Sean Hingorani, the 2023 ARCA Menards Series West champion.Tyler Reif finished second behind Hingorani in the championship by 36 points.Trevor Huddleston finished third in the championship by 48 points.The McGowan Motorsports No. 17 car, driven byLanden Lewis andKaden Honeycutt, won the owners' championship.
The2023 ARCA Menards Series West was the 70th season of theARCA Menards Series West, a regionalstock car racing series sanctioned byNASCAR in the United States. The season began on March 10 atPhoenix Raceway with theGeneral Tire 150 and ended with the Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100, also at Phoenix Raceway, on November 3.
Jake Drew entered the season as the defending champion. He did not return to the West Series full-time in 2023 and defend his title afterSunrise Ford Racing, the team that he drove for in 2022, closed down after the end of the season[1] and he was unable to find a full-time ride with another team at the start of the 2023 season. At the conclusion of the season,Sean Hingorani ofVenturini Motorsports clinched the ARCA Menards Series West championship.[2]
On November 4, 2022,Sunrise Ford Racing team owner Bob Bruncati revealed duringJake Drew's championship celebration at Phoenix that he would be closing down his team in the West Series and would focus on competing in local short track racing. In addition to Drew's 2022 championship, SFR won the 2009 championship withJason Bowles and the 2013 and 2018 championships withDerek Thorn.[1]
On April 14, 2022,Todd Souza stated in an interview for the ARCA website that he might only run part-time in the West Series in 2023 in a new second car for his own team with someone else replacing him in his No. 13 car full-time.[32] Although Souza did return for another full season in 2023, he and his team did debut a second part-time car, the No. 3, at Shasta with him driving that car andTyler Reif driving his No. 13 car in that race.[7]
On March 29, 2023, it was announced thatJake Bollman would make his West Series debut in the race at Irwindale in April in the No. 55 car for High Point Racing and run multiple other races in the car in 2023.[19]
The full schedule was announced on November 22.[33] Some race dates were announced before then.[34][35] There are twelve races on the 2023 schedule, up from eleven in 2022.
Note: The race at Phoenix in March was a combination race with theARCA Menards Series (highlighted in gold).
The pole winner also receives one bonus point, similar to the previous ARCA points system used until 2019 and unlike NASCAR.[37]
Additionally, after groups of five races of the season, drivers that compete in all five races receive fifty additional points.[37] These points bonuses will be given after the races at Sonoma and the Las Vegas Bullring.
Sean Hingorani,Landen Lewis,Bradley Erickson,Tyler Reif,Trevor Huddleston,Tanner Reif,Kyle Keller,Todd Souza,David Smith,Takuma Koga,Ethan Nascimento, andEric Nascimento received this points bonus for having competed in the first five races of the season (Phoenix in March, Irwindale in April, Kern County, Portland in June, and Sonoma). Hingorani, Huddleston, Tyler Reif, Souza, Erickson, Tanner Reif, Eric Nascimento, Keller, Koga, and Smith received the fifty bonus points for having competed in the next five races of the season (Irwindale in July, Shasta, Evergreen, Roseville, and The Bullring). Hingorani, Tyler Reif, Huddleston, Erickson, Tanner Reif, Souza, Eric Nascimento, Keller, Koga, Smith, Ethan Nascimento,Nick Joanides,Kaden Honeycutt,Robbie Kennealy andJoey Iest all received this points bonus after competing in the final two races of the year (Madera and Phoenix in November).
(key)Bold – Pole position awarded by time.Italics – Pole position set by final practice results or rainout. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.
