We’ve officially reached the halfway point in the 2026 ARCA Menards Series season, as this Saturday’s (June 27) race at Elko Speedway will mark the 10th race of 20 on this year’s calendar.
The series’ annual trip to Minnesota has yielded some very exciting racing over the course of the last few seasons, as the 0.375-mile short track has perfectly fit the mold to the type of racing the series has been accustomed to seeing.
Of course, one of the most exciting races the track has seen in recent years was the 2024 edition. William Sawalich narrowly beat Kris Wright and Lavar Scott in a three-wide finish underneath a lightning-filled sky, with the rain holding off just long enough to allow a natural finish to the event.
This year, the track will see 21 entrants making the trip to Elko New Market, Minn.
Last year’s winner, Max Reaves, comes back to Elko as the defending series winner as well, claiming victory at Berlin Speedway last weekend. In the 2025 trip to Elko, Reaves led 84 of the 250 laps en route to victory, taking the lead on the final restart with 50 laps to go and never turning back.
Reaves, who is still too young to compete full-time, has found a knack for finding victory lane on the short-track events of the schedule. However, he’s also had a bit of a boom or bust type of record with them as well. Reaves has contested seven races on tracks less than a mile in length in the national division of ARCA. He’s won four of them, finished runner-up once, and has two finishes outside of the top 10, both due to tire issues.
Outside of Reaves, no other drivers who entered this weekend have found victory lane at Elko, leaving plenty of potential for a first-time winner. Nitro Motorsports is bringing its typical slew of cars, and each of which certainly will have a fair shake at victory Saturday night.
Ty Fredrickson, Isabella Robusto, Jake Bollman, and Thomas Annunziata will comprise the Nitro foursome this weekend. The group has one combined ARCA victory, which belongs to Annunziata, but short tracks have definitely been the team’s strong suit across the board.
Bollman and Annunziata were both penalized following Berlin. Bollman was docked 12 points and Annunziata was docked six. As such, Bollman still leads the driver point standings, now by 18 over Annunziata and 50 over Robusto.
Annunziata is coming off one of his best oval races to date at Berlin. He led 38 laps, his first laps led on an oval, finishing runner-up to Reaves. Although he’s never seen Elko before, he will likely have a say in determining the winner on Saturday night if he’s able to build off of that momentum.
Both Robusto and Bollman are still looking for their first career ARCA wins. Bollman has never run a race at Elko but enters on a four-race top-five streak and has excelled on short tracks in his ARCA and ARCA Menards Series West career. His lone West victory came at a fellow 0.375-mile short track, Colorado National Speedway.
As for Robusto, Elko has arguably been her best track. She’s run two races in Minnesota and has finished inside the top five both times. If she can continue to fight off the gremlins of bad luck that have followed her all season, she’s likely to be a strong contender.
The last Nitro driver, Fredrickson, is a bit of a wild card. The 17-year-old is local to the Minneapolis area and has just one previous ARCA start, coming at this race a year ago. Fredrickson finished fourth in that race and contests his share of local races on the track each year.
Pinnacle Racing Group will welcome a new face to the fray this weekend, as Landon S. Huffman will make his team debut in the No. 28. The 19-year-old will be making his national division debut, though he has two starts for CR7 Motorsports in ARCA Menards Series East competition earlier this season. Huffman is no stranger to short tracks, though, and finished runner-up at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in May.
Huffman will be joined by a more familiar face to the team, Taylor Reimer. The 26-year-old will be making her fourth start of the season in the No. 77, and fifth overall. Reimer, who is still relatively new to paved oval racing, will have the rare benefit of returning to a track for the second time this weekend. She’s only had the luxury once in her ARCA career, running Phoenix Raceway in West competition last November, and returning in the national division race in March earlier this season. Reimer finished eighth last summer at Elko, driving for Nitro in her series debut at a paved oval.
Jason Kitzmiller enters Elko fifth in the season standings and has seemingly mirrored his 2025 season statistics thus far into 2026. Elko, like most of the short tracks, has been fairly kind to Kitzmiller. He’s a near lock for a top 10 finish on short ovals, only finishing outside of the top 10 once in 10 tries over the last year and a half. Last year’s run at Elko was no different for the 52-year-old, finishing sixth. Kitzmiller has not finished inside the top five on a short oval in his ARCA career, however, and will look to change that stat Saturday evening.
As has become customary, Willie Mullins returns to run his familiar No. 3. Mullins ran the Berlin and Elko weekends back-to-back last year, finishing inside the top 10 in both events. He finished 11th at Berlin last weekend. This season’s race at Elko will be Mullins’ fifth start there, and while he’s never finished better than eighth, he’s recorded a top 10 in each of his previous starts.
Other notable drivers running the 250-lap race under the lights in Minnesota include Alex Clubb, Jeff Maconi, Michael Maples, Austin Vaughn, and Bobby Dale Earnhardt.
Like usual, Saturday’s (June 27) Shore Lunch 250 will be a one-day show. Teams will have two short 20-minute practices at 4:40 and 5:10 p.m. ET, followed by a qualifying session at 6:20 p.m. The green flag for the race itself will fly at 9 p.m. ET, with the race being broadcast live on FOX Sports 2.
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
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