By Vincent Delforge, Special to Kickin’ the Tires
A month and a half of waiting between the eighth and ninth races of the 2024 ARCA Menards West Series season. That’s what it took for drivers, teams and fans. But the wait was rewarded because the race held on the bullring at Madera Speedway, Madera, CA, the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame 150 was intense and somewhat reshuffled the cards in the driver’s championship. Trevor Huddleston (High Point Racing No. 50) won a great victory on the track and another in Victory Lane when he got down on one knee and proposed his girlfriend Nastasia Dodd, whom he met here 10 years ago. The answer ? A big YES with lot of emotion.
In the championship Sean Hingorani (Jerry Pitts Racing No. 5), finishing second, took advantage of Tyler Reif’s mechanical problems (Central Coast Racing No. 13) to regain the championship lead with a six-point lead.
Here is the full summary of the race.
ARCA West Practice/Qualifying
On Friday, September 27, there was an optional practice and Jaron Giannini (Sigma Performance Services No. 23) was the fastest and 14.760 sec (81.219 mph). Jack Wood (Bill McAnally Racing No. 16) and Rip Michels (Jan’s Racing No. 71) following closely. Michels who let us remember is replacing Nick Joanides, currently hospitalized following a hemothorax. 14 of the 17 drivers registered for the race participated in this day.
The next day during the official practice, Wood obtained the best time ahead of Giannini and Huddleston. Wood who was finally only fifth during the qualifying session leaving the honors of the pole position, his first in his career, to the rookie Jaron Giannini. Huddleston following in second position. Eric Nascimento, Jr. (Nascimento-Joiner Motorsports), poleman last year here obtaining the seventh time. Note that following a technical problem, Eric Johnson, Jr. (Bill McAnally Racing No. 19) was unable to set a time and will start from the 17th and last position.
Green flag!
When the pace car pulled away to the infield area and freed the pack of furious drivers, Giannini kept his pole advantage and led the first laps with a very pressing Huddleston glued to his rear bumper. The driver of the No. 50 Ford would make his way on the inside line and take the lead of the race on the eighth of the 150 laps. Note that on the fourth lap, Robbie Kennealy (Kennealy-Keller Motorsports No. 11) left the track to park his Chevrolet. The start and park was planned.
The race would be interrupted for the first time by the yellow flag on the 12th lap following a spun by Jack Wood on turn 4. The race was restarted on the 16th lap but not for long since Eric Nascimento, Jr. encountered ignition problems and immobilized his Chevrolet in the frontstretch on the 21st lap. Really too bad because he was very fast and was in fourth position.
The restart is given on lap 26 with Huddleston leading ahead of Giannini, Hingorani, Ethan Nascimento (Nascimento-Joiner Motorsports No. 21) and Eric Johnson, Jr.! The latter makes a fantastic comeback from the last position he occupied at the start of the race.
The third yellow comes two laps later when Rip Michels who was 10th goes into a spun coming out of turn 4. And for the third time in a row there is no free pass.
Another restart on lap 32 and we will finally have a run under green flag of several laps. Huddleston quickly widens the gap on his pursuers. The gap is 1.9 seconds on lap 40. Behind the leader, Hingorani has a lot to do with Giannini who wants to take back his second position lost during the restart. The fights are intense within the pack and the positions, except for that of the leader, change constantly.
Proof that Huddleston is the fastest, he will set the best time of the race in 14.922 sec on lap 41, improving on his 14.926 sec achieved on lap 13. He will be the only driver to go under 15 seconds in the entire race.
Fourth caution lap 50
The first third of the race is reached at the same time as the fourth yellow flag is waved. This time it is rookie Kyle Whinser (Performance P-1 Motorsports No. 77) who spun in turn 2. David Smith (Shockwave Motorsports No. 05) is the first beneficiary of the free pass of the race.
The classification is as follows: Trevor Huddleston in first position followed by Sean Hingorani, Jaron Giannini, Ethan Nascimento, Henry Barton (Jerry Pitts Racing No. 6), Tyler Reif, Kyle Keller (Kennealy-Keller Motorsports No. 12), Jack Wood, Eric Johnson, Jr. and Takuma Koga (Jerry Pitts Racing No. 7) in 10th position. Todd Souza (Central Coast Racing No. 3), Michael Killen, Jr. (Jan’s Racing No. 9), Rip Michels, David Smith and Kyle Whisner (-1 lap) followed from 11th to 15th position.
