ARCA Notes: Reaves Continues Hot Start

ELKO, Minn. — Max Reaves scored his first ARCA Menards Series victory in his second career series start in Saturday’s Shore Lunch 250 Presented by Dutch Boy at Elko Speedway.

Reaves started his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota second and took the lead for the final time on lap 204, leading a total of 84 laps on the day.

Reaves, the protégé of 2000 NASCAR Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Labonte, has three ARCA Menards Series East victories in three career series starts, matching the record set by road course ace Will Rodgers.

Reaves is the 365th driver to score at least one ARCA Menards Series victory, and the first to earn his first career win at Elko Speedway.

• Brad Smith (No. 48 Gary’s Speed Shop Ford) made his 450th career ARCA Menards Series start, finishing 18th after overheating issues forced him to park early. Smith started his career in 1988 driving a Chrysler to a 24th-place finish at Rockford Speedway.

Smith, who competes on a miniscule fraction of the budget of the top teams in the series, has two career top-ten finishes and a career-best fifth-place in the championship standings in 2021. Smith’s 450 starts puts him third on the career list behind Iggy Katona, who has over 600 career starts, and ten-time series champion Frank Kimmel with 503.

• There have been five first-time ARCA Menards Series winners in the first eight races of the season: Brenden Queen (Daytona), Lawless Alan (Talladega), Austin Green (Charlotte), Treyten Lapcevich (Berlin), and Reaves (Elko). There were three first-time winners in 2024 and seven in 2023.

• Brenden Queen (No. 28 BestRepair.net Chevrolet) earned his first career General Tire Pole Award in qualifying and led twice for a race-high 148 laps but was forced to settle for second at the finish. It was Queen’s sixth top-five finish of the season, allowing him to stretch his lead in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings to 11 points over Lawless Alan (No. 20 AUTOParkIt Toyota) heading into Saturday’s race at Lime Rock Park.

Alan scored his third consecutive third-place finish, matching his efforts at Michigan International Speedway and Berlin Raceway.

• Ty Fredrickson (No. 25 Venturini Motorsports Toyota) finished fourth in his ARCA Menards Series debut. Fredrickson is from nearby Webster, Minnesota, and is the son of two-time ASA Midwest Tour champion Dan Fredrickson. His grandfather Bob Fredrickson is a former owner of Elko Speedway and his grandmother Liz is the chief scorer for the ARCA Menards Series West.

• Isabella Robusto (No. 55 Yahoo Toyota) scored her second top-five finish of the season and her first on a paved short track since she finished fourth at Elko in 2024. She finished third earlier this season at Talladega Superspeedway.

• Jason Kitzmiller (No. 97 A.L.L. Construction / Carter CAT Chevrolet) finished sixth, his best career ARCA Menards Series short track finish.

• Lavar Scott (No. 6 Max Siegel Inc. Chevrolet) jumped into the lead coming out of the second race break and looked like he could avenge his runner-up finish in 2024, when he crossed the finish line just 0.011 seconds behind winner William Sawalich. After leading 18 laps, a mechanical issue developed with the racecar and he dropped back to seventh at the finish, only his second finish outside the top five this season. Scott is the only driver to finish in the top ten in all eight races.

• Willie Mullins (No. 3 CW Metals / Crow Wing Recycling Toyota) finished ninth, marking the first time in his 32 career starts he has finished in the top ten in back-to-back races. Mullins had ARCA Menards Series veteran Will Kimmel serving as crew chief for the race.

• Alex Clubb finished tenth, his first top ten finish since he finished eighth at Daytona International Speedway in 2024. Clubb will make his 75th career ARCA Menards Series start on Saturday at Lime Rock Park.

• The next race for the ARCA Menards Series is the Lime Rock Park 100 at Lime Rock Park