2021 ARCA Menards Series West

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2021 ARCA Menards Series West
Previous: 2020 Next: 2022
Champions | Seasons
Jesse Love, the 2021 ARCA Menards Series West champion.
Jake Drew lost the tiebreaker over Love.
Cole Moore finished third in the final standings.

The 2021 ARCA Menards Series West was the sixty-eighth season of the ARCA Menards Series West, a regional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season began at Phoenix Raceway with the General Tire 150 and ended with another race at Phoenix Raceway, the Arizona Lottery 100, on November 6.

Teams and drivers[]

Complete schedule[]

Manufacturer Team No. Driver Crew chief
Chevrolet BMI Racing[1] 88 Bridget Burgess[1] Sarah Burgess[1]
Ford 54 Joey Iest Mike Naake
Sunrise Ford Racing 6 Trevor Huddleston[2] Bill Sedgwick
9 Jake Drew (R)[2] Jeff Schrader
Toyota Bill McAnally Racing 16 Jesse Love[3] Travis Sharpe 8
John Camilleri 1
99 Cole Moore (R)[3] Mario Isola
7 Takuma Koga[4] Jerry Pitts
77 1[5] Dave McKenzie
Dave Smith 1
Nick Joanides 1
3
2
1
Ford 3
Toyota 6 		Central Coast Racing 13 Todd Souza Michael Muñoz
Chevrolet 7
Toyota 2 		Hillis Racing 27 Bobby Hillis Jr. Ed Ash
Toyota 7
Chevrolet 2 		33 P. J. Pedroncelli Ty Joiner

Limited schedule[]

Manufacturer Team No. Driver Crew chief Rounds
Chevrolet Brad Smith Motorsports[6] 48 Brad Smith Kevin Schwarze 1
Fast Track Racing 01 Bryce Haugeberg Kevin Cram 1
12 D. L. Wilson Dick Doheny 1
GMS Racing 21 Jack Wood Chad Bryant 1
22 Daniel Dye[7] 1
31 Mike Regelman 2
Rodd Kneeland 6 		8
52 Chuck Dozhier 1
Rev Racing 2 Nick Sanchez[8] Steve Plattenberger 2[9]
66 Rajah Caruth Glenn Parker 1[9]
Richmond Clubb Motorsports 27 Tim Richmond Alex Clubb 1[10]
68 Rodd Kneeland Chris Drysdale 2
RSS Racing 28 Kyle Sieg Jeff Green 1
86 Mike David 2
17 Zane Smith Bruce Cook 1
Sean Samuels 5 		2
Amber Slagle 3[11]
1
Young's Motorsports 02 Toni Breidinger Ryan London 1[12]
Ford Borneman Motorsports 8 Johnny Borneman III Tony Caputo 3
David Gilliland Racing 17 Taylor Gray Chad Johnston 4
45 Mike Hillman Jr. 1
46 Thad Moffitt Derek Smith[13] 1
1
71 Taylor Gray Chad Johnston 1
Fast Track Racing 10 Jeff McClure 1
[N 1] 51 Dean Thompson (R)[14] Travis Thirkettle 7
Ryan Partridge 1
5 Charlie Wilson 1
11 Tony Jackson 1
Rette Jones Racing 30 Max Gutiérrez Mark Rette 1
Stewart-Haas Racing 14 Chase Briscoe Johnny Klausmeier 1
Toyota Bill McAnally Racing 1 Jolynn Wilkinson Mario Isola 1
John Camilleri 1 		2
4 Dylan Lupton J. R. Norris 1
[N 2] Mike Nascimento 5
5 Gary Collins 1
19 Derek Kraus John Camilleri 6
Mike Nascimento 1 		1
1
Amber Balcaen 3
Jolynn Wilkinson 1
1
Cook-Finley Racing[N 3] 42 Amber Slagle 1
Evan Bertone 2
Fast Track Racing 11 Steven Barton 1
Joe Gibbs Racing 18 Ty Gibbs[16] Mark McFarland[16] 2
81 Sammy Smith[17] 1
Venturini Motorsports 15 Drew Dollar[18] Billy Venturini[18] 2[18]
20 Corey Heim[19] Shannon Rursch[19] 1
Gracie Trotter[20] Dave Leiner Jr. 1
25 Gracie Trotter[20] Kevin Reed[21] 1[20]
Parker Chase 1
55 Toni Breidinger Shannon Rursch 1
Velocity Racing[N 4] 78 Roger Bracken 2
Chevrolet 5
Ford 1
Toyota 1 		08 Joe Daley 1
Jeremiah Clever 4
Mike Holleran 1
Unknown 1
Chevrolet 1
Toyota 3 		21 Joe Daley 1
John Wood 1
Dennis Wurtz 1
Unknown 1 		4
Ford 5
Toyota 1 		38 Mike Holleran 3
Dave Smith Unknown 1
Mike Holleran 2
Chevrolet 1
Toyota 3 		80 Derrick Copeland 4

