PIT BOX: West Series season commences at Phoenix Raceway with 68th opener

For the ARCA Menards Series West, it all begins again Friday at Phoenix Raceway.

The General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway, which serves as the season-opener for the West Series, also doubles as the opening round of the Sioux Chief Showdown and the second race of the ARCA Menards Series season following the opening race of the year on Feb. 19 at Daytona International Speedway. Friday’s race is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. MT / 7:30 p.m. ET.

Friday’s race is the 68th season-opener for the West Series and the 49th time Phoenix has hosted the series during its lengthy history. It is the 12th time Phoenix has hosted the West Series opener.

Tickets to Friday’s General Tire 150 are available. The race will be broadcast live on MAVTV Motorsports Network and live streamed by FloRacing. A radio broadcast will also be available on MRN and SiriusXM.

General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

The entry list for Friday’s ARCA Menards Series/West Series combination race features 40 competitors from both divisions.

Chief among them are a group of competitors expected to pursue the West Series championship, including 2021 West Series runner-up Jake Drew. The 22-year-old lost the West Series championship last year to Jesse Love via a tiebreaker. He is back in with Sunrise Racing to drive the No. 6 Ford owned by Bob Bruncati.

Love, who is competing in the majority of the ARCA Menards Series races this year for Venturini Motorsports after two straight West Series championships, is also in the field.

Drew will be joined in Friday’s field by a trio of drivers entered by Bill McAnally Racing. McAnally’s entries will be piloted by Austin Herzog, Cole Moore and Derek Kraus.

Bill McAnally Racing announced in early January that Herzog would run the full West Series schedule this year for the first time. Kraus, who competes for McAnally–Hilgemann Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, is driving a third entry for the team this weekend at Phoenix.

The father-son duo of Paul and P.J. Pedroncelli are also back for another season in the West Series. P.J. Pedroncelli broke through in a big way last year in his first full West Series season, winning his first race at All American Speedway in Roseville, California. He entered the finale last year at Phoenix as one of seven drivers mathematically capable of winning the championship, but an 18th-place finish resulted in a fourth-place championship result.

MORE PHOENIX: Schedule | Tickets

JR Motorsports NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Josh Berry will make his West Series debut and his sixth start on the ARCA Menards platform piloting the No. 17 Chevrolet owned by Steve McGowan. Berry, who scored two Xfinity Series wins last year in a limited schedule for multiple teams, is running the full Xfinity Series schedule this year for the first time and will also compete in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at the one-mile tri-oval aboard his No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

Defending ARCA Menards Series East champion Sammy Smith will be in the field aboard the No. 18 TMC Toyota owned by NASCAR Cup Series star Kyle Busch. Smith, who is sharing the No. 18 this year with Drew Dollar, has one previous West Series start at Phoenix. Smith started second and finished third in last year’s finale as a teammate to race winner Ty Gibbs.

In addition to the West Series regulars, many ARCA Menards Series stars will be on hand for the combination race, including Daytona runner-up Parker Chase for Venturini Motorsports. Chase, who is competing in 10 races this year for the Venturini team, will race as a teammate to the aforementioned Love and Toni Breidinger.

Other ARCA Menards Series full-timers who will be on hand include Rajah Caruth, Daniel Dye, Nick Sanchez, Amber Balcaen and Greg Van Alst.

The complete entry list for Friday’s General Tire 150 at Phoenix can be found here.

RACING REFERENCE:

• Previous ARCA races at Phoenix
• ARCA drivers at Phoenix

RACE FACTS

CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: The starting field for the General Tire 150 is limited to 30 plus provisional positions. This event will be run under the 2022 ARCA Menards Series rules, procedures, regulations and specifications.

QUALIFYING: Starting lineup set by practice / qualifying session results plus provisionals.

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 once 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: Per ARCA Rulebook, maximum tire usage for this event (purchased plus from-home tires) is 12. Maximum number of tires allowed in pit box for use in race is six (6).