By Vincent Delforge, Staff Writer
The fourth race of the 2025 ARCA Menards West Series season took place in Dacono, Colorado, on the 0.375-mile paved oval at Colorado National Speedway (CNS) this Saturday, May 24. The Colorado 150 was reduced to 60 laps instead of 150 due to persistent rain, which prevented the race from restarting despite a very long red flag.
With the risk of rain being very high even before the race began, the drivers’ strategy was very different from the one used a month ago in Tucson on a similar oval. Here, the goal wasn’t to preserve tires and brakes, but rather to position themselves as best as possible in the standings in case rain fell.
Polesitter Jake Bollman was able to take advantage of his advantageous position to take command of the race as soon as the green flag waved. And this tactic proved to be the right one. The leader at the time of the interruption, he was ultimately declared the winner by ARCA officials when it was certain the race could not resume. This victory, his first career victory, is also the 100th for the Bill McAnally Racing team. A hundredth victory that was long overdue since the team led by Bill McAnally had not won since the Roseville race in October 2022 with Cole Moore, making it 29 races without a victory. An eternity for BMR, the winningest team in the history of the West Series.
ARCA West Practice/Qualifying
Clearly, the BMR team has found the recipe for speed on 0.375-mile ovals. Just like in Tucson last month, Jake Bollman took the pole position, the second of his career. It was the 82nd for BMR, which further improved his own record. Kyle Keller (Jan’s Racing Team), who was fastest during the practice session, was second, 0.126 seconds behind. The second row was occupied by Todd Souza (Central Coast Racing) and Trevor Huddleston (High Point Racing).
In her first career race, rookie Holly Clark (Strike Mamba Racing) set the 10th fastest time, just ahead of fellow female driver Mariah Boudrieau (Performance P-1 Motorsports). David Smith (Shockwave Racing) brought up the rear in 12th place.
Green, Green, Green !!!
Jake Bollman maintained the lead from the moment the green flag waved. Kyle Keller put intense pressure on him but remained behind the rear bumper of the No. 19 Chevrolet throughout the race.
Trevor Huddleston, who started from last position following an unapproved adjustment, slipped through the slower cars and moved into the top ten on the first lap. He then gained position after position to close in on the leaders. He was credited with the fastest lap of the race at 17.173 seconds (78.612 mph).
The other driver to gain positions from the start was Eric Johnson, Jr. (Jerry Pitts Racing), who quickly moved into the top five. The only driver to have a more difficult start to the race was Todd Souza, who gradually slipped down the order from third to seventh.
Robbie Kennealy (Jan’s Racing Team) and Tanner Reif (Central Coast Racing) battled for fifth place, with the elder Reif brother having the final say.
Blake Lothian (Strike Mamba Racing), Holly Clark, Mariah Boudrieau, and Eric Rhead (Clark Racing), who were making their West Series comeback, battled for the final positions in the top 10. But this group lost a lap to the leaders. Boudrieau lost pace and contact with this group after about thirty laps. Bringing up the rear, David Smith was the first to be caught by the leaders after about fifteen laps.
Rain joins the party
The sky is getting more and more threatening, and the first drops of rain fall more intensely on the oval track just before lap 50.
On lap 53, the flagman waves a yellow flag. Eric Rhead is given a free pass. The cars complete seven laps behind the pace car before race control red-flags the cars. The cars are stopped, and the standings on lap 60 are as follows: Jake Bollman leads, ahead of Kyle Keller, Trevor Huddleston, Eric Johnson, Jr., Tanner Reif, Robbie Kennealy, Todd Souza, Blake Lothian, Eric Rhead, Holly Clark, David Smith, and Mariah Boudrieau.
After a long wait of over two hours, officials announce that the race will not restart, and Bollman is declared the winner. His first career victory. The Bill McAnally Racing team’s 100th victory couldn’t have come at a better time than on the day the car sports a large number 100 on its hood. The No. 19 Chevrolet sports a gold paint scheme to commemorate the 100th anniversary of its long-standing sponsor, NAPA. The partnership between BMR and NAPA is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. It’s worth noting that this is also BMR’s eighth victory at the CNS.
“What a night and what a car. This is incredible to be part of such a historic milestone for Bill (McAnally) and just continue the tradition of this team in the ARCA Menards Series West. There’s been so many people and drivers that have played a part in getting here, so it’s pretty incredible to get my first win in the 100th for the team. We felt really good about coming here with how we ran at Tucson. These guys did a great job preparing our NAPA Chevrolet and this is extremely special to get a win in this paint scheme for NAPA’s 100th anniversary.” Bollman says.
In the championship, Trevor Huddleston maintains the sole lead with 161 points, two more than Tanner Reif. Eric Johnson, Jr. is six points behind, Kyle Keller has seven, and Robbie Kennealy rounds out the top five, just 11 points behind the leader. The battle for the 2025 championship is more uncertain than ever!
The next race is on June 14th, when the NAPA Auto Parts 150 returns for the second time this season to Kevin Harivck’s Kern Raceway in Bakersfield, CA.
