Blaine Perkins in his No. 9 Sunrise Ford Bob Bruncati entry was able to fend off hard charger Gracie Trotter for his second victory of the race weekend. The victory was a sweep for Perkins, the California native, who also won Friday night at Evergreen Speedway.
“We’ve been on rails this weekend,” Perkins said to NBC post-race. “I’m so proud of these guys. They work so hard, especially with the two races in one weekend and they brought me really two fast race cars. Best of the year so far. Just getting some seat time with these guys, it’s been great, it’s been fun. Just a hats off to these guys. Jeff Schrader my crew chief, Bob Bruncait (Team Owner), for giving me this opportunity to drive this awesome No. 9 car. It’s a dream come true.”
“It wouldn’t be possible without all these people. Just pumped up. We did what we wanted to do. Got two wins and it feels great.”
150 laps made up the ENEOS / NAPA Auto Parts 150 from Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg, Oregon. Gio Scelzi, driver of the No. 16 Bill McAnally NAPA entry, qualified on the pole.
Six cautions flew throughout the 150-lap race. Perkins’ first sight of the lead came on Lap 19 after a restart when he wrestled the lead away from pole-sitter Scelzi.
Prior to Perkins taking the lead, the first yellow of the night was on Lap 14 when the No. 27 of Bobby Hillis Jr. spun in Turn 2. His night only got worse as he caused another yellow on Lap 127.
While the caution flags would slow the field a couple of times, nothing would stop Gracie Trotter’s No. 99 machine, who was on the rear bumper of Perkins throughout the event. At one point, Trotter caught the No. 9 of Perkins who had slowed a little bit. However, Perkins picked up his pace again and checked out.
With Trotter having a good night running in the top five, Love had to earn his finishing spot the hard way. On Lap 115, Takuma Koga in the No. 77 got spun from behind with help from Love who received major hood damage to his No. 19 Toyota from the contact. Despite the hood damage, Love kept on going.
The final caution was seen with 15 to go when Holley Hollan got turned sideways in Turns 3 and 4 after contact with Todd Souza. The yellow set up a late-race restart with 13 to go.
Perkins managed to hold on to the lead for the final 12 circuits around the .375 mile speedway for his third win of the year in the ARCA Menards West Series. It was his third victory since his first win dating back to Utah Motorsports Park.
“It made me a little nervous,” Perkins noted when his car slowed momentarily. “I got in the gas off Turn 2 and the car popped out of gear. Thankfully, it didn’t do it again and got the lead, the checkered flag.”
Following behind Perkins’ car was Gracie Trotter, who recorded the best finish of her ARCA Menards West Series career of second place.
“I’m not really sure, but I do love the shorter bull-ring type tracks,” Trotter said to NBC about her second-place finish. “I always seem to figure out those places, I’m not sure why but I love it. Really good car today, too much on the tight side for me. I wish we would have loosened it up a little bit more in practice, but the crew gave me a really good car. Made it work with what we had, just one spot short. Tired of finishing third and second. So, I’m ready to go win at Colorado.”
Jesse Love remains the championship points leader.
“Have to be really aggressive on this place,” Love said. “You can kind of lose and gain a lot of momentum in a span of two laps, right? So, you had to take whatever you can get and maybe I was a little bit too clean in the beginning. But, we’re the best team here. Our performance is not where we should be running. We’re going to get our mojo back here. We did it once, we’re going to do it again. Have the best team in the pits and we’re going to make a lot of it. We’re still the points leader, so we’ll keep carrying that momentum.”
The margin of victory was .376 seconds Perkins over Trotter.
There were six cautions for 24 laps. Pole sitter Scelzi led the first 15 laps while Perkins led the final 135 laps.
Official Results following the ENEOS / NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Douglas County Speedway
- Blaine Perkins, led 135 laps
- Gracie Trotter
- Jesse Love
- Gio Scelzi, led 15 laps
- Trevor Huddleston
- Jack Wood
- Holley Hollan, 1 lap down
- Takuma Koga, 4 laps down
- Bridget Burgess, 5 laps down
- Bobby Hillis Jr, 8 laps down
- Todd Souza, 12 laps down
Up Next: The ARCA Menards Series West visits Colorado National Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 22 live on NBC Sports Trackpass.
