By Vincent Delforge, Special to Kickin’ the Tires
The NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame, the eleventh race of the 2024 ARCA Menards West Series season, held at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in Bakersfield, CA, saw Sean Hingorani deliver a perfect performance as he won from the pole position and led every lap. His third victory of the season will allow him to enter the Phoenix finale with a 14-point lead over fourth-place finisher Tyler Reif, looking to capture his second championship.
Complete race results: www.racing-reference.info/race-results/2024-11/AW/
The top-five in the championship being the following: Sean Hingorani (562), Tyler Reif (548), Trevor Huddleston (525), Jack Wood (501) and Kyle Keller (478).
Driver & owner point standings: www.racing-reference.info/standings/2024/AW/
Next race on Friday November 8 for the final race of the season and for the second time in 2024 on the one-mile paved oval of Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, AZ, for the Desert Diamond Casino Valley 100, a 100-mile race that will be broadcast live on FloRacing.com
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 at Bakersfield (KHKR)
-71st season in history.
-Race No. 1027 since the inception of the West Series in 1954.
-2024 race No. 11 of 12.
-690th paved oval race in history.
-15th race at KHKR since 2013.
-Ninth win for Toyota at KHKR. Among the manufacturers Toyota leads the dance at KHKR with 9 wins ahead of Ford (5) and Chevrolet (1).
-88th win for Toyota in West Series. The all-time most successful manufacturer is Ford with 292 wins.
-Seventh win for owner Bill Venturini.
-Win No. 7 for Venturini Motorsports team. 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).
-Second win for owner Bill Venturini and Venturini Motorsports at KHKR, both with Sean Hingorani as a driver (2023 and 2024). The most successful team at KHKR is Bill McAnally Racing with 6 wins.
-Seventh career win for Sean Hingorani (28th career start) and second at KHKR Derek Kraus is the most successful pilot at KHKR with 4 wins. In all, 9 different drivers have won at least one race.
-Fourth career pole position for Sean Hingorani (28th career start), the second of 2024 after Tri-City.
-Third pole for Venturini Motorsports and owner Bill Venturini in West Series. The first at KHKR and the first in 2024.
-Bill McAnally Racing is the most successful teams with six poles at KHKR. 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.
-10th pole for Toyota at KHKR. Among the manufacturers, Toyota leads with 9 poles ahead of Ford (4) and Chevrolet (1). The all-time most successful manufacturer is Chevrolet with 260.
-The pole sitter has won the race six times. Whoever started second has won four times.
-The driver who won the race from the worst starting position was Dylan Lupton with the ninth position in 2014.
-The track record is owned by Gray Gaulding at 100.514 mph achieved in 2013.
-As far as yellow flags are concerned, the record is 8(thrice). The 2015 race holds the record for the number of yellow flag laps with 43.
-The record for the fewest caution is 3 (the last four races). With just 12 laps behind the pace car, the 2022 race holds the record for fewest laps under yellow flags.
-The most leader changes occurred in 2016 with 9. The fewest leader change is zero in 2019 and 2024.
-The largest starting field was in 2013 with 28 cars.
-The smallest starting field was in 2019 with 13 cars.
-The driver with the most races is Takuma Koga (11).
-The driver with the most wins is Derek Kraus (4)
-The driver with the most poles is Todd Gilliland (3)
-The drivers with the most top5 are Derek Kraus, David Mayhew and Trevor Huddleston with 5.
-The driver with the most top10 is Trevor Huddleston with 10 ahead of David Mayhew and Todd Souza with 9.
-The drivers with the most laps is Takuma Koga (1462).
-The driver with the most laps lead is Derek Kraus (368).
-Four times the race has been extended by an overtime (2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019).
-First career attempt in West Series for: none
-First career start in West Series for: none
-First career attempt at KHKR in West Series for (6drivers): Brent Crews, Spencer Davis, Jaron Giannini, Joey Kennealy, Rip Michels and Isabella Robusto.
-First career start at KHKR in West Series for (6drivers): Brent Crews, Spencer Davis, Jaron Giannini, Joey Kennealy, Rip Michels and Isabella Robusto.
-Best career result in West Series for Brent Crews (2nd), Rip Michels (8th) and Spencer Davis (11th)
-First career Top-10 result in West Series for: Brent Crews (2nd)
-First career Top-5 result in West Series for: Brent crews (2nd)
-10th win for the No. 15 in history. The second at KHKR (both with Sean Hingorani as a driver).
-Fifth pole for the No. 15 in history. The first at KHKR.
-First career win for crew chief Taylor DeWolf. The first for a woman in West Series history.
-First career pole for crew chief Taylor DeWolf. The first for a woman in West Series history.
-First time in West Series history that a couple in life formed by two crew chiefs finished in the first two positions of a race. Taylor DeWolf (first position) and her partner in life Gregory Papp (second position). And icing on the cake, for the same team Venturini Motorsports.
