PIR), Portland, OR, since 1986.
-Second time the track used is measured at 1.970 mile. Previously 1.950, 1.967 or 1.980 mile.
-Win No. 1 for Toyota at PIR. Among the manufacturers Ford leads the dance with 5 wins ahead of Chevrolet (2), Toyota, Dodge and Pontiac with one each.
-83rd win for Toyota in West Series. The all-time most successful manufacturer is Ford with 290 wins.
-Third win for team owner Joe Gibbs.
-Win No. 7 for Joe Gibbs Racing team (Coy Gibbs 2 ; J.D. Gibbs 2 and Joe Gibbs 3). The all-time most successful owners in history are Bill McAnally (99), Fred Elder (45), Bob Bruncati (42) and Ernie Conn (41). The all-time most successful teams in history are Bill McAnally Racing (99), McCoy Racing (54), The Racing Farmers (47), Bruncati Racing (42) and Gene Price Motorsports (26).
-First win for Joe Gibbs Racing at PIR. The most successful team at PIR is Bruncati Sunrise Ford Racing with three victories.
-Third career win for William Sawalich (sixth career start), first on a road track and first at PIR. Jake Drew is the most successful pilot at PIR with two wins. In all, 9 different drivers have won at least one race.
-First career pole position for Brandon Jones (second career start) and first at PIR.
-Fifth pole for Chevrolet at PIR. Among the manufacturers, Ford and Chevrolet have 5 poles each
-Among the owners, the most successful are Bob Bruncati and Steve McGowan, both with 3 poles at PIR.
-Bruncati Sunrise Ford Racing is the most successful teams at PIR with 3 poles.
-First pole for owner Bruce Cook and Cook Racing Technologies / MMI Racing at PIR. Among the owners, the most successful are Bob Bruncati and Steve McGowan, both with 3 poles at PIR.
-Bruncati Sunrise Ford Racing is the most successful teams at PIR with 3 poles.
-First pole for Cook Racing Technologies and owner Bruce Cook in West Series. The most successful team in history is Bill McAnally Racing with 79 poles. The most successful owner in history is Bill McAnally with 52 poles.
-All winners started from the top5 of the starting grid
-Third time that the driver who started second wins the race. The drivers who won the race from the worst starting position was Hershel McGriff (1986) and Jim Inglebright (2009), both from fifth position. Note: the poleman won four times at PIR.
-The track record (current configuration 1.970) is owned by Brandon Jones at 92.853 mph achieved in 2024.
-As far as yellow flags are concerned, the record is 7 (1986). The 2011 race holds the record for the number of yellow flag laps with 25.
-The record for the fewest caution is 2 (2022 race #1). With just 9 laps behind the pace car, the 2022 (race #1) race holds the record for fewest laps under yellow flags.
-The most leader changes occurred in 2009 with 10. The fewest leader change is zero in 2012.
-The largest starting field was in 2011 and 2012 with 30 cars.
-The smallest starting field was in 2022 (race #2) with 13 cars.
-Four times the race has been extended by an overtime (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2021).
-One time the race has been shortened by rain in 2022 (race #1).
-First career attempt in West Series for (1 driver): Jake Walker
-First career start in West Series for (1 driver): Jake Walker
-First career attempt at PIR in West Series for (11 drivers): Marco Andretti, Jake Finch, Bobby Hillis, Jr., Tony Huffman, Nick Joanides, Brandon Jones, Robbie Kennealy, Isabella Robusto, Giovanni Ruggiero, Jake Walker, Jack Wood
-First career start at PIR in West Series for (11 drivers): Marco Andretti, Jake Finch, Bobby Hillis, Jr., Tony Huffman, Nick Joanides, Brandon Jones, Robbie Kennealy, Isabella Robusto, Giovanni Ruggiero, Jake Walker, Jack Wood
-Best career result in West Series for Brandon Jones (2nd), Isabella Robusto (3rd), Marco Andretti (7th), Jake Walker (18th).
