After 19 races, the 2026 ARCA Menards Series ends its season with race No. 20 at Kansas Speedway. Aptly named the Menards 150, the 100-lap affair at the 1.5-mile racetrack will be the first time since 2021 that the season finale is at Kansas.
Twenty-seven drivers are entered in the race, two fewer than the previous edition at Kansas earlier this season.
Three trophies will be handed out: the owner points, driver points, and race-winning trophy.
In owner points, Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 enters with an 11-point lead over Pinnacle Racing Group’s No. 28.
The JGR pilot Gio Ruggiero won the earlier race at Kansas this season, too, albeit in part thanks to a controversial move spinning out Dystany Spurlock to bring out a caution.
Nevertheless, Ruggiero’s ARCA results this season speak for themselves. Five starts, four wins, five top fives, five top 10s, and 161 laps led. In his four-race record at Kansas, he has one win, four top fives, four top 10s, and 133 laps led.
Carson Brown hopes to give Ruggiero a run for his money, though. Brown will pilot the No. 28 PRG Chevrolet. Should Jake Bollman win the driver’s championship, as long as Brown finishes 23rd or better, then he will win the Rookie of the Year. If Bollman does not win the driver’s title, though, he would win ROTY.
“It’s really cool to be able to factor into the championship,” Brown said in a release. “I honestly haven’t chased points in ARCA because I’ve run a limited schedule that made sense in regard to my overall racing schedule. But Kansas is the last race and knowing that the owner’s title is something that’s a possibility, it’s really important to go out there and perform well.
“It’s been a good year – some wins and a really consistent run of podiums – but the process of it all and getting to learn the feel of this big, heavy stock car has been the best part.”
JGR won once at Kansas in 2023, both teams won once there in 2024, and PRG swept the 2025 events.
If Ruggiero finishes sixth or higher, the No. 18 team will win its fifth championship in the last seven years.
On the driver’s side, Bollman has a 16-point lead over his Nitro Motorsports teammate Thomas Annunziata.
In the ’26 race at Kansas, the lone start for both drivers there, Bollman finished third and Annunziata finished ninth.
With confidence and momentum on his side thanks to 18 top 10s, including 15 straight, Bollman is primed to win his first ARCA title.
“It’s tough, right, like I truthfully think that the meaningfulness of winning the championship for me is going to be a lot,” Bollman told media in a Zoom call. “I feel like, you know, I need to get my name out there, right. I don’t have rides that are going to take me places. I feel like this is going to be a big thing for my career. Just to have my name, right, you know, people have seen what I’ve done with the consistency I have. Like I said, going back to it, we don’t have the win speed every week. And we know where we’re lacking and we’re trying to get it better. We’re figuring stuff out, we’re doing all the things we need to do, but the championship deal, I’m not going to say it’s make-or-break for my career deal, but it’s pretty close to that for me.”
Annunziata needs help to win the title, but he’s still been fast thus far in his ARCA tenure.
In 25 career starts, he has two wins, 14 top fives, 22 top 10s, three poles, and 161 laps led.
Furthermore, he’s also amid a 15-straight top-10 run. He just has not been as fast as Bollman. Head -to-head, Bollman is up 11-8, besting Annunziata as well with an average finish of 5.1 compared to Annunziata’s 7.1.
For Nitro, the Menards 150 will culminate with a 1-2-3 finish in the driver point standings, regardless of who wins the title. It will mark the first time in series history that a team has enjoyed a 1-2-3 finish in the driver point standings.
Isabella Robusto is a lock to finish in third in points, one spot better than her ’25 finish.
In her four-race Kansas record, she has one top 10 and one pole, but also three DNFs.
Those numbers are indicative of her career, too. Fourteen top fives and 26 top 10s in 43 career starts, but also 10 DNFs and 17 times not on the lead lap. Hopefully, luck is on her side to truly give Nitro a night of celebration in the Menards 150.
My prediction for the season finale: Brown wins the race, Ruggiero gives the No. 18 team the owner’s title with a runner-up result, and Bollman takes the driver’s crown with a fourth-place effort. Sandwiched between those drivers is Lanie Buice, who pilots the PRG No. 77 Chevy to third. Let’s round out the top five with Landon S. Huffman driving the No. 9 CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet to P5.
Will my predictions be correct? We’ll find out in the Menards 150 on Friday, Sept. 25. The green flag will fly at 8 p.m. ET with TV coverage provided by FOX Sports 1.
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.
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