Landen Lewis made his first career ARCA Menards Series West start at Kern County Raceway while picking up his first career ARCA West division victory on Saturday. Lewis, piloting the No. 42 19th green / MMI Services Chevrolet, started third.
“I don’t know what to say! I’m kinda speechless at the moment,” exclaimed Lewis in victory lane. “I just want to thank all the fans for coming out as this place is pretty freaking awesome! I’m definitely making the trip back and definitely running on the West tour more.”
Lewis, 16-years of age, isn’t new to the ARCA Racing Series fold. The North Carolina native made three ARCA Menards Series starts last season and earned a victory at DuQuoin from the pole position.
“I was confident yesterday when we walked into the gate,” Lewis added when asked if he was confident about his car ending the night in victory lane. “When we unloaded yesterday, I knew we had a car for the race.”
Jake Drew took home the runner-up spot sitting 0.899 seconds behind Lewis. Per FloRacing, Drew, leaving Kern with three top-fives and three top finishes through three West events this season, holds the series points lead.
“P2 Drew, I guess. It’s been a nickname for a while,” Drew began his post-race interview. “We had a really good car of course and just came a little bit short there at the end. Seems like every time someone from out of town shows up that’s who we have to fight with. That’s okay. That’s what competition is for.”
“I feel pretty confident that we still have the point lead,” Drew continued. “It’s a lot better feeling than we were last year chasing the whole time. So having the point lead definitely helps out.”
Cole Moore rounded out the top three finishers after holding off Tanner Reif in the closing laps.
Pole sitter Paul Pedroncelli Jr. rounded out the top five finishers.
Taking home top 10s were Todd Souza, Trevor Huddleston, Austin Herzog, Takuma Koga, and Amber Slagle.
Three cautions slowed the NAPA Auto Parts 150 with the first of those for debris. The second was for the halfway break at lap 75 while the third was for Joey Iest on lap 103 for a blown engine. Iest finished 17th as the result of the DNF.
The ARCA Menards Series West will take a nearly two-month hiatus and will go left and right on the road course at Portland Raceway on June 4th. Coverage of the event will air live on FloRacing.