Notes[]

  1. ^ Entries were fielded in collaboration with Sunrise Ford Racing.[2]
  2. ^ Entries were fielded in collaboration with Velocity Racing.[15]
  3. ^ Entries were fielded in collaboration with Steve McGowan Motorsports.
  4. ^ Entries were fielded in collaboration with Kart Idaho Racing.

Changes[]

Teams[]

  • On December 16, 2020, it was revealed in an article on the ARCA website that Bridget Burgess would attempt to run the full season in the West Series in 2021. She ran most of the races in 2020 (all of them except the doubleheader at UMC).[1]
  • On January 4, 2021, Bill McAnally Racing announced their 2021 driver lineup, with defending series champion Jesse Love moving from the closed No. 19 car to the No. 16, replacing Gio Scelzi, and rookie Cole Moore driving the No. 20 (it would later be changed to the No. 99).[3] The team cut back from 4 full-time cars to 2 in 2021, which left Scelzi and Holley Hollan (who drove the closed No. 50 car) without rides in 2021. They also had a 5th full-time car to start the 2020 season, the No. 12 of Lawless Alan, which was closed down mid-season. Gracie Trotter, who drove the No. 99 in 2020, left the team to move up to the main ARCA Series in 2021, driving for Venturini Motorsports.
  • On February 2, 2021, it was announced that High Point Racing, a late model racing team in the Spears Southwest Tour, would expand to the West Series in 2021, fielding the No. 51 for rookie Dean Thompson, their driver in that series in 2020. They formed an alliance with Sunrise Ford Racing to help get their new team off the ground.[14]
  • Stewart-Haas Racing returned to the series for the race at Sonoma to field a car for Chase Briscoe, their Cup Series driver, in preparation for Briscoe's first Cup Series start at the track the next day. In the race, the team used a Ford that was owned by Chad Bryant, the former owner of Chad Bryant Racing who closed his team down and merged it into GMS Racing where he became a crew chief.

Drivers[]

  • On November 2, 2020, it was announced that Jack Wood, who drove part-time in the West Series in 2019 and 2020 for his own team, the No. 78 Toyota for Velocity Racing, would join GMS Racing to replace two-time consecutive East Series champion Sam Mayer in the team's No. 21 car, running full-time in the East Series as well as the Showdown races in the big ARCA Menards Series in 2021.[22] Mayer moved up to the Xfinity Series in June 2021, driving for JR Motorsports after turning 18 and therefore becoming eligible to race in the series.[23] Despite this, Velocity Racing would continue as a part-time team, and the team entered the last two races of the season with Travis Milburn driving the No. 78 car in a collaboration with Kart Idaho Racing, the team he previously drove for.
  • On January 18, 2021, it was announced that Blaine Perkins, who drove the No. 9 for Sunrise Ford Racing in 2020 and finished second in the standings, would move up to the Xfinity Series in 2021, driving part-time for Our Motorsports.[24] Rookie driver Jake Drew replaced Perkins in the SFR No. 9.[2]
  • On January 20, 2021, it was announced that Takuma Koga, who drove the No. 77 for Performance P-1 Motorsports in 2019 and 2020, would be moving to Jerry Pitts Racing in 2021 to drive their No. 7 in 2021.[4]
  • On May 14, 2021, it was announced that former JR Motorsports late model racing driver Adam Lemke would make his stock car debut in 2021, competing in select main ARCA Series, East Series, and West Series races for Rette Jones Racing.[25] (Lemke would end up only running 1 main ARCA Series race for the team and no West Series races,) even though ARCA East driver Max Gutiérrez would attempt the season finale at Phoenix for RJR.
  • On March 2, 2021, it was announced that Tony Toste would return to the series full-time for the first time since 1998 and would drive for Performance P-1 Motorsports, replacing Koga in the team's No. 77.[5] However, the deal fell apart after just 1 races, as Dave Smith, Nick Joanides, Mariah Boudrieau, Caleb Costner, and Ryan Roulette split the seat time for the rest of the season. Toste did run 1 more West Series race in 2021, which was at Sonoma where he drove the No. 42 for Cook-Finley Racing.
  • On August 20, 2021, the day before the second race at Irwindale, Dean Thompson tested positive for COVID-19 and was replaced by Ryan Partridge for that race. Partridge, a former Sunrise Ford Racing driver, made his first start in the series since 2018. SFR has an alliance with Thompson's team, High Point Racing.[26]

