Cole Denton Wins First Career ARCA Race at Tucson

In just his third career start, 15-year-old Cole Denton found victory lane in the ARCA Menards Series West Tucson 150 at Tucson Speedway Saturday night (April 11).

Despite the race being defined by a large amount of tire conservation, Denton was able to run largely without reserve, gapping the field enough on a pair of restarts to hold off those who had saved tires all race long.

“I can’t believe this, first pole, first win, in my third ARCA race,” Denton told FLORacing. “I love this track, there’s a track back home on the East coast called Lanier Raceplex, it’s just like this.”

Trevor Huddleston finished second, falling shy of the win after leading the group of cars that managed their pace for most of the 150-lap race. Eric Johnson Jr. and Robbie Kennealy finished third and fourth, respectively, with Gavin Ray coming across the line in fifth. 

“We go to a lot of race tracks that feel like 150-lap qualifiers, going as hard as you can from start to finish,” Huddleston told FloRacing. “It’s kinda cool to come to tracks like this, where it’s not always about being the fastest.”

Eric Rhead, Hailie Deegan, Mia Lovell, Memphis Villarreal, and Julian DaCosta rounded out the top 10 finishers.

The early stages of the race included its fair share of tire-saving strategies, with a number of unfamiliar faces leading laps with others running slowly to save tires. David Smith was able to lead his first career laps, catching the end of the field before the first yellow of the evening flew. Debutant Will Robinson stalled on the backstretch after making contact with Jade Avedisian.

The subsequent restart saw Denton rocket out over Smith, who is typically in much lesser equipment. However, the remainder of the field remained on their hardcore tire conservation strategy. Villarreal was the only driver to give Denton a run for the lead for a large portion of the green flag run, as drivers continued to bide their time and conserve their tire wear. 

As the race hit 50 laps to go, the field appeared to have picked up the pace a bit. Quinn Davis and Ray were the first of the field to up the ante, and caught Denton and Villarreal with just under 40 laps to go. The continued battle against tire wear would be put on hold quickly, however, as Tyler Tomassi went for a spin from inside the top five to bring out the second caution of the race. 

Denton fired off first again on the second restart of the night, and it appeared as if tire conservation was still in effect despite having under 30 laps to go. By 20 laps to go, it was Johnson, Huddleston, and Kennealy who had emerged as the front-runners of those who saved tires all race long.

However, with 10 laps to go, Denton still had a large lead over second-place Huddleston. The reigning champion was able to narrow the gap, but never truly came close to reeling in Denton for the win. The 15-year-old was able to hold off the pack of drivers who spent the entire race in full tire conservation mode, earning his first career victory. 

ARCA Menards Series West Tucson ARCA Menards West 150 Unofficial Results

Next up for ARCA Menards Series West teams will be a trip to Shasta Speedway, a tricky 1/3-mile oval for the Bill Schmitt 173. The race has been named in honor of the late four-time series champion from Redding, Calif. That race will be May 2 with coverage starting at 11:15 p.m. ET on FLORacing.