The Drivers
No. 05 David Smith (Shockwave Racing) Start: 20th – Fin: 16th
A race similar to the previous ones for the Canadian Smith. He went all the way but was the slowest on the track. He gained a few positions as his opponents retired. But the number one objective, namely, to bring the car back in one piece, was achieved. And given the high competitiveness of the West Series drivers, it was already a great performance for the driver of the No. 05.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 27 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10th (2x) | 3 starts, best result 13th |
No. 3 Todd Souza (Central Coast Racing) Start: 13th – Fin: 12th
The 130th race of his career will not remain his best memory. Indeed Souza lacked pace and was unable to secure an eighth top 10 in his career at Bakersfield. He will have to perform better in Phoenix to try to take points from Hingorani and thus help his young teammate Reif win the 2024 championship.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 130 | 1 | 23 | 74 | 0 | 1st (1x) | 10 starts, best result : 5th |
No. 4 Eric Nascimento, Jr. (Nascimento-Joiner Motorsports) Start: 14th – Fin: 17th Suspension
Not at all the same dynamic as in the last two races. While he had already shown to be fast in Bakersfield, Bubba was unable to find the speed this time. He started the race in 14th position and was able to climb back into the top 10 by the strength of his wrist. But while he was fighting for eighth position with Eric Johnson, Jr. and Isabella Rosbusto, he got into a collision with the latter. If Robusto retired directly, Nascimento, Jr., would continue for about ten laps before also having to park his Chevrolet definitively. His right front suspension had been too damaged in the contact.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 25 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 1 | 2nd (2x) | 5 starts, best result: 6th |
No. 5 Kole Raz (Jerry Pitts Racing) Start: 3rd – Fin: 6th
No sweep in Bakersfield for Raz who had a good pace but not like last April where he was able to finish in a blaze and win his first career victory. Sure, a sixth position is a good result given the high level of the series but for Kole, it still has a bit of a bitter taste. Especially since he spent almost the entire race in fifth position.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 6 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1st | 2 starts, best result 1st |
No. 6 Henry Barton (Jerry Pitts Racing) Start: 12th – Fin: 13th
Like his two teammates at Jerry Pitts Racing, Barton did not have enough pace to aim for a good result. He was 14th at the halfway point, one lap behind the leader. He had a complicated second half of the race and lost a lot of time on the leaders. A complicated car to drive, especially with brakes showing signs of weakness in the last fifty laps.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8th | 2 starts, best result 13th |
No. 7 Takuma Koga (Jerry Pitts Racing) Start: 18th – Fin: 15th
Despite his great experience in KHKR, the Japanese Koga could not do anything during the race. The cause was a car suffering from a multitude of small problems. Once one was resolved, it was another that affected the behavior of the No. 7. The car sagged in the corners on its right rear suspension, rubbing on the track. The only consolation for Takuma was that he was able to gain positions between the start and the finish unlike his two teammates. But starting from 18th position, it was easier to gain than to lose. 2024 is really a frustrating season for the likeable veteran.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 125 | 0 | 4 | 28 | 0 | 5th (4x) | 11 starts, best result 9th |
No. 9 Kyle Keller (Jan’s Racing) Start: 11th – Fin: 19th Suspension
Third team in three races for Keller. This time he was driving the No. 9 Jan’s Racing. A car that had potential but was set up too aggressively led to a vibration that would eventually cause the suspension to break at the front right and the puncture of the right front tire in the same time on lap 66. The breakage occurred at the entrance to turn 1 and although Keller managed to return to his pits to repair it, he had to retire 10 laps later. The damage rendered the car unusable. If he loses a lot of points in the championship, he can still hope to finish this one in fourth position. Provided he has a good race in Phoenix.
“P19. We had a long run car and I felt like we were just saving and ready to attack after the break. But I started to feel a vibration but couldn’t react to the right front fast enough. As that would end our night causing the right front swaybar arm to break. Decided to take the safer option and call it to the trailer. We still have an advantage on 5th in points! Thanks to Jan Qualkenbush and the whole Jans Racing Team for giving me this awesome opportunity! Let’s go chase Phoenix! Thank you to my crew and awesome sponsors who have helped me continue this season!” Keller said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 33 | 0 | 9 | 21 | 0 | 4th (3x) | 5 starts, best result 6th |
No. 12 Joey Kennealy (Kennealy Keller Motorsports) Start: 19th – Fin: 14th
If we only look at the final result of the race, we could think that the young Kennealy had a bad performance. But if we take into account the context, that is to say: a car more adapted to the bullring, an engine with already a lot of mileage, only a second race in his career and a first with a car from the West on this fast oval. We must highlight Joey’s good performance. He did not have the pace to get a top 10 certainly but he drove an intelligent race, driving while preserving his mechanics and being consistent in his lap times. He is learning methodically and this experience will be useful to him for next year.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11th | 1 start, best result 14th |
No. 13 Tyler Reif (Central Coast Racing) Start: 5th – Fin: 4th
What can I say? Tyler is obviously disappointed with his race. His goal was to reduce his championship deficit on Hingorani…. And on the contrary, this gap goes from five to 14 points. However, Tyler and CCR had a good race. He quickly climbed from his fifth position at the start to second. But Hingorani was on his own planet and inaccessible. But Tyler had to face a Huddleston, who is definitely in great shape at the end of the season and also Brent Crews. Hingorani’s teammate who will have an excellent end of the race to pass in front of Reif and Huddleston. In the end, this fourth position is not bad in itself because it allows Reif to keep serious chances in Phoenix. And Tyler and CCR are not known for giving up. On the contrary, there will be a taste of revenge on November 8.
