Seven drivers enter the 2021 ARCA Menards Series West season finale at Phoenix Raceway with chances to win the championship.
The top five in the standings — Jesse Love, P.J. Pedroncelli, Jake Drew, Joey Iest and Cole Moore — are separated by just six points, making this by far the closest and deepest championship battle for a finale in the history of the West Series. Trevor Huddleston and Todd Souza are 15 and 26 points back, respectively, but are still contenders thanks to a 36-car entry list at Phoenix.
Which means we’re in for a wild Arizona Lottery 100 on Saturday (Noon MT / 3 p.m. ET on TrackPass).
Love, the defending West Series champion, has a one-point lead over second-place Pedroncelli in the standings. Love and Pedroncelli are the only two drivers who can clinch the championship regardless of where others finish simply by winning at Phoenix. Neither would need the aid of bonus points. (Bonus points are awarded for the General Tire Pole, for leading a lap in the race and for leading the most laps in the race — one point each.)
Love, Pedroncelli, Drew and Iest are the four drivers who would clinch the title regardless of where others finish if they were to score max points (win plus all three bonus points) at Phoenix.
Every other championship scenario involving all seven drivers is dependent upon where others finish.
For example, hypothetically, if Pedroncelli were to beat Love by two positions while finishing within one position of Drew, three positions of Iest, five positions of Moore, 13 positions of Huddleston and 25 positions of Souza — without bonus points awarded to any championship contender — Pedroncelli would win the title.
Each title contender enters the race with a slew of similarly complicated scenarios.
— ARCA RACING —
