The road course portion of the 2026 ARCA Menards Series season has officially concluded after this past weekend’s visit to the Connecticut-based Lime Rock Park.
Thomas Annunziata was victorious in the 68-lap race, leading all but nine laps. It was Annunziata’s second career win, both at Lime Rock. The 21-year-old closed the points standings deficit to Nitro Motorsports teammate Jake Bollman to just eight points heading into the final eight races of the season.Â
With the points battle heating up as the summer wages on, how does this week’s edition of the Frontstretch ARCA power rankings stack up?
1. Jake Bollman
Bollman might not have found victory lane at Lime Rock, but it was clear he conquered road course racing, something with which he was largely unfamiliar. Annunziata was going to be strong, potentially threatening Bollman’s points lead. However, Bollman not only survived some of the chaos on restarts but thrived in the event as well. He led three laps, the first laps he had led since at Michigan International Speedway.
Bollman’s fifth-place finish truly falls right into place with how the rest of his season has gone. He’s been incredibly consistent, and while not always competing for wins, he’s very much always in the mix. The 19-year-old has now finished inside the top 10 in eight straight events, and in 11 of 12 all season long. While Annunziata cut into the points lead with his win, Bollman still holds an eight-point lead heading into the final third of the schedule.
Like many tracks this season, Bollman will head to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park for the first time. Short tracks have been his strong suit, scoring top fives in each of the races at tracks less than a mile in length. With a deeper field expected due to the combination race with the ARCA Menards Series East, the race could go a long way in deciding the champion, whether it be Annunziata or Bollman.Â
2. Thomas Annunziata
Victory felt inevitable for the Nitro No. 70 group. Annunziata began to find his stride behind the wheel, rattling off three poles in four races and a pair of top-five finishes, too. Add in the road course, a style of track that is Annunziata’s specialty, and it was the perfect storm for the 21-year-old, and it led him to victory lane.
Annunziata didn’t lead every lap, but he led most of them, earning two vital bonus points. He paced 59 of the 68 circuits at Lime Rock, including the final 46. He survived a pair of cautions throughout that time and won the race with a healthy 9.932-second margin of victory over second-place Andrew Ranger.
While short tracks weren’t something that Annunziata was abundantly strong at entering the season, that has changed. In the previous four races the series has run at tracks a mile in length or shorter, Annunziata has recorded three top-five finishes, with the lone exception being a seventh-place finish at Elko Speedway after an unscheduled pit stop derailed yet another top-five run.
3. Max Reaves
Max Reaves certainly isn’t used to blue-collar performances, but his race at Lime Rock was just that. Typically the favorite to win at most racetracks, Reaves entered Lime Rock with less road racing experience than most of his competitors. However, he stayed in the top 10 for the entire race and worked his way into the top five by the end to finish fourth.
Short tracks are the strength of Reaves and his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team. He won at Berlin Raceway and Elko and ran well at Toledo Speedway before an issue forced an 11th-place finish.
Road course racing, however, is another story. He finished eighth at Watkins Glen International, his first ARCA road course start. That said, it’s important to remember that the 16-year-old is still learning and honing his craft, and his race at Lime Rock was a perfect example of that. In a post-race interview, he admitted he had a lot to learn, but with no more road courses and an abundance of short tracks on the docket to end the season, it’s likely his blue-collar days return to continued success down the stretch.
IRP brings a new challenge for Reaves, a track he has never seen. The No. 18 won the race last season with Brent Crews behind the wheel and will look to repeat with Reaves. Looking ahead, the series will see more of Reaves, as there is only one track he isn’t eligible to run at in the final eight races on the schedule, the season finale at Kansas Speedway.
4. Carson Brown
We’ve only seen Carson Brown pilot an ARCA racecar in five national division races, but he has been extremely impressive. Brown won his first career main series race at Phoenix Raceway and has never finished outside the top three in his five starts. When you combine his standalone East and ARCA Menards Series West races, Brown has only run outside the podium twice in nine starts.
That type of production behind the wheel is exactly what was displayed at Lime Rock. He might’ve been the car that could’ve given Annunziata a run for his money, but after an incident on a restart put him behind the eight ball, Brown spent the latter stages of the race trying to rebound. He did exactly that, finishing third, and likely would’ve gotten by Ranger if he had a lap or two more to do so.
The first half of Brown’s season was a little more scattered, but the second half is much different. He’s expected to take the reins of the No. 28 in each of the final eight races, giving him regularity behind the wheel for the first time in a series in which his results have already been impressive. Brown has never contested a race at IRP in the ARCA division, meaning the next race will be a first for him, like many of his competitors.
5. Tristan McKee
Tristan McKee had a quieter day at Lime Rock, especially after establishing himself as an excellent road racer after his win in his debut at Watkins Glen in 2025. McKee qualified third, but finished seventh after a few off-track excursions throughout the 68-lap race. The 15-year-old has now clicked off three top-10 finishes in four starts, including a win at Toledo.
The series will see a bit more of McKee down the stretch. With three combination races left, McKee will contest those events, as well as at Salem Speedway and Madison International Speedway. Like Brown, more consistency and regularity behind the wheel of an ARCA car could be very beneficial for the Pinnacle Racing Group driver.
Paint Scheme of the Race
Brown brought a new-to-him but familiar sponsor to the 1.5-mile road course this weekend, Whelen. The sponsor is local to New England and sponsored two racecars at Lime Rock, Brown and the No. 71 Ford of Andy Jankowiak. However, the familiar red-and-white base scheme looked extra sharp on the No. 28 Chevrolet, giving McKee the nod for Paint Scheme of the Race.
You can find all of Frontstretch’s video coverage from Lime Rock on the Frontstretch Grassroots YouTube channel.
Every ARCA division enjoys an off week this week, and the national and East divisions will return at IRP in two weeks. The LiUNA 150 is slated to go green on Friday, July 24. ARCA teams will have 45 minutes of practice that day, starting at 1 p.m. ET with qualifying to follow at 2 p.m. The green flag will fly at 5:30 p.m. ET with TV coverage provided by FOX Sports 1.
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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