The driver who finally managed to snap Jake Drew’s three-race win streak in the ARCA Menards Series West was none other than his teammate Tanner Reif.
Continuing an all-around stellar season for Sunrise Ford Racing in general, Reif had to battle Drew and Cole Moore all evening at Evergreen Speedway, but successfully pulled away from both in the closing laps to claim his second career victory and establish some much-needed momentum heading into the final four races of the season.
“It felt great to finally get back in Victory Lane,” Reif said. “Winning at a new track is always a great feeling. I’ve had my struggles as a driver this year, but this team keeps pushing and it’s really helped with my ability as a driver.”
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Reif’s triumph at Evergreen was much more challenging than his first career victory earlier this year at Irwindale Speedway, which saw him lead every single lap from the pole.
Going into his rookie West Series season, Reif expected to be competitive in every single race, but he credits his two victories to team owner Bob Bruncati and everyone at Sunrise Ford Racing for the relentless work they have put in towards helping him understand how the cars work.
Reif would love to put together a win streak of his own just like Drew, but he knows that will be a difficult feat to accomplish with so many diverse tracks left on the schedule, starting with the road course at Portland International Raceway this weekend
Although Reif has not finished inside the Top 5 in either West Series road course race this season, he is not letting those performances deter his confidence and believes he can claim his second consecutive victory on Saturday evening.
“My ability as a road course driver is much better than the past couple of results,” Reif said. “I’ve trained hard on my road racing skills and believe that I can do a lot better [at Portland]. To keep the winning streak alive, I’ll have to keep my head on straight, focus on the track and how it changes.”
Reif will try to get his third win of 2022 when the green flag flies for the Portland 100 on Saturday evening at 5:35 p.m. PT. The event will be streamed live on FloRacing.
Jake Drew returns to where his win streak started
Despite coming up one spot short of winning at Evergreen, Jake Drew still managed to salvage a solid points night by finishing second behind Tanner Reif.
Now boasting a stellar 44-point advantage over the rest of his fellow West Series competitors, Drew is eagerly looking forward to racing at Portland this weekend, which is where Drew’s began his three-race win streak back in June.
A victory was far from an easy task for Drew that day, as he had to battle a torrential downpour all afternoon that ultimately resulted in the race being shortened to 42 laps.
Drew successfully rebounded from an off-track excursion going into the first turn to lead a race-high 31 laps. He then proceeded to pull off another dominant victory at Sonoma Raceway before leading every single lap at Irwindale Speedway on July 2.
If Drew can claim Saturday’s Portland 100, he will end the 2022 season with a perfect record on road courses in the West Series and give Sunrise Ford Racing their sixth victory of the year between Drew and Reif.
Todd Souza searching for first win in 12 yearsÂ
As more young drivers have sought to gain experience in the West Series, Todd Souza has remained a strong, veteran presence for others to follow.
With 104 starts in the West Series to his name, Souza has quietly enjoyed a solid 2022 campaign that has seen him record two Top 5s. He now heads back to Portland, where he put together a season-best finish of third in June despite having to navigate heavy rain showers.
Souza always enters West Series road course races with plenty of optimism. His lone West Series victory came at the Utah Motorsports Campus back in 2008, which he obtained after Jason Bowles cut a tire and Jim Inglebright ran out of fuel during the final laps.
Even though many aspects about the West Series have changed since that day, Souza’s confidence has never wavered, and he enters Saturday’s Portland 100 determined to usurp the efficiency that Sunrise Ford Racing has displayed all year long.
A Top 5 for Souza on Saturday would give him the most in a single year since he recorded five back during the 2019 season.
Notes:
- Davey Magras, a veteran of the Sports Car Club of America and an employee for Jerry Pitts Racing, is set to make his West Series debut at Portland this weekend. He will be driving his own car and will have his son Zach Magras as his crew chief.
- West Series veteran Ryan Philpott will be back behind the wheel this weekend in his own No. 52 Toyota. A full-time competitor in 2011 and 2012, Philpott’s only start on the 2022 season came at Sonoma, where he finished in 17th after being caught up in a multi-car crash in Turn 11.
- Vince Little is set to make his third start of the 2022 season on Saturday. Little struggled to keep pace with the leaders in the rain during the West Series’ first visit to Portland in June, but successfully completed all of the laps at Sonoma to bring home a career-best finish of 11th.
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