The final race of the 2026 ARCA Menards West Series season and championship-ending finale concluded Saturday night at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in Bakersfield, California.
Championship points leader Trevor Huddleston was looking to clinch his title coming into the race and had a simple scenario of taking the green-flag to lock up his second consecutive championship in back-to-back years. He is the most recent driver to win two consecutive championships since Sean Hingorani did it in 2023 and 2024.
While the championship may have already been decided, there was still a race winner to be determined at the end of the 150-lap NAPA Auto Parts 150.
Practice and Qualifying commenced earlier in the day and saw Mia Lovell win the pole position with a time of 18.466 seconds and a speed of 97.476 seconds. Hailie Deegan, who had one previous win earlier this season at Madera, qualified on the outside pole. By winning the pole position, Lovell put her name in the record books of females winning the pole, such as Deegan, Brittney Zamora, and Jade Avedisian. There was a halfway race break at or around Lap 76. With Mother Nature in the area, the race was moved up to an earlier start time to try and beat the rain. The race break would later be moved to Lap 80 to allow for more racing and again trying to beat the rain.
Lovell led the field to the green-flag into Turn 1, but she got loose in the middle of Turns 1 and 2, which allowed Deegan to take the lead on the backstretch and lead the first lap. Furthermore, after taking the green, Trevor Huddleston officially clinched the 2026 West Series title.
The long green-flag stretch was short-lived as the first yellow flew at Lap 22 for Eric Johnson Jr., spinning around off Turn 4. Replays showed Denton may have gotten into the back of Johnson Jr to send him around. As the field continued to run under yellow, rain began to fall on the track. Despite the rain, the field would go back to green at Lap 30, with Deegan restarting on the outside lane and Lovell on the inside lane. Lovell kept up with Deegan, racing her side-by-side for one lap before Deegan ultimately took the lead off Turn 2 as Lovell’s car fought loose conditions.
Nonetheless, the second yellow flew shortly thereafter at Lap 33 for the No. 25 of Sam Corry sideways at the exit of Turn 2. The Flo Racing replay showed that Joey Iest’s car got loose in the middle of Turns 1 and 2 and climbed back up the track to spin Corry out. Unfortunately, more rain began to fall and saw the pace vehicle bring the cars down to the pit area to wait out the rain.
Despite trying to wait out the rain for a couple of hours, the ARCA Menards Series officials officially called the race early at Lap 42. Per the rulebook at 9-13-2.C, ARCA may deem a race official prior to the halfway point if all reasonable attempts to conclude the advertised distance have been exhausted and restarting the race is impractical. The decision was made in conjunction with Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway officials and broadcast partners.
This means Deegan would win the fifth race of her career and the second of the season since she was the leader at the time of red.
“Oh, it does, for sure,” Deegan said in victory lane to Flo Racing when questioned about ending the season with the victory. “To come out here and have everyone who has supported me, and having Monster Energy, NAPA Auto Parts, Columbia Bank, and everyone who has been working so hard. Everyone at Bill McAnally Racing has been super awesome.
“The race overall, I felt like I was mad at qualifying. We missed (qualifying) on the pole by .007, and I was questioning myself, but we were able to get the lead quick and checked out from there. We had a really good car, and I felt like I wasn’t using up too much tire. I wished we could’ve got more laps in, I was having a blast out there, but we’ll take it.”
As Deegan won the race, Trevor Huddleston celebrated his championship.
“A very awesome victory lane for many reasons, obviously being out here at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway, very unique victory lane because it’s pouring rain,” Trevor Huddleston told Flo Racing about winning the championship. “It felt like we weren’t going to race at all today, but we got some laps in, and we brought it home, that’s all that counts. It’s in one piece, and it’s going to look really good at the banquet hall in Charlotte.”
Official Race Results Following The NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway
- Hailie Deegan
- Mia Lovell
- Hudson Sharp
- Taylor Mayhew
- Trevor Huddleston
- Robbie Kennealy
- Cole Denton
- Tanner Huddleston
- Mason Massey
- Vito Cancilla
- Sean Hingorani
- Wesley Slimp
- Tyler Tomassi
- Kenna Mitchell
- Gavin Ray
- Ian Wood
- Sam Corry
- Esteban Rodriguez
- Cody Dennison, 1 Lap Down
- Eric Johnson Jr, 1 Lap Down
- Joey Iest, 1 Lap Down
- Josiah Reaume, 2 Laps Down
- Donald Witkowski, 2 Laps Down
- Ray Bolinger, 2 Laps Down
- David Smith, 2 Laps Down
Up Next – With the 2026 season now complete, next on the agenda is the NASCAR Regional Awards Ceremonies, where the national ARCA Menards Series, ARCA East and West, Whelen Modified Tour, and more will be celebrated and officially crowned on Friday, November 20, at the Charlotte Convention Center, Crown Ballroom. Furthermore, the 2027 West Series schedule is expected at a later date.
