PIT BOX: ARCA Menards Series West goes back to Cali

A few weeks after taking on Sonoma Raceway in Northern California, the ARCA Menards Series West is headed to SoCal.

Saturday night’s NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame marks the series’ first of two visits this season to Irwindale Speedway, the half-mile paved oval located about 20 miles East of downtown Los Angeles.

Complete with incredible views of the nearby mountains, Irwindale Speedway features variable banking in the corners and is sure to produce another exciting short track race in the West Series.

Saturday’s NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Irwindale is sold out of tickets. The race will be shown live on NBC Sports Gold’s TrackPass. A replay of the event will air on NBCSN on Thursday, July 8, starting at 4 p.m. ET.

NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

Ty Gibbs won the 2021 ARCA Menards Series West opener in a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series at Phoenix Raceway in March. NASCAR Cup Series regular Chase Briscoe won Round 2 at Sonoma in early June.

That means Saturday’s race at Irwindale is sure to produce a first-time winner this season, as neither Gibbs nor Briscoe is entered.

The field for the NAPA Auto Parts 150 features all of the West Series regulars. That includes Trevor Huddleston; the driver of the No. 6 Sunrise Ford-Lucas Oil-Haas Development-Terra Clean Ford will race at the track owned and operated by his father Tim.

A track champion at Irwindale in the late model division, Trevor Huddleston has a win and two top fives in three West Series starts at his home facility. He finished second to Jesse Love when the series visited Irwindale last season.

Huddleston’s Sunrise Ford Racing teammate Saturday night will be Jake Drew in the No. 9 Sunrise Ford-Lucas Oil Ford.

Love, the defending ARCA Menards Series West champion, will run the No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, one of three Bill McAnally Racing cars in the field at Irwindale. Cole Moore, the other full-time BMR driver in the West Series, will be in the No. 99 NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota.

The third BMR entry at Irwindale is a driver making her debut on the ARCA Menards platform. Amber Balcaen, a third-generation driver from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, will run the No. 19 Icon Technologies Limited Toyota.

So excited for my first @ARCA_Racing race this weekend!!! https://t.co/xuhRZt1XaA

— Amber Balcaen (@amberbalcaen10) June 29, 2021

Another driver making her ARCA Menards racing debut at Irwindale has the same first name: Amber Slagle. The late model racer will drive the No. 17 MMI Racing Chevrolet a couple days before her 25th birthday.

Todd Souza, the West Series points leader after two of nine events, will again run his own No. 13 Central Coast Cabinets Toyota at Irwindale. As will the second-place driver in the standings, P.J. Pedroncelli, and his father Paul in their No. 33 Select Mobile Bottlers Toyota and No. 31 Pedroncelli Mobile Bottling Chevrolet, respectively.

Also back in action for the Irwindale race is Australia native Bridget Burgess in her No. 88 HMH Construction Chevrolet.

The complete entry list for Saturday’s NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame can be viewed here.

RACING REFERENCE:

• ARCA Menards Series West Points
• Previous races at Irwindale
• West Series drivers at Irwindale

RACE FACTS

CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: The starting field for the NAPA Auto Parts 150 is limited to 24 plus provisional positions. This event will be run under the 2021 ARCA Menards Series West rules, procedures, regulations and specifications.

QUALIFYING: Starting position will be set by each car’s fastest recorded lap in the practice / qualifying session.

RACE PIT STOP: Break pitting procedure. Break at or near the conclusion of Lap 75. No adding or moving tires to or from pit box after race has started. All cars will be required to make at least one pit stop prior to last 10 laps of race.

The maximum tire allotment available for this event is as follows: The maximum tire use at track for the event is 10. Per ARCA Rulebook, maximum number of tires allowed in pit box for use in race is two (2).