Cole Denton played the tire strategy perfectly to earn his first career victory – Rebecca Noble Photo ARCA Racing
ARCA Menards West Tucson 150 Post-race Notes
* Cole Denton (No. 71 Jan’s Towing Ford) started from the Sioux
Chief PowerPEX Pole and dominated Saturday’s ARCA Menards West Tucson
150, scoring his first career series victory in just his third career
ARCA Menards West start. At 15 years, 8 months, and 16 days of age,
Denton becomes the fourth-youngest winner in series history behind Jesse
Love, Todd Gilliland, and Taylor Gray.
* Reigning ARCA Menards West champion Trevor Huddleson (No. 50 High
Point Racing / Racecar Factory Ford) finished second after spending much
of the middle stages of the race outside the top ten conserving tires.
* Eric Johnson, Jr. (No. 5 Sherwin-Williams Toyota) finished third, his
second consecutive top-three finish at Tucson; he finished second in
2025.
* Denton’s Jan’s Racing teammate Robbie Kennealy (No. 1 Jan’s
Towing Ford) raced to the front to lead a lap early in the race before
dropping back into the field to conserve tires for a late charge to the
front. Kennealy’s strategy paid off with a fourth-place finish, his
best finish of the season.
* Gavin Ray (No. 7 Jerry Pitts Racing Toyota) finished fifth, his best
career series finish. Combined with Johnson, Jr.’s third-place finish,
Jerry Pitts Racing had two drivers finish in the top five.
* Eric Rhead (No. 66 Champ Transport / Turnkey Leasing Chevrolet)
finished a career-best sixth after running in the top five in the mid
stages of the race.
* Hailey Deegan (No. 16 Columbia Bank / Monster Energy Chevrolet)
finished sixth, her second sixth-place finish of the year; she also
finished sixth in the season opener at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway.
It was a busy yet successful weekend for the Deegan family; her father
Brian Deegan won the Freedom 500 at Cleetus McFarland’s Freedom
Factory in Bradenton, Fla. on Friday night.
* Mia Lovell (No. 15 Pine HealthToyota) notched her first career
top-ten finish in eighth, as did her Nitro Motorsports teammate Julian
DaCosta (No. 25 Austin Canvas and Awning Toyota) in tenth.
* Memphis Villareal (No. 72 RBR Engineering Chevrolet) ran as high as
second before the second and final caution flag of the night. He faded
on the ensuing restart, dropping to ninth at the finish.
* Seventy-six year old David Smith (No. 05 Shockwave Marine Suspension
Toyota) started last in the 17-car field but quickly raced his way
through the field to take the lead before lap 50. He would lead until
the first restart of the night, the first time in his career he led laps
in an ARCA Menards West race.
* Ninety-eight year old NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Hershel McGriff
gave the command to start engines. McGriff is a four-time NASCAR Cup
Series winner and the 1986 champion of what is now the ARCA Menards West
with 34 career wins. He made his final career start at Tucson Speedway
in 2018 at the age of 90.
*Mason Massey of Douglasville, Georgia finished P12 driving the No. 19 car
for Bill McAnally Racing. Massey opened his year with a victory at Kevin Harvick’s
Kern Raceway, his first in West Series competition.
* The next race for the ARCA Menards West is the Bill Schmitt Memorial
173 at Shasta Speedway at 11:00 pm ET / 8:30 pm PT on Saturday, May 2.
The race will be streamed live on FloRacing and simulcast on The NASCAR
Channel. ARCARacing.com will have live timing & scoring data for all
on-track activity.
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