The race was restarted on lap 54 and, unsurprisingly, Huddleston easily maintained the lead. He really had an efficient car all over the track. Championship leader Tyler Reif managed to reach the top five on lap 60. However, he had his work cut out by Henry Barton and Kyle Keller. Ethan Nascimento was now third and was closing the gap on Hingorani.
Midway race
Huddleston reached the halfway point (lap 75) as the undisputed leader, with a 2.865-second lead over Hingorani. Ethan Nascimento, Giannini, Reif, Barton, Keller, Wood, Michels and Johnson, Jr. completed the top 10. Koga, Killen, Jr. and Souza followed but were in the leader’s line of sight. Whisner and Smith were both two laps behind the leader in 14th and 15th position.
Michael Killen, Jr., in 12th, had barely been passed by the leader when the fifth yellow flag was waved, allowing him to obtain the free pass. This time it was David Smith who spun in the backstretch following contact with Takuma Koga. We had just witnessed a 30-lap run under the green flag, which would be the race record!
Red Flag!
Restart on lap 89 for 10 laps under green flag before a sixth yellow this time following the accident between Jack Wood and Kyle Whisner. In fact Wood spun between turns 3 and 4 and was then hit by Whisner. The left front of the Chevrolet No. 16 is damaged and spreads oil on the track. Todd Souza receives the free pass. Wood was able to return to the pitlane which is located outside the track at Madera leaving all his oil on the track. But he is not the only one to spread oil. Indeed Johnson, Jr. must return to his pitbox because there is a leak on his oil line.
The officials will be forced to deploy the red flag on lap 102. It will take 35 minutes and 41 seconds for the marshals to dry the track with a lot of speedy dry. The race restarts on lap 110 with Huddleston leading ahead of Hingorani but without… Tyler Reif who had to be pushed towards the pitlane, his Toyota wasn’t able to re-fire. Barton and Ethan Nascimento make contact, leaving the way open to Keller who is now in fourth position.
Seventh caution on lap 122 following Killen, Jr.’s spun in turn 2. Johnson, Jr., who restarted 12th following the time lost to repair his Chevrolet, receives the free pass. Tyler Reif returns to the track, he is 14th and 16 laps behind the leader. But he will have to return to his pit box three laps later due to an ignition problem. For the first time this season he has to put his foot down. Big disappointment for the championship leader.
Overtime!
For the third time in the race, Jack Wood spun in turn 4, this time with the help of Souza who therefore did not receive the free pass since he was involved in the incident. This eighth yellow flag came with three laps to go. But by the time the race was restarted, the 150 laps had passed and an overtime was awaiting the 13 drivers still on the track.
The restart would give Sean Hingorani a chance to take the lead over Huddleston. If he managed to get to the front of the race on lap 152, he was on the outside line and Huddleston would play the move perfectly by widening his trajectory and thus regaining first place and crossing the finish line with an 84 thousandths of a second lead. This was Trevor Huddleston’s first victory of the season, his fourth in his career and first on a track less than half a mile long.
The rest of the top 10 is made up of Ethan Nascimento, Eric Johnson, Jr., Kyle Keller, Jaron Giannini, Takuma Koga, Henry Barton, Rip Michels and Michael Killen, Jr. Huddleston exults on Victory Lane: “Holy crap. What a race. This car was absolutely epic. Getting these wins isn’t easy. We’ve been fighting hard this year to make it happen. To be in this victory lane is pretty special to me”. Hingorani, is not exultant, he is rather bitter: “It’s frustrating. The last restart, I feel like we capitalized good, but ran us into the fence coming to the checkered. Just really unnecessary, but what goes around comes around.”
However with Tyler Reif’s DNF, Sean Hingorani regains command in the championship with 423 points, six more than Reif (417). With this victory Huddleston finds himself isolated in third position with 38 points behind (385). Jack Wood (373) sees Kyle Keller (369) come back hard on him for fourth position.
Finally, it is with sadness that we learned on September 30th, 2024 of the passing of Garry Kennealy at the age of 51 following a heart attack. To his wife Francesca Filippone-Kennealy, his children Robbie, Harley and Joey Kennealy, as well as to all his family and friends, our deepest condolences from the entire Kickin’ The Tires team.
Next race on October 5th at All American Speedway in Roseville, CA for the “NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Berco Redwood”. A race that will be broadcast live on FloRacing.
See you on Wednesday for the teams reactions and analysis article.