The seventh race of the 2025 ARCA Menards West Series season took place at Tri-City Raceway, located in West Richland, Washington. The NAPA Auto Care 150 presented by VIC’s Auto & Supply marked the start of the second half of the season.
The race was intense among the 12 drivers, and Kyle Keller emerged victorious after a final restart with six laps remaining when he managed to pull ahead of Jake Bollman (Bill McAnally Racing). The driver of the No. 71 Jan’s Racing Team finally earned his first career victory after coming so close so many times this year. This victory definitively puts him in the championship contenders’ club, for those who still had doubts.
It was also the first victory for the colorful team led by Jan Qualkenbush and crew chief Brian Kizer. A victory that Keller dedicated to the late Steve Bohanon, who died on July 31 and who played an important role in the development of his racing career. Keller is the sixth different winner in seven races this season!
The West Series will return to action on August 29th at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon, for the Portland 112. This will be the second and final road track race of the season.
Complete race results: www.racing-reference.info/race/2025-07/AW
Race review: www.kickinthetires.net/nascar/arca-menards-west-series-2025-tri-city-race-review/
In the championship, Trevor Huddleston now has 338 points, 7 more than Kyle Keller. (331). Tanner Reif is third with 323 points ahead of Eric Johnson, Jr. (308) and Robbie Kennealy (304).
Driver & owner point standings: www.racing-reference.info/standings/2025/AW
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 Menards West Series stats at Tri-City Raceway (TCR)
-72nd season in history.
-Race No. 1035 since the inception of the West Series in 1954.
-2025 race No. 7 of 12.
-697th paved oval race in history.
-11th race since 1968 at TCR.
As far as statistics are concerned, of the 11 races already contested in Tri-City Raceway we can highlight:
Manufacturer
Win: Ford (5), Dodge (3), Chevrolet (1), Pontiac (1), Toyota (1).
-The all-time most successful manufacturer is Ford with 295 wins.
Pole: Chevrolet (7), Ford (1), Dodge (1), Plymouth (1), Toyota (1)
-The all-time most successful manufacturer is Chevrolet with 264.
Race car number
Win: #79 (2), #96 (2), #7 (1), #13 (1), #18 (1), #20 (1), #50 (1), #71 (1), #97 (1)
Pole: #75 (2), #00 (1), #04 (1), #5 (1), #19 (1), #37 (1), #61 (1), #85 (1), #95 (1), #96 (1)
Owner
Win: Fred Elder (2), Warren Razore (2), Bob Bristol (1), Ernie Conn (1), Tom Craigen (1), Jan Qualkenbush (1), Samuel Roebuck (1), Kelly Souza (1), John Strauser (1)
-First career win for owner Jan Qualkenbush. He is the 215th winning owner in the West Series
-The all-time most successful owners in history are Bill McAnally (76), Fred Elder (45), Bob Bruncati (42) and Ernie Conn (41).
-The all-time most successful teams in history are Bill McAnally Racing (100), McCoy Racing (54), The Racing Farmers (47), Bruncati Racing (42) and Gene Price Motorsports (26).
Pole: Wayne Spears (2), Marshall Chesrown (1), Fred Elder (1), Beryl Jackson (1), Bill McAnally (1), Gene Monaco (1), Mike Ober (1), Jerry Pitts (1), Varner Brothers (1), Dan Wade (1)
-The most successful team in history is Bill McAnally Racing with 83 poles. The most successful owner in history is Bill McAnally with 56 poles.
Driver
Win: Ray Elder (2), Roy Smith (2), Mike Chase (1), Jim Cook (1), Jeff Jefferson (1), Kyle Keller (1), Jack McCoy (1), Tyler Reif (1), Dirk Stephens (1)
-First win in career for Kyle Keller (41th career start), the first at Sonoma. Keller is the 11th different winner at TCR. He is the 213th winning driver in the West Series.
