NOTEBOOK: Tanner and Tyler Reif carrying momentum into Irwindale Speedway

The Reif brothers have grown accustomed to success on the West Coast.

With the youngest brother, Tyler, fresh off his first ARCA Menards Series West victory at Phoenix Raceway, his older brother Tanner enters this Saturday’s West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame 150 at Irwindale Speedway (7 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT on FloRacing) one year removed from a wire-to-wire triumph at the facility.

For Tanner, replicating his performance from 2022 will require him to rebound from a 12th-place run in his first race with Bill McAnally Racing, which he knows is more than possible given the team history and his familiarity with the track.

“I’m feeling pretty confident,” Tanner said. “[Bill McAnally Racing] has been working really hard to get this car back up to pace. We were able to turn some laps [around Irwindale] and we made some good progress, so we should be able to make a good run for the win.”

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While Tanner came away from Phoenix disappointed in his overall performance, he still had plenty of reasons to celebrate knowing Tyler joined him as an ARCA Menards Series West winner.

Growing up, Tanner always envisioned he and Tyler would gradually work their way through the developmental ladder into the NASCAR Cup Series. Both brothers still have a long journey ahead of them, but Tanner said their recent success in the West Series is the first major step towards accomplishing that goal.

Tyler admitted he had no idea his first West Series victory would come so early in his career, but he credits the accomplishment to Tanner for providing him the confidence to get the most out of his cars from the moment their own respective careers began.

“There are only a few sets of brothers who have ever [won in ARCA West],” Tyler said. “I always love racing Tanner because it’s both tough love and good competition. He’s two years older, so he’s helped me with my race craft and shows me the lines at the tracks I haven’t been at before. We just push each other to be better.”

Tyler Reif joined his brother Tanner as a winner in the ARCA Menards Series West in just his third career start. (Photo: Adam Glanzman/ARCA Racing)

Expectations for Tyler have changed following Phoenix, as he now wants to chase as many wins as possible with Lowden-Jackson Motorsports and pursue the ARCA Menards Series West title.

Irwindale is a track where Tyler has accumulated plenty of experience, including several Pro Late Model starts, yet he anticipates a much different race on Saturday due to the heavier weight of the West Series cars.

Despite the differences, Tyler is confident he can earn two consecutive wins to open the 2023 ARCA Menards Series West season.

“Super good is an understatement on the test we had at Irwindale,” Tyler said. “There are so many grooves at the track and the fast line could be anywhere halfway through the race. A lot of this comes down to the driver finding the right line. Irwindale is pretty hard on tires and [the ARCA cars] don’t turn as good as the Supers or Pros, but we were still fast [in the test].”

One of the primary obstacles Tyler will have to deal with is Tanner, who is determined to lead every lap at Irwindale like he did last year.

Like Tyler, Tanner sees himself as a favorite for the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame 150, adding that everyone at Bill McAnally Racing has worked tirelessly to ensure the No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet will be one of the best at Irwindale.

Tanner stressed perfect execution will be imperative from everyone for Bill McAnally Racing to find their way to Victory Lane.

“I think we’re going to have a fast car and set the pace the entire weekend,” Tanner said. “We’ll need to keep our heads down and if I can provide great feedback and make sure we’re doing everything we need to do, then we’re going to be faster [than everyone else].”

Landen Lewis looks to earn another ARCA Menards Series West victory on Saturday, this time with car owner Steve McGowan. (Photo: Adam Glanzman/ARCA Racing)

Landen Lewis pursuing second West Series win

A botched final restart by Tyler Reif at Phoenix Raceway provided Landen Lewis the perfect opening to add another ARCA Menards Series West triumph to his resume.

Reif ultimately chased down and passed Lewis as the duo race towards the checkered flag, denying the Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, native an opportunity to celebrate in Victory Lane with long-time car owner Steve McGowan.

Lewis’ first victory in the West Series came while driving for Bruce Cook in last year’s Salute to the Oil Industry NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Kern County Raceway Park. After that victory Lewis entered one more race with McGowan before finishing out the 2022 season in Bill McAnally Racing’s iconic No. 16.

Now back with McGowan, Lewis will try to improve upon his fifth-place performance in his only West Series appearance at Irwindale Speedway. That run was not an easy one to come by for the Lewis, as he started 13th and overcome an incident during the 67^th lap of the race.

Lewis will look to obtain better track position to open Saturday’s West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame 150 so he can cement his status as a favorite for the West Series championship.

Jake Bollman making ARCA West debut with High Point Racing

Trevor Huddleston will have a teammate this Saturday at Irwindale Speedway during the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame 150.

Driving the No. 55 out of the High Point Racing stable will be Jake Bollman from Huntington Beach, California, who is set to make his West Series debut after spending the 2022 season competing in Pro Late Models and Super Late Models across the United States.

Bollman competed in the prestigious Snowflake 100 and the SpeedFest Pro Late Model 125 for Rackley W.A.R., the latter of which saw Bollman earn an eighth-place finish ahead of drivers like Stephen Nasse, Derek Griffith, and the most recent ARCA Menards Series East winner, William Sawalich.

Bollman will have the benefit of driving some of the best equipment in the field. Tim Huddleston, Trevor’s father, purchased the assets of Sunrise Ford Racing during the offseason, which visited Victory Lane at Irwindale last year with Tanner Reif and defending West Series champion Jake Drew.

With Huddleston’s experience to lean on, which includes an Irwindale victory in 2019, Bollman will attempt to make a strong first impression amongst the ARCA West faithful when the green flag flies on Saturday.

NOTES:

This year’s field for the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame 150 looks much different compared to the 2022 edition of the event, with only five drivers from that competed last year on Saturday’s preliminary entry list (Tanner Reif, Trevor Huddleston, Takuma Koga, Todd Souza and Nick Joanides).
He may not be in the field for Saturday’s race at Irwindale, but that doesn’t mean Joey Iest won’t be in attendance. Iest, who finished 10th last year at Irwindale, drove the hauler carrying David Smith’s race car to Irwindale Speedway.
Bradley Erickson made some noise in the West Series opener at Phoenix Raceway with a third-place finish. He is chasing the series championship with Naake-Klauer Motorsports and will try to carry the momentum from Phoenix into Saturday’s race at Irwindale.
One of Kyle Keller’s best performances during his part-time ARCA Menards Series West schedule in 2022 came at Irwindale, where he finished fourth. Keller enters Saturday’s West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame 150 fresh off a fifth-place at Phoenix, which puts him in an ideal position to improve upon his 2022 showing at Irwindale.
Both of the Nascimento brothers are on the preliminary entry list for the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame 150. Bubba is back in the No. 4 after coming one lap short of a lead lap finish at Phoenix, while Ethan looks to improve upon a disappointing 26^th-place run.