Crew chiefs[]

  • On December 16, 2020, it was revealed in an article on the ARCA website that Sarah Burgess, the mother of Bridget Burgess who served as her crew chief in 2020, expressed an interest in stepping off the pit box if possible and potentially racing against her daughter in a West Series race in 2021. (This did not end up happening and Sarah Burgess crew chiefed Bridget in every race in 2021.)[1]
  • Both of the crew chiefs for Bill McAnally Racing's full-time cars were new in 2021, with Travis Sharpe crew chiefing Jesse Love's No. 16 and Mario Isola crew chiefing Cole Moore's No. 99. Also, Sharpe would miss the race at Sonoma and was replaced by John Camilleri, who crew chiefed the No. 19 in most races in 2021.
  • After having 4 different crew chiefs in 2020, Performance P-1 Motorsports had another new crew chief in 2021, Dave McKenzie.

Manufacturers[]

  • On December 16, 2020, it was revealed in an article on the ARCA website that Bridget Burgess would attempt to buy newer cars and equipment for her family team in 2021, which borrowed an old 2007 Toyota from Bill McAnally Racing for their starts in 2020.[1] The team ran a Chevy in every race in 2021.
  • On January 20, 2021, it was revealed in the announcement of Takuma Koga joining Jerry Pitts Racing that the team would be switching from Ford to Toyota in 2021.[4] However, they would have a Ford entry for Kyle Keller at the LVMS Bullring.
  • Todd Souza's No. 13 team ran both Fords and Toyotas after only running Toyotas in 2020.

Schedule[]

Sonoma, Las Vegas, and Phoenix revealed their race dates ahead of the release of the entire schedule,[27][28] which ARCA announced on December 18, 2020.[29]

Note: The race at Phoenix in March was a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series (highlighted in gold).

No Race title Track Date
1 General Tire 150 Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Arizona March 12
2 General Tire 200 Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California June 5
3 NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame Irwindale Speedway, Irwindale, California July 3
4 NAPA Auto Parts Colorado 150 Colorado National Speedway, Dacono, Colorado July 31
5 NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Sunrise Ford Irwindale Speedway, Irwindale, California August 21
6 Portland 112 Portland International Raceway, Portland, Oregon September 11
7 Star Nursery 150 Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Bullring), Las Vegas, Nevada September 23
8 NAPA Auto Care 150 All American Speedway, Roseville, California October 9
9 Arizona Lottery 100 Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Arizona November 6

Results and standings[]

Race results[]

No. Race Pole position Most laps led Winning driver Manufacturer No. Winning team
1 General Tire 150 Ty Gibbs Ty Gibbs Ty Gibbs Toyota 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
2 General Tire 200 Jake Drew Chase Briscoe
[N 1] 		Chase Briscoe Ford 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
3 NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame Dean Thompson Dean Thompson Jesse Love Toyota 16 Bill McAnally Racing
4 NAPA Auto Parts Colorado 150 Todd Souza Jesse Love Joey Iest Ford 54 Naake-Klauer Motorsports
5 NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Sunrise Ford P. J. Pedroncelli Trevor Huddleston Jesse Love Toyota 16 Bill McAnally Racing
6 Portland 112 Jake Drew Jake Drew Taylor Gray Ford 17 David Gilliland Racing
7 Star Nursery 150 Jake Drew Taylor Gray Taylor Gray Ford 17E David Gilliland Racing
8 NAPA Auto Care 150 Dean Thompson Cole Moore P. J. Pedroncelli Toyota 33 Pedroncelli Racing
9 Arizona Lottery 100 Ty Gibbs Ty Gibbs
[N 2] 		Ty Gibbs Toyota 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
  1. ^ Briscoe led all 51 laps.
  2. ^ Gibbs led all 100 laps.

