ARCA Power Rankings: Did Jake Bollman Have His Championship Moment?

SALEM, Ind. – The ARCA Menards Series race at Salem Speedway had good racing, sans for the lead. Pole sitter Max Reaves led all 216 laps in the historic race, which was broadcast on FOX, to take home his fourth main-series trophy of the year, tied for the series-high.

But Reaves’ dominance was not the only storyline in the race. He’s not even No. 1 in these rankings. Nope, after Frontstretch ARCA editor Mark Kristl was at Salem, here are the standout drivers from Saturday, Sept. 12.

1. Jake Bollman

Pre-race, many folks in the garage thought that if they ended up racing each other up front, Jake Bollman and Thomas Annunziata would make contact, potentially taking each other out.

Yet one individual predicted that Salem would be a make-or-break race for the title. That person was indeed correct.

Bollman ran inside the top five for most of the race, but in the latter portion, he had top-three speed in his No. 20 Nitro Motorsports Toyota. As the field approached the final restart, Bollman’s team stood anxiously, ready to erupt if he snagged his first win.

Bollman didn’t win, but he gave it a heck of an effort, finishing second, his fifth runner-up showing.

“One more lap, we were so close,” Nitro team owner Nick Tucker said shortly after the checkered flag. While it’s debatable whether Bollman would’ve caught Reaves with another lap, his No. 20 team certainly deserved to high-five each other post-race.

With Bollman’s second-place result coupled with Annunziata’s seventh-place finish, Bollman extended his points lead to 13 with only two races left.

No, Bollman has not clinched the title. Realistically though, he ought to have immense confidence. If he runs top 10 at Bristol Motor Speedway, a solid day at Kansas Speedway should net him the title. Again, Bristol will not be an easy race, but Bollman left Salem far more comfortably. As for Annunziata, he’s arguably in Hail Mary mode, needing to lead laps, win races, and maximize points.

2. Max Reaves

Frankly, after Reaves’ performance in the 2025 Salem edition, he was undoubtedly the favorite entering Salem this year. Rightly so, he thoroughly delivered. He did it cleanly, although his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was clearly the fastest.

Reaves scored the maximum 49 points and Carson Brown wound up 10th. As a result, JGR increased its lead in the national division owner points to a 20-point margin over second-place No. 28 Pinnacle Racing Group, driven by Brown.

The focus in racing series is the driver’s title, but the owner’s title is the one that pays the money at the end of the year. JGR is in excellent shape to claim that crown this year, and well deserved, with Reaves and Gio Ruggiero having four wins apiece.

3. Will Kimmel

Pre-race, Will Kimmel jokingly told Frontstretch that he will always be at Salem, because it is his home racetrack. He aggressively wheeled his No. 69 Ford too. He lacked race-winning speed, as did everyone sans Reaves, but he sure put on a show.

“I mean, this means a lot; this is our Daytona,” Kimmel told Frontstretch post-race. “This means more to me than winning at Daytona. My family has a longstanding history here … we’ve been here a really long time and this is the best racecar I’ve ever had here. We hit on something. We threw a lot at it before qualifying again, because every time I unload, I miss. We fought brake issues all night and between 12-15 laps, they went to the floor. I’m pretty sure it was a master cylinder because the pedal wouldn’t come back so a plunger was stuck. But when we had the cautions at the end and I knew that I had under 10 laps to get it done, I knew we could make something happen. And we were. We were very competitive right there at the end of the race so I’m happy about that.”

Kimmel didn’t win, but he gave it his all at Salem. As he noted, his ability to succeed competing against top-dollar full-time organizations was impressive. Hopefully some of his success carries over into his race at the season finale at Kansas.

4. Landon S. Huffman

Silly season talks for 2027 are underway in the garage. One driver who several people want to see full time in the series next year is Landon S. Huffman. His Salem performance was a perfect example of why.

He started seventh and then ran inside the top 10 for most of the night, though he backed his car into the wall, bringing out the caution on lap 125. When the checkered flag flew, he crossed the line fourth.

Huffman showed he has talent, racing against full-time Nitro Motorsports cars and the PRG duo. Yet his overeagerness led him to make a mistake. ARCA is where drivers learn, showcase their talents, and work their craft on a variety of different circuits.

In five platform starts this season, Huffman has three top fives, four top 10s, 131 laps led, and arguably the fastest car at Elko Speedway before a mechanical woe cost him a chance at the win.

We’ll see Huffman in the No. 9 Chevrolet for CR7 Motorsports at Kansas. Hopefully, his performance this year and Kansas run will help him gain funding to run full time next year.

SPS Debuting in O’Reilly, Landon S. Huffman Joins at Bristol

5. Isabella Robusto

She won’t win the title, but Isabella Robusto will finish third in points. At Salem, she finished fifth, her first top five since the ninth race of the season at Berlin Raceway.

About a quarter of the way into the race, Robusto was in jeopardy of falling one lap down. With Reaves closing, Robusto was racing by Takuma Koga and Quinn Davis. While Frontstretch did not see who Robusto made contact with, nor is there a good TV replay, Davis and Koga went around, the caution came out, and Robusto stayed on the lead lap.

Nitro steadily improved Robusto’s No. 55 Toyota and she slowly gained positions. After 216 laps, on a night where several drivers said they were tired post-race, Robusto left with a smile.

“Yeah, I think at one point we were down to 12th and we pitted almost every single time we could just to make adjustments on the car,” Robusto said. “To come out with a top five, I feel like that’s a really good day for us. Just fun, super tight center off and then once I got that fixed, I just feel like we were too free on entry to make up any ground on anyone. So yeah, those restarts worked out. I’m not sure what the No. 28 did. I think he just cleared himself in front of me on the backstretch. But, thankfully, got the top line on that last restart, had to execute, and came out with a top five.”

With all the bad luck she’s endured throughout the past two seasons, it was good to see Robusto happy post-race. To her point, many people said that folks’ Salem performance should translate into their Bristol performance. If Nitro can bring her a faster No. 55 Toyota, Robusto could move up these rankings.

Paint Scheme of the Race

So many racecars had white paint schemes at Salem. Whether it was three Nitro drivers, Davis’ No. 89, Taylor Mayhew’s No. 42, or others, one driver’s car was easy to spot. Admittedly, it was easy because he led every single lap.

Reaves ran his black No. 18 Cook Out Toyota, but under the lights, with so many white racecars, his car stood out. With the scoreboard in the middle of the backstretch, sometimes hard to see because of the infield banking at the racetrack, tracking the field was simple. Find Reaves’ black car. So, thanks to that, Reaves earns the Salem Paint Scheme of the Race Award.

You can find all Frontstretch’s video coverage from Salem on the Frontstretch Grassroots YouTube channel.

Bristol hosts ARCA for the Bush’s Beans 200. The 200-lap race will be a combination race featuring the main series and East series drivers. It’s the East season finale, with Tristan McKee leading Reaves by one point and defending champion Isaac Kitzmiller trailing by 17. The green flag will fly on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 5:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.