ARCA WEST: Armtrout’s last-place finish guarantees wide-open title battle at Phoenix

Armtrout bringing up the rear of the field on the pace laps. SCREENSHOT: FloRacing

by Ben Schneider

LASTCAR.info Staff Writer

Brody Armtrout finished last for the 1st time in his ARCA Menards Series West career in last Saturday’s 51FIFTY Jr Homecoming ARCA 150 at Madera Speedway when his No. 77 REX MD / Fiddler on the Roof / Jan’s Towing Toyota fell out with brake issues after completing 93 of 150 laps.

The finish came in Armtrout’s West Series debut.

A former Jr. Late Model Series champion, Armtrout first made headlines on the West Coast during the 2021 season, during which he won five races en route to the title. The series' 2019 and 2020 series champions - Joey Iest and Bradley Erickson - have also gone on to compete in the ARCA Menards Series West. While ARCA West had not competed at Madera since 2009, Armtrout’s own experience at the one-third mile track made it a natural choice for him to make his debut.

In all, 22 cars originally appeared on the entry list. However, due to the withdrawals of Paul Pedroncelli Jr., R.J. Smotherman, and Nick Joanides, only 19 started the race. In practice, Armtrout’s 15.109-second fastest lap placed 18th of the 19 remaining entries, followed only by David Smith, who anchored the field with a fastest lap time of 15.378. While their qualifying positions carried over from practice, Armtrout broke into the 14-second range with a time of 14.954, while Smith’s pace dropped a bit as the Canadian driver clocked in roughly half a second behind at 15.464. Monty Tipton, Nick Joanides, and Takuma Koga rounded out the Bottom Five on the grid.

In the race, as Armtrout retired with brake issues, Dustin Ash also pulled behind the wall due to crash damage sustained after hitting the outside wall in a chain-reaction stackup. Ash and Armtrout were both scored with 93 laps completed, though Ash edged Armtrout by virtue of completing his 93rd lap first, narrowly avoiding a last-place finish. In 17th was Tanner Reif, who lost out on a potential top-five finish when his car came to a stop and brought out a caution on Lap 78. However, the Bill McAnally Racing team was able to get Reif back out on track to be running at the finish with 100 laps completed. Rounding out the Bottom Five were Robbie Kennealy and Takuma Koga, who completed 129 laps before their nights ended early in a crash with Ethan Nascimento.

Up front, Kaden Honeycutt picked up another victory, taking the lead from polesitter Eric Nascimento in the opening laps and leading every lap that followed to take his second win in three West Series starts. Sean Hingorani, meanwhile, opened up his points lead to 30 with a strong fifth-place finish. With 30 cars entered at Phoenix, Hingorani will likely only need to take the green flag and survive the opening laps to clinch the ARCA West drivers’ championship.

LASTCAR CHAMPIONSHIP SCENARIOS

The West Series now heads into Phoenix with 30 cars entered in the season finale. With 11 different last-place finishers in 11 races, any driver who has previously finished last this season can win the LASTCAR ARCA West Drivers’ Championship by simply finishing last at Phoenix. With part-timers Tim Monroe, Jake Drew, Jalen Mack, and Armtrout not currently on the entry list, Kyle Keller, Nick Joanides, Bradley Erickson, Tanner Reif, Trevor Huddleston, and Todd Souza make up the seven competitors that have a chance to clinch the title with a last-place finish. R.J. Smotherman had been eligible but has withdrawn as of Thursday.

Additionally, with nine Bottom Ten finishes to Keller’s five, a last-place finish would be enough to give David Smith or Takuma Koga the title on countback even if Keller also finishes in the Bottom Five. Finally, Ethan Nascimento has an outside shot at the championship, but with only three Bottom Five finishes to Keller’s four, he must finish last and have Keller finish outside the Bottom Five to claim the championship.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

19) #77-Brody Armtrout / 93 laps / brakes

18) #5-Dustin Ash / 93 laps / crash

17) #16-Tanner Reif / 100 laps / running

16) #1-Robbie Kennealy / 129 laps / crash

15) #7-Takuma Koga / 129 laps / crash

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Ford (6)

2nd) Toyota (4) 

3rd) Chevrolet (1)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1st) Lowden-Jackson Motorsports, Performance P-1 Motorsports (2)

2nd) Fast Track Racing, Central Coast Racing, High Point Racing, Jerry Pitts Racing, Bill McAnally Racing, Nascimento Motorsports, Sigma Performance Services (1)

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Click HERE to view the full standings for both the main ARCA Menards Series and the ARCA Menards Series East and West divisions. You can also find the full manufacturers’ and owners’ standings HERE.

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP