ARCA Preview: LiUNA! 150 at IRP

The ARCA Menards Series kicks off the second half of its 2025 season on Friday, July 25 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Thirty-five drivers are entered for the 150-lap race, and with a cap of 34 cars, one driver will fail to qualify for the race. It’s the largest field the track has seen for an ARCA event since it pulled in 35 cars in 2012, a race that Frank Kimmel won. 

IRP has seen 16 ARCA races over its history, dating back to 1983. Previous winners include Kimmel, Ty Dillon, Brandon Jones, Chandler Smith, Chase Briscoe and Christian Eckes. The ARCA Menards East Series, which runs in conjunction with national ARCA at IRP, has six previous races at the track. Four from 19877-1990, and then two more under the ARCA banner in the last two seasons.

Last year’s running of the race saw Connor Zilisch find victory lane, leading 89 of the 200 laps, and holding off Andres Perez on a late-race restart. Both William Sawalich and Lavar Scott spent extensive time out front in that race as well, with Sawalich leading 72 laps and Scott pacing 44. 

The 2025 running, however, will see a different winner, as none of the previous winners at the track are entered. In fact, of the 35 cars entered, only six have previously found victory lane at the ARCA level.  

Points leader Brenden Queen is fresh off his fourth victory of the season at Dover Motor Speedway, a race in which he grew his cushion to 26 points over Lawless Alan.

However, IRP presents a new track for Queen on the ARCA level. He’s never made a start in the upper levels of stock car racing at the track, but will change that fact Friday, starting both races at the short track. He’ll be in the No. 28 for Pinnacle Racing Group for the ARCA race, and will then climb aboard the No. 07 for Spire Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series later that evening. Tracks a mile in length or shorter have treated Queen well so far this season, owning an average finish of 2.25 in four starts, and never finishing worse than fourth.

Pinnacle Racing Group will also bring a second car to the track for the third time this season, with driver Connor Mosack behind the wheel. It’ll be Mosack’s first national start of the 2025 season, with his last coming at Watkins Glen International last September, driving for Sigma Performance Services. Mosack will be one of four drivers attempting to run both races Friday evening, joining Brent Crews, Cody Dennison, and Queen. The last time PRG brought the No. 82 to the track, it was victorious with Austin Green at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

While Nitro Motorsports is set to acquire Venturini Motorsports in 2026, the two teams have been working closely together this season. The two entities are set to bring a combined five cars to IRP.

The Venturini banner will field two cars for its full-time drivers, Isabella Robusto and Alan, as well as the No. 25 for Mason Mitchell. Nitro brings two cars, the No. 70 for Sam Corry and the return of Thad Moffitt in the No. 46. Alan and Queen both have the most experience at the track, both making a handful of starts between ARCA and the Truck Series. Moffitt owns a best finish of fifth at the track, coming back in 2020, and will be making his first start since Michigan International Speedway last month, where his full-time effort ended prematurely due to funding issues. Alan has more Truck experience at the short track, but did compete in last year’s ARCA race, finishing 23rd. The 25-year-old is fresh off his third finish outside the top 10 this season, a 12th place at Dover due to tire issues. 

The experience at the track between Corry, Robusto and Mitchell is a different story.

Mitchell, the 2014 series champion, has two starts at the track, but both came over a decade ago. He finished fifth at the track in 2012, his rookie ARCA season. He has recorded two top 10 finishes in two starts this season.

Both Robusto and Corry are set to make their stock car debut at the track when the track goes green this Friday. For Corry, it’s also his series debut, though he is familiar with Nitro. The 17-year-old competes for the team in TransAm competition, and has made two starts at the track in USF2000 races. Robusto has run well at short tracks this season and throughout her career, with a season’s best finish of third last week at Dover.

Rev Racing will bring two cars to the racetrack for the fourth time this season, with Lavar Scott in his No. 6 and Lanie Buice in the No. 2. Scott has been successful in his previous two starts at the track, finishing in the top five in the previous two iterations of the race. Last year, he led 44 laps en route to a fourth-place finish.

As for Buice, she makes her third ARCA national start, and fourth overall on the platform this season. She’s recorded top 10s in both of her efforts, though those did come on 1.5-mile tracks, with this race marking her first series start on a short track. Buice has cut her teeth on smaller tracks for much of her career and competes full time in the zMAX CARS Late Model Tour, which specializes in short tracks. 

The father-son duo of Jason Kitzmiller and Isaac Kitzmiller return to the track together for the second time this season. The CR7 Motorsports team recorded two top 10 finishes at Dover, with Isaac finishing fourth and Jason crossing the line in eighth. Both drivers have yet to make an ARCA start at the 0.686-mile track in Indiana, though Jason has recorded two top 10 finishes on short tracks this season, and Isaac has run exclusively on short tracks on the East schedule. The younger Kitzmiller enters the weekend first in the East standings, seven points up on Tyler Reif, with Jason sitting fourth in ARCA national standings, 93 points behind Queen.

Joe Gibbs Racing will field its No. 18 entry for Crews this weekend, as Crews has run it in the last two races at Lime Rock Park and Dover. Crews has yet to attempt an ARCA-sanctioned race at IRP, though he has fared well on short tracks in his career. The 17-year-old driver has a top-five finish and two wins on tracks a mile in length or shorter in his ARCA career.

Looking back at the East championship, Reif enters well within reach of the points lead, especially with a full field entered at IRP. Reif is just seven points behind Isaac Kitzmiller, though like many of his competitors, has yet to contest a race at the track. Reif only has one finish outside of the top 10 in East races this season, and has finished within that mark in three of his last four national division starts as well.

Friday, July 23 is a one-day show for ARCA teams, with their allotted 45 minutes of practice set to begin at 1 p.m. ET and qualifying set to start at 2. The green flag of the LiUNA! 150 will fly at 5:30 p.m. ET, with FOX Sports 1 airing the TV broadcast.