Sam Corry goes the distance at Sonoma Raceway for his first West Series victory

SONOMA, Calif. — When the green flag waved to begin Friday’s General Tire 150 at Sonoma Raceway, Sam Corry made sure it was a one-horse race.

The 18-year-old from Chicago dominated the 47-lap event and cruised to his first ARCA Menards Series West win Friday afternoon aboard the No. 25 Nitro Motorsports Toyota after starting from the Sioux Chief PowerPEX Pole.

“Patience was definitely the word of the day today,” Corry said. “My spotters Collin Fern and Will Rodgers all day on the box there just telling me to be patient and save these tires. I can’t thank them enough; they’ve been a huge help in my career up to now.”

Going left and right is something that comes natural to Corry. From 2021-23, Corry traveled across the country racing junior open wheel cars. He gained further road-course experience in 2025 when, in addition to making his ARCA platform debut, he ran the full Trans Am TA2 schedule with Nitro Motorsports.

Between his time in in the junior open wheel ranks and racing with the Trans Am Series, Corry was able to gain experience at some of the country’s greatest road courses, including venues like Road America, Circuit of the Americas and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

“Being here and having raced here before has definitely been a help, but to be with the same team that we were with in Trans Am coming over to the stock car world has been big,” Corry said.

All those laps came in handy Friday at Sonoma, where Corry was in control throughout the afternoon.

He easily secured the Sioux Chief PowerPEX Pole Award, the first of his career, and led every lap of the General Tire 150. Corry was only challenged once, when teammate Mia Lovell slipped past him in Turn 11 with eight laps to go.

Corry quickly moved back around Lovell, who overcooked the corner, and survived a late restart to secure his first ARCA Menards Series West triumph in just his second start.

“Today was a testament of our patience for sure,” Corry said. “I have no words right now. I’m so excited for this team. They have put in so much work on this race car. They work so hard. To Nitro Motorsports, to Toyota Racing, thank you. I can’t thank these guys enough.”

Lovell, who also has ample road-course experience thanks to time spent racing in Trans Am and Toyota GR Cup North America, came home a career-best second in the second Nitro Motorsports entry.

The runner-up result comes one race after Lovell finished third in the most recent oval race on the ARCA Menards Series West schedule at Washington’s Tri-City Raceway.

Eric Johnson Jr. finished third, his best result of the season, ahead of Cole Denton in fourth and Patrick Staropoli in fifth. Todd Souza, Robbie Kennealy, Jeff Anton, Trevor Huddleston and Gavin Ray finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

The ARCA Menards Series West season continues Saturday, Aug. 8 when the series travels to Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon. Coverage of the event begins at 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET live on FloRacing.