What to Look for in the ARCA Final Stretch Run

ARCA Menards Series teams have this upcoming weekend off, then it’s a four-race stretch to the finish. Bristol Motor Speedway is next up with the Bush’s Beans 200. The 200-lap race will serve as a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series East. That race will also be the East season finale.

Meanwhile, the ARCA Menards Series West has four races remaining, and it will end its season during the NASCAR championship weekend at Phoenix Raceway.

Brenden Queen leads the national division points by 42 ahead of Lavar Scott. In the East, Isaac Kitzmiller leads Tyler Reif by 19. And out West, Trevor Huddleston has an eight-point advantage over Kyle Keller.

As ARCA heads into its final stretch of the season, here are four things to ponder.

1. Butterbean title?

Queen leads Scott by 42 and Lawless Alan by 61. With 49 the maximum number of points in a race, he essentially has a one-race advantage. With four races to go, Butterbean’s victory at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds might have been the moment that unofficially locked up his championship.

First, Queen has only finished outside the top 10 three times out of the 16 races, and twice outside the top 20. On average, Scott must make up 10 points per race and Alan must make up 15. Not only does that require them to succeed in those races, but it also necessitates Queen having at least one poor result. That just hasn’t happened. Queen’s Pinnacle Racing Group brought a fast racecar for Connor Zilisch in 2024 at Bristol, leading 23 laps, before he was collected in a crash.

After Bristol, ARCA goes to Salem Speedway, Kansas Speedway and Toledo Speedway. Salem is a self-cleaning high-banked short track. Queen won at fellow self-cleaning racetrack Dover Motor Speedway earlier this year. He also won at Kansas.

That leaves Toledo. Even if Queen has faltered in at least one of those races, Toledo has not featured a car count higher than 25 since 2017. Again, Scott and Alan need to gain points on Queen. Depending on their deficit, they might not be able to score enough points at Toledo, due to the number of entrants, to overtake Queen for the points lead.

Therefore, Butterbean is well on his way to his second straight championship – 2024 in the zMax CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car division and 2025 in ARCA.

The real question is whether PRG can beat Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 for the owner points title. PRG has a six-point lead. JGR won the owners’ title last year and the No. 18 team has won it four of the past five years. It would not be surprising if that title battle continues ’til the checkered flag at Toledo.

2. Who’s ready for a promotion?

Queen is ready. He has six wins, ranging from his dirt win at DuQuoin to his short track win at Iowa Speedway to his season-opening triumph at Daytona International Speedway. He’s a fan favorite and he will be 28 when Daytona rolls around in 2026 so he is mature enough to handle the pressure, spotlight and responsibilities.

He has been linked to Kaulig Racing in its first year with RAM in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. With RAM providing financial backing for the team’s program, it would work well for Queen, who arguably does not bring enough funding to run full time in a top-tier Truck ride.

Beyond Queen, who else is ready for a promotion?

Scott is an interesting case. He is set to make his second NASCAR Xfinity Series start this weekend, so the industry is seeing him compete at a higher level. He finished 28th in his series debut at Dover as well.

He has two full-time ARCA seasons plus a full East one on his resume. His ARCA platform totals? In 73 starts, he has 37 top fives, 52 top 10s, 58 lead-lap finishes and only one DNF.

The missing number? Zero in the wins column and only 242 laps led. For comparison, Queen has six wins and 784 laps led this year.

Does Scott deserve more opportunities in NASCAR? Yes. However, winless 2024 ARCA champion Andres Perez has just been there in Trucks this year, for lack of a better description. His most noteworthy moment has been switching teams. So, a lack of wins and laps led doesn’t bode well for Scott if he indeed moves up.

Alan differs from Queen and Scott because he ran full-time Trucks for the past three years. His results were not impressive.

This year, however, Alan has shown speed. However, prior to his DuQuoin runner-up result, he had three straight disappointing races that took him out of championship contention. Still, he has one win, 10 top fives, 10 top 10s and only one DNF. He also brings sponsorship, so he could land a Truck ride. He probably needs to run the companion ARCA races to continue learning, though.

Lastly, Brent Crews has three national division wins this year, two in the East and one in the West. Only 17 years old, he has incredible promise. However, he won’t turn 18 until Mar. 30, 2026. That would make him ineligible to compete in select Xfinity and Truck races, beginning with Daytona.

Crews is rumored to follow William Sawalich’s development path into the NXS. JGR shouldn’t follow through with that plan, though. Crews is talented, but Sawalich showed he was not ready for full-time Xfinity competition. Sawalich should’ve been full time in ARCA this year and Crews should be full time in ARCA in 2026. Plus, when his 18th birthday occurs, Crews would likely only miss the ARCA race at Daytona. That increases his title chances compared to Xfinity and Truck racing.

3. We’re about to have another winless titlist.

Kitzmiller leads Reif by 19 points and Zachary Tinkle by 30. Kitzmiller and Reif will be contenders at Bristol, but unless one of the trio wins, the East titlist will be winless. This will mark the second straight year of a winless ARCA series champion.

All three will gladly accept the East championship. It’s just unfortunate that only seven drivers have run full-time East this year to combine to lead nine laps, too.

Fortunately, all three could be back in ARCA next year. Kitzmiller is only 16, Reif turned 18 earlier this year, and Tinkle is 23 but has run the East for three straight years.

Isaac Kitzmiller has beaten his dad Jason Kitzmiller in the combination races this year; ideally, the Kitzmiller duo will enter more races together next year. Reif’s team has dabbled in a larger part-time national capacity this year. Could the team expand to a full-time entry next year? Tinkle has wanted to compete in the main series full time; it’s just a matter of securing the funding to run the full distance in all 20 rather than the eight in the East.

4. The West has good battles, albeit small fields.

Huddleston leads Keller by a single-digit margin, but four of the top 10 in points have won a race. There are 10 full-time entries, which admittedly is low, but there has not been a back-to-back winner this West season.

Depending on how Huddleston and Keller fare, plus if his team finds more speed, Tanner Reif could erase his 20-point deficit to challenge for the lead.

Moreover, Eric Johnson Jr. and Robbie Kennealy have finished inside the top 10 in over half the races this season. They’d love to take home a trophy, pick up a spot or two in points and have an outside shot at the title.

Although we’d all love to see larger fields, as only two of the eight West races have featured more than 20 drivers, the drivers on track are fast. Multiple ones can win and that makes for some exciting finishes.

The next time ARCA drivers hit the racetrack, it will be at Bristol for the Bush’s Beans 200. That race will take place on Thursday, Sept. 11, at 5:30 p.m. ET with TV coverage provided by FOX Sports 1. The West drivers will then go to All American Speedway two days later, Saturday the 13th. FloRacing will have live coverage of that race beginning at 10:45 p.m. ET.