By Vincent Delforge, Special to Kickin’ the Tires
The NAPA Auto Care 150, the eighth race of the 2024 ARCA Menards West Series season, held on Saturday, August 10 for the first time in over 20 years at Tri-City Raceway in West Richland, WA, lived up to expectations. There was action on the track and a fierce battle for victory between Tyler Reif (Central Coast Racing No. 13) and Sean Hingorani (Jerry Pitts Racing No. 5). It was ultimately Reif who won the race after a perfectly controlled final restart on the outside line. This second consecutive victory after the one obtained in Shasta, CA, allows him to take three additional points in the championship, which he now leads by eight points over Hingorani.
This race was also an opportunity to see the return of Greg Biffle (Sigma Performance Services No. 23) to the track that launched his professional career.
Here is the full summary of the race.
ARCA West Practice/Qualifying
On Friday, August 9, there was an optional practice to help drivers and teams get acquainted with the unique half-mile tri-oval. Kyle Keller (Kennealy Keller Motorsports No. 12) posted the fastest time. He was unable to repeat that performance the following day as the Hingorani/Reif duo took over. Todd Souza (Central Coast Racing No. 3) and Washington State rookie Eric Johnson, Jr. (Bill McAnally Racing No. 19) followed closely behind.
ARCA West rookies Jess Havens (Jerry Pitts Racing No. 6) and Kasey Kleyn (Naake-Klauer Motorsports No. 88) were among the fastest right away with sixth and seventh times, respectively. Greg Biffle was ninth. Note that Tim Goulet has once again postponed his West Series debut since this time he left the wheel of his No. 31 Rise Motorsports to a newcomer in the person of Rick Redig-Tackman.
The pole position is achieved by Sean Hingorani with a new track record of 96.386 mph. Beating the old record of 95.541 mph. Note that Tyler Reif, second in 95.770 mph also beats the track record. Jack Wood (Bill McAnally Racing No. 16) and Greg Biffle occupy the second row.
Trevor Huddleston (High Point Racing No. 50) is only 11th. He will decide to make adjustments after the qualifying session and will start the race from the back.
Note that Takuma Koga (Jerry Pitts Racing No. 7) is seventh. He who was honored earlier in the day by the officials of the West Series. Indeed he becomes the foreign driver with the most starts in history with 122 races. Beating the previous record held by the Canadian Daryl Harr with 121 races.
Green flag!
As soon as the green flag waved, Tyler Reif surprised polesitter Sean Hingorani by passing him on the outside line by exiting turn 2 faster. Kyle Keller passed Greg Biffle for fourth position. Takuma Koga lost many positions and dropped out of the top 10 at the end of the third lap. Trevor Huddleston did the opposite and gained positions to join the top 10.
Up front, it was a yo-yo between Reif and Hingorani. At times, Reif had a lead of almost a second and two laps later the gap was barely five tenths. Canadian David Smith (Shockwave Racing No. 05) was very slow and was caught by the leader after only seven laps. He would go to the end of the race but would finish dead last with a 16 lap deficit! Note that Biffle was only eighth.
On lap 20, taking a lap lead from Danica Dart (Kennealy Keller Motorsports No. 11), Reif lost a little time and Hingorani came back to stick to his rear bumper. The driver of the Toyota No. 5 then slipped on the inside line and on lap 23 he managed to take the advantage and seized the lead of the race.
Let’s take a quick look at the standings on lap 25 because there have been a lot of changes since the start of the race. Hingorani leads in front of Reif. They are three seconds ahead of third-place Jack Wood, followed by Keller, Jess Havens, Eric Johnson, Jr., Biffle, Todd Souza, Kasey Kleyn and Huddleston. Rick Redig-Tackman is 11th and last driver on the leader’s lap. The rest of the leaderboard is made up of Nick Joanides (Jan’s Racing No. 71) (-1 lap), Dart (-1 lap), Koga (-1 lap) and Smith (-2 laps).
Hingorani solid leader.
