The 2025 ARCA Menards Series season has come to a close.
Brenden Queen followed up his 2024 CARS Tour championship by winning the 2025 ARCA national division championship. In the ARCA Menards Series East, Isaac Kitzmiller rode consistency, scoring a top 10 in all eight races, en route to claiming that crown. Out West, Trevor Huddleston won a series-high four times to capture the ARCA Menards Series West title.
For the third year in a row – click below for the previous two years – the Frontstretch ARCA team of Mark Kristl, Josh Calloni and Steve Sonderman graded the top-five points finishers in the main series as well as the top two in ARCA East and West.
Brenden Queen: A+
Given he led the series in nearly all statistical categories, it’s no surprise Queen won the title. He won eight times, scored 17 top fives, 17 top 10s, four pole awards, 843 laps led, and zero DNFs. His success resulted in him unofficially clinching the championship upon his victory in the penultimate race at Kansas Speedway.
Eight wins are fantastic, and those eight came at a variety of racetracks. Queen won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, swept the two Kansas races, was victorious at short tracks Iowa Speedway and Salem Speedway, as well as at two-mile Michigan International Speedway and the dirt track DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.
In addition to his triumph in the driver standings, Queen gave his Pinnacle Racing Group team the owner points championship, the first title for a team other than a Toyota one since 2018. A+ season indeed.
Queen’s knack for excelling at different circuits will bode well for his 2026 season as he graduates into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. – Mark Kristl
Lavar Scott: B+
In his years as an ARCA driver, Lavar Scott displayed impressive consistency, with 2025 perhaps being his best year. Scott only finished outside the top 10 four times, two of which came in the final two races in which he wound up with DNFs. The 22-year-old recorded 11 top fives, which tied his 2024 total, and 16 top 10s, which was one more than ’24.
The longstanding narrative with Scott will be that he did not find victory lane during his time in ARCA, which is the only thing that prevents him from an A grade. However, his ability to keep the car clean and finish consistently is a trait that not many other drivers possess at his level, and finishing runner up in the standings back-to-back years despite not winning is proof of that.
The future for Scott is currently unclear, but if his time in ARCA has concluded, it was certainly a successful run. – Josh Calloni
Jason Kitzmiller: B-
For it being Jason Kitzmiller’s first full-time ARCA season, he got down to business right away.
Despite never competing on many of the tracks on the schedule, Kitzmiller only finished outside the top 10 six times, including both road course races and the Charlotte Motor Speedway race that he did not start due to his daughter’s graduation. Kitzmiller used his previous prowess of drafting tracks to a pair of top-five finishes at Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway to start the season, and took home a third-place finish in the standings.
Even though he’s already stated that 2026 will be his final full-time season, his 2025 campaign left a lot to be hopeful for building toward the future. – Calloni
Isabella Robusto: B+
Isabella Robusto’s first full season was one of notable accomplishments. At Talladega, she finished third, which was the highest finish ever by a woman at the track. Her 14 top-10 finishes, nine of which were in the top five, helped her claim the title of Rookie of the Year. With achievements like these, it is easy to see why she may deserve an “A.”
Unfortunately, luck was not always on her side and she finished fourth in the standings. She had an average start of 7.3 and an average finish of 10.8, but still trailed Jason Kitzmiller, who averaged 14.3 for starts and 11.4 for finishes. Mechanical issues and crashes limited her to 14 lead-lap finishes in 20 races.
Next season, Robusto aims to build on her strong rookie campaign. After Toledo Speedway, she told Frontstretch she feels confident at short tracks but wants to improve on intermediate tracks. She added that she “knows what to work on in the offseason” and is “super excited for next season.” – Steve Sonderman
Lawless Alan: B
When Lawless Alan won at Talladega, he rose to second in the points. After the following race at Kansas, he was only one point out of the lead. He appeared to firmly be in the championship hunt, with more possible wins for Venturini Motorsports in its final season.
However, he couldn’t best Queen, who drove to victory lane six more times after Kansas in the spring. At the halfway point of the season, Alan had accrued eight top fives and eight top 10s.
He then wound up runner up at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway and third at Iowa. Unfortunately, then bad luck truly struck Alan’s season. Three straight results outside the top 10 took Alan out of title contention.
Alan finished second at DuQuoin, but that was it. He departed VMS afterward and finished fifth in points.
So how do we evaluate Alan? A good year, but failing to meet expectations at Venturini and an abrupt end to his season. – Kristl
Isaac Kitzmiller: A
Isaac Kitzmiller had a quiet cruise to the ARCA East championship. Although he did not earn a victory, very few drivers actually did. Every race was won by a Joe Gibbs Racing car driven by Max Reaves or Brent Crews, or by ARCA champion Queen.
One impressive statistic is that in his eight races, Kitzmiller never finished outside the top 10. What truly stands out about Kitzmiller is his performance in the East and national series combination events. Those races featured larger fields, and Kitzmiller managed to finish fourth at Dover Motor Speedway, seventh at IRP, sixth at Iowa, and eighth at Bristol Motor Speedway. For a 16-year-old competing in his debut ARCA season, this level of consistency and execution represents a clear success. – Sonderman
Tyler Reif: B
Compared to Isaac Kitzmiller’s smooth season, Tyler Reif experienced more of a roller coaster ride. One positive takeaway is that he demonstrated speed and versatility across a variety of tracks, catching the attention of Niece Motorsports and earning his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at Phoenix Raceway.
In 14 starts across the ARCA series, Reif recorded three second-place finishes. He also contended for a win at Phoenix when he ran into trouble on an overtime restart. Despite these near misses, he had five finishes outside the top 10.
Although Reif was in a position to win more often than Kitzmiller, he lacked the same consistency. Reflecting on his season to Frontstretch after the Toledo race, he noted that in the last couple of events he “got the speed back to what we have been looking for again,” but admitted he “really missed the middle part of the season.” – Sonderman
Trevor Huddleston: A
Huddleston enjoyed a breakout season. He set personal season highs in wins and top fives, finding victory lane four times and finishing among the top five in 10 races. His average finish of 3.6 was considerably lower than his previous nine seasons, leading him to the West championship.
Huddleston improved most notably on road courses, which kept his season title hopes alive without much competition come season’s end. Most impressively, the team competed with the same engine all season, truly making the engine a championship winner.
Huddleston will look to make it back-to-back championships in 2026, perhaps starting his own dynasty out West. – Calloni
Kyle Keller: A-
Statistically, Kyle Keller enjoyed his career-best season. He captured his first career ARCA West victory at Tri-City Raceway, and coupled with zero DNFs, he finished second in the points.
The biggest reason, other than trophies, why Keller wound up 40 points behind Huddleston for the title was time spent out front. Huddleston led 503 laps and Keller led 24, sixth-highest of the top 10 in points.
Nevertheless, Keller tied for the most top fives, 75% of his races were top-10 results, and he completed the second-most laps, only seven behind Huddleston.
Keller has not yet announced his 2026 plans, but hopefully, he returns to ARCA competition, be it the main series or the West. He’ll be 21 when the 2026 campaign begins, so venturing out into the national spotlight could be beneficial if he desires to move up in his career as a professional racecar driver. – Kristl
We’ll see you in 2026 when the national division visits Daytona. The ’26 season opener will take place on Saturday, Feb. 14, at noon ET.
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.
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
