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 at Tri-City Raceway in West Richland, WA, saw the battle between Tyler Reif and Sean Hingorani continue in their quest for the 2024 championship. While Hingorani seemed to have done the hardest part by winning the pole position and leading the most laps, he could not resist Reif’s unstoppable attack during the final restart. The Central Coast Racing driver thus won his second victory of the season after the one obtained at Shasta on July 27.
This return after 21 years of absence on the half-mile tri-oval of Tri-City was a total success. Intense battles on the track between all the drivers, the presence of guest star Greg Biffle, a crowd that responded since the ticket office was sold out, a perfect organization. In short, all the ingredients to offer a superb show. Looking forward to the return in 2025 on this perfect triangle!
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-2024-tri-city-review/
Complete race results: www.racing-reference.info/race-results/2024-0888/AW/
The top-five in the championship being the following: Tyler Reif (387), Sean Hingorani (380), Jack Wood (341), Trevor Huddleston (337) and Kyle Keller (330).
Driver & owner point standings: www.racing-reference.info/standings/2024/AW/
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.
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
-71st season in history.
-Race No. 1024 since the inception of the West Series in 1954.
-2024 race No. 8 of 12.
-Race No. 10 at Tri-City since 1968.
-Win No. 1 for Toyota at Tri-City. Among the manufacturers Ford leads the dance with 4 wins ahead of Dodge (3), Chevrolet (1), Pontiac (1) and Toyota (1)
-87th win for Toyota in West Series. The all-time most successful manufacturer is Ford with 290 wins.
-Third win for owner Kelly Souza, the second on oval and for the first time two wins in a row.
-Win No. 3 for Central Coast Racing 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).
-First win for Central Coast Racing at Tri-City. The winning owners at Tri-City are: Fred Elder (2), Warren Razore (2), Bob Bristol (1), Ernie Conn (1), Tom Craigen (1), Samuel Roebuck (1), Kelly Souza (1), John Strauser (1)
-Third career win for Tyler Reif (22nd career start) and the first at Tri-City. The winning drivers at Tri-City are: Ray Elder (2), Roy Smith (2), Mike Chase (1), Jim Cook (1), Jeff Jefferson (1), Jack McCoy (1), Tyler Reif (1), Dirk Stephens (1)
-Tyler Reif now has three West Series wins, one more than his older brother Tanner Reif.
-With five wins, the Reifs are the second winningest pair of brothers in West Series history. The winningest siblings are the Bown brothers with 10 wins (Chuck 3 wins and Jim 7 wins).
-Third career pole position for Sean Hingorani (25th career start), the first of 2024. Hingorani is the ninth different poleman at Tri-City. The polesitters at Tri-City are: Bill Sedgwick (2), Dick Bown (1), Rick Carelli (1), Ray Elder (1), Sean Hingorani (1), Frank James (1), Hershel McGriff (1), Kevin Richards (1), Lance Wade (1)
-First pole position for Toyota at Tri-City. Among the manufacturers, Chevrolet leads with 6 poles ahead of Ford (1), Dodge (1), Plymouth (1) and Toyota (1)
-Fourth time in 10 races the driver who started in second position wins at Tri-City.
-First pole for owner Jerry Pitts and Jerry Pitts Racing at Tri-City. The most successful owners at Tri-City is Wayne Spears with 2 poles ahead of Marshall Chesrown (1), Fred Elder (1), Beryl Jackson (1), Gene Monaco (1), Mike Ober (1), Jerry Pitts (1), Varner Brothers (1), Dan Wade (1)
-Third pole for owner Jerry Pitts (but first with the current version of Jerry Pitts Racing) in West Series. 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.
-New track record set by Sean Hingorani in 96.386 mph, beating the previous record in 95.541 mph, owned by two drivers achieved, Bill Sedgwick and Kevin Richards respectively in 1990 and 2003.
-The poleman has won the race only one time (1970).
-Mike Chase (1994) and Jeff Jefferson (2003) won the race from 6th position on the starting grid, which is a record.
-As far as yellow flags are concerned, the record is 10 in 1990. The 1990 race holds the record for the number of yellow flag laps with 72.
– The 1970 and 1972 races holds the record for the fewest caution with one.
-The most leader changes occurred in 1989 with 10. The fewest leader change is one in 2003.
-The largest starting field was in 1972 with 24 cars.
-With 15 cars, the 2024 race set the new record for the smallest starting field. Previous smallest starting field was in 1970, 1989 and 1994 with 17 cars.
-The driver with the most races is Jack Sellers (5).
