Mason Massey steals the victory in ARCA West race at Portland
There’s never a guarantee that the leader at the white flag will take the checkered in first. Mason Massey went from fourth when he took the white to winning the race with a final corner pass at Portland. He also only led the last lap of the race.
Massey scores his second win of the ARCA Menards Series West season. He moves up in points to tie Cole Denton for second with the win. He now sits 34 points behind point-leader Trevor Huddleston with five races left.
26 cars entered the race, the most for the West Series at Portland since 2012. Ethan Tovo scored the pole in his first career start in the series. The 16-year-old however had to start at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments after qualifying.
Race Summary
Due to Tovo dropping to the rear, his Nitro Motorsports teammates Sam Corry and Mia Lovell took the front row coming to the green. On the start, both of them made contact and missed the chicane, forcing both to do a stop and go penalty.
Andrew Chapman, Jeff Anton, and Austin Varco also missed the chicane, while Robbie Kennealy spun in the middle of it. Graham Jacobson assumed the lead as a result of the early chaos.
The first caution came out on lap three due to debris in turns 11 and 12. Corry took the lead back on the restart. On the long run as Corry pulled away, multiple cars spun out. Denton, Lovell, Todd Souza, Brad McAllister, and Ian Wood along with others spun during this stretch.
The second caution of the race came out on lap 22 for Caleb Shrader who’s car came to a halt with a lot of smoke pouring out of it. Corry held the lead on the run to the halfway break on lap 30.
On the post-break restart, Corry would again jump ahead of the field. Jacobson however lost multiple spots and fell out of the top five on the run. On the restart, Massey got up to second while Kyle Keller moved into third.
After taking second, Keller developed mechanical issues and had to pull off. His day ended in 21st as a result.
After Tovo took second from Massey, the fourth caution of the race came out for Wood coming to a stop on the track with 16 to go. On the restart, Massey retook second from Tovo.
The fifth caution of the race with 10 to go was an odd one. The grass caught fire in turn six, and the track safety crews had to put it out.
The final caution came out just after the restart for a large piece of debris in turn one. The final restart happened with three to go, and Jacobson spun out in the chicane. Corry and Tovo got aggressive with each other for the lead.
The white flag fell with Corry leading, but he got loose in the chase which allowed Tovo to pounce. Corry then forced Tovo into the grass, before Tovo made contact in turn five sending both cars off. Kyle Steckly took the lead with Massey right behind him. Steckly however missed the final corner, and Corry went off course towards the barriers. Corry finished 15th as Massey took the checkered flag.
Post Race Interview
In his post race interview with FloRacing, Massey said, “it was a wild lap, I knew it had to happen so fast when you’re in a good spot there coming to the white.” Massey additionally mentioned that he missed the final corner too, but that Steckly missed it worse than he did. He thanked primary sponsor BRUNT Workwear too with it being his first win with them as a sponsor, as well as team owner Bill McAnally among others.
Notable Finishers
While Steckly lost the race in the last turn, he still gave team owner Robert Torriere another runner up finish this season. The No. 53 also finished second at Lime Rock in the main ARCA division with Andrew Ranger.
Hailie Deegan scored her first top five finish of the season with a third place finish. Deegan will hope to carry this momentum into the last five races of the season and maybe pick up a win. She has won in the series three times before.
Jeff Anton finished in sixth which is his best finish of the year across ARCA’s division and third top 10. In fact, 1/4 ley Racing scored a double top 10 as Alex Quarterley finished in eighth. Quarterley got redemption after a top 10 at Lime Rock fell apart due to the hood coming up, and he wasn’t originally supposed to drive! His father Dale was listed on the entry list until the day of the race.
Race Results
- 19 Mason Massey
- 53 Kyle Steckly
- 16 Hailie Deegan
- 70 Ethan Tovo
- 5 Eric Johnson Jr
- 44 Jeff Anton
- 1 Robbie Kennealy
- 32 Alex Quarterley
- 55 Andrew Chapman
- 7 Gavin Ray
- 15 Mia Lovell
- 90 Graham Jacobson
- 50 Trevor Huddleston
- 27 Bobby Hillis Jr
- 25 Sam Corry
- 71 Cole Denton
- 51 Austin Varco -1 Lap
- 20 Brad McAllister -3 Laps
- 04 Ian Wood -4 Laps
- 05 David Smith -7 Laps
- 4 Kyle Keller OUT
- 77 Ryan Vargas OUT
- 6 Caleb Shrader OUT
- 13 Todd Souza OUT
- 38 Ray Bolinger OUT
- 72 Josiah Reaume OUT
The ARCA Menards Series West will return next month at All American Speedway on Sept. 5. The 1/3 mile oval will play host to the NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame.
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