By Vincent Delforge, Special to Kickin’ the Tires
The ninth race of the ARCA Menards West Series season, the NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Berco Redwood Inc., ended with the first win in career for the newcomer Kaden Honeycutt. It keeps McGowan-Cook Racing Technologies in contention for the owners’ championship.
For his West Series debut, he managed to overtake pole sitter Tyler Reif at the end of the fourth lap to never leave the lead until the checkered flag. However, it was not an easy race as he had to fight throughout the race against Tanner Reif and Sean Hingorani. Missing from All American Speedway in Roseville, CA, Landen Lewis now finds himself 43-points behind championship leader Hingorani.
The top-five in the championship being the following: Sean Hingorani (414 points), Trevor Huddleston (377), Tyler Reif (377), Bradley Erickson (372) and Landen Lewis (371).
For a complete recap of the race, I invite you to read the article « Race review » available here: www.kickinthetires.net/nascar/arca-menards-west-2023-roseville-review/
Complete race results: www.racing-reference.info/race-results/2023-09/AW/
Driver & owner point standings: www.racing-reference.info/standings/2023/AW/
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
-70th season in history.
-Race No. 1013 since the inception of the West Series in 1954.
-2023 race No. 9 of 12.
-Race No. 25 at All American Speedway (Roseville) since 1977. The 20th on the 0.333 mile configuration since 2008. The first five races was held on a 0.250 mile bullring.
– Win No. four for Chevrolet at Roseville. Toyota leads the manufacturers dance with 10 wins ahead of Ford (7), Chevrolet (4), Oldsmobile (2), Pontiac (1) and Buick (1).
-248th win for Chevrolet in West Series.
-12th win for owner Steve McGowan. The all-time most successful owners in history are Bill McAnally (99), Fred Elder (45), Bob Bruncati (42) and Ernie Conn (41).
-Win No. 3 for McGowan Motorsports with Cook Racing Technologies team. The all-time most successful owners in history are Bill McAnally Racing (99), McCoy Racing (54), The Racing Farmers (47), Bruncati Racing (42) and Gene Price Motorsports (26).
–Win No. 1 for Steve McGowan and McGowan Motorsports with Cook Racing Technologies team at Roseville. The most successful team is almost unsurprisingly Bill McAnally Racing with ten wins (2008, 2009 (2X), 2010 (2X), 2011, 2014, 2018, 2020 and 2022. Bruncati Racing follows with three wins (2016, 2017 and 2019).
-First career win for Kaden Honeycutt (1st career start) and the first at Roseville. Eric Holmes is the most successful pilot with four wins. He precedes Paulie Harraka (2) and all the other drivers who each have a victory.
-Kaden Honeycutt is the 207th race winner in history since 1954.
-Kaden Honeycutt is the 26th driver in history who took the win in his first career start.
-Kaden Honeycutt is the second driver in history who took the win in his first career start at Roseville after Christian PaHud in 2014.
-Kaden Honeycutt is the 21th different race winner at Roseville.
-6th time in 25 races the driver who started in 2nd position wins at Roseville.
-For the sixth consecutive year, since 2018, the winner in Roseville takes his first career victory after Cole Rouse, Jagger Jones, Gio Scelzi, P.J. Pedroncelli and Cole Moore respectively.
-Second career pole position for Tyler Reif in his 11th career start. Second pole in a row this season.
-First pole for Central Coast Racing and owner Kelly Souza at Roseville. Concerning the poles, BMR is again at the top of the ranking with seven (2009, 2010 (2X), 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019). Bruncati Racing being just behind with six (2008, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2022).
-Second pole for Central Coast Racing and owner Kelly Souza in West Series. Second pole in a row this season
-First career start in West Series for Kaden Honeycutt and Jalen Mack.
-Best career result in West Series for Kaden Honeycutt (1st), Eric Johnson, Jr. (9th) and Jalen Mack (19th).
-First top-five in career in West Series for Kaden Honeycutt (1st)
-First top-10 in career in West Series for Kaden Honeycutt (1st)
-15th win for the No. 17 in history. The first at Roseville.
-Third pole for the No. 13 in history. The first at Roseville and second in a row this season.
