BAKERSVIELD, Calif. — The ARCA Menards Series West opens its 73rd with its first of two races at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway.
The Oil Workers 150 Presented by West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame will be the 18th series race at the track and the 1041st overall in series history. The series will close its 2026 season at the track, the first time the finale has been held there since 2018.
Trevor Huddleston (No. 50 High Point Racing / Racecar Factory Ford) returns to the ARCA Menards Series West to defend his 2025 championship; he won both races at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway – a track managed by his father Tim – in 2025.
• Three-time series winner Hailie Deegan (No. 16 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet) returns to the series full-time, reuniting with Bill McAnally Racing for a run at the series championship. Deegan, who became the series’ first-ever female winner in 2018, will be joined on the BMR squad by Mason Massey (No. 19 Brunt Boots / Mongoose Power Solutions Chevrolet); both will compete for the series title in 2026.
• Reigning Bounty Rookie of the Year Robbie Kennealy (No. 1 Jan’s Towing Ford) also returns to chase the series championship. Kennealy, who won last year at All American Speedway, recently raced in the General Tire 200 at Daytona International Speedway, coming away with a 15th-place finish in his Jan Qualkenbush-owned Ford. Kennealy will be joined by 15-year-old newcomer Cole Denton (No. 71 Jan’s Towing Ford), who will compete for this year’s Bounty Rookie crown.
• Two-time series champion Sean Hingorani (No. 13 Central Coast Cabinets / Fidelity Capital Toyota) returns to the series after a one-year absence in 2025. Hingorani, the 2023 and 2024 series champ, has seven career wins in 29 series starts, including two at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway (April 2023 and October 2024).
• Nitro Motorsports will field three entries, two for full-timers Mia Lovell (No. 15 Pine Health Toyota) and Julian DeCosta (No. 25 Austin Canvas and Awning Toyota), and one for part-timer Jade Avedisian (No. 70 Mobil 1 Toyota). Avedisian started 2026 on a hot streak, winning a super late model feature and finishing seventh in the ASA STARS National Tour season opener at New Smyrna Speedway during the World Series of Asphalt.
• Cook Racing Technologies, the 2023 ARCA Menards Series West team owner champions, will field two entries for 15-year-old Taylor Mayhew (No. 17 MMI Toyota) and Jaiden Reyna (No. 42 MMI Chevrolet). Mayhew is the son of seven-time series winner David Mayhew while Reyna, the 2020 INEX Legends Car Young Lions national champion with 24 wins in 31 starts, will also be making his series debut.
• Jerry Pitts Racing will field two entries, one for 2024 Bounty Rookie of the Year Eric Johnson Jr. (No. 5 Sherwin-Williams Toyota) and another for Gavin Ray (No. 7 Component West Toyota). Johnson finished fifth in both Kern races in 2025; Ray finished sixth in the 2025 season opener.