Pole: Bill Sedgwick (2), Jake Bollman (1), Dick Bown (1), Rick Carelli (1), Ray Elder (1), Sean Hingorani (1), Frank James (1), Hershel McGriff (1), Kevin Richards (1), Lance Wade (1)
-Third pole in career for Jake Bollman (9th career start), the first at TCR
Crew chief
Win: Richard Elder (2), Jackie Jackson (2), Ernie Conn (1), Tom Craigen (1), Ronald Drake (1), Brian Kizer (1), Michael Munoz (1), Samuel Roebuck (1)
Pole: Leon Ruther (2), Dustin Ash (1), Chuck Carruthers (1), Richard Elder (1), Joe Garone/David Ifft (1), Cayden Lapcevich (1), Pat McElreath (1), George Wade (1)
-In all, nine different drivers have won at least one race at TCR
-The track record is owned since 2024 by Sean Hingorani in 96.386 mph, beating the previous record in 95.541 mph, owned by two drivers achieved, Bill Sedgwick and Kevin Richards respectively in 1990 and 2003.
-The poleman has won the race only one time (1970). .
-Kyle Keller won the race from 7th position on the starting grid, which is a record, beating the previous record held by Mike Chase (1994) and Jeff Jefferson (2003) who won the race from 6th position on the starting grid.
-As far as yellow flags are concerned, the record is 10 in 1990. The 1990 race holds the record for the number of yellow flag laps with 72.
– The 1970 and 1972 races holds the record for the fewest caution with one.
-The most leader changes occurred in 1989 with 10. The fewest leader change is one in 2003.
-The largest starting field was in 1972 with 24 cars.
-The smallest starting field was in 2025 with 12 cars.(previous smallest was in 2024 with 15 cars).
-The driver with the most races is Jack Sellers (5).
-The drivers with the most top5 are Mike Chase (3), Ray Elder (3) and Jack McCoy (3).
-The driver with the most top10 is John Krebs (4).
-The drivers with the most laps is Jack Sellers (853).
-The driver with the most laps lead is Mike Chase (244) with exactly double the next one Kevin Richards (122).
-First career attempt in West Series for (1 driver): Tyler Brown
-First career start in West Series for (1 driver): Tyler Brown
-First career attempt at TCR in West Series for (6 drivers): Jake Bollman, Tyler Brown, Robbie Kennealy, Blake Lothian, Jonathan Reaume and Tanner Reif.
-First career start at TCR in West Series for (6 drivers): Jake Bollman, Tyler Brown, Robbie Kennealy, Blake Lothian, Jonathan Reaume and Tanner Reif.
-Best career result in West Series for Kyle Keller (1st), Greg Biffle (3rd), Tyler Brown (9th).
-First career Top-10 result in West Series for Tyler Brown (9th)
-First career Top-5 result in West Series for: none
-2nd win for the No. 71 in history. The first at TCR
-21st pole for the No.19 in history. The first at TCR
-First career win for crew chief Brian Kizer .
-3rd career pole for crew chief Cayden Lapcevich. The first at TCR.
The Drivers
No. 05 David Smith (Shockwave Racing) Start 12th – Fin: 11th
A complicated race for Smith, who was unwittingly involved in several lead changes. Indeed, slower, he found himself several times in the path of the leaders who were taking laps from him. He also had a nice car control when he was bumped by Tanner Reif at the end of the race. In the end, with all the cars at the finish, not finishing last is already a satisfaction for the Canadian.. « All good again. Had my first visit to the hauler after I got a piece of someone else action. Had my own deal too – pretty hard to drive a car with the back wheels off the ground!!! Thanks to a good crew and spotter we came out with a little peck on the right rear.” Smith said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 35 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10th (3x) | 2 starts, best result 11th |
No. 1 Robbie Kennealy (Jan’s Racing Team) Start: 3rd – Fin: 4th
An interesting race for Kennealy, who battled with Huddleston throughout the race in the top5 despite some minor technical issues. Without them, he could have easily aimed for the podium. “Brought it home 4th after a RF shock issue set us back a bit. Proud to keep gaining speed every weekend and inching closer to that first win. Huge congrats to my teammate Kyle Keller on his first West Series win, so well deserved.” Kennealy said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 19 (2 DNS) | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 3rd | 1 start, best result 4th |
No. 3 Todd Souza (Central Coast Racing) Start 8th – Fin: 8th
Souza spent most of the race in sixth or seventh place. During the second segment, he battled with Johnson, Jr. for a long time, keeping him behind him before giving up two positions on the final restart to Johnson, Jr. and also to his CCR teammate Tanner Reif. Finally, in eighth place, he earned his 77th career top-10 finish, making him the 12th driver with the most top-10 finishes in West Series history.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 136 | 1 | 23 | 77 | 0 | 1st (1x) | 2 starts, best result : 4th |
No. 5 Eric Johnson, Jr. (Jerry Pitts Racing) Start: 6th – Fin: 7th
Johnson, Jr. had no luck, as he was pushed into a spin by Keller on lap 12. While going through the grass, he hit a piece of asphalt that damaged his car. He moved up from the bottom of the standings to eventually finish seventh. He held sixth place until the final restart, when he was overtaken by Reif. “The team brought me a solid piece this week. Fastest in first practice, running the fastest time of the weekend and were really confident in our long-run speed. Just a few laps into the race, we hit a large chunk of asphalt that folded the nose/pan a good bit. From there, we just managed what we had as the pan drug and we pushed tight all night. Brought it home 7th in the end. On the bright side, TCR fans showed out big this weekend! Huge thanks to everyone who came out and to the whole Jerry Pitts Racing crew for busting their tails. My heart aches for them knowing what this group is capable of but having little to show for it once again. Just feels like if it’s not one thing, it’s something else these days. Only thing we can do is to keep pushing forward.” Johnson, Jr. said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 23 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 2nd | 2 starts, best result 7th |
No. 13 Tanner Reif (Central Coast Racing) Start: 4th – Fin: 6th
What happened? Qualifying well, Reif quickly lost positions. Sixth at the halfway point, he dropped to eighth without really being able to defend against his rivals. Lacking pace. Then luck smiled on him with a final restart six laps from the end where he proved very effective and gained two positions. Finally, sixth, he limited the loss of points to Huddleston, who finished only one position ahead of him. “Can’t thank the whole Central Coast Racing enough for all their hard work, didn’t get the finish we wanted ending up P6. Wish we could have gotten a better result but doesn’t mean we stop pushing . Confident in the team and I’s ability to come back stronger and faster, to take back the points lead in the remaining 5 races.” Reif said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 32 | 3 | 13 | 22 | 2 | 1st (3x) | 1 start, best result 6th |
No. 19 Jake Bollman (Bill McAnally Racing) Start: 1st – Fin: 2nd
Another pole for Bollman (the third), definitely the king of qualifying sessions this season. As a reminder, he’s only doing a partial season with BMR and has only done five races. He led the first part of the race before giving way to Biffle, but without ever losing visual contact with the former Cup Series star. He took advantage of Biffle’s hesitation in the backmarker traffic (with Smith) in lap 89 to launch an unstoppable attack and regain the lead. Well established in the lead with more than a second to spare, he collided with a backmarker (Reaume) 10 laps from the end, causing a yellow flag. During the restart, he was surprised by Keller on the outside line and finished second. There’s no doubt that without this incident, he would have won the race. A rookie mistake, some might say. “It’s unfortunate to end the night like that. We had a super fast NAPA Nightvision Chevy after the halfway break tonight. We’ve had tons of speed lately and it’s great to have fast racecars like that. Just hate that we got tangled up with the lapped cars there. I know it’s racing, and there’s nothing I can say, either. We’re just going to move onto the next one and put this behind us.” Bollman said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1st (1x) | 1 start, best result 2nd |
No. 23 Greg Biffle (Sigma Performance Services) Start: 2nd – Fin: 3rd
His presence alone was enough to fill the Tri-City stands. But he didn’t come to race, he came to win. Last year, he had to learn to drive this type of ARCA car, which he was unfamiliar with. This year, he was at the top of his game. He led from lap 19 to 89. A hesitation in the trafic with a backmarker put him under threat from Bollman, who didn’t miss this opportunity to regain first place. He then gradually lost time to the BMR driver and was caught by Keller. The latter snatched second place from him on lap 113. Biffle held off Kennealy during the final restart and thus obtained his best career result with a third place. To his great delight and that of the crowd. He already looks forward to seeing the fans again next year. “Not the finish our team wanted but damn, we had a good time thanks to Tri-City Raceway. Thanks to Sigma Performance Services and ARCA for putting together the program so quickly. Thanks to all the fans for showing up. I’ll be back! It’s just like I remember!” Biffle said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3rd | 2 starts, best result 3rd |