-First career Top-10 result in West Series for Brandon Jones (2nd), Marco Andretti (7th)
-First career Top-5 result in West Series for Brandon Jones (2nd), Isabella Robusto (3rd)
-17th win for the No. 18 in history. The first at PIR.
-2nd pole for the No. 42 in history. The first at Phoenix. First pole for the No. 42 since 2014 at Sonoma with Kyle Larson. Note: Dan Gurney won the pole in 1970 at Riverside with the No. 42 but in a combination race with the Cup and Gurney was listed as a Cup driver.
-First career pole for crew chief Brian Bibeau.
-Third career win for crew chief Matt Ross. And first at PIR.
-259th pole for Chevrolet in West Series and fifth at PIR. The all-time most successful manufacturer is Chevrolet with 259.
-146th road track race (including the 4 street races) in history.
The ARCA West Drivers
No. 0 Tony Huffman (Fierce Creature Racing) Start: 24th – Fin: 24th DNS
Zero laps in practice or qualifying session and the car remained in the garage for the race. The cause is an insoluble power steering problem. The team did not waste time repairing it since a start and park was planned anyway.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 2 (2 DNS) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21st | 1 start (1 DNS), best result: 24th |
No. 05 David Smith (Shockwave Racing) Start: 23rd – Fin: 17th
The start of the 2024 season is definitely complicated for the Canadian veteran who details for us his countless problems:
“Hauler was late getting fixed so we had no practice to shake cars down. Throttle stuck on lap one of practice and got into an altercation with Isabella Robusto coming into pit. Fixing damage meant no practice and with after qualifying repairs started at the back of the back. Then sway bar arm broke and we continued to have issues with throttle and running out of fuel on the final laps we were lucky to get what we got. Stayed out of trouble. Had some good laps. Happy to finish.” Not what we wanted but lucky to finish. After a great job of the crew to just get there. Onto Sonoma.“
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 19 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10th | 2 starts, best result : 13th |
No. 1 Robbie Kennealy (Kennealy Keller Motorsports) Start: 21st – Fin: 13th
For a first race on a road track, Kennealy did a good job staying within the leader’s lap. He improved his lap times and avoided damaging his car despite one or another spun.
“P13 on 24 cars for my first ever time on a road course. This race was a lot of fun learning something completely new to me. Learned a lot stayed on the track all race and brought the car home without a scratch on it. Hope to learn some more and be better at the next one. Big thank you to my whole team for all the hard work in the shop and at the racetrack. Now the next few days we will get the cars ready and head to Sonoma!” Kennealy said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 8 (1 DNS) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5th | 1 start, best result 13th |
No. 3 Todd Souza (Central Coast Racing) Start: 16th – Fin: 22nd Engine
Without doubt one of the most complicated races of Souza’s career. From the practice he experienced oil line and engine problems. In addition, his car was unstable and he even mowed the grass, damaging his front splitter. In qualifying session, same, loss of power. Despite an engine change, the problems reappeared early during the race, forcing the driver of the No. 3 to stop on the track after only four laps.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Porltand |
| 123 | 1 | 22 | 70 | 0 | 1st (1x) | 8 starts, best result : 2nd |
No. 4 Dale Quarterley (Quarterley Racing) Start: 9th – Fin: 6th
Very fast as always on the road track, Quarterley could have hoped for better if he had not been hit by Andretti during the first restart. His car will be more unstable afterwards but he was able to get back into the pack and finish in a good sixth position.
He will return to his No. 32 in Sonoma. In fact he used No. 4 here following an error on his part. In fact he uses the No. 4 in the national ARCA series because AM Racing uses the No. 32 with its driver Christian Rose. Luckily Nascimento-Joiner Motorsports (NJM) was not present in Portland with the No. 4 that the team uses in the West Series. Officials therefore agreed that Quarterley would use No. 4 for the race. But in Sonoma Quarterley will use the No. 32 since NJM will be present on the Californian track.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 14 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 2nd (1x) | 4 starts, best result: 3rd |
No. 5 Sean Hingorani (Jerry Pitts Racing) Start: 6th – Fin: 16th
Regardless of the car, Hingorani honors his status as 2023 champion by getting the most out of his machine. Despite problems during practice, he was able to bounce back at the start of the race and be a candidate for victory. Unfortunately after around fifteen laps, he experienced brake problems.
