ARCA WEST: Hillis becomes twelfth last-place finisher in as many races; Keller takes title

ALL PHOTOS: Brock Beard

by Ben Schneider

LASTCAR.info Staff Writer

Bobby Hillis, Jr. finished last for the 11th time in his ARCA Menards Series West career in Friday’s Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100 at Phoenix Raceway when his No. 27 First Impression Press / Camping World / LT&T Chevrolet fell out with mechanical issues after completing 5 of 100 laps.

The finish came in Hillis’ 96th career West Series start.

A longtime stock car racing veteran with a self-described budget of “less than zero,” Hillis’ first NASCAR starts came in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2000, qualifying for two races with a best finish of 31st at Portland. The majority of his career has been spent what is now known as the ARCA Menards Series West, debuting in the series at Phoenix in 2001 with a 19th-place finish. Hillis took his team full-time the following season and finished eleventh in the 2002 standings, which remained a career-best until the pandemic-impacted 2020 season when he persevered to finish eighth in the championship. It was during that season that Hillis also picked up his career-best race finish, an eighth-place run at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

After scaling back his full-time effort earlier this season, Hillis made the trip to Phoenix, where he'd bring back his bright yellow neon Chevrolet. The car, which hadn't been run in nearly two years, carried an orange door number on the passenger side and a blue one on the driver's side. The car also ran deep blue wheels, making it stand out even more.

Hillis' flat tire after his early pit stop.

In total, 30 cars originally appeared on the Phoenix entry list, but due to the withdrawals of R.J. Smotherman and Jake Finch, only 28 started the race. Smotherman’s team withdrew without taking a lap after being unable to find a replacement for an expired fuel cell, while Finch’s Phoenix Racing entry appeared on both the practice and qualifying timing sheets but was unable to take the green flag. After withdrawing his No. 01 entry and not setting a qualifying time, Robbie Kennealy anchored the field on the starting grid in his renumbered No. 11 car, while Hillis slotted in 27th with a time of 31.232 seconds just behind Ryan Roulette in 26th. David Smith and Takuma Koga rounded out the Bottom Five starting spots.

Coming off Turn 2 on the first lap, Kennealy climbed to 25th ahead of Ryan Roulette in Fast Track Racing's No. 12 VFW-Bellator Recruiting Academy Ford, which had open track over 26th-place Hillis and new last-place runner David Smith in the No. 05 Shockwave Marine Suspension Seating Toyota. On Lap 2, the three lost more ground to the field with Roulette opening up a bigger advantage over Hillis and Smith. On Lap 3, Hillis pulled away from last-place Smith and set after Roulette. With the field strung out on Lap 4, the gap between Hills and Smith remained the same while Roulette was about four seconds back of the next car in line. Then on Lap 5, Hillis slowed coming off Turn 2 with a flat right-front tire, allowing Smith to slip past at corner exit. By now, the leaders were already reeling them in, about to put both a lap down. Hillis managed to stay out of the wall, but limped around the track before coming down pit road on Lap 6. By then, every car had lapped Hillis except the now 27th-place Smith.

Hillis after pulling into the garage during the race.

Smith's was one of the first pit stalls near the entrance of Turn 3, where the crew spent a long time working on the right-front after removing the flat tire. On Lap 14, the car's engine was shut off, and the crew talked to the driver through the window. Hillis then re-fired the engine on Lap 16, and with the window net dropped drove into the XFINITY Series garage and pulled up to his team's hauler. He re-fired the engine in the garage on Lap 19, but by Lap 22, the engine was off once more. The crew lifted the hood and pulled on a orange body panel behind the right-front wheel, which the crew said was pushing in on the tire. The crew demonstrated the issue by turning the wheel hard to the left and standing on the front splitter. Not wanting to damage the car, Hillis decided not to return to the race. He did indicate he was planning on returning to full-time competition in 2024.

"We've got a tire rub over there on the right side and it cut the tire down," said Hillis. "And I could hear it when I was going through the corner and then let loose. And we thought about going back out, but I'm like 'no, something's rubbing,' and so we pulled back here and sure enough, it's a big piece of metal on that side rubbing against the tire when it goes down when it's under load in the corner."

With Hillis being the first to pull behind the wall, the West Series season finished with twelve different last-place finishers in the series’ twelve races. Kyle Keller’s total of four Bottom Five finishes was enough to clinch the 2023 LASTCAR ARCA Menards Series West Drivers’ Championship.

A closer look at the fender that was pushed in on the right-front tire.

After Hillis fell out of the race, Nick Joanides and Todd Souza were involved in a Lap 67 accident that brought out the caution and ended both drivers’ races. Next up the running order was Joey Iest, who nursed a damaged car home 18 laps down in 25th position. Rounding out the Bottom Five was Roulette, who went one lap farther than Iest to improve two spots on his starting position.

Up front, 2023 ARCA Menards Series East champion William Sawalich took a commanding victory from pole position, leading 93 laps to score the win, his seventh across all ARCA competition this season. Truck Series regular Dean Thompson followed closely behind in second, while Sean Hingorani placed third, well ahead of the 25th-place finish he required to clinch the 2023 ARCA Menards Series West championship.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

28) #27-Bobby Hillis, Jr. / 5 laps / mechanical

27) #71-Nick Joanides / 64 laps / crash

26) #3-Todd Souza / 64 laps / crash

25) #88-Joey Iest / 82 laps / running

24) #12-Ryan Roulette / 83 laps / running

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

1st) Ford (6)

2nd) Toyota (4) 

3rd) Chevrolet (2)

2023 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES WEST OWNERS CHAMPIONSHIP - FINAL

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, Fierce Creature Racing (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 - FINAL