No. 31 Tyler Brown (Rise Motorsports) Start: 10th – Fin: 9th
For his first career race, Brown did well and brought home a good ninth position for his team, just one lap behind the leaders. He was at best in eighth position around the halfway point. It’s worth noting that Tyler is the great-grandson of Ed Brown, a former West Series driver between 1955 and 1972. Ed finished 10th in his first career race at Phoenix in 1955. Ed also started the first West Series race at TCR in 1968, a race he finished in 14th position.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9th | 1 start, best result 9th |
No. 50 Trevor Huddleston (High Point Racing) Start: 5th – Fin: 5th
Huddleston had a better race than last year, but he had to resort to fighting for the top five instead of being able to compete for first place. He spent the entire race battling for fourth or fifth place with Kennealy. He ultimately finished fifth, retaining his first place in the championship, even though his lead over Keller shrank to seven points.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 84 | 7 | 36 | 68 | 3 | 1st (7x) | 2 starts, best result 5th |
No. 51 Blake Lothian (Strike Mamba Racing) Start: 9th – Fin: 10th
The rookie lacked pace and essentially fought for ninth place against Brown. Benefiting from the free pass at the second yellow flag, he maintained hopes of doing better but ultimately had to settle for 10th place. The long run of 60 laps under green flag in the second part of the race will highlight a slight lack of pace. But the TCR is known for being a very difficult track and the driver of the No. 51 had an interesting race with the resources at his disposal.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 7 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8th | 1 start, best result 10th |
No. 71 Kyle Keller (Jan’s Racing Team) Start: 7th – Fin: 1st
Finally!! After coming so close to victory so often, including three second positions this season, Keller finally gets his first career victory. A first also for his team owner Jan Qualkenbush and his crew chief Brian Kizer. Keller had a smart race by managing his tires while gaining positions. Because he was only seventh on the starting grid. He quickly climbed the hierarchy and found himself third before the 50th lap. Then he took second position on the 61st lap from Bollman. During the restart marking the beginning of the second segment, he was passed by Bollman and remained third until the 113th lap when he managed to take the advantage over Biffle. He thus found himself on the front row for the final restart with six laps to go. He then managed to get the better of the leader on the outside line and lead the last five laps, opening a gap of more than a second. A victory that he dedicates to the late Steve Bohanon, who was so important in the development of his racing career. “First of hopefully many wins!!! Thank you everyone in my entire racing career to get me to this point! This was for Steve Bohanon! Felt like we didn’t have the best car all weekend but these guys never gave up the entire time. Thank you to my crew chief Brian Kizer, my entire crew for working so hard in the shop and at the track! Thank you Jan (Qualkenbush, the owner) for giving me the opportunity to drive this year in the No.71. We have been consistently finishing in the top 3 and we finally got the top spot!” Keller said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 41 | 1 | 14 | 28 | 1 | 1st (1x) | 2 starts, best result 1st |
No. 72 Jonathan Reaume (Strike Mamba Racing) Start: 11th – Fin: 12th
What can I say? Simply bad luck. Reaume had the pace of Brown and Lothian and therefore could have potentially secured a top 10 finish. But a mechanical failure of his left front wheel would take away all hope. He would drive several laps with this wheel crooked before causing a yellow flag on lap 52 following the loss of debris. He would lose seven more laps in his pit box for repairs. But would continue to lose many laps due to a car having difficulty entering corners. He would be hit 10 laps from the finish by the leader Bollman. This time it was the left rear of the No. 72 that would be damaged. He deserves credit for finishing the race despite everything..
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8th | 1 start, best result 12th |
Photos by Diego Alvarado/Kickin’ the Tires