Drivers' championship[]

Further information: List of NASCAR points scoring systems

Notes:

  • The pole winner also receives 1 bonus point, similar to the previous ARCA points system used until 2019 and unlike NASCAR.[30]
  • Additionally, after groups of 5 races of the season, drivers that compete in all 5 races receive 50 additional points.[30]
    • Jesse Love, Jake Drew, P. J. Pedroncelli, Cole Moore, Joey Iest, Todd Souza, Trevor Huddleston, Takuma Koga, Bridget Burgess, and Bobby Hillis Jr. received this points bonus for having competed in the first 5 races of the season (the first race at Phoenix, Sonoma, the first race at Irwindale, Colorado, and the second race at Irwindale). Those ten drivers along with Paul Pedroncelli and Taylor Gray received this points bonus for having competed in the last 4 races of the season (Portland, the Las Vegas Bullring, Roseville, and the second race at Phoenix).

(key) Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.

Pos Driver PHO SON IRW CNS IRW PIR LVS AAS PHO Points
1 Jesse Love 6 19 1 2* 1 3 13 12 14 438
2 Jake Drew (R) 18 7 4 3 2 10* 2 8 11 438
3 Cole Moore (R) 12 4 5 4 6 12 6 5* 10 436
4 P. J. Pedroncelli 11 3 17 6 3 2 7 1 18 433
5 Joey Iest 16 20 3 1 4 4 4 2 17 430
6 Trevor Huddleston 10 12 6 10 10* 7 3 3 15 422
7 Todd Souza 8 2 7 7 7 17 16 4 16 410
8 Takuma Koga 23 11 16 15 8 5 8 9 23 378
9 Bridget Burgess 22 8 13 9 14 16 20 11 24 359
10 Bobby Hillis Jr. 24 10 10 17 12 15 15 18 29 346
11 13 11 18 19 9 23 23 34 252
12 Taylor Gray 9 1 1* 22 2 245
13 Dean Thompson (R) 15 6 2* 11 14 17 22 225
14 14 5 9 11 11 32 182
15 18 14 9 21 31 127
16 12 15 19 19 111
17 8 12 6 106
18 16 17 13 25 105
19 Ty Gibbs 1* 1** 98
20 Jolynn Wilkinson 8 17 15 92
21 12 16 16 88
22 13 13 18 88
23 Amber Slagle 14 21 10 87
24 Johnny Borneman III 8 18 20 86
25 Amber Balcaen 15 11 22 84
26 Drew Dollar 7 7 75
27 10 7 71
28 15 6 67
29 Nick Sanchez 21 4 63
30 Dave Smith 17 14 57
31 Rodd Kneeland 22 13 53
32 17 18 53
33 Gracie Trotter 27 9 52
34 Chase Briscoe 1** 48
35 DNS 14 30 47
36 Corey Heim 2 43
37 Dylan Lupton 2 42
38 Thad Moffitt 3 42
39 Sammy Smith 3 41
40 Kyle Sieg 4 40
41 Derek Kraus 5 39
42 Ryan Partridge 5 39
43 5 39
44 5 39
45 Zane Smith 28 21 39
46 6 39
47 Rajah Caruth 8 37
48 9 35
49 Nick Joanides 9 35
50 20 33 24
51 Daniel Dye 12 32
52 Tim Richmond 13 31
53 Parker Chase 13 31
54 Toni Breidinger 30 27 31
55 14 30
56 16 28
57 19 25
58 19 25
59 D. L. Wilson 20 24
60 Max Gutiérrez 21 23
61 DNS 26 21
62 Bryce Haugeberg 25 19
63 Brad Smith 26 18
64 28 16
65 Jack Wood 29 15

