ELKO NEW MARKET, Minn. – The ARCA Menards Series has officially rolled through the Land of 10,000 Lakes, with Max Reaves taking the checkered flag at Elko Speedway on Saturday, June 21 night.
Reaves was not the most dominant driver of the evening, but he still led 84 laps en route to victory. However, Brenden Queen led the most laps, pacing 148 of the 250 circuits. Lavar Scott led 18 laps of his own before fading late to a seventh-place finish.
It was the final restart that proved to decide the race, as Scott briefly took the lead from Queen and began to pull away. However, mechanical gremlins caught up to the No. 6 team, causing him to fall off the lead lap over the final 75-lap run, allowing Queen and Reaves to sneak by in the process. Reaves passed Queen on the restart and then Scott after his car began to fade, and Reaves took advantage of the opportunity to win his first career ARCA national series race.
With that being said, how do Reaves, Scott, Queen, and the remainder of the ARCA field stack up in this week’s edition of the Frontstretch ARCA Power Rankings?
1. Brenden Queen
Queen might not have won Saturday night’s race at Elko, but he made his presence known. Queen finished second, leading over half of the laps after starting on the pole. It’s hardly a surprise that Queen found success on the short tracks of the schedule with his extensive late model background, finishing inside the top five at both Berlin Speedway and Elko.
Queen lost the lead to Scott on the final restart and allowed Reaves to get around him in the process, which was the deciding factor of the race. However, with the strong evening and runner-up finish, Queen still holds his points lead over Scott and Lawless Alan, although still by a very narrow margin. Queen has an 11-point margin over Alan and 14 over Scott.
Heading into this week’s race, Queen faces a new challenge with Lime Rock Park, his first career road course race in a stock car. One thing Queen has done well this season is adapt to new challenges, but the race will surely be a wild card for the points outlook.
2. Lavar Scott
The seventh-place finish for Scott snapped a lengthy top-five streak for Scott, the first finish of its kind since Talladega Superspeedway earlier this season, and first on a short track since Bristol Motor Speedway last September. However, the finish was not indicative of how the Rev Racing driver ran.
Scott is still one of the most consistent drivers in the series, and Elko is very clearly one of his best racetracks. After losing the 2024 running of the race by mere inches, Scott came back just as competitive in 2025. He ran inside the top three for much of the race, and utilized a very good final restart to catapult to the lead before the aforementioned mechanical issues caused his No. 6 Chevrolet to falter.
Despite falling to third in points behind Alan, Scott is still very much in the running for the championship battle with 13 races left. Heading to Lime Rock, it’s only Scott’s third career road course race, with a best finish of ninth at Watkins Glen International, but Scott said post-race that he looks forward to the new challenges with road racing.
3. Lawless Alan
If it weren’t for two races with finishes outside the top 10 this season, we may be talking about Alan as the points leader. He has scored six finishes inside the top four, showing incredible consistency on all disciplines of tracks on the schedule.
Elko was another quiet race for the 25-year-old, notching his third consecutive third-place finish, running inside the top five for most of the race. Despite only leading four laps since his win at Talladega, Alan has kept his No. 20 up front and competitive nearly every race since, catapulting him into the championship discussion despite only winning one race thus far.
As for Lime Rock, Alan has a deeper road racing background than some of his full-time competitors. He’s run nearly 10 road races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and has competed full time in TransAm TA2 previously in his career, perhaps giving him the nod as the favorite heading to the track for the first time this weekend.
4. Max Reaves
The only thing keeping Reaves lower on this list is the lack of a full-time status in the national division. Since the 15-year-old broke into the series earlier this season, he’s not just been a threat, he’s been the favorite. After going a perfect three for three in ARCA Menards Series East races, Reaves made his national debut at Berlin last week, finishing second to winner Treyten Lapcevich.
Elko looked to be a similar story, running second behind Queen most of the race, but Reaves was able to find another gear, taking the lead from Queen shortly before the second race break, and eventually getting it back from Scott shortly after the final restart. From there, he cruised to victory, lapping up to sixth place in the final 75 laps, utilizing blistering pace in the process.
It’ll be a while before we see Reaves again, as his next start is set to be the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield on August 17. In his absence, the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 will be piloted by Brent Crews for the next handful of races.
5. Isabella Robusto
Arriving to the racetrack in Minnesota proved to be a challenge for Isabella Robusto’s No. 55 team, enduring hauler issues near Knoxville while en route. However, much like the last few races, her luck turned around well during the race.
Robusto battled around the top five for much of the race, coming home fifth behind Venturini Motorsports teammates Ty Fredrickson and Alan. The top five result is her second of the season, and first since Talladega. It also marks three consecutive races that the 20-year-old has finished inside the top 10, a nice streak to snap the nightmarish start to her season. Exiting Elko, she still sits fifth in points, with a sizable gap behind fourth-place Jason Kitzmiller, but with momentum seemingly on her side, Robusto is certainly a name to watch coming up the next few races.
As for Lime Rock, Robusto has some road racing experience under her belt. She ran a pair of ARCA Menards Series West races last season on road courses, finishing third at Portland International Raceway and sixth at Sonoma Raceway. However, like many of her competitors, she has not contested a race at Lime Rock.
Paint Scheme of the Week
Nitro Motorsports and driver Taylor Reimer teamed up for the first time in 2025 this past weekend, and the paint scheme they brought to the track certainly did not disappoint. Reimer’s long-time sponsor, BuzzBallz, was on the No. 70 Toyota, with a teal and white design throughout the car that stuck out nicely under the lights.
Reimer, who made her asphalt debut in the series, piloted the entry to an eighth-place finish, ensuring that she kept her perfect record of top 10s in each of her starts alive. Reimer is now slated to return to the track at Kansas Speedway and Toledo Speedway later this season.
The series now heads to Lime Rock, the first time the series has visited the 1.530-mile road course in Connecticut. The race is set to air on FOX Sports 2 on Saturday, June 28, with the green flag slated for 4:30 p.m. ET.
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