TOLEDO, Ohio — Saturday’s (Sept. 5) Owens Corning 200 at Toledo Speedway was merely a matter of formalities for Rev Racing.
By just starting the race, both Andres Perez and Lavar Scott officially clinched two different ARCA Menards Series titles.
For Perez, it was a long-awaited drivers’ championship. Perez took the lead early on in the season and continued to increase his points gap steadily as the season progressed. By the time Toledo came around, Perez had a 40-point lead over second-place.
”We had a great season overall,” Perez said post-race. “So we’ve been having a good points gap the whole way. But these last few races, we had to execute, have zero mistakes, and we did, right?
”I don’t know how I’m gonna celebrate,” Perez later told Frontstretch. “I’m just gonna get some good dinner and soak it in; I’m gonna try to enjoy it.”
With the win, Perez becomes the first foreign-born driver to win an ARCA title.
Perez is also the second Rev driver to win the championship in three years. Nick Sanchez, driving the same No. 2 as Perez, won the title in 2022. The now-NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver offered his congratulations to the newly crowned champion.
Perez had to hold off teammate Scott to do it. Scott, in his first full-time ARCA national series season, was almost as fast a learner as he was a driver. The Carney’s Point, N.J., native found incredible speed halfway through the season, which allowed him to catapult to second in the final standings.
Like Perez, Scott also had a 40-point cushion over third-place Kris Wright entering Toledo. By starting the race, Scott would clinch a 1-2 finish for Rev Racing in the points. On a more personal note, starting the race also clinched Scott the 2024 Bounty Rookie of the Year Award.
”It feels good,” Scott told Frontstretch after the race. “We had a really good year. I learned so much this year that I can use in the future. Andres worked really hard for it. He’s a great teammate and a great brother of mine, so it means a lot that he got the championship. Finishing 1-2 is really great for Rev Racing, I’m really proud of us for that.”
Despite the jubilee of taking home the big trophies at the end of the season, neither Perez nor Scott were able to bring home race wins in 2024, despite their best efforts. Perez was alway able to run in the top five but never had race winning speed, while Scott was mere thousandths of a second away from nabbing one at Elko Speedway.
However, they’re not alone, as no full-time ARCA driver ended up winning a race this season. The season was largely dominated by the Pinnacle Racing Group No. 28 and Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18. The former did not compete at Toledo, while the latter clinched the owners’ championship thanks to William Sawalich’s dominant victory. The Toledo win was the ninth of the year for Sawalich and the 11th overall for the team, earning two with Tanner Gray.
While both drivers wished they could have won in 2024, both drivers were content with their seasons.
”A learning season, for sure,” said Scott. “I think the last half of the season we obviously got better, more speed. That’s just with me getting better as a driver with feedback [and] my cars getting better.”
”I’m super happy with the championship as a result of the whole year and how great it was,” echoed Perez. “We’re always up there. We’re always fighting [in] the top five. We got a couple poles this year. Luck probably wasn’t on our side in [the winning] aspect. … Also, I learned so much. Developed myself a lot and I’m ready for what the future might hold for us.”
As for the actual race at Toledo, both drivers again found themselves running top five most of the afternoon, but nobody had anything for Sawalich. Perez was able to hang with Sawalich on some restarts where he restarted second, but Sawalich eventually cleared every time.
However, on the penultimate restart following the first red flag, Perez, restarting third, was able to get to the inside of Sawalich and Gio Ruggiero, making it three-wide. As Ruggiero sailed off with the lead in turn 3, Perez was pinched into the grass and spun as Amber Balcaen slammed into the foam barriers behind him.
After the second red flag, Scott hit pit road prior to the restart, meaning both drivers had to come from the rear of the still running 14-car field with just under 15 laps to go.
Both drivers charged furiously through the pack and were able to earn fifth- and sixth-place finishes, with Scott leading the charge over his teammate.
”We had a shot, I think,” Perez said. “We were decent [on] speed and we were fighting up front. I tried a risky move that didn’t work. But that’s what we had to do, you know? We wanted that win.”
“It was definitely an aggressive race,” added Scott. “We had some restarts where … I didn’t quite know what people were doing. It’s part of it, it’s short track racing, it is what it is.
”Everybody has bad days [and] good days. This is just one of the bad days that we need to work on and get better for next time.”
Neither Perez or Scott have officially announced or confirmed their plans for 2025. However, it’s largely expected that Perez will move up to the Truck Series to once again succeed Sanchez, who will run for Rookie of the Year honors in the Xfinity Series for 2025. Scott, meanwhile, will likely return to Rev’s ARCA program.
But right now, it’s all about celebrating a historic season for the team and both its drivers, who should be more than proud of what they accomplished in 2024.
“Those guys [at the shop], they have fun,” Scott said with a laugh. “It’s definitely gonna be pretty fun there. I’m excited to get back and have a good time with the team.”
Anthony Damcott joined Frontstretch in March 2022. Currently, he is an editor and co-authors Fire on Fridays (Fridays); he is also the primary Truck Series reporter/writer and serves as an at-track reporter, among many other duties he takes on for the site. A proud West Virginia Wesleyan College alum from Akron, Ohio, Anthony is now a grad student. He is a theatre actor and fight-choreographer-in-training in his free time.
You can keep up with Anthony by following @AnthonyDamcott on X.