Joe Gibbs Racing is victorious at an ARCA Menards Series race — stop me if we’ve heard that before. Yes, JGR won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway to begin the 2026 season. Except the driver of the No. 18, Gio Ruggiero, is not full time in ARCA competition.
As such, for the third straight year, the Frontstretch ARCA team has set goals for the 10 full-time drivers in the national series for the year. Who has aspirations for the title this year? And who could be the biggest surprise?
Alex Clubb
Alex Clubb saw a nice uptick in his program in 2025, recording his lowest average finish since 2021, tying a career high in top 10s and only failing to finish four of the 20 races he started. He was also able to successfully run a two-car operation full time for the first time in his team’s existence.
His goals for 2026 should be to continue to build his program at the pace he’s been doing so. That seems relatively simple, but a lot goes into a full-time team, especially fielding two cars. If Clubb can double his 2025 top 10s from two to four and eliminate the few mechanical gremlins that ended his race early four times that season, it feels like a year that will be overall successful.
Working on a much smaller budget than his competitors puts him at a disadvantage, but capitalizing on the smaller ovals and dirt tracks on the schedule, where the playing field is a bit equalized, could favor Clubb all season long. – Josh Calloni
Tony Cosentino
Running full time for Maples Motorsports, Tony Cosentino should have fast racecars. MMS reportedly acquired the bulk of Rev Racing’s equipment over the offseason. Those were championship-winning cars and Cosentino has performed well in underfunded equipment with seven top 10s in 34 starts.
So finishing as the best driver from an independent organization should be attainable. However, Cosentino failed to qualify for the season opener at Daytona. That wasn’t a pleasant surprise; that was a disappointment.
For Cosentino to finish as the highest driver for an independent team, which would be fifth after the three Nitro Motorsports drivers and CR7 Motorsports pilot Jason Kitzmiller, he first must make races, avoid DNFs as nearly half his starts are DNFs and race.
Then he’s got to finish those races. Sixteen DNFs, albeit some start-and-parks, out of 34 starts will be costly and hinder his improvement and Maples’ growth. Fifth should be his goal. But after Daytona, it’s more challenging. – Mark Kristl
Takuma Koga
Takuma Koga makes his full-time ARCA debut after competing full time in the ARCA Menards Series East in 2025 and in the ARCA Menards Series West for several years before.
Koga’s bright spot last season came with a career-best third-place finish at Flat Rock Speedway, which led him to exclaim, “I love short tracks!” in a post-race interview with FloRacing.
Breaking into the top four among the full-time entries will be tough, with the three Nitro cars likely at the front and Kitzmiller just behind. A fifth-place finish in points could be within reach, with other contenders including Bobby Dale Earnhardt and Cosentino. Koga’s goal will be to compete for that position, and with a few strong runs as he had at Flat Rock, he has a realistic shot. – Steve Sonderman
Jake Bollman
With the acquisition of Venturini Motorsports, Nitro is positioned to build on a proven foundation, and expectations are high. While much of the attention centers on returning Rookie of the Year Isabella Robusto and 2025 Lime Rock Park winner Thomas Annunziata, Jake Bollman quietly gives the team a third legitimate championship contender.
Bollman has quietly been making his mark out West. He assembled a strong 2025 West campaign with three top-five finishes and one win in seven starts. His results did not draw major headlines, but they built credibility. He carried that momentum into Daytona, finishing second, beating his Nitro teammates and proving he can run up front. In 2026, he should be contending for a championship. – Sonderman
Brad Smith
Just run races. Brad Smith often starts-and-parks due to a lack of funding, but when he runs the full distance, he fares well in the points.
Over the past 10 years, his best two average finish years were 2019 and 2020. Those two years, he finished then-career-bests in points.
Daytona was a perfect example of why. Although he finished two laps down, he finished better than 15 drivers, including three series regulars.
Smith likely will not regularly beat anyone with raw speed. It’s his ability to log laps, avoid messes, and gain spots — and points — which will aid him in his quest for his 10th top-10 points finish in the past 11 years. Those extra spots will earn him more money, too. For an underdog like Smith, every dollar helps. – Kristl
Isabella Robusto
The goal for Robusto in 2026 is relatively simple: keep developing and attempt to find a way to overcome the gremlins we’ve seen hinder her so frequently.