-The drivers with the most top5 are Mike Chase (3), Ray Elder (3) and Jack McCoy (3).
-The driver with the most top10 is John Krebs (4).
-The drivers with the most laps is Jack Sellers (853).
-The driver with the most laps lead is Mike Chase (244) with exactly double the next one Kevin Richards (122).
-First career attempt in West Series for (3 drivers): Jess Havens, Kasey Kleyn and Rick Redig-Tackman
-First career start in West Series for (3 drivers): Jess Havens, Kasey Kleyn and Rick Redig-Tackman
-First career attempt at Tri-City in West Series for all the 15 drivers.
-First career start at Tri-City in West Series for all the 15 drivers.
-Best career result in West Series for Kasey Kleyn (6th), Jess Havens (8th), Rick Redig-Tackman (12th)
-First career Top-10 result in West Series for Kasey Kleyn (6th), Jess Havens (8th)
-First career Top-5 result in West Series for: none
-Third win for the No. 13 in history. The first at Tri-City. All with Central Coast Racing.
-4th pole for the No. 5 in history. The first atTri-City. The first for the No. 5 since Neil Bonnett in 1977 at Phoenix ! Other poles with the No. 5 by Clyde Palmer (Belmont 1956) and Tiny Lund (Sacramento 1970).
-24th career pole for crew chief Jerry Pitts and the first at Tri-City.
-Third career win for crew chief Michael Munoz. The first at Tri-City.The three with Central Coast Racing and the No.13.
-78th pole for Toyota in West Series. The all-time most successful manufacturer is Chevrolet with 260.
-687th paved oval race in history.
-First time since the August 8, 2020 race at Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg, OR that all cars finished the race (46 races ago). It’s also the first time at Tri-City Raceway.
The Drivers
No. 05 David Smith (Shockwave Racing) Start: 15th – Fin: 15th
The Canadian veteran simply didn’t have the pace to hope for better than last place. Especially since the pace up front was ultra fast. He would lose an average of one lap to the leaders every ten laps of the race. Smith having already been full of fatigue in previous races, he had to dig deep into his reserves to finish the race. Even the winner Tyler Reif said that this race on the tri-oval was one of the hardest physically of his career.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 24 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10th (2x) | 1 start, best result 15th |
No. 3 Todd Souza (Central Coast Racing) Start: 10th – Fin: 4th
Seeing Tyler win races is a source of motivation for the veteran Souza who suddenly finds a second youth! The adjustments made during the midway break were decisive because after Souza had a much faster car and he was able to gain positions and finish fourth. His first top-five of the season.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 128 | 1 | 23 | 74 | 0 | 1st (1x) | 1 start, best result : 4th |
No. 5 Sean Hingorani (Jerry Pitts Racing) Start: 1st – fin: 2nd
Very fast as evidenced by his pole position with the new track record to his name. If Hingorani was surprised by Tyler Reif at the start of the race, he took advantage of the traffic of the latecomers to regain his property on the 24th lap. He then led for 109 laps. But if he had perfectly managed the restarts after the first three yellows, it was not the same during the last one.
Reif made exactly the same overtaking maneuver on the outside line. He stayed in the wake of the leader until the checkered flag without being able to attempt an attack to regain the first position. But the three bonus points obtained (pole, lap led and most laps led) allowed him to limit the loss of points to only two. With a seven-point deficit in the championship, the battle for the crown will continue at the next race in Madera.
“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.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 25 | 6 | 14 | 15 | 3 | 1st (6x) | 1 start, best result 2nd |
No. 6 Jess Havens (Jerry Pitts Racing) Start: 6th – Fin: 8th
For a first race in his career, Jess Havens finished in a fine eighth position. Thus beating his big brother Braeden who had finished 11th in his first race in 2011 in Spokane. But Havens could legitimately claim better. Indeed, he spent the majority of the race in the top-five but a spun in Turn 3 on the 125th lap following contact with Joanides made him fall back in the hierarchy. Restarting ninth and last in the lap, he will have the merit of taking the lead over Biffle but will remain stuck behind the Kleyn/Huddleston duo.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8th | 1 start, best result 8th |
No. 7 Takuma Koga (Jerry Pitts Racing) Start: 7th – fin: 11th
Qualifying well in seventh position, the Japanese driver Koga will quickly find himself outside the top 10 in the end of the third lap. He did not have the pace and will fight at the back of the pack all the race to finally finish 11th. This race, his 122nd in his career, nevertheless allows Koga to enter the history of the West Series by becoming the foreign driver to have done the most races. Beating the Canadian Daryl Harr and his 121 races.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 122 | 0 | 4 | 27 | 0 | 5th (4x) | 1 start, best result 11th |
No. 11 Danica Dart (Kennealy Keller Motorsports) Start: 13th – Fin: 14th
The young driver drove a smart race. She used her knowledge of the tri-oval to gain pace compared to the previous race at Shasta. But it wasn’t enough to aim for a top-10 finish. But the consistency in lap times is encouraging. The goal of the top-10 is possible and the next race at Madera should give her the opportunity to show us that.