Several visits to his pit box were not enough to remedy this and it was three laps behind the winner that he finished in a modest 16th position. Despite this he only lost one position in the championship where he is now second with only 10 points behind Tyler Reif.
“Tough day in Portland. We definitely had a fast car, but unfortunately we weren’t able to show what we could do with it. We ended up breaking a rear end gear on our way out for practice. The team got it changed out and we managed to get in a few laps. Even though we didn’t get much track time, in qualifying, we were able to put down a pretty good lap and ended up P6.
“Once we went green, we got up to third and ran there early on but then had a break failure and had to keep coming in to the pits. Just one of those days. Thanks to Jerry Pitts Racing for all the hard work and we’ll be back in the No. 5 racing for a win next week in Sonoma.” Hingorani said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 20 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 1st (4x) | 3 starts, best result 11th |
No. 6 Caleb Shrader (Jerry Pitts Racing) Start: 10th – Fin: 21st Drive train
What a shame for Shrader, he who gained position after position and moved up from 10th to fourth position when his drivetrain broke. Without that, there is no doubt that he could have achieved victory.
“Hadn’t been in a ARCA car since Portland last year and started off practice with a P3 and was a second faster than last year. Qualifying was not good, went out at the wrong time and qualified 10th, going into the race I knew I could move forward.
“I had an amazing start and got myself into P4 after 10 laps but on lap 20 I lost the transmission and had to retire. I’m hoping to have a better weekend at Sonoma. Thank you so much to my Family and friends that came to watch, Jerry Pitts who doubled as my crew chief, all my crew and my sponsor Consonus Healthcare.” Shrader said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7th | 2 starts, best result 7th |
No. 7 Takuma Koga (Jerry Pitts Racing) Start: 18th – Fin: 10th
This is what the Japanese driver needed to restore his confidence after a very complicated start to the season. On his favorite track, he obtained his fifth consecutive top-10 in as many starts! Breaking the record of Eric Holmes at PIR who had obtained four consecutive top-10s in the past. It is with a car in perfect condition that he will travel to Sonoma with the aim of another top-10.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 116 | 0 | 4 | 25 | 0 | 5th (4x) | 5 starts, best result 5th (3x) |
No. 12 Kyle Keller (Kennealy Keller Motorsports) Start: 15th – Fin: 9th
First career top-10 on a road track for Keller who ran a race full of intelligence, improving his level throughout the race. He quickly entered the top-10 and was able to stay there while avoiding problems. He will go to Sonoma with his ambitions revised upwards, there is no question of being outside the top-10. KKM has been doing a good job since the start of the season. He is fifth in the championship, anything is possible.
“After qualified 15th, the car was pretty good ran solid all race. I worked up to 8th but had to come to the pits with 7 to go for fuel but we drove back up to 9th but overall very solid car for us. And came from the back to 9th. Thank you to my amazing KKM Driver Development team and of course all of my sponsors.” Keller said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 25 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 0 | 4th (3x) | 2 starts, best result : 9th |
No. 13 Tyler Reif (Central Coast Racing) Start: 5th – Fin: 4th
Tyler Reif behaves like a champion. Indeed, he manages to get the most out of his car and score big points in each race. He lacked a little speed due to brake problems to aim for victory but he finished on the podium, ahead of his main rivals, Hingorani and Huddleston. He leaves Portland as the championship leader.
