In his first race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Carson Brown won the Bush’s Best 200 in dominant fashion on Thursday (Sept. 17). Brown led all 200 laps on the way to his third victory of the season.
“This was a tough one, and I’m glad I was able to bring it to victory lane for these guys,” Brown said, speaking to Fox Sports 1 in victory lane. “Before we came, they were like, ‘Bristol owes us one,’ so I’m glad I could do that for them and just try to catch up to Kyle Busch’s legacy here.”
Brown also had the fastest car in both practice and qualifying.
Tristan McKee moved up from third to second to take home the ARCA Menards Series East title, beating rival Max Reaves, who finished fourth. Kaden Honeycutt finished third for Cook Racing Technologies, while Isaac Kitzmiller rounded out the top five.
“It feels really good; it means a lot, just to kind of get a championship in trans am and the lower levels of NASCAR starting out, so it’s definitely really cool,” McKee said about winning the 2026 ARCA Menards Series East title.
Jake Bollman finished sixth to keep his lead over teammate Thomas Annunziata in the ARCA Menards Series, while Jade Avedisian, Andy Jankowiak, Annunziata, and Taylor Mayhew rounded out the top 10.
The first half of the race was split by two cautions, one after the other, but Brown maintained his speed on the outside, taking the lead and building a decent gap to Bollman in second on both occasions.
After the scheduled break, it was the same as the first half of the race. After each caution came out, Brown easily took the lead and put at least a one-second gap on whoever was in second.
The first of four un-planned cautions came out during the opening 40 laps of the race when No. 34, Ivis Earley wrecked coming off of turn four.
The second caution came out on the following restart when No. 95 Hunter Wright, No. 89 Bobby Earnhardt and No. 85 Quinn Davis all spun coming out of turn four.
The third caution came out after No. 53 Zachary Tinkle lost control and rode the wall on lap 91.
On lap 129, the final caution came out after a scary crash by No. 06, Con Nicolopoulos. His car caught fire, but he was able to get out on his own and went to see the medical team shortly after.
A critical moment in the race took place on lap one, when Annunziata received a pass-through penalty for a restart violation, dropping him from second to 33rd and one lap down right off the bat. Annunziata salvaged his race by making it back into the top 10 after the halfway break, but he left valuable points on the board.
If you’re looking for more ARCA action, you won’t have to wait too long. The series returns Friday, Sept. 25, at Kansas Speedway. The green flag for the race at the tri-oval is set for 7 p.m. ET, with live coverage provided by FOX Sports 1.
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