Ethan Nascimento wins first ARCA West race at All-American in photo finish
In his first ARCA Menards Series West start in two years, Ethan Nascimento takes the checkered flag for the first time in his career. Nascimento wins the Napa Auto Parts 150 at All-American Speedway in Roseville, Calif. by 0.038 seconds over Trevor Huddleston.
The win is the first in ARCA West competition for Nascimento Motorsports, which has competed in the series since 2021.
The ARCA Menards Series West returned after a month off from racing. 19 cars entered the race. Rookie Cole Denton scored his third pole of the season on his 16th birthday. Ian Wood and Mia Lovell did not take timed laps in qualifying.
Race Summary
On the green flag, Eric Johnson Jr. took the lead from Denton on the start and led the first lap. Johnson then cleared Denton for the lead as the field bunched up towards the front.
Hailie Deegan, who was fast in practice took third from Robbie Kennealy, and then Trevor Huddleston followed into fourth shortly after.
Denton then got back to the inside of Johnson to try taking the lead back while Huddleston and Deegan battled for third right behind. The first caution came out before any overtakes could happen when Joey Iest spun in turn four after contact with another car.
After the restart, Denton took the lead back on lap 20. After clearing Johnson, some contact was made between the two. Deegan then took advantage and moved into second. Huddleston followed her again into third.
The second caution came out on lap 28 after Gavin Ray spun on the backstretch after contact with Ray Bolinger. Ray had to pull off shortly after due to a flat tire and damage. Ray later returned to the track but three laps down.
Lovell and Bolinger both pulled off under the caution.
Denton got a much better jump on the restart and cleared Deegan quickly. Mason Massey moved into third over Huddleston before he took it back a few laps later. On lap 42, Huddleston made contact with Deegan trying to take second as some smoke trailed from his car. He still got the position.
Huddleston then charged hard to catch Denton and got to him by lap 50. Some nose damage was sustained, but he later was able to take the lead on lap 51.
Huddleston started to pull away from Denton by lap 60 despite the smoke earlier. Smoke additionally started coming out of the exhaust pipes on Massey’s car.
Some battles through the field began to heat up as the long run went on. A tight battle developed for sixth between Kenna Mitchell, Ethan Nascimento, and Andrew Chapman. Huddleston lost the gap he developed after catching Johnson and Will Robinson and got held up. Denton couldn’t get around him despite the madness.
The third caution flew for Chapman and Mitchell spinning off of turn four on lap 87 after contact. Mitchell had to make an unscheduled pit stop following this. Massey also fell out of the race around the same time which could hurt his chances to win the championship.
The race restarted on lap 99 when Denton spun his tires which allowed Huddleston to get a big jump. Kennealy quickly followed Huddleston to take second. Denton lost more spots to Deegan and Nascimento falling to fifth.
The fourth caution came out on lap 107 for Tyler Tomassi spinning out off of turn two. Tomassi got some help from Chapman.
On the lap 114 restart, Huddleston got ahead again but Nascimento moved into second over Kennealy.
With 22 to go, more lap traffic gave Huddleston a hard time which let Nascimento close in. Huddleston later made contact with Tomassi as he began to lose patience with Nascimento right behind.
Another caution flew with 15 to go when Wood spun in turns one and two.
With five laps to go, Nascimento gave everything he had to take the victory from Huddleston and did so on the last lap moving him up the track. Deegan was close to pouncing on the last lap, but Nascimento held on to win his first career ARCA West race.
Results
- 4 Ethan Nascimento
- 50 Trevor Huddleston
- 16 Hailie Deegan
- 1 Robbie Kennealy
- 25 Will Robinson
- 71 Cole Denton
- 5 Eric Johnson Jr.
- 55 Andrew Chapman
- 72 Josiah Reaume -3 Laps
- 77 Donald Witkowski -3 Laps
- 51 Tyler Tomassi -4 Laps
- 04 Ian Wood -4 Laps
- 7 Gavin Ray -8 Laps
- 05 David Smith -9 Laps
- 13 Kenna Mitchell OUT
- 88 Joey Iest OUT
- 19 Mason Massey OUT
- 15 Mia Lovell OUT
- 38 Ray Bolinger OUT
The ARCA Menards Series West will return in two weeks at Madera Speedway on Sept. 26. The 1/3 mile oval will host the Madera 150 presented by West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame.
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