By: Ashley McCubbin

It seems things are looking well for the ARCA Menards Series as after sending drivers home from Daytona International Speedway, there are over 40 drivers entered for the General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway.

Gus Dean may have taken the checkered flag at Daytona International Speedway for Venturini Motorsports, but is not one of those entered for this event. The Toyota-backed team will have five entries on-track with Kris Wright, Giovanni Ruggiero, Amber Balcean, Toni Breidinger, and Isabella Robusto.

Wright and Breidinger are both looking for a rebound after being taken out on Lap 3 in the big crash. Wright has no ARCA experience at Phoenix but placed 32nd in his lone NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series appearance, while Breidinger has a best finish of 15th in three ARCA starts in Arizona.

This is only the second appearance in ARCA for Ruggiero, but do not let that fool you. He has won multiple super late model events, and won in his ARCA East Series debut at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in 2023 with Venturini. He is not the only one just getting started, as this weekend is the debut for Robusto following four top-five’s through the seven World of Speedweeks New Smyrna Speedway Late Model events.

Balcean, meanwhile, has only made one appearance at Phoenix with a 30th-place finish. She enters the event following a ninth at Daytona.

William Sawalich may be the favourite for the event driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. He won the ARCA East Series title last year after winning half of the races, and picked up four ARCA Menards Series victories after running 13 of the 20 races. He has been tabbed as one of the best young current talents, after three top-10’s in six Truck appearances in 2023.

Greg Van Alst hopes to carry the momentum forward after scoring a third-place finish at Daytona to kick off the season. He picked up a 10th-place finish last year in the desert.

Christian Rose also began this season strongly, following a fourth-place finish at Daytona. He has ran two ARCA races at Phoenix with a best result of 23rd.

NTT IndyCar Series race winner Marco Andretti will be making his second career ARCA start after placing 25th at Daytona after being involved in a crash. The multi-generational racer ran three Truck races last season with a best finish 0f 18th at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Seeing Trevor Huddleston on the entry list should surprise nobody given his success in the ARCA Menards West with a third-place finish in the series standings last season. But it does, as it will mark his first appearance in the desert.

Alex Clubb has some good vibes going for him, after scoring his fourth-career ARCA top-10 with an eighth at Daytona in his 47th series start. He has two appearances at Phoenix with finishes of 21st and 18th.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular Grant Enfinger is hoping to fulfill the role of spoiler this weekend driving for Joe Farré, in sort of a reunion with sponsorship from GMS Fabrication. While he has yet to run an ARCA event in Phoenix before, he has four top-10’s and an average finish of 10.1 across six truck appearances.