By Tadd Haislop – ARCA Racing
DACONO, Colo. — The majority of Saturday night’s NAPA Auto Parts Colorado 150 was the Bill McAnally Racing show. Which had become par for the course at Colorado National Speedway, where BMR drivers had won five of the last seven in the ARCA Menards Series West.
BMR drivers Jesse Love and Cole Moore led a combined 126 of 150 laps on the 0.375-mile paved oval. But neither led any of the last 18.
Those laps were controlled by Joey Iest, the rookie who won his first race on the ARCA Menards platform Saturday night in convincing fashion driving the No. 54 AG Center 59-Basilla Farm Ford.
Results from the NAPA Auto Parts Colorado 150
Iest, an 18-year-old from Madera, California, is competing in both the ARCA Menards Series East and the ARCA Menards Series West this season for Mike Naake with the backing of David Gilliland Racing. He passed Love on Lap 132 at Colorado National and cruised to his first win in his 14th ARCA Menards start dating back to last season.
Iest’s win moves him to sixth in West Series points through four of nine races. He also sits fifth in East Series points with four top-five finishes through six of eight races in that series.
The defending West Series champion, Love settled for a second-place finish at Colorado National. That run combined with Todd Souza’s seventh-place effort Saturday night was enough to propel Love to the championship points lead in the West Series.
Love now holds a two-point edge in the standings over Moore, who finished fourth at Colorado National. Souza fell to third in points.
Sunrise Ford Racing driver Jake Drew finished third Saturday night ahead of Moore. The fifth-place finisher was Eric Nascimento, a 20-year-old from Manteca, California, who was making just his second ARCA Menards start driving the No. 4 RJS Paintshop-Skipco Welding & Industrial Toyota in a joint effort with Don Wood, Velocity Racing, and Bill McAnally Racing.
P.J. Pedroncelli, Souza, Jolynn “JoJo” Wilkinson, Bridget Burgess, and Trevor Huddleston rounded out the top 10.
Wilkinson, a 17-year-old from Hueytown, Alabama, was making her ARCA Menards debut driving the No. 19 Instacoat Premium Products Toyota for Bill McAnally Racing.
The ARCA Menards Series West will return to action on Aug. 21 with a 150-lap race at California’s Irwindale Speedway. Love won the series’ first race this season at the half-mile paved oval on July 3.
The series’ second and final stop at Irwindale will be shown live on NBC Sports Gold’s TrackPass starting at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET.
A delayed showing of Saturday night’s NAPA Auto Parts Colorado 150 will broadcast on NBCSN on Wednesday, Aug. 11, starting at 3 p.m. ET.
Photo: Chet Strange/ARCA Racing