Jesse Love
Jesse Love, driver of the No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, celebrates winning the NAPA Auto Parts 150 for the ARCA Menards Series West at Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, California, on Aug. 21, 2021. (Meg Oliphant/ARCA Racing)

Five drivers split ARCA’s special awards at Irwindale

www.arcaracing.com August 25, 2021

Running in his own backyard at Irwindale Speedway, a track at which he had turned more laps at than anyone else in Saturday’s field, Trevor Huddleston was well on his way to turning around a disappointing 2021 season with a victory.

Unfortunately for Huddleston, he developed brake issues and was passed by defending ARCA Menards Series West champion Jesse Love, who went on to win the NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Sunrise Ford. Huddleston finished three laps down in 10th, but he did lead the Sunrise Ford Racing team to many of ARCA’s special awards.

REWIND: What we learned at Irwindale

General Tire Pole Qualifying produced the fifth different polesitter in as many ARCA Menards Series West races in 2021, as P.J. Pedroncelli sped to his first career pole. Pedroncelli has been one of the biggest surprises of 2021, breaking through when he finished third in his hometown of Sonoma behind only Chase Briscoe and Dylan Lupton, a pair of drivers with NASCAR Cup Series experience. Pedroncelli’s previous career-best start was seventh at Colorado National Speedway in what was the most recent West Series race.

Pedroncelli never led a lap, though, as Huddleston, the third-place qualifier, stole the lead on the opening circuit of the race. Huddleston paced the field for 87 laps, collecting the Richmond Water Heaters Halfway Leader award. Much like the General Tire Pole Award, each of the five West races in 2021 has featured a unique halfway leader.

Huddleston clinched the Valvoline Lap Leader honors with his 87 laps led, while Love led 66. This marked the first occasion that Huddleston led laps this year, slotting him in fourth on the yearlong leaderboard. Love moved into the lead with 173 laps led, leapfrogging Dean Thompson with 144 laps led. Thompson was unable to compete at Irwindale due to COVID-19 protocols, and two-time series championship runner-up Ryan Partridge stepped in to pilot the No. 51 Ford to a fifth-place finish.

Love’s Lap 88 pass for the lead over Huddleston was voted the Reese’s Sweet Move of the Race.

Despite challenges for two of the team’s three regular drivers, the evening was not a complete loss for Bob Bruncati’s Sunrise Ford operation. Jake Drew finished second to Love, establishing a new career-best finish. After finishing 18th at Phoenix in March in his West Series debut, Drew has improved his final result with each race and has now scored three consecutive top fives.

Drew was named the Bounty Rookie of the Race at Irwindale. Drew is second in the Bounty Rookie of the Year standings to Cole Moore, who has a gap of three points over Drew after finishing sixth at Irwindale. Joey Iest, the big winner at Colorado three weeks ago, moved into third in the rookie standings with a fourth at Irwindale.

Though he finished outside the top 10, one racer deserving of recognition after Irwindale was underfunded independent Bobby Hillis Jr. of Arizona. Hillis qualified on the last row of the grid in 19th but kept his nose clean and car pointed straight all night on his way to ending the race in 12th, earning the owner-driver the K&N Filters Hard Charger award for his rise of seven positions.

The ARCA Menards Series West will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 11, for a companion race to the NTT IndyCar Series on the road course at Portland International Raceway. The 57-lap event is the second and final road course race of the season for the West Series. The defending race winner is Greg Pursley, who led every lap on his way to victory in the most recent race for the series at Portland back in 2012.

NBC Sports Gold’s TrackPass will show the Portland race live starting at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET. An edited replay of the broadcast will air on NBCSN at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 18.