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Haislop, Tadd (December 16, 2020). "Sarah And Bridget Burgess: The Mother-Daughter Duo Stepping On The Gas Pedal In ARCA". ARCARacing.com.
  2. ^ a b c d "Sunrise Ford Racing Gears Up For Another ARCA Menards Series West Season". ARCARacing.com. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Srigley, Joseph (January 4, 2021). "Jesse Love, Cole Moore Set to Chase Eleventh ARCA West Championship for Bill McAnally Racing". TobyChristie.com.
  4. ^ a b c "Takuma Koga To Team With Jerry Pitts Racing For 2021 West Series Season". ARCARacing.com. January 20, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Performance P-1 Motorsports and Tony Toste to team up for ARCA Menards West 2021 Season". Facebook. Performance P-1 Motorsports. March 2, 2021.
  6. ^ "Brad Smith planning on returning for full season". ThePitLane. January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2021. Veteran owner/driver Brad Smith plans on returning to the ARCA Menards Series full time this season. (...) Although Smith is planning to compete full time, the team needs sponsorship.
  7. ^ Srigley, Joseph (June 7, 2021). "Daniel Dye Joining GMS Racing for Select ARCA Menards Series Events". TobyChristie.com.
  8. ^ "Nick Sanchez to run full ARCA schedule for Rev Racing". ThePitLane. January 8, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2020. 19 year-old Nick Sanchez, who competed in the ARCA Menards East Series last year, will run the full ARCA Menards Series national schedule this season for Rev Racing.
  9. ^ a b Kristl, Mark (August 30, 2021). "Nick Sanchez, Rajah Caruth Running Full ARCA Schedule in 2022". Frontstretch. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  10. ^ Srigley, Joseph (January 22, 2021). "Alex Clubb and Tim Richmond Form Richmond Clubb Motorsports". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  11. ^ "(Twitter post)". Twitter. Amber Slagle. September 6, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021. WERE GOING ARCA RACING AGAIN! This is truly a dream come true to have not only 1 but 2 more @ARCA_Racing starts this year! I’m looking forward to heading out to The Bullring at Las Vegas in a couple short weeks and All American Speedway shortly after!
  12. ^ Srigley, Joseph (February 25, 2021). ""It's Really Cool to Be the First, But I Also Don't Want to Be the Last," Toni Breidinger Talks Racing, Making History on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show"". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  13. ^ Carey, Michael (January 21, 2021). "David Gilliland Racing Reveals Driver and Crew Chief Pairings for Upcoming Season". TobyChristie.com.
  14. ^ a b Srigley, Joseph (February 2, 2021). "Dean Thompson and High Point Racing Competing for ARCA West Championship in 2021". TobyChristie.com.
  15. ^ "Eric Nascimento to Compete at Colorado National With Arca West". speedwaydigest.com. July 28, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Ty Gibbs Will Make Xfinity Debut at Daytona Road Course". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 26, 2021.
  17. ^ Srigley, Joseph (February 3, 2021). "Sammy Smith Joins Joe Gibbs Racing's ARCA East Program for Six Races in 2021". TobyChristie.com.
  18. ^ a b c "Drew Dollar Inks New Deal With Venturini Motorsports, Announces Limited 2021 ARCA Schedule". ARCARacing.com. Venturini Motorsports. January 12, 2021.
  19. ^ a b Srigley, Joseph (January 11, 2021). "Corey Heim Running for ARCA Menards Series Championship with Venturini Motorsports". TobyChristie.com.
  20. ^ a b c Srigley, Joseph (January 4, 2020). "Gracie Trotter Moving to Venturini Motorsports for Limited ARCA Menards Series Schedule". TobyChristie.com.
  21. ^ Srigley, Joseph (January 29, 2021). "Jesse Love Joining Venturini Motorsports for 10-Race ARCA Schedule in 2021". TobyChristie.com.
  22. ^ Glover, Luken (November 2, 2020). "Jack Wood Running ARCA Showdown, East With GMS Racing in 2021". Frontstretch. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  23. ^ "Sam Mayer reunites with JR Motorsports for Xfinity Series debut". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. September 15, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  24. ^ "Blaine Perkins to Run Partial Xfinity Schedule with Our Motorsports". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 18, 2021. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  25. ^ "Adam Lemke joins Rette Jones Racing for select races". ARCARacing.com. May 14, 2021.
  26. ^ "Ryan Partridge to fill in for Dean Thompson at Irwindale". ARCARacing.com. August 21, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  27. ^ "ARCA Menards Series West 2021 Schedule To Include Races At Sonoma, Las Vegas Bullring". ARCARacing.com. November 23, 2020. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
  28. ^ "ARCA Menards Series' Return To Phoenix Includes 2021 West Championship Race". ARCARacing.com. December 1, 2020.
  29. ^ "ARCA Menards Series West 2021 Schedule Set". ARCARacing.com. December 18, 2020.
  30. ^ a b "ARCA Menards Series Changes Points System". Motor Racing Network. January 24, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
Retrieved from ""