“P.4 at Kern Raceway. Not what we needed. Unfortunately loosing some points to the leader. Ready to rebound strong and see what we can do at Phoenix! Proud of what this small team and i have accomplished so far this year, let’s end it on a high note!” Reif said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 25 | 3 | 14 | 16 | 5 | 1st (3x) | 3 starts, best result : 3rd |
No. 15 Sean Hingorani (Venturini Motorsports) Start: 1st – Fin: 1st
What a performance by Sean Hingorani! He was the fastest the entire time. Pole position, fastest lap in the race and 150 laps led out of 150! A victory without any possible dispute. He was even able to manage his brakes at the end of the race. This third victory of the season strengthens his leadership in the championship. With a 14-point lead when he starts the final in Phoenix, he will just have to make sure he stays either in front of or a few positions behind Tyler Reif to win his second consecutive championship.
“Venturini Motorsports brought me such a great race car today and I can’t thank them enough for that. Had to hold off there at the end, but we were able to lead wire to wire and dominate here today. I had a fun time. Thanks for all the fans once again,” Hingorani said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 28 | 7 | 17 | 18 | 4 | 1st (7x) | 3 starts, best result 1st (2x) |
No. 16 Jack Wood (Bill McAnally Racing) Start: 6th – Fin: 5th
And another top 5 for Wood and BMR. A good result but once again victory was not possible. Fast and consistent in the race, he was missing those few hundredths to consider a better result. Because lap after lap, the gap with the leader grew. The goal in Phoenix will be to finish on the championship podium. To do that, he will have to have a good race and finish in front of Huddleston, something Wood has not been able to do since Tri-City.
“Our NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet was pretty well balanced. We just lacked a little bit of long-run speed. We’ve definitely improved our package this year, but still need a little extra to maintain pace on the long runs. We have one more shot at it this year, but it’s nice to be stacking consistent top five’s. Hopefully we can end things with a win at Phoenix in a couple weeks.” Wood said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 30 | 0 | 9 | 18 | 0 | 2nd | 4 starts, best result 5th |
No. 17 Buddy Shepherd (Cook Racing Technologies with MMI Racing) Start: 4th – Fin: 20th Suspension
No luck for Shepherd who had good speed. At the start of the race he climbed to third position but very quickly his car became very difficult to turn. The cause? A breakage of his right front suspension. He continued no matter what. After fifty laps, he was one lap behind the leaders. When the first yellow flag was waved, he was 13th. Despite the team’s efforts to try to repair it, the No. 17 returned to its pit box after 72 laps. Result? A twentieth and last position.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 11 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 3rd | 3 starts, best result : 7th |
No. 19 Eric Johnson, Jr. (Bill McAnally Racing) Start: 16th – Fin: 9th
The rookie will quickly gain positions to fight for the top 10. But he will hardly be able to consider going higher. He will receive the free pass during the first yellow flag while he was eleventh. He will even benefit from the problems of Robusto, Eric Nascimento, Jr. to settle in eighth position. But he will lose this position at the end of the race following the comeback of Rip Michels. The brakes of the No. 19 were among the reddest visually. This affected the behavior of his car.
“«“While we hoped for a better finish, we still secured another Top-10 in Bakersfield, kept our car clean, and gained solid ground in the points last night!
Had a blast being apart of this competitive 20 car field! I spent the first half searching for grip, but as the track cooled we slightly over compensated at the break and had to fight to save the RF after the car built tight late in the race. The racer in me wants to find more speed, but the rookie in there is thankful for the lessons learned and is excited for our last shot in Phoenix here in a couple of weeks! Our No.19 team is hungry for that podium finish.” Johnson, Jr. said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 15 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 4th | 2 starts, best result : 9th |
No. 20 Brent Crews (Venturini Motorsports) Start: 10th – fin: 2nd
Excellent end of the race by Crews who will even be the only one able to reduce the gap with Hingorani. His last 10 laps even suggested the possibility of seeing the driver of the No. 20 fight for the victory. But if he had already made a mistake by sliding at the entrance to turn 3 previously during the race (he had moved Huddleston out of the way shortly after the 100th lap), he will make exactly the same mistake in the same place on the penultimate lap. In the end he finished second, which is his best career result.
