ARCA West: David Gilliland Wins Season Finale, Jesse Love Claims Series Title

The ARCA Menards Series West tackled the one-mile Phoenix Raceway for their season finale on Saturday. David Gilliland, passing leader Ty Gibbs on the last lap, led 23 of the 100 circuits to score his fifth career West victory. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Jesse Love captured the 2020 series championship by winning three of the 11 races. 

Gibbs, leading 75 of the 100 laps, finished in the runner-up spot. The driver of the No. 18 Toyota started the event third.

Taking home the third spot in the Arizona Lottery 100 at Phoenix Raceway was Taylor Gray, earning his third top-five finish of the year. 

Todd Gilliland and Drew Dollar rounded out the top five.

Taking home top 10s were Justin Lofton, Trevor Huddleston, Corey Heim, Gracie Trotter, and Keith Rocco. 

Gilliland’s win did not come easy for the veteran racer and team owner on Saturday. Late in the event while leading the field, Gilliland had to serve a pass-through penalty for changing lanes before the start-finish line. Though it wasn’t long before Gilliland made the ground up to put himself back into contention for the victory.

The California native now has 22 top-fives and 28 top 10 finishes through 50 career West starts.

Jesse Love and Blaine Perkins entered Saturday with a shot of winning the ARCA Menards Series West title at Phoenix. Despite all the scenarios in place, Love had one goal in mind: finish ahead of Perkins.

Perkins did not have a result they expected as he fell out of the race on lap 67 due to the engine expiring. The 25th-place finish allowed Love, finishing 14th on the leaderboard, to clinch the series title.

Along with three victories, Love captured nine top fives and 10 top 10 finishes in 2020.

The Arizona Lottery 100 will air Wednesday, November 11th at 6:00 p.m. ET. on NBCSN.

Brett Winningham
Follow Me