Hailie Deegan dominates rain-shortened ARCA West Finale at Kern Raceway for second win of 2026
Hailie Deegan closed out her 2026 ARCA Menards Series West campaign in Victory Lane, leading every lap of the rain-shortened NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway to claim her second victory of the season and fifth career win in the championship, in the series' first ever female 1-2 finish.
Hailie Deegan closed out her 2026 ARCA Menards Series West campaign in Victory Lane, leading every lap of the rain-shortened NAPA Auto Parts 150 at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway to claim her second victory of the season and fifth career win in the championship.
Starting second in the #16 Monster Energy Chevrolet for Bill McAnally Racing, Deegan took the lead on the opening lap and controlled the race throughout, holding off polesitter Mia Lovell before persistent rain forced officials to bring the event to an early conclusion after 42 laps.
Deegan narrowly missed out on pole position, falling just 0.007 seconds short of Lovell in qualifying, but quickly made up for the near miss when the race got underway on Saturday evening. Starting alongside Lovell on the front row, she made an immediate move to take command on the opening lap and began building an advantage at the front.
The only restart of the evening provided Lovell with an opportunity to challenge, but Deegan maintained her position as the field returned to green-flag racing. An incident involving Sam Corry and Joey Iest interrupted the battle behind the leaders, preventing Lovell from sustaining her challenge and allowing Deegan to retain control.
Persistent rain then moved over the circuit, with conditions deteriorating as the field reached lap 42. With no indication that the weather would ease sufficiently to allow racing to resume, ARCA officials called the event early in accordance with the series rulebook, declaring Deegan the winner after she had led every lap completed.
Reflecting on the result, Deegan admitted that missing out on pole had initially been frustrating, but was pleased with the way she and the team responded once the race began.
“I was mad at qualifying,” she said. “We [missed] qualifying on the pole by .007. I was questioning myself, but we were able to get the lead quick and checked out from there. I had a really good car, felt like I wasn’t using up too much tire. I wish we could have got more laps in. I was having a blast out there, but we’ll take it.”
The victory continued a strong late-season run for Deegan, who had also secured a dramatic last-lap win at Madera Speedway. Having now won twice across the final four races of the year, she finished fourth in the 2026 championship standings, ending the campaign on a high after demonstrating increasingly competitive form in the closing rounds.
Saturday's result also marked a milestone for the ARCA Menards Series West, as Deegan and Lovell delivered the championship's first-ever female one-two finish. The pair had shared the front row and remained at the head of the field at the conclusion of the race, with Lovell securing second place behind Deegan.
Trevor Huddleston finished fifth to secure his second consecutive ARCA Menards Series West championship, having recorded two victories and ten top-five finishes during the season. Hudson Sharp completed the podium in third on his series debut with Nitro Motorsports, while Taylor Mayhew finished fourth ahead of Huddleston.
For Deegan, however, the Kern Raceway victory provided a fitting conclusion to a campaign that had gathered momentum in its final stages. With two wins in the last four events and fifth career victories in the West Series, she heads into the winter break having closed the 2026 season among the championship's leading contenders.
