Kenna Mitchell scores historic first CARS West win at Kern

Kenna Mitchell wins the Kern County 160 in the 75 Lap Limited Late Model feature at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway on Saturday, becoming the first female driver to win a CARS West event.

The Loomis, California driver pulled away from the field late in the race, securing the historic win by more than three seconds.

“It feels amazing,” Mitchell said. “As the laps started to wind down, I was asking for my spotter to count me down every lap. Then when I crossed the start-finish line, I’m like, oh my gosh! I finally got it!”

Mitchell entered the weekend still searching for her first CARS Tour West victory after several close calls last season. The 2025 NASCAR Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award winner and All-American Speedway champion recorded four top 5 finishes in 10 starts in 2025, including a third-place finish at Kern last May.

She credited the handling of the car and the support of her team for helping deliver the breakthrough result.

“It was doing pretty good at the start,” Mitchell said. “It kind of got a little free on me when I got that sideways off Turn 2, I was just trying on free up the bottom a bit. However once the car came to life, we got going. I have to thank my crew, Mike and Matt and also my dad coming out to support me. It was a good weekend!”

For her father Michael Mitchell, the moment showed how much it meant to see his daughter in the CARS West winners circle.

“Look how much this means to her,” Michael Mitchell said. “This is probably the best day she’s had in a long time.”

Tanner Huddleston started pole for the second time in a row this season and led the 12-car field to the green flag and stayed out front for the opening 16 laps at the Bakersfield half-mile.

Mitchell and Brenden Ruzbarsky made contact off Turn 2 while racing for fourth position, with the driver of the No.7M getting sideways down the backstraight but continued on.

The race was soon halted for the first time as caution flew after Mia Wright spun off Turn 4 on Lap 16 but she was able to continue.

Under the Lap 16 caution, Huddleston drove to the work area with overheating issues, giving the lead to Skyler Schoppe.

The race was halted once more on Lap 19 when Wright and Michael Nicks collided on the front straightaway. Wright’s evening ended in the incident, while Nicks returned to the race following repairs.

On the following restart, Ruzbarsky briefly passed Schoppe for the lead entering Turn 1, but series officials ruled he jumped the restart, throwing the caution and sent him back to fourth on the next restart.

Schoppe led the field back to the green flag and held onto the lead for the next 15 laps, while fending off Mitchell early in the run.

Mitchell finally made the move for the lead from Schoppe on Lap 35 and never relinquished the position, pulling away from the field by three seconds as she led the final 36 laps.

Following his violation, Ruzbarsky worked his way back up inside the top three, eventually passing Schoppe in the closing laps with a pass around the outside to finish second.

“I knew if I had an opportunity with this car and this team supporting me, we can do great things,” Ruzbarsky said. “I made a little bit of a rookie mistake on the restart there, entering the box too early and they called it back. I just struggled to get by some cars to get back up there. So congrats to Kenna, she did really well.”

Schoppe finished third for his second consecutive podium finish of the season.

“Overall, it was a great weekend,” Schoppe said. “I was learning this track, you know during every session. We battled with a little bit of handling issues just being so tight in the center, I have to thank Brenden for racing me clean, he never got into me. I’m just super excited, it was a great race!”

Christian Bazen finished fourth with Chris Monez rounding out the top five.

Huddleston rebounded from his overheating issues earlier in the race to finish in sixth.

CARS Tour West Limited Late Models- Kern County 160
Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway
March 14, 2026

1. Kenna Mitchell
2. Brenden Ruzbarsky
3. Skyler Schoppe
4. Christian Bazen
5. Chris Monez
6. Tanner Huddleston
7. Kellen Keller
8. Donald Witowski
9. Chris Jackson
10. Charles Dozhier
11. Michael Nicks
12. Mia Wright