PIT BOX: ARCA Menards Series West packs into The Bullring at Las Vegas

A couple weeks after an event on the trying, 12-turn road course at Portland International Raceway, the ARCA Menards Series West is back in action Thursday on a track layout more familiar to its competitors.

Of course, racing on The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is anything but easy.

The 0.375-mile paved oval, located adjacent to the facility’s 1.5-mile tri-oval that will host three NASCAR national series races this weekend, is a tricky short track despite its relatively simple layout.

Not including the West season-opener at the one-mile Phoenix Raceway, Thursday’s Star Nursery 150 at The Bullring will mark the series’ fourth short-track race of the season.

Tickets to Thursday’s Star Nursery 150 are available. The race will be shown live on NBC Sports Gold’s TrackPass starting at 8:30 p.m. PT / 11:30 p.m. ET.

A replay of the Star Nursery 150 will broadcast on NBCSN on Thursday, Sept. 30, starting at 5 p.m. ET.

Star Nursery 150 at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

The West Series returned to The Bullring last season for two races (February and September) after a seven-year hiatus. Sam Mayer and Gracie Trotter won those events to become the seventh and eighth West Series winners at the 35-year-old track.

And with neither entered in Thursday’s Star Nursery 150, we are guaranteed to see another first-time Vegas winner in the series.

Trotter’s Bullring victory, of course, was historic, as she became the first female driver to win an ARCA-sanctioned race. On Thursday night, five drivers will be looking to become the second.

Jolynn Wilkinson, Amber Slagle, Amber Balcaen, Mariah Boudrieau and Bridget Burgess all are entered in the Star Nursery 150. Wilkinson and Balcaen will compete for Bill McAnally Racing, the team Trotter drove for when she won at The Bullring last year.

Burgess is the only West Series full-timer of the group; she races her family-owned No. 88 HMH Construction Chevrolet with her mother Sarah as crew chief.

Slagle, a regular competitor in various Late Model divisions and a mechanic/crew chief for Cook Racing Technologies, will make her second West Series start driving the No. 17W Sunwest Construction-MMI-CRT Chevrolet for Steve McGowan. Boudrieau will make her third West Series start driving the No. 77 Jans-REX MD-All Phase Construction Toyota for Joe Nava.

Thursday’s Star Nursery 150 is a big race as it relates to the season-long ARCA Menards Series West championship battle. Jesse Love, who won two of the three short-track races the series has contested thus far in 2021 (both at California’s Irwindale Speedway) will be looking to extend his points lead.

With three races remaining in the season, Love, the defending series champion, holds a 19-point edge over second-place Jake Drew in the championship standings. The 16-year-old finished second and third in the pair of Bullring races last season, and he qualified on the General Tire Pole for the September event.

Other drivers in Thursday’s field who have West Series experience at The Bullring are Burgess, Bobby Hillis Jr., Trevor Huddleston, Joey Iest, Takuma Koga, Todd Souza and Kyle Keller.

The complete entry list for Thursday’s Star Nursery 150 at The Bullring at Las Vegas can be found here.

RACING REFERENCE:

• ARCA Menards Series West points
• Previous races at The Bullring

RACE FACTS

CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: The starting field for the Star Nursery 150 is limited to 20 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: Restricted pitting procedure in effect for this event.

The maximum tire allotment available for this event is as follows: The maximum tire use at track for the event is eight (8). Per ARCA Rulebook, maximum number of tires allowed in pit box for use in race is two (2).