The new formation of the ARCA Racing Tours has already brought some intrigue to the first part of the 2020 season.
On Thursday, we’ll get to see even more as the ARCA West Tour kicks off their 2020 schedule at The Bullring.
ARCA West: Five BMR Rookies, Huddleston & Co. open season in Vegas
The tour features a 10-race slate with eight full-time drivers ready to do battle through the year leading to the November finale at Phoenix.
Five of those drivers will be racing for longtime series powerhouse, Bill McAnally Racing. All of them are rookies.
You read that right.
In what isn’t exactly a move that has been done often, each of BMR’s drivers will be in their first, full year of asphalt touring competition.
Giovanni Scelzi comes over to the series after making his name in the dirt ranks. Two years ago, he became the youngest driver to ever start a Knoxville Nationals main event.
He’s joined by a 15-year old in Jesse Love, who has done just about anything someone could ask of someone that young. Love competed in over 120 races last season, some for the famed Keith Kunz Motorsports.
Alan Lawless became an extra addition to the team, as he raced a limited schedule last year and is upping it to full-time in 2020.
Holley Hollan and Gracie Trotter round out the young lineup, looking to help BMR to its fifth title in the tour in six years.
No matter the strategy, they know how to get it done.
Although, to compete for a championship, they’ll have to go through Trevor Huddleston and Sunrise Ford Racing.
As the only team to beat BMR in the recent stretch of success, Huddleston returns a year out of a runner-up finish to try and earn a spot at the end of the season, one position better.
The team has a new partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing going into the season. With the combination of Huddleston and Blaine Perkins, they look to capture their second title in three years.
The final full-time car will be the No. 77 Performance P1 Motorsports Toyota with Takuma Koga behind the wheel and long-time driver Ron Norman at the helm as crew chief.
In a class with such a low amount of years behind the wheel, experience could be of use, and that team brings a lot of it.
Also making an appearance this week at the Bullring is 2019 East Series champion and New Smyrna ARCA East winner Sam Mayer with his GMS Racing entry.
As always, Mayer will be tough to beat, and even though he isn’t running a full schedule, he might be at the top of both tours after Thursday night.
It all gets started at the Bullring with qualifying scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcasted by NBC’s fast pass and will kick off at 10:00 p.m. ET. We will have full updates on Twitter at @RacingVault.