“We had an awesome weekend at Tri City Raceway! I can’t thank everyone enough for coming out to show their support. We made some big gains from Friday’s practice to Saturday’s qualifying, picking up a full second. We felt confident heading into the race, but as the laps went on, the car got a bit tight, and I found myself just hanging on to finish strong. A huge shoutout to everyone who sacrificed so much to get me to the track, and to KKM Driver Development for their relentless hard work.
“Overall, it was a valuable experience, and I’m already looking ahead. Next up, we’re gearing up for some Super Late Model racing! Our sights are set on Mission Valley Super Oval Big 5 race in September and the Fall Classic in October. We’re not done yet—there’s plenty more to come! Thank you all for your support, and stay tuned for what’s next!” Dart said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 4 (1 DNS) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14th (2x) | 1 start, best result 14th |
No. 12 Kyle Keller (Kennealy Keller Motorsports) Start: 5th – Fin: 5th
Second consecutive top-five for Keller who could have even claimed better since he very quickly took fourth position at the start of the race. But he found Souza on his way at the end of the race who had one of the fastest cars in the last laps. But Keller takes back precious points in the championship and gets closer to Huddleston’s fourth position.
He is only seven points behind him. And with only 11-points behind Wood’s third position, anything is still possible in the championship; especially since Keller is in good momentum and in Madera he is performing well. While waiting for Madera, Keller will make his Xfinity Series debut with Carl Long’s MBM team at Watkins Glen.
“P5 at Tri-City Raceway RMEC. Had a good car just got a little too tight but super excited to go to Madera Speedway next! But next on the calendar for me is Watkins glen with MBM Motorsports! Thank you to my awesome crew and sponsors!” Keller said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 30 | 0 | 8 | 19 | 0 | 4th (3x) | 1 start, best result 5th |
No. 13 Tyler Reif (Central Coast Racing) Start: 2nd – Fin: 1st
It’s all been said in the race review and in the statistics above. Reif is in great form and he will do everything to bring the title home. With a seven-point lead over his great rival Hingorani, the last four races promise to be great to follow for the fans.
“Two in a row! The tri-oval treated us good this weekend! First time Tri-City Raceway for Central Coast Racing and me and we pulled it off to make it two in a row! Thank you to this amazing team. Let’s see if we can make it a 3 peat!” Reif said
Michael Munoz (crew chief): “Well we did it again and won the Napa Auto Care 150! So happy for my team to get back to back wins they worked hard all weekend and we put both cars in the top5 with the No. 13 Tyler Reif P1 and the No. 3 Todd Souza P4. We will continue to keep our heads down and focus on getting better every week! Thank you to everyone involved can’t do it without you!”
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 22 | 3 | 12 | 14 | 5 | 1st (3x) | 1 start, best result 1st |
No. 16 Jack Wood (Bill McAnally Racing) Start: 3rd – Fin: 3rd
Great performance by Wood who spent the entire race in the top-three. After the midway break he even did many laps in second position behind Hingorani but like him, he couldn’t do anything against Tyler Reif in the last 20 laps. He finished third. A position he also holds in the championship.
“It was an improvement from Shasta, with a different car we made some changes to do what we needed to do to improve from Shasta. Obviously still not winning speed but, a lot closer than what we had. I appreciate all the hard work from the guys, looking forward to getting back in the truck and hopefully we can take a little bit of momentum from that and go out and have ourselves a good weekend for the West Series race at Madera.” Wood said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 27 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 2nd | 1 start, best result 3rd |
No. 19 Eric Johnson, Jr. (Bill McAnally Racing) Start: 9th –Fin: 13th
Really unlucky our rookie. Fast in the practices Friday and Saturday with an interesting pace on the long runs. He gains positions from the first laps and finds himself on the doorstep of the top-five after only six laps. But shortly before the 30th lap, his car becomes difficult to get into the corners. A suspension problem that the mid-race adjustments will not compensate for. He will gradually slip out of the top 10 and finish in a disappointing 13th position.