-First career win for crew chief Sean Samuels. The first at Roseville.
-Third career pole for crew chief Michael Munoz. The first at Roseville and second in a row this season.
-254th pole for Ford in West Series. The all-time most successful manufacturer is Chevrolet with 257.
-The track record is owned by Michael Self for Bruncati Racing at 89.383 mph achieved in 2017.
-The poleman has won the race 11 times.
-Jason Fensler won the race in 2011 from 15th position on the starting grid, which is a record.
-As far as yellow flags are concerned, the record is 11 in 2021 while twice in 1977 and 1981 there was only one. The March 2008 race holds the record for the number of yellow flag laps with 76, while the 1978 race holds the opposite record with only seven laps.
-678th paved oval race in history.
The Drivers
No. 05 Dave Smith (Shockwave Racing) Start: 17th – Fin: 12th
Interesting race for the Canadian veteran who had a better pace than in previous races. Benefiting from the free pass twice, he finished not far from the top-10, one lap behind the winner. The car is in one piece. He avoided all the problems.
“Typical Roseville. Just stayed out of trouble…well almost got turned with five to go and that put me down a lap. We finished 12th after running up to eighth with some minor scrapes. Apparently getting better. Times were better than last year. Learning a ton affiliation with Naake/Klaurer a big plus. Onward to the Bullrings. With cars coming from Charlotte and good West Coast teams it is much harder than I thought. Won’t quit however! » Smith said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10th | 2 starts, best result 11th |
No. 1 Robbie Kennealy (Kennealy Keller Motorsports) Start: 14th – Fin: 16th crash
No success for Kennealy who was faster and faster as the race progressed. Despite a poor qualifying session, he will quickly enter the top-10 after the start of the race. At one point he was even in sixth position before being involved in an accident with Koga and Joanides which ripped the nose off and the toe got way knocked out. The too damaged car forced him to retire shortly after the 100th lap. But the speed is there and the rest of the season should allow him to find his way back to the top-five.
“It was a fun one! My second ARCA West race and first time at Roseville was interesting. Started off the weekend running some laps in one of the Kyle Keller Racing late models to gain some experience. Went into practice in the West car on Saturday and ended up P10 out of P18 with really good race pace. Made a big mistake in qualifying resulting in a P14 starting spot.
“Once the green flag dropped we definitely had a fast car and started moving forward. We had made it up all the way to P6 at one point when unfortunately we had a racing incident that had us resulting in a DNF. All in all it was a great learning weekend, knowing we had good speed sometimes is all you can ask for. Thank you Charlie Wilson (crew chief) for the good setup calls and to the whole KKM Driver Development team for there hard work. We as a team had the speed this weekend just not the luck, but we will keep working and continue to build up.” Kennealy said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5th | 1 start, best result : 16th |
No. 3 Todd Souza (Central Coast Racing) Start: 10th – Fin: 5th
When Todd is in shape, he shows it! As soon as the green flag waves, he will gain positions and establish himself permanently in the top-10. Better still, he will put his experience of restarts to good use and gain a few more positions to finally finish in fifth place. This is his fifth consecutive top-10.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 117 | 1 | 21 | 67 | 0 | 1st (1x) | 9 starts, best result : 2nd |
No. 4 Eric Nascimento (Nascimento-Joiner Motorsports) Start: 8th – Fin: 7th
No top-five this time for Bubba who finished seventh after a wild race. He was fighting to get into the top five when he spun, leaning on the driver’s side of Buddy Shepherd’s car in Turn 3. Returning to 13th position, one lap behind the leader, he will have a new opportunity to fight for the top-10 after receiving the free pass during the fifth caution. He will then be aggressive in his comeback into the top-10 and also benefit from the problems of a few drivers to finish in seventh position. A good result but which does not satisfy the driver of the No. 4.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 17 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 2nd (1x) | 1 start, best result : 7th |
No. 5 Buddy Shepherd (Jerry Pitts Racing) Start: 5th – Fin: 6th
A great race for his return to the West in Roseville after almost four years of absence. He will fight for the top-five throughout the race, even pushing the nose of his black and gold No. 5 Toyota up to fourth position. A contact with Nascimento will set him back a few positions but he will find a way to regain some after a quick trip to the garage!
