The General Tire 150 is the second round of the 2023 season for the ARCA Menards Series, and it will also serve as the season-opener for the ARCA Menards Series West. The race will offer points for both, and the winner will be credited with a win in both series.
The race will be the fourth ARCA Menards Series race at Phoenix Raceway dating to 2020. Previous winners include Chandler Smith, Ty Gibbs, and Taylor Gray.
Greg Van Alst leads the ARCA Menards Series championship point standings with 47 points based on his win in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Jesse Love, a two-time ARCA Menards Series West champion, is the next highest driver in the standings entered at Phoenix in seventh, ten points behind.
Hollywood superstar and Scottsdale resident Frankie Muniz will make his second career ARCA Menards Series start and his first at his home track. Muniz finished eleventh in his series debut at Daytona International Speedway in February.
The General Tire 150 will also be the 50th ARCA Menards Series West race at Phoenix Raceway. Previous winners include Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, Neil Bonnett, Bobby Allison, Ron Eaton, Bill Schmitt, Rich Woodland, Jr., Mike Wallace, Kevin Richards, Ken Schrader, Austin Cameron, Scott Lynch, David Gilliland, Burney Lamar, Andrew Myers, Joey Logano, Mike David, Jason Bowles, Eric Holmes, Greg Pursley, Ryan Blaney, David Mayhew, Michael Self, Gray Gaulding, Cole Custer, Nick Drake, Todd Gilliland, Ty Gibbs, Taylor Gray, and Sammy Smith.
The ARCA Menards Series track qualifying record was set in 2022 by Sammy Smith, who turned a lap at 26.912 seconds/133.769 miles per hour.
Smith also holds the ARCA Menards Series West track qualifying record, set last November, with a lap of 26.570 seconds/135.491 miles per hour.
Trevor Huddleston makes his return to the ARCA Menards Series West after running a partial schedule last season. The two-time West series winner will be driving for his father Tim who purchased the assets of reigning series championship owner Bob Bruncati’s Sunrise Racing Team in the off season.
William Sawalich will make his ARCA Menards Series debut in the General Tire 150. Sawalich will be driving for Joe Gibbs Racing with veteran crew chief Mark McFarland calling the shots.
Three drivers entered have scored their best previous ARCA Menards Series finish at Phoenix Raceway: Takuma Koga finished 13th in 2020, Todd Souza finished 8th in 2021, and Trevor Huddleston finished 10th in 2021.
Two drivers entered scored their best previous ARCA Menards Series West finish at Pheonix Raceway: Tyler Reif finished 12th and Ryan Roulette finished 22nd in November 2022.
The General Tire 150 is set for 8 pm ET/6 pm MT on Friday, March 10. The race will be televised live on FS2 and streamed live on the Fox Sports app. The race can also be heard on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide and on MRN.com.