“First road coarse in the books! P.4 at Portland this weekend and the new points leader! Thank you to Central Coast Racing for bringing me a good car to fight up front with, we fought break problems all day but it didn’t stop us from running good. Got through the first one in one piece and a top five, let’s do it at Sonoma boys!” Tyler Reif said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 17 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 1st | 2 starts, best result : 4th |
No. 15 Jake Finch (Venturini Motorsports) Start: 17th – fin: 11th
If Finch had been very good on ovals for his first two starts in the West Series since he had twice finished in the top-10, his first race on a road track in Portland was disappointing. Indeed, he is the only one of the three Venturini Motorsports drivers to have never been in the right rhythm during the race. He finished in an anonymous 11th position, largely thanks to the retirements of drivers faster than him.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6th | 1 start, best result 11th |
No. 16 Jack Wood (Bill McAnally Racing) Start: 4th – Fin: 12th
But what happened? While he was having a superb race in third position, Wood completely missed the final restart by sliding into the grass at the end of the straight. By a miracle he does not strike the leading duo. He restarts last in the lead lap and on the way back to the top-10 will clash with Bobby Hillis, Jr. two laps from the end. He finished 12th. After Bakersfield, here are two races where Wood had big points in hand and lost. He will bounce back in Sonoma where he has already had excellent results.
“Our NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet ran up front all day. Proud of the speed that we had and all the work these BMR guys put into our car. We definitely should have run in the top three, but just got into the corner too deep on that last restart and it got away. It’s a shame to not get the finish we should have, but we’ll go to Sonoma and try to have the same speed there next week.” Wood says.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 22 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 4th (3x) | 1 start, best result 12th |
No. 17 Marco Andretti (MMI Racing) Start: 3rd – Fin: 7th
A race full of ups and downs. From low because very quickly he smashes the front of his car, hitting the rear of Dale Quarterley during the first restart. He will have to go to his pit box to repair. And highs because after benefiting from the free pass at mid-race, he will gain positions and reach the top-10. He will then stay out of problems and benefit from the retirements of many faster drivers to obtain a somewhat unexpected result. He can thank his team for being able to repair his car.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7th | 1 start, best result 7th |
No. 18 William Sawalich (Joe Gibbs Racing) Start: 2nd – Fin: 1st
Excellent race from Sawalich who will not have made the same mistakes as last year. He was simply the fastest. He didn’t even force himself in the qualifying session and yet started the race from second position. He attempted to overtake Brandon Jones at the start of lap 26 by diving inside the chicane.
He will then control the race. Showing himself to be efficient at each restart and each time managing to create a sufficient gap on his closest pursuer to protect himself from an attack. He also got lucky when he saw Jack Wood slide past him without hitting him.
“We definitely worked on our road course program during the offseason and I worked on myself. I wasn’t that great [on road courses] last year, but I put in the work and got the win [at Portland] so that feels really good. We have a lot of confidence rolling into Sonoma and I know we’re going to be good there.” “This gives me more confidence on road course race. I know how to lead a road course race now I guess, but we’re getting the ball rolling. I just can’t thank these [Joe Gibbs Racing] guys enough for this car being so good right off the bat.” Sawalich said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 6 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1st (3x) | 2 starts, best result : 1st |
No. 19 Eric Johnson, Jr. (Bill McAnally Racing) Start: 14th – Fin: 19th crash
While Johnson, Jr. was having a good race and was fighting to get into the top-five, he collided head-on with the tire barrier on Turn 12 following a broken suspension arm on lap 45. The reason? Previous contact with an opponent? Contact with a vibrator? Impossible to know but the result is the same, DNF.
“Our No. 19 team worked their tails off today to fight through and array of issues that were thrown at us, but we never gave up. Unfortunately, some things are just out of our hands. We spent the majority of the race sticking to our game plan, “stay disciplined and let the cars up front come to us.”
