After a two-week break for the ARCA Menards Series, 26 drivers are headed to the Heartland of America to tackle Kansas Speedway for Friday night’s Tide 150.
The last time we saw ARCA compete, Lawless Alan, in the No. 20 Toyota for Venturini Motorsports, picked up his first career win after a late-race restart. He was up front when the caution came out on the final lap at Talladega Superspeedway. Alan comes to Kansas second in points. He competed in both 2024 ARCA Kansas races, finishing 11th and eighth. He also has history on his side as the VMS No. 20 has won two of the past five ARCA races there.
Alan’s full-time teammate Isabella Robusto won the pole for the fall ’24 Kansas race, though she wrecked out on lap 1. Robusto was penalized 18 points for an infraction at Talladega, dropping her to 14th in points.
VMS’ No. 55 Toyota will be piloted by 2014 ARCA champion Mason Mitchell. Mitchell returned to ARCA last year after a six-year absence. He has found success in five starts at Kansas, scoring a win in the 2015 season finale as well as three top fives and five top 10s. Mitchell is debuting a new Pro-Seed USA paint scheme, too.
In last year’s spring race at Kansas, Connor Mosack took the lead late to capture the victory. While Mosack is not entered, his Pinnacle Racing Group team will be there with Brenden “Butterbean” Queen. PRG has thrived at Kansas with one win, three top fives and three top 10s. Queen has a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start at Kansas in the fall of 2024, finishing one lap down in 20th place. Thanks to a win in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway and a runner up at Phoenix Raceway, Butterbean is third in points, eight behind leader Lavar Scott.
In the No. 6 Rev Racing Chevrolet, Scott has two top fives in three starts with a fourth and third in the past two fall races at Kansas. Rev, as a whole, has two wins, four top fives, and eight top 10s there. The organization also brings out its No. 2 for Lanie Buice, who will make her ARCA national debut after finishing eighth in her ARCA Menards Series East debut at Rockingham Speedway on Easter weekend.
“I’m very excited for Kansas this weekend, this is a track I always have circled on my calendar for the year,” Scott said in a team release. “We have had good speed here in the past but just bad luck. I am preparing with my Rev team for all situations and I know we will be good!”
“I’m very excited to race on the national level for the first time,” Buice added. “It’s going to be a challenge and not easy. I just need to take what I learned from my first race and apply it to this race while also improving on the mistakes I made.”
William Sawalich will be making his first-ever start at Kansas, even though he already has 13 career ARCA wins. Prior to 2025, Sawalich was limited to running tracks that were only one mile or shorter due to being under the age of 18. Sawalich will pilot the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. JGR won three times in the past 10 ARCA Kansas races, and nearly swept the ’24 races as Tanner Gray started on the pole and led 86 laps before losing the spring race to Mosack.
Andy Jankowiak and Jason Kitzmiller come to Kansas fourth and fifth in points, respectively. Both drivers have three starts at Kansas, with Jankowiak’s best finish being sixth in last year’s spring race, while Kitzmiller has a best finish of 10th in last year’s fall race. Jankowiak will drive the No. 73 Ford for KLAS Motorsports, and Kitzmiller will drive the No. 97 Chevrolet for CR7 Motorsports.
Some drivers who compete for smaller teams who will be at Kansas are Brian Clubb and Alex Clubb, Brayton Laster and Brad Smith. While father Brian (who will be in the No. 86 Ford for Clubb Racing Inc.) has never competed at Kansas before, his son Alex will be making his eighth start at the track, with his best finish of 13th in the fall of 2023.
Smith will drive his No. 48 for his team, while Laster will pilot the 06 Ford for Peterson Motorsports. Smith has 27 starts at Kansas with a best finish of 13th in the fall of 2022, while Laster finished 22nd in his first start at Kansas last spring.
You can watch the Tide 150 at Kansas on Friday, May 9, at 8 p.m. ET with TV coverage on FOX Sports 1 and radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90.
