AVONDALE, Ariz. — Connor Zilisch won the season ending Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100 Friday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway, while Sean Hingorani secured his second consecutive ARCA Menards Series West championship.
Despite competing with four different organizations across the 12-race schedule, Hingorani put together an efficient campaign that saw him tally three victories.
A third-place finish in Venturini Motorsport’s No. 15 on Friday was enough for Hingorani to hold off Tyler Reif for the title.
“It’s been a long season with a lot of different people that have helped me get to this point,” Hingorani said. “I want to thank Venturini Motorsports for everything they’ve done for me, [along with] Jerry Pitts Racing and Sigma Performance Services. It was harder this year acclimating every week to a different team, but I can’t thank [everyone] enough.
“Two tries and two times, it’s really special.”
By fending off Reif, Hingorani joins an elite group of drivers that have won back-to-back West Series championships, with Jesse Love being the most recent to do so from 2020-21.
Once Zilisch wrestled the lead from polesitter William Sawalich, he raced unchallenged until a final restart with four laps remaining. A valiant charge by Sawalich was not enough to usurp Zilisch, who secured his seventh victory on the ARCA Menards Series platform this year and his first in the West Series.
“We’ve struggled in the past at tracks like this,” Zilisch said. “This is a brand-new car we haven’t run this year before. I’m so proud of all these guys, because when we struggled at a track, they work so hard to bring me a fast car the next time we go to a track.
“It’s been an awesome year with this team and it’s great to cap it off with a win.”
Heading into 2025, Hingorani does not have any plans solidified, which is one reason why bringing home a second West Series championship meant so much to him.
“We had a couple of things fall apart coming into this year, and it put us in a bad spot,” Hingorani said. “We were lucky to find some people who were willing to help us out so that we could be in a position to do this again.”
With Hingorani balancing out his 2024 schedule across four different teams, Reif comfortably obtained the ARCA Menards Series West owner’s championship for Central Coast Racing.
Long-time car owners Todd and Kelly Souza enjoyed two victories with Reif behind the wheel, their first in the West Series since 2008.
Rounding out the top five in the Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100 were Hingorani’s Venturini Motorsports teammates in Gio Ruggiero and Brent Crews.
The finish:
Connor Zilisch, William Sawalich, Sean Hingorani, Giovanni Ruggiero, Brent Crews, Kaden Honeycutt, Jake Finch, Tyler Reif, Kole Raz, Kyle Keller, Jack Wood, Lavar Scott, Trevor Huddleston, Todd Souza, Eric Johnson Jr., Sebastian Arias, Marco Andretti, David Smith, Takuma Koga, Rip Michels, Eric Nascimento Jr., Alex Malycke, Bobby Hillis Jr., Tony Huffman.