The race settled in and the top-five did not change until lap 35 when Havens took fourth from Keller. Behind Biffle seemed to have found the right rhythm and moved up to sixth. Johnson, Jr. gradually lost positions and was 10th by lap 40. He complained about a car that was getting harder and harder in the corners on the radio.
Biffle was now the fastest driver on the track and he moved up hard, passing Keller and then Havens to find himself in fourth position by lap 50. In just 10 laps, he would close a three-second gap on Wood and take third position by lap 60. Keller followed Biffle and also passed the BMR driver by lap 70.
Midway break
The first yellow flag comes on lap 76 and marks the mid-race break. The 15 drivers join the pitlane for a five-minute break with the possibility of making adjustments. Souza, seventh, benefits from the free pass. The complete classification for the restart is as follows: Hingorani, Reif, Biffle, Wood, Keller, Havens, Souza, Huddleston (-1), Kleyn (-1), Redig-Tackman (-1), Joanides (-1), Johnson, Jr. (-1), Dart (-2), Koga (-2), Smith (-8).
The restart is given on lap 82 and Hingorani maintains his leadership. Behind Wood puts the pressure on Reif and will manage to take second position just before lap 100. It is at this moment that the second yellow flag is waved for a debris Turn 3. Huddleston gets the free pass. He is in eighth position. Note that Biffle (4th) goes through his pit box to make new adjustments.
Restart on lap 108 with Hingorani leading ahead of Wood, Reif, Keller and Havens for the top-five. Tyler Reif is once again very quick to get into action and he takes back second position from Wood on the first lap following the restart. Souza passes Havens for fifth position.
Biffle spun in Turn 3. Too many adjustments made the No. 23 very unstable and Greg Biffle therefore provokes the third yellow flag of the race while the night has now settled in well. Kasey Kleyn, ninth, gets the free pass. Note that Souza passed Keller for fourth position. Unlike Biffle, the adjustments made on the No. 3 are very effective!
Restart on lap 121 but not for long because Jess Havens, sixth at the time, who is having a great race for his debut is going to go into a spun in Turn 3. In fact Havens received a little push from Joanides and that is the reason for his 360° spin. Joanides could have benefited from the free pass but as he is involved, he will not be able to take advantage of it. That said, despite a car used here for the first time, he has a consistent pace while his opponents lose a little speed, which allowed the driver of the No. 71 to integrate the top 10 earlier in the race.
Restart and Reif takes the lead!
The restart is given on lap 132 and Tyler Reif will do exactly the same maneuver as at the start of the race. He passes the leader Hingorani on the outside line in Turn 2. Wood and Souza follows. Keller must fiercely defend his top-five against Huddleston.
This overtaking is the one for victory because even if the gap will never exceed half a second between the first two during the last 18 laps, Hingorani will never really be able to attack Reif to take back the first position.
Tyler Reif wins his second victory of the season, the second in a row and increases his lead in the championship to eight points against Sean Hingorani. The titanic duel that the two drivers offer us is incredible in intensity and quality. Because they fight cleanly and with respect on the track.
“The laps were counting down faster and faster. Those cautions surprised me, but we did what we had to do during those last 75 laps. We practiced on the outside a little bit this weekend and it definitely paid off tonight.” Reif said on the Victory Lane.
“I wanted more for sure. I felt like we were really good all night. It was a great drive tonight, but I wish we had a little more at the end. I think something might have broke, but it was very odd [to get beat] on the top [during the last restart]. We’ll look over the car and build on it for next time.” Hingorani said.
The top 10 was completed by Jack Wood, Todd Souza, Kyle Keller, Kasey Kleyn, Trevor Huddleston, Jess Havens, Greg Biffle and Nick Joanides. Takuma Koga finished his 122nd race in 11th position.
In the championship Tyler Reif has 387 points and leads Sean Hingorani (379), Jack Wood (341), Trevor Huddleston (337) and Kyle Keller (330).
Next race on September 28th at Madera Speedway in Madera, CA for the “West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame 150”. A race that will be broadcast live on FloRacing.
See you on Wednesday for the teams reactions and analysis article.