“Reflecting on the race, it’s frustrating to show such speed in practice only to have mechanical issues cut our day short once again. I think we had the potential to compete up front, but as everyone else says, that’s racing. I’d just like to give a huge thank you to our partners at Pacific Office Automation for their continued support. We’ll come back stronger and ready to fight another day!” Johnson, Jr. said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 12 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 7th | 1 start, best result 13th |
No. 23 Greg Biffle (Sigma Performance Services) Start: 4th – Fin: 9th
Without a doubt the attraction of the race. Greg Biffle was returning for the first time since 1997 to the track that launched his professional career in 1995. Concerning the West Series, it was his first race since 1996! And the multiple champion in the different NASCAR categories had lost none of his talent. He was fast in qualifying session.
Surprised at the start of the race by the passion of his young opponents, he then came back from eighth to third position. But by wanting to adjust the car settings too much, he got a little lost and lost his pace. A spun even resulted in lap 114 after a contact with rookie Havens. Finally, he finished ninth after having a lot of fun and having delighted the large crowd that came to see him. Objective achieved. We hope that he will soon come back to fight for victory.
“Thanks to the Sigma Performance Services team for putting together a great car for me to drive on a weeks notice. Had a fun first 75 laps finishing third and over adjusted for the second half and spun battling for position with No. 6 (Jess Havens) car he didn’t see me inside and it hurt the tires. Great job to my spotter Chance. Thanks to Tri-city Raceway RMEC and the fans for welcoming me home and thanks to all the volunteers who made this race special. Maybe I’ll see you again soon.” Biffle said.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4th | 1 start, best result 9th |
No. 31 Rick Redig-Tackmand (Rise Motorsports) Start: 14th – Fin: 12th
Replacing owner/driver Tim Goulet at the wheel of the No. 31 at the last minute, Rick had an interesting race, running in 10th position for a long time. But his pace would drop in the last third of the race and he finally finished 12th. Which is respectable for a rookie.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12th | 1 start, best result 12th |
No. 50 Trevor Huddleston (High Point Racing) Start: 11th – Fin: 7th
Complicated race for Huddleston who preferred to start from the back after making unapproved adjustments after the qualifying session. But even if he saved points by managing to finish seventh, it remains a disappointing result for a championship contender. He had not accustomed us to this kind of poor performance. Trevor’s season is surprising, by the way. A race on the podium or the top-five then a race out of the pace alternately.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 73 | 3 | 27 | 59 | 2 | 1st (3x) | 1 start, best result 7th |
No. 71 Nick Joanides (Jan’s Racing) Start: 12th – Fin: 10th
A race at the back of the pack for Joanides. But he gets a top-10 in the end. His fourth in a row, which is his career record. He explains his race in detail.
“A unique race weekend. Yes, another new (to us) car. Struggled to get any speed out of it during practice or qualifying. The first half of the race was more of the same as the car had absolutely no grip. Could never get more than half throttle on the “straights” and it was plowing tight otherwise. I was at a loss to give any good feedback to crew chief Rip Michels. Somehow, he made a couple of changes that really woke the car up and all of a sudden we were running times competitive with the top-5.
“Unfortunately, being so far off in the first half put us two laps down before the break. There was some confusion, which I take full blame for, as to our lap count. While I knew at the break we were two laps off, somehow, when I got the lucky dog, I believed I was racing the cars around me for position. Had I known I was on a lap by myself, would certainly have cruised around and hoped for another caution. That mistake unfortunately got us spun and into the wall on the last lap.
“While there was plenty of room going in, appears the 05 car hit the dirt and came back up the track and into my left rear, which got me in the dirt and into the front stretch wall. Hate it for the guys that they have to fix the car now, but happy that Rip hit on something to show us the car has speed in it. We’ll head to Madera, a track I’ve always run well at, and hope to be back on track to compete in the top 5 for the rest of the year. These “test” sessions didn’t yield the best results, they were necessary and extremely helpful in getting our program competitive across the board.”
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 36 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 4th (2x) | 1 start, best result 10th |
No. 88 Kasey Kleyn (Naake-Klauer Motorsports) Start: 8th – Fin: 6th
Great finish for newcomer Kleyn who spent almost the entire race in eighth position but who will take the lead thanks to his consistency at the end of the race on Biffle, Huddleston or Havens. He made no mistakes and was both fast and careful with the car. We hope to see him again soon, just like NKM in the West Series.
| Starts | Wins | Top5 | Top10 | Pole | Best result | At Tri-City |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6th | 1 start, best result 6th |
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.