In only his seventh career ARCA Menards Series West start, Sean Hingorani won his first race coming at Irwindale Speedway Saturday (April 1) night, holding off Landen Lewis on a handful of restarts and leading much of the second half of the race.
The 16-year-old Hingorani started his Venturini Motorsports No. 15 Toyota from the inside of the second row and never looked back. He spent much of the first half of the race in that third position but pounced to the lead shortly after Lewis had taken it from Trevor Huddleston.
Hingorani would lead for nine laps before a debris caution came out on lap 89. On the following restart, RJ Smotherman and David Smith made contact collecting Nick Joandies and Eric Nascimento in the process. Smith was able to continue on, but the other three saw their nights end.
Hingorani retained the lead on the restart, but again, five laps later, the caution would come out. Todd Souza clipped the front end of Huddleston’s car, sending Souza up the track into Jake Bollman, who made heavy contact with the wall.
The race would restart again ten laps later, with Hingorani and Lewis restarting on the front row. Hingorani extended his lead again on the restart, but was quickly diminished by another caution, after Phoenix Raceway winner Tyler Reif made contact with Bradley Erickson, sending him into the wall in turn four.
The race restarted for the final time on lap 131, and Lewis retained the lead shortly, but Hingorani quickly got it back, making a pass for the lead on lap 134 and never looking back, taking the checkered flag 16 laps later.
Behind Hingorani, Lewis finished his No. 17 in second place after spending the entirety of the race in the top five.
Tyler Reif followed up his win in the season-opening race at Phoenix with a third-place finish in his No. 41 for Lowden-Jackson Motorsports. His older brother, Tanner Reif, would round out the top five, finishing fifth in the No. 16 for Bill McAnally Racing.
The other driver to finish in the top five was the pole-sitter Huddleston, who led the first 72 laps of the race before falling back to third, unable to recover.
The West series drivers are now off until April 22, when they head to Kern County Raceway Park in California for the NAPA NightVision 150. Coverage for that race will begin at 11:15 pm ET, and will only air on FloSports.
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