After an eventful season opener at Daytona International Speedway, the ARCA Menards Series joins the ARCA Menards Series West in a combination race at Phoenix Raceway.
There are 34 entries for the General Tire 150, a drop from the 43 entries from last year’s race. All 34 competitors will be guaranteed a starting sport in Friday’s (Mar. 7) evening race.
This year’s race at Phoenix will be the sixth time ARCA and the West series have competed together at Phoenix. The past five races have had five different winners.
Of those five winners, Tyler Reif is the lone one competing in this year’s event. Reif will make his first start of a part-time slate in ARCA competition with Sigma Performance Services.
“I feel good about this weekend. I’m ready to get back in the seat after a long break and show everyone what this team and I are capable of,” Reif said in a team release. “After our strong run at Bristol [Motor Speedway], where we ran towards the front all night, I’m even more motivated to bring home a trophy for this team. Winning at Phoenix in 2023 was a huge moment for me, and I know we have what it takes to do it again.”
This year’s race will officially be the debut for Treyten Lapcevich, who will pilot the No. 15 Toyota for Venturini Motorsports. Lapcevich, at just 20 years old, is coming into Phoenix with a NASCAR Canada Series title won in 2023, and will be one of many to watch make their first start at Phoenix. For Lapcevich, this will be a chance to show the United States what talent he brings to ARCA.
Venturini has Lapcevich in its No. 15, full timers Lawless Alan and Isabella Robusto in the Nos. 20 and 55 and Patrick Staropoli in its No. 25.
Alan made his ARCA debut in Phoenix in the spring of 2020, capturing a ninth-place finish. After an 18th-place finish at Daytona, Alan looks to make his second start at Phoenix much like his first five years ago.
Hailing from South Carolina, Robusto made her ARCA debut one year ago in this race, where she finished sixth. Robusto turned heads a year ago and looks to do the same this year.
Staropoli returns to ARCA competition for a five-race slate with VMS. He’s determined to succeed.
“I’m lucky, I get to live my dream twice,” Staropoli told ARCA Racing. “I’m going to make it count.”
Of the 10 full-time ARCA drivers in the field, only three have not competed at the one-mile track in Avondale, Ariz. (Cody Dennison, Brenden Queen, and Jason Kitzmiller). Dennison looks to rebound after only competing four laps at Daytona and being involved in a race-ending crash, and he failed to qualify for the 2024 Phoenix race.
Kitzmiller meanwhile will try to maintain a top-five run as he did at Daytona, where he finished third.
While Queen hasn’t visited Phoenix before, he comes with momentum from his win at Daytona. Queen and his No. 28 Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet not only have the win from Daytona, but Queen won the 2024 CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car series championship, meaning Queen knows his way around a short track.
Speaking of short tracks, Trevor Huddleston is another driver coming into Phoenix with a win in his pocket. Huddleston won the West season opener at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in January and will make his eighth Phoenix start in the No. 50 High Point Racing Ford.
Kole Raz, in his No. 76 Ford for AM Racing, had an amazing debut at Daytona with a sixth-place finish. Raz has only one start at Phoenix, where he finished ninth in last year’s West season finale. Raz looks to go for 2-0 in top-10 finishes to open up the season.
Thad Moffitt, full time in the No. 46 Toyota for Nitro Motorsports, finished third at Phoenix in 2021. He needs to shake off the bad finish at Daytona to be competitive for the title in 2025.
Finishing second in the points last year, Lavar Scott, in the No. 6 Rev Racing Chevrolet, wants to be king of the hill in ARCA. He has three starts at Phoenix, one in the ’24 combo race and two in the West season finales. Of those, he has a 10th-place finish in this race last year.
Sixteen-year-old Brent Crews will make his first start driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in its No. 18 Toyota on Friday evening. Crews already has two ARCA wins, and he will most likely be competing for the win in his Phoenix track debut too.
The No. 18 team is fast at Phoenix, too. Ty Gibbs, Sammy Smith and William Sawalich combined to win eight times at Phoenix, including West standalone and ARCA national races.
The General Tire 150 at Phoenix will air live on Friday, Mar. 7 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.
