For the first time since February 20th, the ARCA Menards Series West made its return Saturday for a doubleheader at Utah Motorsports Campus in Grantsville, Utah. This was the ENEOS/Sunrise Ford Twins race presented by West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame. The races were 30 laps each. For race one, Billy Perkins was on the pole followed by Lawless Alan.
Five laps into the race, the number 77 car, driven by Takuma Koga, had a transmission issue and brought out the first caution of the race. Blaine Perkins, who had been leading, lost the lead to Jesse Love on the ninth lap. Trevor Huddleston’s car went off the track at lap 11 to bring out the second caution of the race.
🚨 Trouble for #ARCAMenards West championship contender Trevor Huddleston in Race 1@UtahMotorCampus | #UtahTwin30s pic.twitter.com/nfepbL9UyS — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 27, 2020
Love led the field to the restart on lap nine. He drove out in front of Perkins and remained in the lead. Perkins gave it all he had, but the longer the race went, Love pulled away.
Love-ly restart for the race leader@jesselovejr1 | #UtahTwin30s pic.twitter.com/5g5jA3PJbT — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 27, 2020
The restart lasted just nine laps; during those laps, the battle for the second position was being fought between Kris Wright and Blaine Perkins. The third caution came out when the 12 AutoParkit Toyota driven by Lawless Alan went off the track and completely stopped.
Blaine Perkins with a bid for the lead & almost cost him 2nd Jesse Love gets away Catch the finish of Race 1 on @_TrackPass #ARCAMenards } #UtahTwin30s pic.twitter.com/4ODlUcXQ2i — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 27, 2020
🚨 Lawless Alan is 🛑 in the gravel. Restart to decide Race 1 coming up on @_TrackPass #ARCAMenards | #UtahTwin30s pic.twitter.com/M2BUaKl3Zd — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 27, 2020
Love led the field back to green with two laps to go in race one. Love went on to win race one by 1.154 sec over the second-place finisher Kris Wright. Gio Scelzi finished third, Taylor Gray fourth, Will Rodgers fifth, Todd Souza sixth, Gracie Trotter eighth, Brian Kaminsky ninth, and Holley Hollan tenth. The crews then began to work on the cars for race two.
Career win No. 1⃣ What a performance from @jesselovejr1 to grab the 🏁 in Race 1#ARCAMenards | #UtahTwin30s pic.twitter.com/JeQHzHM8Lo — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 27, 2020
In race two, Blaine Perkins was on the pole while Lawless Alan started in second place. Race one winner, Jesse Love, started in third place. Two laps into the race, the number 77 car, driven by Takuma Koga, went out with handling issues. Four laps later, Bobby Hillis Jr., in the 27 Midway Toyota, had mechanical problems that ended his day.
Can Jesse Love make it ✌? He's got work to do to catch Blaine Perkins. Catch the fight to the finish of Race 2 on @_Trackpass #UtahTwin30s | #ARCAMenards pic.twitter.com/WsKin3ohpH — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 28, 2020
Blaine Perkins was dominating race two while Jesse Love was doing everything he could to catch Perkins. This was a caution-free race, and Perkins would control the race from start to finish as he would go on to take the win in race two by 9.398 over the second-place finisher Jesse Love.
Not a repeat. Career win No. 1⃣ Congratulations @BlainePerkins21 on your first 🏁#ARCAMenards | #UtahTwin30s pic.twitter.com/s37f5fGXVu — ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) June 28, 2020
The rest of the top-ten finishers were Kris Wright third, Gio Scelzi fourth, Trevor Huddleston fifth, Todd Souza sixth, Gracie Trotter seventh, Will Rodgers eighth, Brian Kaminsky ninth, and Holley Hollan tenth.
The ARCA Menards Series West will make a stop at Irwindale Speedway for the ENEOS 125 presented by NAPA Auto Parts next Saturday at 6 pm on NBC Sports Gold Track Pass.
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