“That’s exactly what happened. It was a blast getting up in the mix with the top five for a bit before our day was ended prematurely by the upper an arm coming loose. Once again, the result doesn’t show for the speed we were capable of. Just can’t thank all my supporters and partners enough for making this weekend possible. Onto Sonoma.” Johnson, Jr. said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9th | 2 starts, best result 10th |
No. 20 Giovanni Ruggiero (Venturini Motorsports) Start: 7th – Fin: 5th
Great performance from Ruggiero who spent almost the entire race in the top-five. Giving us a great fight with his teammate Robusto and Tyler Reif for a position on the podium. He knew how to avoid mistakes during the race like those made during practice.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2nd | 1 start, best result 5th |
No. 23 Jake Walker (Sigma Performance Services) Start: 8th – Fin: 18th Engine
A road track driver in the GTD category in IMSA Weathertech Sportcar, the young Walker knew how to get the most out of a car that suffered from engine problems from the start of the race. Impossible to compensate for lack of power or engine shutdowns. But he demonstrated that he had speed and a remarkable ability to adapt to all situations. His fine qualification proves it.
Joe Farrè (owner) stated, “while this isn’t the finish that we would have hoped for, more importantly, we gained valuable experience with a young driver that showed grit, discipline and talent throughout the weekend. His qualifying efforts were phenomenal, and we can’t wait to see what Jake can do when we put him in a car with no ailments.” We’ll be back next weekend in Sonoma ready to more road course racing. It’s going to be good with Sam Mayer as a driver!”
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18th | 1 start, best result 18th |
No. 27 Bobby Hillis, Jr. (Fierce Creature Racing) Start 22nd – Fin: 15th
Benefiting from the free pass during the fourth yellow flag, Hillis, Jr. was making his way through the pack not far from the top-10 in 12th position when he was pushed into a spun by Wood with two laps remaining. As a result, he finished 15th but fortunately his car did not suffer from this incident. He will travel to Sonoma to participate in his 100th career race. Hillis, Jr. takes us through his day in detail:
“Left Monday for Portland and had one flat trailer tire each day. Hinges on side door also broke and we almost lost the door. Anyway got to the track on Friday and it was a very quick moving compressed schedule. No time to even breathe hardly. Went out for practice and the car felt pretty good but really loose on older tires everywhere with no forward bite. Ed Ash (car chief) decided to leave it alone figuring new qualifying tires would tighten it up. Nope! Holy Hell. Seven seconds off of the leaders pace. Now I’m kinda pissed and mad because I’m better than this on road courses.
“Still not the slowest by the way 2-3 cars behind me. We pulled it off the line with NASCAR’s permission. Told them that we thought we had a broken locker. It wasn’t but we need to tell them something. Ash just wanted to make some adjustments. He moved the track bar down over two inches on each side and made it straight across. Couple of other changes with Tony (Huffman, the crew chief) that I didn’t catch. Almost didn’t make it in time for the start but we did.
“Race started and I immediately know that the car in way better. Ryan (Hale, the spotter) said our race times were more than five seconds faster than qualifying and within a second and a half of the leaders. Had a couple of problems like blowing the first turn and having to do a stop and go but I stalled it and went a lap down.
“Fought for most of the first half to get our lap back and we finally did. Had a pretty good battle with the 71 car for most of the race and finally got around him for good with a few laps to go. The 16 car took himself out around that time and was charging back up through the field when he got to me at turn one. Saw him coming plus Ryan told me so I gave him room on his dive bomb into turn one. Side by side into one and going into two.
“Banged a little bit in the middle of two but we both kept it straight. I got back by him but apparently he took exception to it because he wrecked me going into four!!! Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve finished 10th-12 but finished 15th. Went to his hauler to have a discussion about it after the race and he said that he didn’t wreck me that he just touched me! LOL. Whatever man !”
