ARCA Preview: Calypso 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds

After 14 races on pavement, the ARCA Menards Series tackles dirt for the first time in 2026 on Sunday, Aug. 23 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

Two of the next three races take place on dirt miles on state fairgrounds, with the Springfield Mile hosting the Calypso 100.

Twenty-five drivers are slated to take to the dirt, the largest number of cars at either dirt track since 2017.

After Nitro Motorsports won the 2025 edition, its drivers Thomas Annunziata and Jake Bollman enter Springfield just seven points apart from one another. Bollman still leads, but Annunziata has closed that gap considerably over the last few races. The kicker for this race is that neither driver has an extensive dirt racing background. Bollman cut his teeth on asphalt short tracks, and Annunziata comes from an extensive road racing background. This gives the race a true wild card feel to the championship battle. 

Nitro will field two other cars as well, for full-timer Isabella Robusto and Gavan Boschele. Robusto has run the Springfield race twice in her career, and she finished second in her first attempt in 2024 despite not having much dirt experience herself. The 2025 race saw a 21st-place finish after she was caught up in an incident in the opening laps. As for Boschele, he’s also never run an ARCA race on dirt in his career. He does, however, have more than 50 starts in various dirt outlaw and midget series across the country in his career, so dirt is hardly a new commodity to the 18-year-old. 

Pinnacle Racing Group has Carson Brown and Taylor Reimer in its two entries at Springfield, with both carrying a solid track record on dirt throughout their careers. Brown’s ARCA stats this year are impressive following the race at Iowa Speedway, as he’s still yet to finish outside of the top three. His previous dirt experience comes in heavier stock cars, including late models and UMP modifieds, so an ARCA car on dirt may have a familiar feel to the 18-year-old. 

As for Reimer, until recently her entire racing career came on dirt. She’s run the Springfield race before, finishing eighth in her series debut in 2023, and third the following year driving for Venturini Motorsports. She hasn’t run either dirt race since 2024, as she transitions to pavement racing, but has recorded three consecutive top 10 finishes in her part-time starts this season. Most of her prior dirt experience came in midget cars, even making some starts at the Tulsa Shootout. 

As fans have become accustomed to, Kelly Kovski is back for the dirt races in 2026. Kovski is the last remaining true ARCA dirt ringer, as nearly all of his career starts have come on the two dirt tracks dating back as early as 2004. Kovski is a perennial shoe in for a top 10 when his name is on the entry list, but has recorded three consecutive top fives at Springfield, and has finished five of his last six races inside the top five as well. The last thing alluding the 45-year-old is a victory, as he’s never finished higher than second in his 21-year career. 

Joining Kovski in the ringer category is another familiar face, Sean Corr. The 42-year-old certainly isn’t as dirt exclusive as Kovski, as he’s run races at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway each year since 2009, and a full season in 2011. However, the last three seasons, Corr has only shown up for the drafting-style racetracks and the dirt races. He earned a top five in this race a year ago, his only top 10 ARCA finish on dirt in his career.

Joe Gibbs Racing and Max Reaves enter the first dirt race of the schedule on a three-race top 10 streak, that includes two fourth-place finishes at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park and Iowa. Reaves has found victory lane twice this season, at Berlin Raceway and Elko Speedway, but both team and driver have been held out of victory lane since Elko. The No. 18 has won one race at Springfield, back in 2024 with Sawalich driving. Reaves is still relatively new to dirt racing as well, though he ran both races in 2025. He recorded a sixth-place finish at Springfield and a 10th at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.

CR7 Motorsports has two cars at Springfield as the father-son duo of Jason and Isaac Kitzmiller return to the track. Isaac has never run an ARCA race on dirt, though Jason has two starts, both coming last season. The elder Kitzmiller recorded a top 10 at Springfield and a 14th-place finish at DuQuoin. As for Isaac like many of his competitors, he comes from a pavement racing background but will give the dirt mile a try come Sunday. 

Springfield acts as another home race of sorts for Illinois-based Clubb Racing Inc, and the dirt style of racing certainly plays into the team’s hand as well. Team owner Alex Clubb grew up dirt racing. Clubb made five of his first six starts in the series on dirt and views the two dirt events as opportunity races for his team. This year, he will bring three cars to the track for both. Clubb himself finished eighth at Springfield last season and is seeking his first top 10 this year. Brayton Laster will pilot the No. 83 at the track where he earned his best ARCA finish of seventh last year. He has another top 10 to his name at the track as well, back in 2023. Jeff Maconi will pilot to his familiar No. 86, making his ARCA dirt debut. 

Sunday’s race acts as a one-day show, with teams getting 30 minutes of practice time at 11 a.m. ET and single-car qualifying beginning at 12:15 p.m. The Calypso 100 from Springfield will go green at 2 p.m., with the race airing live on FOX Sports 1.