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2025 ARCA East Five Flags Max Reaves celebration (Credit: Reid Scott)
Photo: Reid Scott

Max Reaves Wins First Career ARCA Race at Five Flags

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In his first career ARCA Menards Series East start, 15-year-old Max Reaves found victory lane at Five Flags Speedway on Saturday (March 22) night.

Reaves became the 15th driver to win in his East debut, doing so after passing Kole Raz for the lead with just under 30 laps to go. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver used lapped traffic to get around Raz and threaded the needle between two slower cars a lap later to put a gap between him and second place. Raz ended up in second place after leading much of the middle portion of the race. 

“I’m speechless right now, but I felt like Superman when I passed the leader,” Reaves told FloRacing. “The car was awesome, this is awesome.”

Tyler Reif crossed the line in third after spending much of the race inside the top five, with Connor Mosack finishing fourth. Mosack rallied from a mid-race spin that put him a lap down just before the halfway break. Rounding out the top five, Isaac Kitzmiller finished fifth in his ARCA debut.

The remainder of the top 10 saw Carson Brown finish sixth, Timmy Hill in seventh, London McKenzie in eighth, Hunter Wright ninth, and Zachary Tinkle 10th. 

Upon the initial drop of the green flag, Reaves and Mosack ran about a lap side by side, before the JGR driver pulled out ahead. By the time the field paced lap 10, Reaves had checked out over second and third-place Mosack and Raz, as the two battled behind him.

The race settled into a long green flag run from there. Reaves checked out over Mosack and Raz, with the best battle on the track coming for fourth between Brown, Kitzmiller, and Reif for many of the early laps. 

Just before lap 30, the first caution of the night fell, as Cody Dennison spun down the backstretch, racking the leaders back up for the first restart of the evening. 

The subsequent restart was a deja vu of the first. Reaves made quick work of Mosack, getting right back out to the lead he had before the caution. Raz and Mosack continued to battle for second behind Reaves for numerous laps, with Mosack retaining the spot. 

With about 20 laps until the scheduled race break, Mosack was beginning to reel in Reaves. Just as it seemed there would be a battle for the lead, the caution flew for debris, once again grouping up the lead lap cars for a restart. 

On the third restart of the evening, Mosack got a better jump over Reaves, pulling slightly ahead as the field worked into turn one. However, the leaders made significant contact, cutting Mosack’s tire, and spinning him around for another caution. Reaves continued as the leader, largely unscathed. Mosack went a lap down in the process. 

Raz took the lead on the next restart, the first of which he took from the front row on the evening. Reaves stumbled on acceleration, and after review from officials, the restart was deemed good, and Raz became the second leader of the evening. Despite a hard charge from Reaves, Raz held the lead for the entire five-lap run into the scheduled race break caution. The yellow gave Mosack a needed break, awarding him the free pass and putting him back on the lead lap. 

When the field took the green after the break, Raz took the lead, this time with relative ease. Reaves stuck close to the rear end of the No. 76, however. After riding nose to tail for a handful of laps, Raz began to pull away by a few car lengths once again.

Reaves regained the lead from Raz with 27 laps to go, with lapped traffic playing a major factor. Raz got caught up behind Becca Monopoli, allowing Reaves to get around him for the lead.

More lapped traffic ahead of the 15-year-old Reaves nearly allowed Raz to get back to him, but Reaves pulled away quickly. Reaves would not look back in the final 20 laps, using strong long-run speed to gap Raz and the remainder of the field to win his first career ARCA race in his first start. 

ARCA East Results from Five Flags

The East division is now off until Saturday, April 19, when the series heads to the famed Rockingham Speedway. That race is slated to have the green flag fly at 1:30 p.m. ET with live coverage on FloRacing.

Josh joined Frontstretch in 2023 and currently covers the ARCA Menards Series. Born and raised in Missouri, Josh has been watching motorsports since 2005. He currently is studying for a Mass Communication degree at Lindenwood University