“This thing was a hot rod. We honestly struggled all day but Cayden (Lapcevich) and the guys just worked their tails off to be able to get us where we are. Definitely using everything I had to get there” Crews said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2nd | 1 start, best result 2nd |
No. 21 Ethan Nascimento (Nascimento-Joiner Motorsports) Start: 17th – Fin: 10th
Ethan will run a smart race. Not having the pace to be in the top 10 at the start of the race, he will try to stay out of trouble and it will work for him. He will even benefit from the free pass during the third yellow flag following the contact between his brother Eric and Isabella Robusto. The rest of his race will be a bit “anonymous” but rewarded with a new top 10, his third consecutive in three races.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 11 (+ 1 DNS) | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3rd | 2 starts, best result 8th |
No. 23 Jaron Giannini (Sigma Performance Services) Start: 7th –Fin: 7th
Giannini is the assurance of a top 10 in every race. Even if he is discovering the tracks with a West Series car, he always has a pace that allows him to fight for a top 5 and at worst a top 10. The rookie is surprisingly mature. He makes no mistakes, has a good speed and is consistent from start to finish. His lap times are worthy of a metronome! If we had to criticize him for one small thing, it would perhaps be a slight lack of aggressiveness during restarts.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5th | 1 start, best result 7th |
No. 42 Spencer Davis (Cook Racing Technologies with MMI Racing) Start: 8th – Fin: 11th
Davis did not have the race he would have hoped for. Indeed, with this car, Landen Lewis had won the race in 2022. This time, the No. 42 was, a bit like the 2024 CRT season, a little below the pace that this team had accustomed us to seeing. He lost positions during the first segment and benefited from the free pass at halfway through the race while he was twelfth. He would again lose a lap on the leaders during the last long run (54 laps) under green flag at the end of the race. He could have considered a top 10 but Ethan Nascimento managed to contain him behind him until the checkered flag.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11th | 1 start, best result 11th |
No. 50 Trevor Huddleston (High Point Racing) Start: 9th – Fin: 3rd
And eight! Eighth top 10 in as many races at Bakersfield for Huddleston. It’s even his fifth top 5. And he’s even the only driver this year to have finished twice on the podium here. If he loses points to Hingorani, he gains one on Reif. Everything will therefore be played out between these three during the finale at Phoenix. Even if with a 37-point deficit, Huddleston will also have to count on a misstep from his rivals to win the championship.
To return to the race on the KHKR, Huddleston quickly found a way to position himself in second position. He even threatened Hingorani during two of the three restarts. But he lost the race on the 100th lap when he was pushed off the right line by Brent Crews in turn 3. Forced to pass in the dust on the outside of turn 4, he slipped from second to seventh position. But as proof that he had a good car again, he managed to move up to third position.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 76 | 5 | 30 | 62 | 3 | 1st (5x) | 8 starts, best result 2nd |
No. 55 Isabella Robusto (Venturini Motorsports) Start: 15th – fin: 18th Crash
Certainly not the race Robusto had imagined. Struggling with the handling of her Toyota during the qualifying session, she started the race from a distant 15th position. However, she would find a way to climb back into the pack and reach the top 10 by lap 20. She was ninth at the halfway point but her progress would stagnate. Her battle with Eric Johnson, Jr. and Eric Nascimento, Jr. would end in the wall of turn 1 when she was hit in the left rear by the driver of the No. 4. The impact with the outside wall was violent enough to force the young woman to end her race on lap 87.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2nd | 1 start, best result 18th |
No. 71 Rip Michels (Jan’s Racing) Start: 2nd – Fin: 8th
What a strange day for Michels. First in practice, he was just beaten by Hingorani in qualifying for pole position. If the start went well, things would quickly become complicated for the driver of the No. 71. He would lose position after position to find himself 10th on the eighth lap. He would then stagnate for almost the entire race around the end of the top 10. Finally, he managed to find a better pace at the very end of the race than his direct opponents and gained a few positions to obtain his best result in his career. But one positive thing is to remember for Jan’s Racing. Their program concerning the fast half-miles like Bakersfield or Irwindale makes this team one of the fastest at the moment. There is not much left before seeing a car with a big “Aloha” on the engine hood win a race.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Bakersfield |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8th | 1 start, best result 8th |
Next race on Friday November 8 for the final race of the season and for the second time in 2024 on the one-mile paved oval of Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, AZ, for the Desert Diamond Casino Valley 100, a 100-mile race that will be broadcast live on FloRacing.com.