Who Will Become the Next ARCA First-Time Winner?

We’ve seen some first-time winners in all three ARCA divisions in 2026.
In addition to already having his one ARCA Menards Series East triumph, Gio Ruggiero captured the victory in the national division season opener at Daytona International Speedway. In the next race, a combination one with the ARCA Menards Series West, Carson Brown dominated at Phoenix Raceway, scoring his first main series and West wins.

Phoenix was the second race of the West season. In the first race at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway, Mason Massey won in his first series start.

Similar to Ruggiero, Tristan McKee won at Watkins Glen International in 2025 for his first main series win. In 2026, he won his first ARCA Menards Series East race at Hickory Motor Speedway, then promptly followed it up by leading every lap to win at Rockingham Speedway.

With those new winners, who else is a likely candidate to win an ARCA series race in 2026? And where?

Isabella Robusto

Isabella Robusto was on this list last year and she returns this year for the same reasons. She drives for top-tier Nitro Motorsports. She is working with crew chief Glenn Parker this year, a reunion for the duo. She wants to win races and the championship.

During the ARCA test at Daytona, Robusto told Frontstretch that her two biggest areas for improvement this season are at 1.5-mile racetracks and luck.

In Robusto’s nine starts at racetracks between one and two miles in length, she has two top fives, four top 10s, one pole and four DNFs. So either she’s been fast or not completed the race.

Because Kansas Speedway, site of the next main series race, is an intermediate and Pinnacle Racing Group swept those races last year, while Robusto will be fast there, her prime opportunity for her first win should be at the following racetrack: Talladega Superspeedway.

In her lone start at Talladega, Robusto started fourth and finished third, though she had a shot at the victory in overtime, if not for the quick race-ending caution. Moreover, Robusto was fast at Daytona this year too. She was part of the Nitro fastest times on the leaderboard during the test, then qualified second for the season opener. She led 10 laps during the race itself and arguably had a race-winning car, except another mechanical woe relegated her to a 37th-place DNF.

If Robusto wins at Talladega, the win would be historic and excellent for her championship hopes as she’s currently 24th in the points.

Landon S. Huffman

Landon S. Huffman is only running three more races, yet given his performance at Hickory, he ought to be considered one of the favorites as the other two short tracks that he’s running, at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and Salem Speedway.

Huffman is participating in the CARS Tour Late Model Stock car event at Nashville Fairgrounds on April 11. So, he will have knowledge about racing at the 0.596-mile short track. Huffman’s CR7 Motorsports teammate Isaac Kitzmiller finished fourth, gaining 11 positions from his starting spot, in the 2025 ARCA East race at Nashville.

CR7 pilot Jason Kitzmilller wound up seven laps down with an 11th-place result at Salem last year, but the organization has ARCA GOAT Frank Kimmel working in its ARCA program. Kimmel has nine Salem trophies. Although it’s been 18 years since his last win there, Kimmel’s knowledge will be valuable to Huffman, who comes from a short track background.

While Max Reaves wasn’t a fan of Huffman’s driving style at Hickory, Huffman’s tenacity, having a teammate and his background absolutely make him one driver who could break through for his first career ARCA win this year.

Julian DaCosta

The West field has a strong list of full-time drivers. To name a few, defending champion Trevor Huddleston and his teammate Andrew Chapman, Bill McAnally Racing duo Massey and Hailie Deegan, and Nitro rookies Julian DaCosta and Mia Lovell.

DaCosta debuted on the ARCA scene last year. He scored one top five, fifth at Madison International Speedway, and two top 10s.

Unfortunately, Nitro has not been the luckiest to start 2026, but the organization is still strong. Team GM Billy Venturini is spearheading the team’s West program, and his Venturini Motorsports was quite successful racing the West.

DaCosta ran the Trans Am TA2 Series in 2025 so he has an extensive road racing background. As such, he’ll be quick in the West two road course races at Sonoma Raceway and Portland International Raceway, back-to-back on the schedule as well.

Although DaCosta does not have as much short track experience, every lap at those courses will be vital for his growth. The faster he gets acclimated, the more he will run up front on those tracks. In the meantime, DaCosta certainly has June 26 and August 8 circled on his calendar.

Cleetus McFarland

Garrett “Cleetus McFarland” Mitchell is slated to run the ARCA races at Kansas and Talladega. Like Robusto, he made this list last year.

But Mitchell showed some talent at Rockingham, consistently running around the top five and ultimately finishing fourth. He beat a Nitro driver, a former NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver and a solid part-time driver.

The last time Cleetus ran a superspeedway, he crashed out of his Truck Series debut at Daytona on lap 7.

Yet in three ARCA superspeedway starts, he has one top 10 and one DNF. At Talladega last year, dealing with a mechanical gremlin, Mitchell gained 14 spots from start to finish en route to a 10th-place result. It was an impressive performance.

Now we’re in year two of the Cleetus experiment, so to speak. He’s been denied entry into NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series superspeedway races, so he is motivated to run well.

On top of that, his friend George “Squirrel McNutt” Siciliano is competing at Kansas and Talladega too. Not only will the duo bring us entertaining YouTube content, they will be able to share notes, compare their racecars and work together.

Admittedly, betting on Cleetus to win Talladega is probably more of an emotional than analytical choice, but could you imagine Talladega Boulevard afterward?

It’d be unforgettable, both there and the subsequent YouTube video on Cleetus’ YouTube channel.

It’d also force NASCAR officials to reconsider their decision to deny him his NOAPS superspeedway license. Given the questions surrounding the NASCAR approval process, let’s add further mayhem to it with a Cleetus Talladega victory. Kansas would be fun too, though far more improbable.

As for when you’ll next see ARCA drivers hit the racetrack, the West drivers will compete at Tucson Speedway on Saturday, April 11, at 10 p.m. ET with live coverage provided by FloRacing. A week later, ARCA national drivers will go to Kansas for the first of two races there. The green flag will fly for that race at 12:30 p.m. ET with TV coverage provided by FOX Sports 1. Lastly, the East drivers will visit Nashville Fairgrounds on Saturday, May 2. The 150-lap race there will begin at 9 p.m. ET, broadcast on FloRacing and the NASCAR Channel.