The General Tire 200 will be the fifth race of the 2023 ARCA Menards Series West season and the second consecutive on a road course. The last race, last Friday at Portland International Raceway, was won by series championship leader Landen Lewis.
The General Tire 200 will be the 44th ARCA Menards Series West race at Sonoma Raceway. The first race, inAugust 1969, was won by Ray Elder.
One NASCAR Cup Series regular is entered in the General Tire 200, Ryan Preece, and five NASCAR Xfinity Series regulars are entered, Riley Herbst, Kyle Sieg, Cole Custer, Sammy Smith, and Parker Retzlaff.
The General Tire 200 will be the 149th road course race in West history. The first was at Willow Springs in November 1955, won by Chuck Stevenson.
A total of 17 road courses have hosted at least one ARCA Menards Series West race in series history: Willow Springs, Kitsap County Airport, Riverside International Raceway, Marchbanks Speedway, Cotati, Oregon International Raceway, Sonoma Raceway, Westwood Road Course, Laguna Seca Raceway, Continental Divide Raceway, Seattle International Raceway, Tacoma Street Circuit, Portland International Raceway, Spokane Street Course, Heartland Park Topeka, Utah Motorsports Campus, and Brainerd International Raceway.
Other West winners at Sonoma Raceway in addition to Ray Elder include Jack McCoy, Jim Insolo (3), Bill Schmitt (2), Roy Smith, Hershel McGriff (3), Doug George, Butch Gilliland (2), Kevin Harvick (2), Brian Vickers, David Gilliland (2), Jason Bowles (2), Andrew Ranger, Joey Logano, Derek Thorn, Kyle Larson, David Mayhew, Chase Elliott, Will Rodgers, Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe, and Jake Drew.
Brian Vickers, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Will Rodgers, and Chase Briscoe all earned their first West victory at Sonoma Raceway.
Kyle Larson holds the track qualifying record on the 1.99-mile, 11-turn layout the West teams will race on at Sonoma Raceway. Set in 2014, Larson lapped the circuit at 92.704 miles per hour.
Previous West winners in 2023 include Tyler Reif (Phoenix Raceway), Sean Hingorani (Irwindale Speedway and Kern County Raceway Park), and Landen Lewis (Portland International Raceway).
Landen Lewis enters the General Tire 200 with a 24-point advantage over Sean Hingorani and Tyler Reif, who are tied for second. Bradley Erickson and Trevor Huddleston round out the top five.
Lewis is the only driver to finish among the top five in each of the four West races contested so far in 2023. Lewis and Erickson are the only drivers to finish among the top ten in all four races.
Should the race need to be extended into overtime, there will be one attempt at a one-lap finish. The green and white flag will be displayed together, followed by the checkered. If the caution flag is displayed on that lap, the race is over with scoring reverting to the most recent scoring loop.
