Sean Hingorani returned to ARCA competition after serving his one-race suspension and he didn’t disappoint.
Hingorani passed polesitter Trevor Huddleston around lap 110, successfully defended against some late race cautions and won the ARCA Menards Series West’s Shasta 150 at Shasta Speedway on July 29.
Hingorani picked up both his third West win of the season as well as his career. Entering the series’ seventh race second in points, he tightened the gap between himself and leader Landen Lewis. Unofficially, Lewis leads Hingorani by seven points.
Huddleston won the pole and was in control of the race for the first two-thirds. But as his No. 50 Ford faded a bit and he attempted to pass Tyler Reif, Hingorani made what proved to be the race-winning move.
On the subsequent restart, Huddleston missed a shift and Hingorani took the lead. Huddleston slipped back to third place behind series debutant Kole Raz, piloting the No. 5.
Yet with less than 10 laps to go, Tanner Reif spun Bradley Erickson as the two battled for position.
As a result, Hingorani had to fend off his competitors once again. He didn’t falter, driving his No. 15 Venturini Motorsports Toyota to victory lane.
Huddleston finished second ahead of Raz in third. Post-race, Raz said he will also compete in the series next race at Evergreen Speedway.
Lewis and Eric Nascimento rounded out the top five. After starting the first five races with zero top 10s, Nascimento now has back-to-back top fives as he finished runner-up at Irwindale Speedway earlier in July.
Kyle Keller, Tanner Reif, Nick Joanides, Erickson and Todd Souza completed the top 10.
The packed crowd at the 0.375-mile short track welcomed the West Series back for the first time since 2015, and the racing action didn’t disappoint. Even with only two caution flags, nine of the 17 drivers finished on the lead lap in the 150-lap race.
Two notables who did not finish on the lead lap were Tyler Reif and Jake Drew. Drew, the reigning series champion, made his first start of the season in the Lowden-Jackson Motorsports No. 41. Although he ran in the top five for the first half of the race, he eventually retired early from the event with a 16th-place DNF.
Reif ran the first six races of the 2023 West season with LJM, highlighted by winning the season opener at Phoenix Raceway, but moved over to the Souza-owned No. 13 Ford for Shasta. Reif posted the fastest speed in practice but was unable to match it during the race. He ran inside the top 10 until his involvement in the first caution. He ultimately finished four laps down in 14th.
When the checkered flag flew, past midnight ET, Hingorani celebrated in the stands with the fans, capped off by gifting the checkered flag to a kid.
ARCA Shasta Results
West next heads to Evergreen, another track that has not hosted the series in a few years, since 2019. The West drivers will head to the Monroe, Wash., racetrack on Saturday, Aug. 19 at 9:30 p.m. ET with coverage provided by FloRacing.
About the author
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.
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