In a season featuring more parity than the series has seen in recent years, the ARCA Menards West Series once again sees its title battles coming right down to the wire in 2024. With only two races remaining in the season, both the drivers’ and owners’ championships are still up for grabs.
Before previewing the season’s end and the championship battle that will define it, let’s start with how we got here. Through 10 races this season, the West Series has featured an unexpected amount of parity, with six different drivers finding victory lane.
William Sawalich took the season-opening combination race at Phoenix Raceway and added another victory in the third race of the season at Portland International Raceway.
Kole Raz took the win in the season’s second race at Kern Raceway to become the season’s only first-time winner to this point.
NASCAR Xfinity Series star Sam Mayer dominated to win Sonoma Raceway before Sean Hingorani reverted to last season’s championship form as he swept the series’ two dates at Irwindale Speedway.
Tyler Reif then asserted himself into the championship battle with consecutive victories at Shasta Speedway and Tri-City Raceway, and then Trevor Huddleston followed suit by scoring consecutive victories at Madera Speedway and All-American Speedway to establish the three-horse championship race we now observe.
Hingorani, who enters the home stretch as the points leader, is familiar with this territory after his championship run last year. Propelled by a series-best nine top-10 finishes (all of which are top fives) and his two wins mentioned above, Hingorani enters the final two races of the season with a five-point advantage atop the drivers’ points standings.
Hingorani’s outlook for the final two races seems fair as the series returns to Kern, where he finished fourth earlier this year. After that is Phoenix, where Hingorani has scored consecutive top fives dating back to last year’s finale and this year’s spring race, where he finished third and fifth, respectively.
Between his experience in this position and his recent performance at the tracks remaining on the schedule, Hingorani is likely entering the final two races as the championship favorite.
Reif enters these final two races trailing Hingorani by a narrow five-point margin. Trailing Hingorani in the top-five and top-10 categories by only one tally with eight finishes of each distinction, Reif has also had a very consistent campaign. With more laps led than Hingorani, Reif has also proven he can have the pace to outrun the points leader.
Reif’s outlook for the final two races may be better than Hingorani, as he has a very good record at each of the racetracks that will decide the title. After starting from the pole and leading 104 laps, Reif secured a third-place finish at Bakersfield earlier this year. While Reif’s last finish at Phoenix was only an 11th-place effort in the spring, he did take the checkered flag in last year’s spring race.
After answering Hingorani’s sweep of Irwindale with consecutive wins of his own, Reif looks to fire back at Hingorani’s recent surge in a similar way with a surge of his own toward the title.
While Hingorani and Reif have been the clear favorites all year, Huddleston has had the hot hand lately. Huddleston exerted himself into championship contention by winning the series’ two most recent races, and he enters the final two races only 29 markers off the points lead.
With only five top-five finishes on the season compared to the totals of eight and nine by his championship-contending counterparts, Huddleston has not been as consistent as those he is competing with, but he has come on strong lately.
While Huddleston’s last finish at Bakersfield was a runner-up in the spring, he only managed a 17th-place finish in this season’s earlier date at Phoenix. If Huddleston is to fight for the title, he must find a way to finish better at Phoenix to match those he is competing with.
While the battle for the drivers’ championship may garner most of the attention surrounding the series’ final two races, the owners’ championship battle is equally compelling, with four teams within 50 ticks of the series lead.
Reif’s No. 13 Souza team leads by 24 over Huddleston’s No. 50 team. Joe Farre‘s No. 23 team is still within striking distance at 44 points back.
With several interesting storylines, headlined by two championship battles, the ARCA Menards West Series’ season is sure to end with a bang over the final two races.
