Only two races remain in the 2025 ARCA Menards Series season, at Kansas Speedway and Toledo Speedway. Brenden Queen will likely claim the championship, marking 18 straight years without back-to-back champions.
As such, with the season near its end, conversations for the 2026 season are well underway. Some organizations, such as CR7 Motorsports, already have their plans set. Others, such as Rise Motorsports and Fast Track Racing, are still working on their 2026 lineups.
While the ARCA Silly Season will continue up to the ’26 season opener, here is a look at how the ARCA field could look next year.
Nitro Motorsports
Nitro will fully acquire Venturini Motorsports and become the flagship program for Toyota driver development next year, as reported earlier this year. Nitro will field four full-time entries and a fifth part-time one in ’26, team owner Nick Tucker confirmed to Frontstretch. Three drivers will run full time, with the other two Toyotas set to be a rotation of drivers. The team will use Nos. 20, 25, 55 and 70 for its full-time entries, with the No. 15 part time.
Thomas Annunziata and Isabella Robusto are expected, per Frontstretch sources, to pilot two of the full-time entries.
Annunziata debuted in ARCA in 2024 and made a splash this year, winning the inaugural race at Lime Rock Park. Annunziata has been part of the Nitro program since 2023 in the Trans Am TA2 Series. He has already confirmed that he will run full time in ARCA next year. Annunziata will also drive a throwback paint scheme for VMS in the final ARCA series race for the organization.
Robusto, meanwhile, has driven full time for VMS in 2025 after a part-time slate in ’24. She has endured an up-and-down ARCA tenure, with 16 top fives and 23 top 10s, yet also has 11 DNFs in 34 platform starts. She is currently fifth in the main series standings with her goal of third.
Leland Honeyman is an interesting — though unconfirmed — candidate for the third Nitro car. He and Annunziata have split the No. 70 for Cope Family Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. CFR team owner Derrike Cope and Tucker are cousins. Honeyman will make three national division starts for Venturini this year, taking over the No. 20 after Lawless Alan’s departure. He finished fourth and third in his two starts thus far. Honeyman also competed full time in the ARCA Menards Series East in 2022, finishing third in points, and brings some funding.
Nitro already operates out of the Venturini shop and will do so for at least the next two years. Moreover, Venturini team owner Billy Venturini will serve as the Nitro GM for 2026. In addition, many Venturini employees will work for Nitro next year, according to an individual with knowledge of the situation.
Pinnacle Racing Group
With Queen on his way to the driver’s championship and the No. 28 in a comfortable position to capture the owner’s championship, PRG has arguably emerged as the best team in the garage.
Yet the team will undergo changes next year. Queen will graduate to the NASCAR national series, team GM Shane Huffman confirmed to Frontstretch. As a result, PRG will have new drivers piloting its racecars.
Yes, plural, as the organization will field the Nos. 28 and 82 full time in the main series, Huffman told Frontstretch. Unlike this year, though, its current plan is that the team will have a rotation of drivers in its two cars with no full-time driver.
According to Frontstretch sources, Tristan McKee will likely participate in all races for which he is eligible to do so. He became one of the series’ youngest all-time victors, at age 15 years and five days old, when he won at Watkins Glen International. PRG then increased his ARCA slate with three more starts.
Overall, McKee has one triumph, two top fives and two top 10s in his three-race tenure, with Toledo still to come. His lone result outside the top 10 was 11th at Madison International Speedway, when he brought a caution while running second, and wound up four laps down.
Huffman would not divulge who else will feature in the PRG lineup, though with the excellence of that organization, whoever is driving the Nos. 28 and 82 will be a threat for the victory.
Joe Gibbs Racing
After fielding the No. 18 with multiple drivers this year, that amount will likely be reduced to two for JGR in ’26. Max Reaves told Frontstretch that he will run all the races in the main series that he is eligible to do so. The 15-year-old also anticipates running full time in the East Series after winning his first three starts in the series this year.
Overall, Reaves has nine total series starts, with five wins, six top fives, eight top 10s and nearly 800 combined laps led. He brings funding from his family business Cook Out.
