Trevor Huddleston wins ARCA West race at Colorado
Trevor Huddleston went back-to-back in the ARCA Menards Series West winning at Colorado and extended his point lead.
Huddleston led 125 laps en route to another dominating performance in a race that did finish with all the scheduled laps. Last years race ended early due to weather on lap 60.
His performance in the race is just what the series veteran needed if he wanted to continue his title defense chase.
The Legendary Billy Green 150 was held at the 0.375 mile Colorado National Speedway in Dacono, Col. It is the only paved short track in the state of Colorado.
Robbie Kennealy won the pole for the race in which 16 cars started. Rookie Mia Lovell did not make a qualifying run due to a radiator issue.
Notable Entrants and Omissions
Some notable entrants included two homestate heroes to Colorado National Speedway.
These two being dirt racer Scotty Milan and track champion Cade Fox. Both drivers from Colorado made their ARCA Menards Series West debuts.
Kyle Keller, who finished second in the championship last year made his return to the series driving the #4 Chevrolet for Nascimento Motorsports. This race was the start of a three race deal for Keller who will also compete at Portland and the Las Vegas Bullring.
Some notable omissions though included Julian DaCosta who was previously announced to be full time in the No. 25 Toyota for Nitro Motorsports. DaCosta who failed to finish all four races except Tucson, will scale back to a part time schedule.
He will share the ride for the rest of the season with Sam Corry and Will Robinson. Robinson piloted the No. 25 Toyota this week.
Also notably missing was a mainstay in the ARCA Menards Series West, Central Coast Racing. The No. 13 team owned by Todd and Kelly Souza did not enter Colorado due to a lack of sponsorship and missed a race for the first time since 2018.
Race Recap
When the green flag waved, front row starters Kennealy and Trevor Huddleston took off from the field. As they pulled away in the opening laps, a battle brewed between the two.
A battle behind them then brewed between third and fourth place drivers Hailie Deegan and Keller.
As the leaders caught lap traffic, Huddleston was able to take advantage and grab the lead from Kennealy on lap 25.
By lap 45, Huddleston began to catch top 10 cars which forced him to be patient with a group of about four to five cars.
The first caution would fly on lap 50 for Milan spinning in turns one and two. Andrew Chapman who was on the tail end of the lead lap spun Milan.
The green flag came back out and Huddleston maintained the lead. But as the run went on, Kennealy began to close back in. The caution would come out again on lap 76 for the scheduled halfway break.
The green waved again with 68 to go in which Huddleston kept the lead again.
Eric Johnson Jr. had a flapping quarter panel following contact on the restart, but ARCA officials did not black flag him.
Huddleston continued to dominate as some cars fell off during the long run. Deegan and Tucson winner Cole Denton were among them. Some cars such as Fox who broke into the top five, would gain momentum on the long run.
After lapping up to seventh place, Huddleston won the race.
Post Race Comments
During his post race interview, Huddleston said to FloRacing,
“We love this facility, some of the most amazing fans in all of racing.”
Huddleston also dedicated his win towards the late Kyle Busch and and called it an honor to represent and appreciate him and his family. Huddleston also thanked his team and crew for the effort.
Huddleston also announced that he and his wife Nastasia were expecting a child this November in victory lane. He previously proposed to her in victory lane after winning at Madera in 2024.
Kennealy, in his post race interview with Flo also dedicated his second place finish to Busch. Kennealy was driving a chassis originally built by Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Fox was able to work his way up to third for an impressive debut driving the No. 66 for WIT Racing. He also got a happy birthday singalong from the audience after his interview too!
The ARCA Menards Series West will return on June 6, for the NAPA Auto Care 150 Greg Biffle Memorial at Tri-City Raceway in West Richland, Wash.
Results
- 50 Trevor Huddleston
- 1 Robbie Kennealy
- 66 Cade Fox
- 19 Mason Massey
- 4 Kyle Keller
- 15 Mia Lovell
- 16 Hailie Deegan -1 Lap
- 71 Cole Denton -1 Lap
- 7 Gavin Ray -1 Lap
- 55 Andrew Chapman -2 Laps
- 5 Eric Johnson Jr -2 Laps
- 77 Alonso Salinas -2 Laps
- 25 Will Robinson -3 Laps
- 72 Tyler Tomassi -4 Laps
- 51 Scotty Milan -5 Laps
- 05 David Smith -8 Laps
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