Taylor Gray
Taylor Gray, driver of the No. 17 Ford Performance Ford, celebrates winning the Star Nursery 150 for the ARCA Menards Series West at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sept. 23, 2021. (Miranda Alam/ARCA Racing)

Multiple drivers split special awards at Las Vegas Bullring

www.arcaracing.com September 28, 2021

When Taylor Gray found himself in Victory Lane after the ARCA Menards Series West race at Portland International Raceway earlier this month, it took a furious charge after going a lap down — plus penalties that dinged the pair of cars ahead of him — for him to hoist the trophy.

On Thursday night at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the 16-year-old needed no such luck to make it two in a row with a dominating performance in the Star Nursery 150.

Jake Drew
Jake Drew, driver of the No. 9 Sunrise Ford-Lucas Oil-Offset Sport-Stilo USA Ford, wins the General Tire Pole Award ahead of the Star Nursery 150 for the ARCA Menards Series West at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sept. 23, 2021. (Miranda Alam/ARCA Racing)

Looking to avenge a disappointing defeat at Portland, rookie Jake Drew sped to his third General Tire Pole Award of 2021 with a best lap of 15.017 seconds/89.898 mph on the 0.375-mile paved oval. It was the former kart racer’s first pole on an oval having previously rolled from the top spot at the two road course events at Sonoma Raceway and Portland.

Drew is the only multi-time polesitter in the ARCA Menards Series West this year. Other GT Pole Award winners in 2021 include Ty Gibbs (Phoenix), Dean Thompson (Irwindale), Todd Souza (Colorado) and P.J. Pedroncelli (Irwindale).

Drew backed up his first pole on an oval with his first laps led on an oval, pacing the field for the opening 22 circuits. Gray, the outside polesitter never let Drew get too far, though, and Gray took over first place just prior to the first caution on Lap 23.

Further yellows allowed Jesse Love to battle for the top spot, and he led five laps before his No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota developed handling issues. Gray regained the lead from Love for good on Lap 72, cementing his status as the runaway Valvoline Lap Leader for the race.

Gray led 123 of 150 laps and jumped to second in the yearlong Valvoline Lap Leader standings behind Love. While Love upped his total to 179 laps led, Gray now represents Love’s closest competitor with 156 laps led this season. Gray has led laps in all three ARCA Menards Series West appearances he has made in 2021. With a 150-lapper at All American Speedway and the season-ending, 100-lap event at Phoenix Raceway still on the West Series schedule, the quest to take the yearlong lap leader crown is still wide open.

By leading at the crossed flags Thursday, Gray became the first driver to be named the Richmond Water Heaters Halfway Leader twice in the 2021 West Series season. Gray was the halfway leader at Portland, as well.

Also among Gray’s award haul was the Bounty Rookie of the Race nomination. Looking at the bigger picture, the Star Nursery 150 provided a significant shakeup in the Bounty Rookie of the Year standings, as Drew surpassed Cole Moore to take over the top spot.

Buoyed by a clean sweep of the top five by Ford teams, Drew now has an advantage of three points over sixth-place finisher Moore, and fellow Ford racer Joey Iest lies in wait just six points behind Drew. Previously, Moore had led the rookie standings after the past five races, dating back to the second event of the West season at Sonoma.

Further buried in the Bounty Rookie of the Year standings is fourth-place Thompson. COVID protocols forced Thompson out of the second Irwindale event in August at the 11th hour, and he did not compete at Portland, either, as he opted to continue his hunt for a late model title, instead.

Thompson returned to the ARCA Menards Series West at Las Vegas and was one of the leaders of the Ford train at the front of the field, with his strong pass of Ford corporate teammate Drew winning the fan vote for the Reese’s Sweet Move of the Race for the evening. Unfortunately, Thompson’s night was eventually derailed by a late accident, leaving him five laps down in 14th at the checkered flag.

One beneficiary of Thompson’s misfortune was Josh Fanopoulos, who was able to use that caution as part of his slow march through the pack after starting shotgun on the field. Fanopoulos ultimately nailed down his second career top-10 finish with a ninth-place effort, earning the K&N Filters Hard Charger nod.

The ARCA Menards Series West will return to the track on Saturday, Oct. 9 for the NAPA Auto Care Center 150 presented by Berco Redwood at All American Speedway. The 150-lap affair on the one-third mile bullring is scheduled for a green flag at 10 p.m. ET.

Live coverage will be provided by TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold, while ARCARacing.com will host live timing and scoring for all on-track activity on the Race Center page of the website. An edited version of the race broadcast will air on Thursday, Oct. 14 at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN.