Tanner Reif uses a perfect strategy for his ARCA West victory at Tucson Speedway on Saturday night in the ARCA Menards Series West 150.
TUCSON, Ariz. – Going slow to go fast is the best way to describe Tanner Reif’s Saturday night at Tucson Speedway.
Tanner Reif Victory at Tucson
Reif started third, rode at the back of the field for most of the race, then roared to the lead with two laps to go to win the ARCA Menards Series West 150 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame.
“Everything was perfect,” Reif said in Victory Lane. “I had to work so hard for it, but this team, Central Coast Cabinets Racing, did such a good job setting this thing up. I was crying in the car. I had to compose myself.”
Saturday’s event, the first West Series race at Tucson since 2019, was an excellent example of an old-school tire saving race.
Reif, along with polesitter Jake Bollman, championship leader Trevor Huddleston and Eric Johnson Jr., faded to the rear of the field during the early portion of the event to save their tires for the second half of the 150-lap race.
Reif’s Slow Race Ends in an Exciting Finish
Following a caution at lap 75 for a spin by Tim Goulet, the battle for the win was truly on.
Huddleston was the first driver to make his move, taking the lead just before Goulet’s spin. Then it was Johnson who made his way to the lead with 45 laps left. With 16 laps to go, it was Bollman who took his turn at the front.
While Bollman, Johnson and Huddleston were using up their tires, Reif was waiting for his moment to strike.
“I said, ‘I’m going to ride as slow as anybody can go, and when it’s time to go, I’m going to have a car better than anybody out there,’” Reif said.
With 12 laps left, Reif moved past Johnson for second and set his sights on Bollman. With Johnson right on his heels, Reif caught him with three laps left.
Reif got to Bollman’s inside down the backstretch with two laps left while Johnson went to Bollman’s outside. The trio crossed under the white flag three-wide with Reif scored as the leader.
Using momentum on the top, Johnson cleared Bollman and entered Turn 3 alongside Reif in a battle for the lead. However, Johnson’s car got loose coming out of Turn 4, and Reif held on to score his third career West Series victory and first since joining Kelly and Todd Souza’s Central Coast Racing team.
“I didn’t have a lot of high hopes entering this weekend. I just wasn’t feeling it,” said Reif. “The first time I hoped in the car, I went, ‘OK, this is going to be one of our race weekends. This is going to be somewhere where we actually have a chance to fight.’ And man did we fight.
“Eric Johnson wheeled that thing, man. I really wasn’t expecting that from him. He gave us one great fight. I’m just so proud to be here.”
ARCA Menards Series West 150 Results
Johnson, who led laps for the first time in his West Series career Saturday night aboard the Jerry Pitts Racing No. 5, was both disappointed and excited to finish second Saturday night at Tucson.
“You can sit there and think about it a million different ways, but I wasn’t going to leave anything on the table,” Johnson said. “These guys deserve to be in Victory Lane, and sitting here knowing it’s so close, I’m going to try my hardest for the rest of this year to get them there because they deserve nothing less.
“I wasn’t going to wreck him for it. That was hard, hard short-track racing.”
Bollman finished third after earning his first General Tire Pole Award earlier in the day. Kyle Keller was fourth while Huddleston faded to fifth at the checkered flag.
The ARCA West Series Point Standings
Tanner Reif and Trevor Huddleston are tied at the top of the series point standings. Both drivers have one win and two top five finishes in three races this season. Eric Johnson Jr is just five points from the leaders. Kyle Keller and his Jan’s Towing Racing teammate Robbie Kenneally are tied in fourth and fifth just eight points behind the leaders.
Up Next
The ARCA Menards Series West takes more than a month off before returning to action on Saturday night, May 24 at Colorado National Speedway in Dacono, Colorado. The event will be shown live on FloRacing.