Regarding the second driver, history suggests a fellow Toyota driver will pilot the No. 18 in the remaining main series races, such as Brent Crews or Gio Ruggiero.
Crews joined JGR for several ARCA races this year, capturing three national and one standalone East race trophy.
Ruggiero will make his second start with JGR at Kansas. A rookie in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Ruggiero finished third in the ’23 East points, with one win, driving for Venturini. His family owns a car dealership in Massachusetts, so he has backing from First Auto Group.
CR7 Motorsports
The 2025 lineup will essentially be the same for CR7. Team owner Codie Rohrbaugh is the nephew, by marriage, of the team’s ARCA driver Jason Kitzmiller.
Kitzmiller will return to the seat of the No. 97 for his second, and final, full-time main-series season, he informed Frontstretch. He has two top fives, 12 top 10s and sits fourth in points. He has 45 career starts with a best finish of third in the ’25 season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Ten-time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel will also reprise his role as the crew chief.
Kitzmiller’s son Isaac Kitzmiller had a memorable year debuting in ARCA, culminating in the East driver’s title.
Isaac accrued three top fives, eight top 10s and a best finish of fourth in his championship season. He will defend his crown next year in the No. 79, running full-time East once again, Jason told Frontstretch. Additionally, Isaac will contest all the national division races where he is eligible. He only participated in the four combo races with the East this year, though he scored one top five, fourth at Dover Motor Speedway, and four top 10s.
Because Isaac will be 17 years old in ’26, he cannot run all 20 races due to his age. While there is a case to be made for CR7 fielding the No. 79 full time in the national division, it doesn’t appear likely, as Jason remarked that fielding Isaac in an extra entry, plus himself, “is all I can afford.”
Isaac will then turn 18 on Feb. 25, 2027. At that point, he will succeed his dad Jason in chasing the national division championship, Jason confirmed to Frontstretch.
Maples Motorsports
After debuting in ARCA last year, Michael Maples branched out to form his own two-car team, Maples Motorsports.
Maples stated to Frontstretch that he will run full time once again in his No. 99 next year. He earned his first career top 10 at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds and is seventh in the national division standings.
Maples’ No. 99 is 12th in owner points and the No. 67 is 14th in points with three top 10s. Ideally, Maples said that he would like to have a second driver full time in the No. 67 next year, but nobody has signed thus far.
In addition to the two regular cars, Maples wants to field the No. 66 on a part-time basis. He already owns nine racecars and will have three more ready for next season. Two will be formatted for superspeedways and another will be for intermediates.
After struggling in his debut season, Maples and his first-year organization have endured challenges, but four combined top 10s and both entries within striking distance of the top 10 in points have Maples looking forward to improved progress.
KLAS Motorsports
Andy Jankowiak will run 10 total events in 2025, and the plan is to run a similar amount in 2026, he told Frontstretch. Jankowiak’s starts in 2024 were a career high, but it all comes down to funding for KLAS.
For instance, Jankowiak wanted to take his No. 73 from Bristol Motor Speedway to the season finale at Toledo. However, with a lack of sponsorship, KLAS has opted not to do so.
Jankowiak dreams of running full time ARCA someday, but unless KLAS secures more funding, that will remain a dream rather than a reality. Rest assured, Jankowiak promised that whenever he comes to the racetrack, he will be competitive.
Wayne Peterson Motorsports
I would be remiss if I did not mention the two pizza-loving racecar drivers back-to-back. Brayton Laster is in his first full-time season this year, driving for Peterson, and he is eighth in points. The No. 06 is 13th in owner points in the national division and eighth in the East owner points.
With Nate Moeller as his crew chief, Laster has four DNFs, with only one due to an on-track incident. Laster’s biggest detriment is that he drives the No. 06 with a Legacy engine, making him the lone regular without an Ilmor or Yates engine.
Laster would like to return to WPM next year, he noted to Frontstretch. However, for the underdog driver and underfunded team, it will be entirely funding-dependent. Laster added that has not signed anything for next year, though he made one promise: He will eat plenty of pizza.
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.