Bristol, Tenn. – In an hour and 18 minutes, the ARCA Menards Series field completed 205 laps at Bristol Motor Speedway. The competitors set a new track record there, and when the checkered flag flew, Brent Crews emerged victorious. Crews’ victory was not a big surprise, though. His Joe Gibbs Racing team has now won five straight there.
Bristol hosted ARCA and the ARCA Menards Series East in the final combination race of the season. The East Series crowned two champions: JGR won the owners’ title, and Isaac Kitzmiller won the driver’s title. While Brenden Queen leads the national division standings, the East had three drivers in contention for the title entering the race. Kitzmiller won ahead of Tyler Reif and Zachary Tinkle.
Three races remain in the main series: Salem Speedway, Kansas Speedway, and Toledo Speedway. Before the series journeys to Salem, who stood out from the fast race at Bristol?
1. Brent Crews
Crews wasn’t just dominant at Bristol – he was perfect. He was fastest in practice, he won the pole and he led all 204 laps en route to the victory.
Crews has four wins in the main series and three in the East this year. He’s the only driver to have won in all three series in the ARCA platform.
His accomplishment sealed the East owners’ title for the No. 18 team, which has won five straight and seven overall, including 2022 when it was run as Kyle Busch Motorsports.
The No. 18 is one point behind Butterbean Queen’s No. 28 team for the national series owner points lead. This dogfight appears destined for potentially the last lap at Toledo.
Crews has scored three of the team’s five wins this year, and his part-time stats are phenomenal. He has four wins – including one with Nitro Motorsports – five top fives, seven top 10s, three poles, and 542 laps led … in nine starts. He’s 10th in points, and while he has not run all the races where he was eligible at age 17, his performance this year lands him atop these power rankings.
2. Brenden Queen
Queen finished eight spots ahead of Lavar Scott to extend his points lead to 50. With three races to go and due to expected car counts, Queen would likely need to have at least two bad showings for Scott to climb back into championship contention. After all, Queen leads the series in wins, top fives, laps led, and is tied for most pole awards.
Queen finished third, but his save wheeling his No. 28 Chevrolet earned him the Reese’s Sweet Move of the Race award.
“Yeah … she was a little handful tonight,” Queen told Frontstretch post-race. “We were just a little off of what … our standards are. Still a solid day, but definitely doing everything I could to hold on there at the end. Just really trying to be smart with the lapped cars. I mean, some of these people don’t have anything to lose, so they’re really aggressive where our season’s on the line. This was a really big race that we just needed to survive. I hate doing that because I want to win obviously, but all in all, I mean, an OK night.”
An OK night landed him a third-place result behind Crews and Queen’s PRG teammate Tristan McKee. While Queen might be talking about the driver standings, PRG team owner Shane Huffman spoke to Frontstretch pre-race about the importance of the owner’s championship. It is the title that pays, not the driver’s. Obviously, for PRG to win that, Queen must beat the JGR No. 18, but if he considers third an OK night, then a fast, good No. 28 will be hard to beat.
3. Isaac Kitzmiller
While FOX Sports did not speak to Isaac Kitzmiller post-race, Frontstretch congratulates him on his achievement.
In the eight-race East season, Isaac had three top fives and eight top 10s. His worst finish was eighth at Bristol. His lone finish not on the lead lap was a seventh place at Flat Rock Speedway. He completed all but four laps. His CR7 Motorsports team finished second in the East owner points, trailing only JGR.
Understandably, the East full timers were not as strong this year, so let’s look at Isaac’s national division stats.
In those four combination races, he started inside the top 10 three times. He wound up with one top five – fourth at Dover Motor Speedway, tying his career best. He brought home all four top 10s and, for some bragging rights, beat his father Jason Kitzmiller, a full-time driver in the national division.
Isaac will not contest any of the two main series events where he is eligible to compete, nor does he know his plans for 2026. Hopefully, we see the 16-year-old East series champion back in ARCA.
4. Jason Kitzmiller
Jason Kitzmiller has run solidly this ARCA season, his first full-time one. He has two top fives, 12 top 10s, sits fourth in points – third soon with Lawless Alan’s departure from Venturini Motorsports – and he’s ahead of VMS driver Isabella Robusto in the points.
Jason’s Bristol showing was indicative of his season-long performance. He started 12th, three spots ahead of his average starting spot of 15.1. He then wound up ninth, about three positions better than his average finishing position of 11.6.
Jason finished ninth, but his eyes on the last lap were affixed on making sure the race stayed green ‘til the checkered, with his son Isaac right in front of him in eighth, securing the ARCA East championship.
“You couldn’t put it into words how [the] last lap, I was watching the … white flag … and I was like, ‘Please God, don’t let there be another caution. Please God, don’t let there be another caution,’’ Jason told Frontstretch post-race. “I just, seeing him in front of me, it makes, as a father, you couldn’t be more. I could’ve won the race today but it would not have mattered. I could not be more proud than I am right now.”
Jason left Bristol proud of his son Isaac, but he should hold his head high. He’s been solid all season, and his efforts land him fourth in these rankings.
5. Tyler Reif
For the second straight year, Reif came in second in points in an ARCA division. He brought his No. 23 Chevrolet home in sixth at Bristol, which ultimately did not matter because Isaac finished where he needed to clinch the East title.
“Just disappointed,” Reif told Frontstretch post-race. “Obviously, this whole team wanted more. We missed it today. We had good short-run speed. We probably picked up two to three spots every restart. That last one, we went from eighth to sixth, almost had fifth there on the last lap. If we would’ve had a couple more laps, we would’ve been fifth, I think. We just missed the long-run speed, too tight, and just plowing through the right front on the long run. So, we did it here last year also, so … I got second in driver points last year also, so it’s kind of disappointing, but you can’t really complain. Still running up front and getting seat time for next year.”
Under the ARCA platform in 2025, Reif has 17 combined starts. He has accrued seven top fives, 10 top 10s, and 13 laps led. It’s fewer top fives, laps led, and no wins compared to his 2024 ARCA Menards Series West performance.
Nevertheless, Reif continues to learn, and his sixth-place showing and East runner-up result have him fifth in these power rankings.
Paint Scheme of the Race
Timmy Hill showed speed in his ARCA starts in 2025 with three top 10s, highlighted by his sixth-place result at Dover Motor Speedway.
Bristol was another example of said speed, except it ended poorly. Hill was on his way to his first top five when a cut tire sent him into the wall, ending his day with a disappointing 19th-place DNF.
Hill’s crash was unfortunate not only because he had a fast No. 56 Toyota but also because it stood out among the 34 competitors at Bristol. While his self-owned Hill Motorsports was on the hood, Hill’s No. 56 earned the Bristol Paint Scheme of the Race Award.
The ARCA field ventures to Salem for its next race. The 200-lap event will take place on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. ET with TV coverage provided by FOX Sports 2.
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.