DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.  Porsche Penske Motorsport paces the 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona at the halfway mark of the 24-hour endurance classic that kicks off the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. That said, the seventh to 12th hours reduced the number of contenders after some strong middle third stints.

Leading runs from Kamui Kobayashi in the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, in Grand Touring Prototype and Max Hesse, in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO in Grand Touring Daytona Pro, in particular, went up in smoke.

The races complexion across multiple classes changed significantly with a multi-car accident exiting Turn 2 just after the start of the eighth hour.

When Louis Deletraz lost the rear of the No. 40 Cadillac, the resulting spin created an accordion effect that took out more cars. Three Le Mans Prototype 2 class entries: the Nos. 2 (United Autosports USA), 8 (Tower Motorsports) and 73 (Pratt Miller) ORECA LMP2 07 cars collected substantial damage. Two other Grand Touring Daytona Pro cars collided separately in avoidance, as Jordan Pepper in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 appeared to push Hesses No. 48 BMW off the road.

All five drivers involved in the incident were evaluated and released. Deletraz took responsibility for the spin that started it all.

On the restart, the yellow car of JDC went inside and just going to power and I think I spun, he explained. I dont think anything happened. I dont think I was touched and then I got collected. It was my mistake, and I am sorry to the team and sorry to my teammates as well. A sad way to end the 24.

Hesse described his frustration from the BMW side: I was very aware of what was happening; the people behind me werent. So obviously it was crazy chaos going on. I was able to avoid the car ahead but just got hit very hard in the rear.

Another contender fell out in the 11th hour. Frederik Vesti spun the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R in-between NASCAR Turns 3 and 4 with right rear damage from an apparent rear suspension issue.

With the 12-car GTP field cut down to the lead lap in half by a mix of incidents and penalties, its left the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 of Felipe Nasr out front ahead of the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 of Scott Dixon. Cadillac has one remaining challenger in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing entry, while the polesitting No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 also remained in the hunt.

Paul Miller Racing led its second six-hour stint in as many efforts, with its No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Neil Verhagen pacing Grand Touring Daytona Pro. The No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), Rexy, worked to come back from being caught up in the multiple car incident from earlier up to second, ahead of the two Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3s.

As they were at the six-hour mark, Inception Racing also led Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) at the 12-hour mark. Frederik Schandorff was behind the wheel of that teams No. 70 Ferrari 296 GT3. Schandorff withstood consistent pressure from Ayhancan Guven in the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992).

Inter Europol Competition, former partners with PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports, surpassed its former partner team to pace the LMP2 class at the 12-hour mark. Antonio Felix da Costa was aboard prior to the halfway point in the teams No. 43 ORECA LMP2 07.

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. The halfway point of the Ernie Mincy Early Thaw Memorial at Central Arizona Raceway was reached Saturday night with 131 entries in the six divisions.

Late model action had Zach Johnson getting the good start with Ricky Weiss a second behind. By lap nine, Johnson was in traffic and on lap 19 in turn three was caught behind a car and Weiss got past on the low side.

But the yellow was needed and the lap was not completed.

Johnson had no problems after the restart and collected the win. Clayton Stuckey passed Weiss on lap 19 to finish second and Weiss was third.

Tom Berry Jr. took off in the modified main and by the halfway mark Kollin Hibdon was closing. A yellow flag with seven laps remaining gave Hibdon an opportunity.

But Berry Jr. maintained a half second lead and collected the win over Hibdon with Jason Blood finishing third.

The limited mod main was a flag-to-flag drive for Jess Brekke for the win. Jake Smith was close for a couple laps but Brekke stretched his lead. Smith finished second and Lucas Rodin was third.

Stock car action featured a three wide battle for the lead out of turn four on lap three and it was Shelby Williams who was first across the line.

Williams led the remaining laps to win while Kaden Woodie was second and Jason Rogers finished third.

Ryan Perry won his second main of the week in Northern sport mods with a flag-to-flag win. Payce Herrera looked like a significant threat was likely but a car length or two was the gap each lap. Jake Kierstead was third behind Herrera.

The super stock main belonged to Max Nelson for a win. Nelson has a first, second and a third place finish on opening week.

Next Thursday the second week of the Ernie Mincy Early Thaw Memorial will race three more times. Watch all the action on SPEEDSPORT.tv.

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.

ANAHEIM, Calif.  Team Honda HRC Progressives Jett Lawrence took an impressive win amid wet track conditions inside Angel Stadium.

It was the defending Monster Energy AMA Supercross and SMX World Championship champs first win of the season, and it was a thriller with four to five racers battling for the lead for much of the race.

Progressive Insurance ECSTAR Suzukis Ken Roczen came out of the exciting main event battle with a second-place finish and becomes the third points leader after three rounds.

Monster Energy Kawasakis Jason Anderson took over the lead six minutes into the race and held the spot for approximately eight laps. Anderson battled hard and finished the night with a third-place finish. Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racings Eli Tomac, the points leader going into the race, recovered from a near-last start to earn a seventh-place finish.

You have to be very patient [racing in those conditions]. Jason was riding really well, and I was struggling to find anywhere to gain on him or try to make a pass, Lawrence said. He had to get a little risky in the whoops I think we both got sketchy through them. I was being very patient and trying not to rush anything. Lap by lap I just hit my marks. There was the rain, my goggles were fogging up a little bit, but were happy to get that [win]. Were better than we were at the last round at Anaheim, so thats good. On to the next round in Arizona.

Roczen moved into the point lead.

Its an absolute dream. After I was in position last week for a possible third, I came back [to the truck and] was thinking it would be so rad to share a red plate with Eli, Roczen said. And just to have a red plate, its been a long time, especially on a Suzuki. I wasnt able to make [a win] happen tonight. This was an absolutely insane race. We were in a battle the whole way, and it was awesome. With the rain and how hardpacked the dirt was, it was very slippery out there, but I just kept my focus the whole way After making a [first] pass stick on Jason I hit neutral, and he got me back. I was bummed because its a lot of work to get by.

In 250SX class racing, Haiden Deegan grabbed the holeshot with Red Bull KTM Factory Racings Julien Beaumer in second. Beaumer made an aggressive pass attempt in the second corner that brought the two racers together for the second time that night.

Deegan held the lead and quickly pulled out a cushion to never be challenged again even as heavy rain came down late in the race. Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racings Cole Davies earned his first professional podium in just his third professional Supercross race; it came courtesy of a last-lap mistake from Triumph Racings Jordon Smith who was challenging for the second-place spot when he crashed in the whoops. The 250SX Class podium consisted of three teenagers; it was the first all-teen podium since 2011. Team Honda HRC Progressives Jo Shimoda, winner of the season opener, put in a steady ride, despite having two broken fingers, to move from 10th place up to sixth at the checkers.

You pissed off the bull last week, Deegan said. Juju ran his mouth so its time to lock in. You dont want to piss me off because I come out swinging. A big thanks to my team, they put a lot of work in this week. We grinded from morning until the end of the day, multiple times. We got the bike dialed keep talking and Ill come out swinging.