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 99 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8th (1x) | 1 start, best result 15th |
No. 42 Brandon Jones (MMI Racing) Start: 1st – Fin: 2nd
Great race from the JR Motorsports driver in the Xfinity Series. He came to freelance in the West Series for seat time on track. He was fast throughout the day. Poleman with the lap record in this 1,970 mile configuration, he will make an excellent start to the race by keeping Sawalich behind him. But he won’t be able to do anything when the latter overtakes him on the 26th lap. Forced to follow No. 18 without being able to try to take back first position. That said, he will be a serious candidate for victory in Sonoma.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2nd | 1 start, best result 2nd |
No. 50 Trevor Huddleston (High Point Racing) Start: 12th – Fin 8th
Failing to be able to fight for victory, Huddleston must settle for eighth position as a birthday present. But these are big points and he is now third in the championship, just 11 points behind the leader. If he stays in the top-10 at Sonoma, he will then be a big favorite for the championship because we will return in July for two consecutive races at his home track in Irwindale, CA where he is always formidable.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 68 | 3 | 25 | 55 | 2 | 1st (3x) | 3 starts, best result: 7th |
No. 55 Isabella Robusto (Venturini Motorsports) Start: 13th – Fin: 3rd
Robusto is talented, no doubt about it! Whether on oval or road track, it is fast, reliable and has remarkable racing intelligence for a rookie. Her only mistake was made in the qualifying session where she made a mistake leaving the track. But she made her way through the pack and quickly reach the top-five. Her fight during the second segment with his teammate Ruggiero and Tyler Reif was simply superb. She obtained the best result in history on a road track by a female driver in the West Series. She beats the record set by Julia Landauer, fourth in Tooele, UT in 2016.
“P3 at Portland! This was a big learning weekend for me as it was my first time on a road course in a heavy stock car and it showed in practice and qualifying. After starting P13 I was able to drive into the top 5 in the first segment before fighting my way to P3 at the checkered flag. Always want more but satisfied with a solid top-3 finish in my third career series start and first on a road course. I learned a lot and cannot wait for Sonoma next weekend. So thankful to have the opportunity and privilege to drive for Toyota Racing, Yahoo and Venturini Motorsports in the ARCA Menards Series this year!” Robusto said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3rd | 1 start, best result 3rd |
No. 71 Nick Joanides (Jan’s Racing) Start: 20th – Fin: 14th
Complicated race or rather complicated day for Joanides who was riding for the first time on the PIR. Spun in practice, spun in the race,… Benefiting twice from the free pass, he finished in an honest 14th position with lto of problem (underpowered engine, brake failure,..). He tells us about his day:
“Long day. As a new team, we’ve focused on getting our short track cars ready. This car however, was one of our oldest and one we haven’t raced. Engine was down significantly on horsepower, to the tune of 10 car lengths on EACH of the LONG straights at Portland. Yet, our bigger issue was with the brakes. Soft pedal all weekend and inconsistent stopping power which, despite lifting quite a bit early, still led to going off in the grass far more than I would have liked.
“Through it all, still managed to keep it in one piece, end up seventh against the West regulars and salvage a few points. We’re going to take our other car to Sonoma. Don’t know that it will be much better than what we had until we get there, but it certainly won’t be any worse. Sonoma is a track I really like. If the engine runs better, we’ll be that much better off. And this other car should have brakes better suited for a road course, so between those two things alone, hopefully we can have a better showing this Friday.”
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 31 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 4th | 1 start, best result 14th |
No. 77 Dave Smith (Performance P1 Motorsports) Start: 19th – Fin: 23rd DNS
Clutch problem during the qualifying session, impossible to repair in time for the start and it was heartbreaking that the team had to withdraw. Very sad especially since Dave Smith had already obtained a fifth position here in the past. The team hopes that bad luck will leave him for Sonoma where Smith will be behind the wheel of the No. 77 again.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 14 (1 DNS) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5th | 3 starts (1 DNS), best result 5th |
No. 88 Tanner Reif (Naake-Klauer Motorsports) Start: 11th – Fin: 20th Radiator
Race made complicated from the first lap when at the first turn Tanner went to embed the front of his car in the rear bumper of the car in front. He finds himself 22nd and last. Despite passing through his pit box, the car will no longer be as maneuverable and Tanner will have to overdrive to try to go fast. A second incident on the 36th lap where he hit the front of his Ford again. Despite removing his motor hood, he eventually retired due to a damaged radiator. He will be back in Sonoma.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Portland |
| 25 | 2 | 9 | 16 | 2 | 1st (2x) | 4 starts, best result 3rd |
The next race on June 7 at Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, CA, for the General Tire 200, the second and last road race of the season, which is streamed live on FloRacing.