Last year, eventual ARCA Menards Series West champion Sean Hingorani nearly kicked off an incredible season with a crown jewel Super Late Model victory.
The most recent Chilly Willy at Arizona’s Tucson Speedway saw Hingorani line up on the outside of the front row in his debut appearance. He conserved his equipment well enough for the closing stages but ended up settling for third behind race winner Preston Peltier.
More experience — plus having 2022 Snowball Derby winner Derek Thorn as his car owner once again — is providing Hingorani plenty of confidence around his second attempt at the Chilly Willy 150 on Sunday.
“I’m feeling good going into this Chilly Willy,” Hingorani said. “We had a really strong race car last year, and I think if we played our strategy a little different, we would have had the best race car, especially at the end. All these guys have been working hard in the shop for the past month busting their tails getting this car ready, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity.”
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Consistency against a group of talented Super Late Model competitors at Tucson set the tone for Hingorani’s maiden full-time campaign in the West Series. After struggling in his first race with Venturini Motorsports at Phoenix Raceway, Hingorani knocked off two separate two-race win streaks to cement himself as the title favorite during the summer.
By the time he returned to Phoenix in November, all Hingorani needed was to finish 25th or better to deliver Venturini the team’s first West Series title.
Reaching that milestone did not come without its fair share of adversity for Hingorani. Whenever he had to endure a bad race, Hingorani remembered to keep his head down and power through the lows so he could keep refining himself on-track.
Hingorani obtained that perseverance from Thorn, whose accomplishments outside of the Snowball Derby include two West Series titles back in 2013 and 2018.
As he progressed through 2023, Hingorani regularly leaned on Thorn’s advice when it came to saving tires and navigating each track on the schedule. That guidance from Thorn was crucial for Hingorani to maintain composure and close out the West Series title with Venturini.
“I’ve worked with Derek for a little while now,” Hingorani said. “He’s been a great help for my racing career as a whole. He came to ARCA races with me as my driver coach and has bent over backwards for me. I learned so much from him, and he’s such a knowledgeable person at a lot of different tracks. He’s so great to work with.”
Thorn was impressed with the way Hingorani handled himself during their first Super Late Model venture together in last year’s Chilly Willy, commending the driver’s diligence when it came to figuring out what his car needed each day they were at Tucson.
The characteristics Hingorani possesses not only have Thorn confident in his ability to grab a Chilly Willy victory this year, but also one day excel at the top levels of NASCAR.
“Sean is an extremely talented driver,” Thorn said. “He’s only been racing a few years, but he has the natural gift. His ability to get behind the wheel of a car at a new race track, adjust and find that raw speed is really amazing to watch. He has the ability, feedback and knowledge, so it’s up to us to give him a good car.
“You can grow a program around a driver like that.”
Both Thorn and Hingorani have plenty of notes to look over going into the 11th running of the Chilly Willy. Thorn raced at Tucson on four separate occasions during his career, which includes a pair of top-three finishes in a West Series doubleheader back in 2018.
When he turned his first laps in a Super Late Model at Tucson last February, Hingorani was surprised at how grating the track was on tires. He added the fight for the Chilly Willy victory is going to be settled between drivers who were the most conservative during the first half of the race.
“The main difference [with Tucson] is how much tire saving there is compared to any track out west that we go to,” Hingorani said. “You don’t have to save tires, but if you want to be competitive, you definitely need to do your fair share of saving.
“There’s a lot of strategy with Tucson, and the best car doesn’t always win.”
With nearly 30 cars on the preliminary Chilly Willy entry list, Hingorani knows it will be tough to find an ideal balance between being conservative and aggressive. Although Peltier is not among those expected at Tucson, there are still plenty of talented names chasing a Chilly Willy victory like defending runner-up Kole Raz and 2019 winner Michael Scott.
Thorn admitted he held Hingorani back too long during last year’s main event while waiting for a late-race caution that never came. While he intends to play the strategy safe like in 2023, Thorn stressed the importance of consistency during each part of the three-day event.
“We need to be smart,” Thorn said. “When you go to these races that are multiple days, you have to take it one day at a time. Execute each day appropriately while hoping track position and tires are in your favor [in the main event]. Sean is going to do an amazing job behind the wheel, so hopefully we can keep up with the track and make the car as good as possible.”
Hingorani echoed Thorn’s sentiments about being efficient through the entire weekend. He is confident the No. 13 prepared by Thorn will be strong enough to win the preliminaries on Friday and Saturday, which in turn would set up Hingorani perfectly for Sunday’s main event.
Running the table will require constant adjustments on Hingorani’s car to adapt to different race lengths and track conditions, but he is ready to commit himself and start off another busy year with one of the biggest wins of his career.
“It would mean a lot [to win the Chilly Willy],” Hingorani said. “A lot of good drivers are going to be there. Winning would show the talent and skill we have, so we’re hoping to bring home $15,000.”
Hingorani’s pursuit of a Chilly Willy trophy starts with two straight nights of qualifying and 50-lap preliminaries. These will help set the starting grid for the 150-lap main event, which is set to conclude a full day of racing that begins at 1 p.m. MT/3 p.m. MT on Sunday afternoon.