Kyle Keller delivers a breakthrough ARCA West Series victory at Tri-City Raceway on Saturday night in the NAPA Auto Care 150.
WEST RICHLAND, Wash. — Emotions were flowing for Kyle Keller as he climbed out of Jan Qualkenbush’s No. 71 Ford in Tri-City Raceway’s Victory Lane on Saturday night.
Kyle Keller Delivers a Victory
Currently in his third full-time ARCA Menards Series West season, Keller had yet to bring home a checkered flag before the NAPA Auto Care 150. With all three of Keller’s runner-up finishes coming this year, a win seemed inevitable as the 20-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada, native prepared to tackle Tri-City’s arduous layout.
A late caution set up a sprint to the finish that pitted Keller on the outside lane against race leader Jake Bollman. The two leaned heavily on each other during the restart, but Keller generated enough momentum to overtake Bollman and lead the final closing four laps with no challenge from behind.
Keller had no idea how he was able to best Bollman. He was simply ecstatic to finally win a West Series event in his 41st start.
“Jake [Bollman] raced me super hard there,” Keller said. “It wasn’t dirty at all. Jake and I have raced super clean all year. It was awesome to race against those guys, but Jake I felt was definitely the fastest guy there.
“Everybody [at Jan’s Racing] works so hard in the shop. This one’s for them.”
Three Organizations’ Leads to a Victory
Keller has done everything possible to showcase his talent to West Series team owners since making his debut in 2020.
Despite racing for three different organizations last year, Keller put together a stellar campaign that saw him tally three consecutive fifth-place finishes in the summer. That consistency caught the attention of Qualkenbush, who signed Keller to contest the entire 2025 West Series season.
Keller nearly rewarded Qualkebush’s faith during the season-opener at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway. An intense finish saw Keller duel current West Series points leader Trevor Huddleston to the checkered flag, but Keller missed out on his maiden West Series triumph by only 0.243 seconds.
Aside from a 15th at Phoenix Raceway, Keller has successfully built upon his strong start at Kern Raceway. The two additional second-place showings at Colorado National Speedway and the second visit to Kern in June put Keller within striking distance of Huddleston’s advantage in the West Series standings.
The NAPA Auto Care 150 Results
Yet each race only increased Keller’s desire to find Victory Lane. As the laps clicked off in Saturday’s race at Tri-City, it appeared victory would have to wait once again for Keller, who found himself second behind Bollman.
Fortunes changed for Keller when Bollman contacted the slower car of Jonathan Reaume, damaging his front end and bringing out the yellow flag. Keller had a perfect opportunity in front of him; all he needed was to capitalize.
With pressure from NASCAR legend Greg Biffle in the second row, Keller needed to be resolute. He remained unfazed against Bollman and Biffle, executing a perfect restart that finally brought him to victory lane in the West Series.
As Keller celebrated, Bollman could not help but be disappointed by the outcome. Bollman had built a sizable lead over Keller and the rest of the field until he got into Reaume, a sequence of events that left him puzzled and frustrated.
“It stinks,” Bollman said. “I had such a fast car that these guys bring every week. I want to apologize. I’m not going to say [the incident with Reaume] was my fault on half of it, but I don’t know why two lapped cars are battling. I know it’s racing, and there’s nothing I can say, either. We’re just going to move onto the next one and put this behind us.
“It’s still a second-place finish.”
Had Bollman prevailed, he would have delivered car owner Bill McAnally his firsst checkered flat at Tri-City. Bollman made history for McAnally in May at Colorado by tallying the 100th West Series victory for the organization.
Instead, Keller found himself celebrating in front of the fans after a thorough, diligent drive. He dedicated his victory to Steve Bohanon, Keller’s long-time manager and supporter who passed away the previous week.
Keller also expressed his gratitude toward Qualkenbush for taking a chance on him. The journey to that elusive first West Series checkered flag was one that was taxing for Keller at times, but he said Qualkenbush and his operation gave him the confidence needed to translate his commitment into on-track success.
“The main thing was getting this opportunity from Jan [Qualkenbush],” Keller said. “If it wasn’t for his equipment, his cars, my crew chief and the dedication to the team, I wouldn’t be here.”
Biffle settled for third in front of his hometown crowd. Rounding out the top five were Keller’s teammate Robbie Kennealy and Huddleston.
The ARCA West Point Standings
With Keller’s victory he closes the gap to 7 points to the series points leader Trevor Huddleston. Tanner Reif is 15 points back in third, while Eric Johnson Jr and Robbie Kennealy complete the top five.
Next Up
The ARCA Menards Series West will stay in the Pacific Northwest for their next event at Portland International Raceway on Aug. 29, their second and final road-course race of 2025. The Portland 112 will go green at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET with FloRacing providing live flag-to-flag coverage.