NASCAR RACING RETURNS TO ANDERSON FOR THE SHASTA 150 ON JULY 29
ANDERSON, CALIFORNIA (July 18, 2023) – NASCAR returns to Shasta Speedway for the first time since 2015 for the Shasta 150 for the ARCA Menards Series, West on Saturday night July 29. The 15th appearance of the west coast’s oldest and most prestigious stock car tour is presented by Big Valley Sanitation and the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame. Photo courtesy of the ARCA Menards Series
Race fans will experience 650 horsepower machines speeding around the .375-mile speedway with veteran drivers and rising stars competing.
Activities kick off Friday evening with the Hauler Parade at 4 p.m. The parade begins at the intersection of Freeman and North streets in Anderson, heading east. The parade will then turn south on McMurry Drive and then west on Balls Ferry Road before terminating at the Shasta Speedway for Friday night practice.
Grandstands swing open at 4 p.m. Saturday in time for a one-hour practice session. Live music performances by Black Vinyl 45 begin at 5 p.m. General Tire Pole Award qualifying hits the track at 6 p.m. Race fans will have an opportunity to meet the drivers with an on-track autograph session at 7 p.m. The green flag for the nationally-televised Shasta 150 waves at 8:30 p.m.
Attendees can save on their tickets purchasing them in advance, through July 27, at www.ShastaSpeedwayTix.com Pre-sale general admission tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for children ages 4-12, and kids 3 and under are free. Prices are $5 higher on race day.
1990 Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope along with series champions and West Coast Stock Car Hall of Famers Bill Sedgwick, Bill Schmitt, Rick Carelli, Jimmy Insolo, and Jim Robinson are among the acclaimed list of former winners in the West Series at Shasta. Colorado’s Chris Eggleston won the 2015 edition on the way to the championship.
2023 championship points leader Landen Lewis of Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. hopes to be the next driver to parlay success in Anderson to a series title. The 17-year-old driver has wins on the half-mile Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield and on the Portland International Raceway road course on his resume in 14 career starts.
Southern California teenager Sean Hingorani is second in the standings with two wins. Bradley Erickson of Phoenix, Ariz. drives Fords for the Sacramento-based Naake-Klauer Motorsports and ranks third. Las Vegas’ Tyler Reif, who recently turned 16, won the season opener at Phoenix Raceway and is fourth in the championship ahead of multi-time NASCAR California State Champion Trevor Huddleston in fifth.
Veterans of the tour include Todd Souza of Watsonville with 114 career starts and Takuma Koga of Nagoya, Japan, with 107 starts. Souza last won in 2008 while Koga is still searching for his first series triumph. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada’s David Smith is the oldest rookie on the tour at 73 years young.
2022 series champion Jake Drew of Fullerton, Calif., with four wins, returns to the series driving for Las Vegas-based Lowden-Jackson Motorsports.
Anderson’s Derek Copeland slides from crew chief back to the driver’s seat to defend his home turf in his series debut as well. Copeland has won at Shasta in Super Late Models and fielded a successful Legends car development team for many years.
Lake Oswego, Oregon’s Kole Raz makes his series debut on July 29 in the Jerry Pitts Racing No. 5 Ford. Tracy’s Ryan Philpott will make his first oval start on the circuit since 2013 as well.
Shasta Speedway is located at the Shasta District Fairgrounds in Anderson.
