BAKERSFIELD, Calif. Trevor Huddleston wasnt going to be denied during Saturdays ARCA Menards Series West season-opening West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame 150 at Kevin Harvicks Kern Raceway.

Last season, Huddleston lost the season opener in a photo finish and he had to hold off the late charge of Kyle Keller to avoid a similar fate this season.

Huddleston kept Keller in his rearview mirror as the laps trickled down. As Keller pulled alongside at the white flag, Huddleston successfully used the slower car of David Smith as a pick to win for the first time at Kern Raceway.

Thats how you race a race, Huddleston said. [Keller] ran it perfect and didnt use me up at all. He was going for that win, but he got unlucky with [Smith] there. I saw that out my windshield, and I had to do what I had to do.

No opposition stood in Huddlestons way for most of Saturdays feature until Keller and 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Daniel Hemric gradually chipped away at his lead in the closing stages. A flat tire eliminated Hemric from contention and left Keller chasing Huddleston.

Keller was seeking his first series victory but he had no intention of roughing up Huddleston to win.

It was wreck Trevor or race him clean, Keller said. We had a good photo finish there, then I got behind the lapped car and thought I had to take a right. I tried to put it in the middle, but it was either stuff him in the fence or dog it until the end.

Im never going to race Trevor dirty, and were going to race good all year against each other.

Huddlestons victory, his sixth in the West Series, established himself as the early favorite for the 2025 title over Keller and the rest of the full-time competitors. The past two seasons have seen Huddleston inch closer to that career milestone with consecutive third-place finishes in the West Series point standings.

Im pretty sure my crew chief Jeff Shrader was a little mad at me, Huddleston said. He thought I was pushing it a little too hard, but he kept me calm. It was all [my team]. They made it happen today.

Tanner Reif placed third Saturday in his first race with Central Coast Racing. Kellers teammate Robbie Kennealy and Eric Johnson Jr. completed the top five.