Taylor Gray entered the Friday-Sunday doubleheader weekend making his third and fourth ARCA Menards Series West starts. He had never raced at All American Speedway or at Kern County Raceway Park.
The results represented much more than beginner’s luck.
A couple days after leading 116 laps of Friday night’s race in Roseville, California, and earning a top-10 finish, the 15-year-old from Artesia, New Mexico, won Sunday’s NAPA ENEOS 125 at the half-mile oval in Bakersfield, California.
“Every race I go, I set myself to a high standard of winning,” said Gray after leading a race-high 72 laps Sunday and landing the No. 17 Ford Performance Ford in Victory Lane for his first ACRA Menards win. “That’s the goal at the end of the day. If you not winning, then you gotta work towards it.
“At the end of the day, all you have is how many wins you have in your results.”
He now has one of those after four West Series starts for DGR-Crosley.
Gray’s age limited the amount of ARCA Menards races he could run in 2020. He also ran 12 ARCA Menards Series races, notching eight top-five finishes and 11 top-10 finishes, and picked up a pair of top-fives and five top-10s in five ARCA Menards Series East starts.
Mason Diaz, who led 23 laps Sunday, finished second.
Blaine Perkins finished third ahead of his Sunrise Ford teammate Trevor Huddleston in fourth. Perkins entered the race 17 points behind championship standings leader Jesse Love, and his third-place run was good enough to draw within 14 points of Love heading into the November 7 season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
“We did what we had to do,” said Perkins. “We cut into the points lead this weekend. So it’s definitely not out of (our) hopes yet, and who knows?
“There’s going to be a lot of cars at Phoenix, and anything can happen.”
Gracie Trotter finished fifth at Kern County after a late-race incident with her Bill McAnally Racing teammate Love. The championship points leader salvaged an eighth-place finish behind Kyle Keller and Todd Souza.
Gio Scelzi, who picked up his first ARCA Menards win Friday at All American and battled issues with his car throughout much of Sunday’s race, finished ninth at Kern County. Jack Wood rounded out the top 10.
The ARCA Menards Series West season finale is scheduled for Saturday, November 7 at Phoenix Raceway.
ARCA Menards West Series
Kern County Raceway Park – Bakersfield, CA
NAPA / ENEOS 125 – October 25, 2020
1. Taylor Gray
2. Mason Diaz
3. Blaine Perkins
4. Trevor Huddleston
5. Gracie Trotter
6. Kyle Keller
7. Todd Souza
8. Jesse Love
9. Gio Scelzi
10. Jack Wood
11. Bobby Hillis, Jr.
12. Takuma Koga
13. Joey Iest
14. Bridget Burgess
15. Holley Hollan
16. Ryan Repko