“Race over. P6. Made a pit stop under yellow, they count the yellow laps, crew killed it on the pit stop and got me back out not losing a lap! Thanks JPR and team!” Shepherd said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 10 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 3rd | 2 starts, best result : 6th |
No. 7 Takuma Koga (Jerry Pitts Racing) Start: 13th – Fin: 10th
A top-10 snatched away by forceps for the Japanese driver who once again experienced a complicated race. However here he had a good pace, which will allow him to obtain this result despite two incidents. The first when he was spun by Erickson on lap 24 and the next when he was caught in an accident also involving Kennealy and Joanides on lap 82. The free pass rule is a saving grace for the driver of the No. 7.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 110 | 0 | 4 | 24 | 0 | 5th (4x) | 7 starts, best result 9th (2x) |
No. 13 Tyler Reif (Central Coast Racing) Start: 1st – Fin: 13th
Second consecutive pole for Tyler and CCR after the one obtained at Evergreen. The driver of the No. 13 will retain the leadership at the start but will have to give in to attacks from Kaden Honeycutt after four laps. He will then put on a superb show with his brother Tanner and Sean Hingorani. Their battle for second position will last until halfway. He will then lose a position against Joey Iest.
Was this the first sign of engine failure? Because with around forty laps remaining, its engine is having misfires. This will cost the Ford Mustang a lot of speed, pushing it back to 13th position. Note that if he obtains pole position in the next race, he will become the youngest driver in history to obtain three poles consecutively.
“Just can’t catch a break! P1 again in qualifying two races in a row. Lead some laps fell into fourth and found my pace saving tires, starting to pick it back up, racing with 2nd and 3rd and had the fastest car on track with 40 to go, caution came out and motor died on us. Such a bummer huge thanks to everyone Central Coast Racing for making this happen!” Tyler Reif said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 11 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1st | 1 start, best result : 13th |
No. 15 Sean Hingorani (Venturini Motorsports) Start: 6th – Fin: 2nd
No victory this time for Hingorani but a race full of control, patience, attack and intelligence. Yes, all at once. Certainly he took advantage of the absence of Landen Lewis and the setbacks of Trevor Huddleston and Tyler Reif to widen a comfortable gap of 37 points in the championship. But Hingorani didn’t race by taking his foot off the accelerator. He won several of his duels to move up from sixth to second position in the end. At All American Speedway, the driver of the No. 15 Toyota took an important step towards the 2023 champion trophy.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 14 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 1st (4x) | 2 starts, best result 2nd |
No. 16 Tanner Reif (Bill McAnally Racing) Start: 3rd – Fin: 3rd
Finally a race without problems and with the possibility of winning for Tanner and BMR. They had been waiting too long for this. And on the team’s home track, the return to form was undeniable. He quickly found himself in the rear bumper of leader Honeycutt, fighting for victory. He even did three side-by-side laps to try to take command. He finally finished in third position. But this heralds a great end to the season because the next two races will take place on other bullrings.
“It was a really good run for us. We had a really fast Chevy and was just barely off fast-time in qualifying. It was a fun race. We got up to second and challenged first for a little bit. We couldn’t do this without our great sponsors – NAPA Auto Care and NAPA Auto Parts. It was a NAPA-sanctioned race and I was so happy to see all the fans wearing NAPA apparel. I want to thank everyone with BMR for all their hard work.” Tanner Reif said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 20 | 2 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 1st (2x) | 2 starts, best result 3rd |
No. 17 Kaden Honeycutt (McGowan Motorsports with Cook Racing Technologies) Start: 2nd – Fin: 1st
Certainly the great story of the race. Honeycutt was only confirmed to drive the No. 17 four days before the race following Landen Lewis’ non-participation. Honeycutt is certainly a beginner in the West Series but he already has experience in the national series of NASCAR: Xfinity, Craftsman Truck and ARCA. So with a great car, he had to rise to the occasion. And that’s what he did. He dominated the race, resisting attacks from other drivers during each restart,… All he is missing is pole position! Good news, he will be present during the last three races of the season. The objective is to win the owners championship.