Issues that are not always directly her fault, but as recently as Daytona, we’ve seen how it affects her results drastically. When she’s able to put together an entire race, her talent is evident, especially on the short tracks and superspeedways on the schedule. She saw six DNFs in 2025, three for mechanical issues and two for crashes that were out of her control. Taking away those finishes, she only had four results worse than sixth place on the season, two of which were on road courses.
If Robusto can find a way to overcome that poor luck and continue to develop as a driver, the sky’s the limit, and victory lane will not only be a goal but an expectation. – Calloni
Thomas Annunziata
Win the championship. He is driving for Nitro with 2023 championship-winning crew chief Shannon Rursch atop his pit box. Anything less than fighting for a championship could be considered a disappointment.
To his credit, Annunziata has NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series experience, road course prowess and superspeedway talent. At Daytona, he drove from 31st into the top 10 before a late crash sent him to a 26th-place DNF.
Annunziata is the championship choice by two-thirds of the Frontstretch ARCA team. It’s also his goal this year.
He’s just got to race within what his No. 70 Toyota gives him. Don’t make mistakes, drive wisely and learn every lap. He could hoist the championship trophy in the fall. – Kristl
Bobby Dale Earnhardt
Earnhardt’s goals for 2026 are to get to the racetrack every weekend and learn and progress as a racecar driver. The 38-year-old has a handful of starts in the upper levels of stock car racing and has never attempted a full-time ARCA or NASCAR season, until now.
Keeping funding and being in the car week in and week out will be valuable for both team and driver, especially in a season where there is clearly some speed under the hood. Earnhardt scored a top 10 at Daytona, driving for Rise Racing, whose owner Tim Goulet only has five top 10s.
If Rise and Earnhardt can find some consistency, a handful of top 10s by season’s end seems like a fairly realistic statistic to expect. – Calloni
Jason Kitzmiller
Consistency runs in the Kitzmiller family, highlighted by Isaac Kitzmiller’s title in the 2025 ARCA East season, with eight top 10s in eight starts. His father, Jason Kitzmiller, showed consistency as well, finishing third in points last season in the ARCA main series, ahead of Robusto.
Jason Kitzmiller’s third-place finish is notable because Robusto had a better average finish, more lead-lap finishes, seven more top fives and the same number of top 10s (14). The one category where Jason stands out is running at the finish, completing 16 of 20 races compared to Robusto’s 14.
With the top three spots likely taken by the Nitro entries, Kitzmiller will be a favorite for fourth. If he maximizes his time on track and continues fighting for strong finishes, he could pull off a similar upset this season. He’s already off to a solid start, avoiding the Daytona chaos to finish seventh, while the full-time Nitro competitors finished second, 26th and 37th. – Sonderman
Michael Maples
Michael Maples finished on the lead lap in 12th at Daytona. It was only his second career lead-lap result and his finish was five spots better than his career average. He needs to do more of that.
As the owner of MMS, Maples expanded his organization from two to four full-time entries. Yet his on-track results are abysmal.
For his team to progress, Maples needs four similar entries. He cannot be the weakest link in every race. One way to do that: follow Cosentino, who placed only three spots lower than Maples in points last year despite running six fewer races.
The team is building a notebook. Maples ought to run top 15 regularly, battling for the lucky dog and trying to stay on the lead lap longer. If he does that, he could end up fighting for a career-best showing in points. – Kristl
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
Even authors on this article disrespecting female drivers like jade adevisidian and taylor reimer, they need more opportunities in nascar national series the big “3”
Not more disrespect, it is hard enough for them to get opportunities.
Kirk, thanks for reading. This article is about full-time drivers in the ARCA national division. Isabella Robusto is the only woman who is running full time in it this season, hence why she was included. There is no disrespect toward Jade Avedisian, Taylor Reimer, or any other female drivers. Wishing them the best of luck on track this year.