ARCA Enters Its Summer Stretch

After its typical slow start, the ARCA Menards Series is entering its busy Summer stretch, highlighted by over 10 races over the next few months. 

The first three months of the ARCA season are always extremely spaced out, with many off weeks between races at Daytona International Speedway, Phoenix Raceway, and Talladega Superspeedway. However, teams and fans alike have survived the breaks in the schedule and are now rewarded with a plethora of ARCA races set to come.

Looking primarily at the national division, starting at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 23, the schedule consists of 12 races in nearly consecutive order, with only three off weeks built in during that time. The parity of the schedule comes into play during that time as well, as the series will visit two ovals over a mile and a half in length, two dirt tracks, two road courses, and six short tracks. 

The two longer ovals come in quick succession, as the series heads to Michigan International Speedway on June 6, directly after the Memorial Day weekend race at Charlotte. The schedule then sees its first batch of short tracks, with Berlin Raceway on June 14 and Elko Speedway on June 21. From there, the series heads to the East coast for a road course event at Lime Rock Park on June 28, then to the Dover Motor Speedway a few weeks later on July 18. July ends with a singular race at Indianapolis Raceway Park on July 25. ARCA’s busiest month, August, will have five races in five weeks, beginning at Iowa Speedway on Aug. 1. The series will head to Watkins Glen International on Aug. 8, Illinois State Fairgrounds on Aug. 17, a return to Madison International Speedway on Aug. 22, and wrap up with the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds on Aug. 31.

The series’ visit to Lime Rock will be the first in its history, though the ARCA Menards Series East ran over a dozen races there before it was under the ARCA sanctioning body. As for Madison, it’ll be the first time ARCA runs at the track since 2019, with eight previous races between 2011 and 2019. 

Of course, the intrigue into the summer schedule does not end with the parity of tracks or the frequency of the races. The competition on track to start the 2025 season has been highly entertaining, and after four races, one point separates the top three drivers in the standings.

Higher volumes of short tracks and visiting two road courses over the next few months should add more intrigue to that battle. Points leader Brenden Queen, who has won two races this year, cut his teeth on short tracks and is very comfortable with that style of racing. Lavar Scott only has one career finish outside of the top 10 on tracks shorter than a mile in length, nearly winning at Elko last summer. The road course races at Watkins Glen and Lime Rock Park offer a bit of a wild card opportunity for other drivers to throw their names into the hat, not only for a chance to visit victory lane, but to close up a points gap from the first few races of the season. 

Outside of the early big three of Queen, Scott, and Lawless Alan, other full-time drivers have had plenty of moments to build on after four races, looking to continue momentum into the upcoming summer stretch. Notably, Jason Kitzmiller, who sits fifth in the season standings, is 23 points behind Queen. Kitzmiller only has one finish outside of the top 10, but now enters a stretch of schedule with many tracks that he has not competed on yet, including all of the short tracks and road courses.

Almost the opposite can be said for Isabella Robusto, who sits 11th in points, 68 points back. Robusto’s previous success in the ARCA Menards Series West came almost exclusively on road courses and ovals, and after showing impressive speed at Talladega, Daytona, and Kansas, the tide on her season could be set to change. 

Two other drivers, Thad Moffitt and Andy Jankowiak, are also names to watch throughout the Summer stretch. Moffitt has more ARCA experience than any of his full-time counterparts, and that experience could become valuable as the year goes on. Moffitt has shown speed this season, nearly winning at Talladega, finishing inside the top 10 at Phoenix, and wrecking out of the top 10 at Daytona and Kansas.

As for Jankowiak, the 37-year-old is fourth in points, only 13 notches behind Queen for the overall lead. Jankowiak has finished inside the top 10 in three of the first four races, excluding only a 14th-place finish at Phoenix. However, like previous seasons, Jankowiak will run part time. Nevertheless, if his start to 2025 continues, when he competes, he’ll be competitive.

The East and West divisions also come with their share of storylines heading into the Summer. The schedule isn’t quite as loaded on either coast as in the national division, but both still have a handful of races between now and the end of August. The West races five times in that frame, and the East four, though three of those races act as combination races with the national touring series.

The West starts with a return to Colorado National Speedway on May 24, the first race at the track since 2020. The series then returns to Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway on June 14, and has a pair of road course races at Sonoma Raceway and Portland International Raceway on July 11 and Aug. 29, respectively. In the middle of those two races is an Aug. 9 date at Tri-City Raceway in Washington.  

The East has one standalone race, which is this weekend at famed Flat Rock Speedway, and then endures combination races at Dover, IRP, and Iowa to end the Summer months. The East sees Isaac Kitzmiller sitting atop the points standings, 11 notches ahead of second-place Zachary Tinkle and 12 notches above third-place Tyler Reif.

Joe Gibbs Racing has won all three races on the East schedule, but with two separate drivers, meaning the eventual champion will stem from a different team. Max Reaves took home the checkered flag at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and Five Flags Speedway, but is only running part time. Brent Crews won at Rockingham Speedway and will run most of the remainder of the East schedule, but like Reaves, won’t win the championship due to his missed races.

After three races, Takuma Koga, Austin Vaughn, and Nate Moeller also sit within 20 points of Kitzmiller for the championship lead, and all three are entered this weekend at Flat Rock.

Looking at the West, the top five in points are separated by less than 10 points after three races. The biggest intrigue lies at the top of the standings, as Trevor Huddleston and Tanner Reif currently sit tied atop the standings. Eric Johnson Jr. sits third, only five points back, with teammates Kyle Keller and Robbie Kennealy tied for fourth, eight points back. With all five drivers expected to be full time, and nine races left on the schedule, the Summer months are likely to be pivotal in deciding the West champion at season’s close.

The full ARCA slate can be seen in numerous ways over the next few months. Each national division race will be televised on either FOX Sports 1 or 2. The East and West standalone races will be broadcast on FloRacing, beginning with Flat Rock on Saturday, May 17 at 7:45 p.m. ET.