“That was tough at the end. I knew Sean (Hingorani) was going to give me a run for my money. I just appreciate him racing me really clean there. He had every opportunity to hit me and knock me out of the way. I was battling free in, I think I had burnt the right rear off of it. I needed it really badly. Racing has torn me from inside out and tested me so much these last couple months. This feels good to get it back on track.” Honeycutt said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1st | 1 start, best result : 1st |
No. 19 Eric Johnson, Jr. (Bill McAnally Racing) Start: 11th – Fin: 9th
Great race from Johnson, Jr. Indeed compared to Evergreen, he took a step in the right direction. As a reminder, this is only his second race on an oval in the West Series. He spent the entire race fighting in the top-10, between eighth and 10th position. This ninth position in the end is a great achievement. Will this allow him to do other races in the future?
“I came into tonight knowing it was going to be a dogfight from the drop of the green. With this possibly being my last race, all I could think is my 10-year-old self would be furious if I gave up a single inch out there tonight. Every chance I saw to go forward, I took it. We left it all on the table and ended up with a top-10 finish. I couldn’t be more proud of my guys and more grateful for the opportunity. Hoping we’ll be back out there again, someday.” Johnson, Jr. said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9th | 1 start, best result : 9th |
No. 21 Jalen Mack (Nascimento-Joiner Motorsports) Start: 18th – Fin: 19th Overheating / Suspension
Ethan Nascimento having broken two fingers on his right hand a couple of days before, it was impossible for him to participate in the race. Jalen Mack replaces him. A good thing for him, his car No. 83 ultimately not being ready. He is going to do some serious practice laps to learn the car. But a water leak from the radiator will prevent him from participating in the qualifying session. The leak was plugged but the repair did not last and after two laps the engine started to overheat. DNF.
“Unfortunately we discovered a big crack in the radiator towards the end of practice which is why we missed qualifying. We thought we could seal it good and let it sit and dry for a couple of hours, but unfortunately it almost immediately began overheating and so I just elected to run a few laps and just come in before I completely burnt their engine up. It’s unfortunate because we were actually descent for the first half of practice until everyone put new tires on. We never got a chance too from being consumed with the radiator problem.” Mack said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19th | 1 start, best result : 19th |
No. 23 Bradley Erickson (Sigma Performance Services) Start: 12th – Fin: 14th
Certainly not the result that Bradley Erickson and his new team wanted. The car lacked performance and the race was complicated. Stagnating for a long time between 10th and 12th positions during most of the race even if at one point he managed to climb to eighth position. But positive point, always on the leader’s lap. Unfortunately he suffered an accident around twenty laps from the finish. No. 23 having suffered damage to the front side.
The time to fix everything and Erickson found himself three laps behind the leader. But this first race for the team served above all as a training session and they will be stronger in Las Vegas.
“It was ok ‘for a first race), we were up to 8th or 7th at one point and then got turned late in the race and lost 3 laps because of it.” Erickson said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 13 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 3rd | 2 starts, best result : 12th |
No. 38 RJ Smotherman (Wood Motorsports) Start: 16th – Fin: 8th
A resurrection! That’s the term. Unlucky at the start of the season behind the wheel of the No. 46 of Lowden-Jackson Motorsports before finally being put “aside” by the team to accommodate other drivers bringing money, Smotherman set the record straight and reminded us that he had talent. And what a pleasure to see that this return was possible with John Wood and Mike Holleran, two veterans of the West Series.
The Chevrolet however had a handicap, it is an old 105 inch chassis while the others use more recent 110s. But Smotherman was able to increase his level of play to the point of finding himself in the top-five with less than 30 laps to go. Finally he finished eighth. His second top-10 in a row at Roseville. And good news we will find him in Las Vegas.
“P8 this time round in Roseville after starting 16th. We were up in the top-five at one point but got shuffled back a few spots and wound up eighth. Had a ton of fun this weekend with all the competition and hard racing. Gotta give a big thanks to my new team for giving me a great car and pointing me in the right direction.
“Thanks John Wood and Mike Holleran for believing in me and giving me this opportunity. Thanks to my sponsors Wulfunstien Construction, Affordable Autos, Snowdens Landscape, my dad for doing all he can to make sure it in a car, thanks to Mikey and Chilly for all their help this weekend and everyone else who helps us out. Looking forward to being back in Vegas in a few weeks.” Smotherman said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7th | 2 starts, best result : 7th |
No. 50 Trevor Huddleston (High Point Racing) Start: 4th – Fin: 15th
Bad luck for Huddleston. What else can I say? He was ahead of Hingorani at the start of the race but as soon as the green flag waved, his car refused to work properly. He will slip from fourth to last position in just two laps. He will eventually stop in the backstretch grass on lap eight. Managing to restart himself, he lost 37 laps in the garage to repair. Once back on track 37 laps behind, he will show that the car had potential. But he couldn’t hope for anything more. 37 is also the number of points he is now behind Hingorani in the championship.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 62 | 3 | 23 | 51 | 2 | 1st (3x) | 5 starts, best result : 3rd (2x) |
No. 55 Rodd Kneeland (High Point Racing) Start: 19th – Fin: 18th Suspension / Overheating
Jake Bollman being ill, Rodd Kneeland started the race without having done a single test lap at the wheel of the No. 55 to replace him. But the goal was only to start to score points in the owners’ championship. And the start and park planned at the last minute by the team was respected. The car being returned to the garage after three laps. Note that this was the first start on an oval in the West Series since Shasta 2015 for Kneeland.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11th | 3 starts (+1 DNQ), best result : 11th |
No. 70 Kyle Keller (Kennealy Keller Motorsports) Start: 9th –Fin: 17th rear end
First race under the KKM banner and some great things to remember despite the final result. The car performs well. As proof, Kyle gained several positions at the start of the race and could envisage a position near to the top-five when unfortunately a mechanical problem ruined his race.
“Thank you to my whole team for their hard work to get us the best handling car this year! Sucks what happened with a mechanical issue. We were heading for another top 5! We will re group and go for that win in my Hometown (Las Vegas)! Thank you to my whole crew and sponsors for the continued support.” Keller said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 19 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 4th (3x) | 2 starts, best result 5th |
No. 71 Nick Joanides (Jan’s Towing Racing) Start: 15th – Fin: 11th
New team, new car. In short, everything has to be put in place and difficult in its conditions to be on top directly. Joanides has the experience to put together a basic setup quickly. But as he says himself, this will have to be refined now that they know which direction to go. The race was not easy either with two spins. The lost lap will not be recovered. With a free pass, a top-10 was possible because he finished behind slower cars.
“Not quite what we were hoping for, but about what should be expected when bringing a new car out with only an hour of practice available. Had some electrical gremlins that kept shutting the car off in practice. Off the trailer, car was too tight. We used the race as a test session and learned a lot about what this car wants. Will now will go back shop, make some major changes and re-do the setup. Unfortunately, got spun out twice, which cost us a lap and a likely top-10.
“I needed one more to get back on the lead lap, was a bit annoyed myself that guys wanted to tear up equipment for 12th place! I never race that way. If we’re off and can only run around 12th, my belief is, get it home in one piece and improve it to be better for the next race. Some guys race for 12th like it’s for the win on the last lap!!
“Fortunately was only cosmetic damage, but on these cars, cosmetic damage is quite expensive to fix! A respectable run for the Jan’s Towing Racing debut. With a race under our belts, expect a lot better results in Vegas, which is one of my favorite tracks.” Joanides said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 25 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 4th | 3 starts, best result : 4th |
No. 88 Joey Iest (Naake-Klauer Motorsports) Start: 7th – Fin: 4th
Successful comeback for Joey Iest who constantly rode for and in the top-five. Clean and intelligent race on a track that he knows well and where he has already achieved good results. The car was performing well and he was able to bring it back to the checkered flag intact. He is missing the podium, probably due to the lack of driving in recent months. Fortunately we will see him again in Madera behind the wheel of NKM’s Ford. And he will be a candidate for victory.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Roseville |
| 25 | 1 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 1st | 3 starts, best result 2nd |
The next race on October 13 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring, Las Vegas, NV, for the Star Nursery 150.