ARCA Menards Series at Madison International Speedway: Atlas 200 Pre-race Notes

THE RACE:      Atlas 200
THE PLACE:    Madison International Speedway
THE DATE:       Friday, August 28, 2026
THE TIME:        9 pm ET / 8 pm CT
TV:  FS1, Live

  • The final quarter of the 2026 ARCA Menards Series season takes the green flag in Friday night’s Atlas 200 at Madison International Speedway. It will be the 1610th race in series history, the 13th race at Madison, and the 33rd time the series has raced in the state of Wisconsin.
  • Jake Bollman (No. 20 Nitro Motorsports Toyota) leads the ARCA Menards Series championship standings over his teammate Thomas Annunziata (No. 70 JBL Toyota) by just four points with five races remaining in the season. Neither Bollman nor Annunziata have previously raced at Madison International Speedway.
  • Max Reaves (No. 18 Cook Out Toyota) returns to Madison International Speedway as the defending winner of the Atlas 200 and the most recent ARCA Menards Series winner coming off his victory in Sunday’s Calypso 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Reaves, who is mentored by 2000 NASCAR Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Labonte, has six wins in 16 career ARCA Menards Series starts. In addition to Springfield, he’s won earlier this season at Berlin Raceway and Elko Speedway.
  • Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour points leader Carson Brown (No. 28 Grizzly Coolers Chevrolet) looks to score his second ARCA Menards Series victory of the season on Friday. Brown won in his ARCA Menards Series debut earlier this season at Phoenix Raceway, becoming the 39th driver to win in his first career start since 1979. Brown finished second in the ASA STARS National Tour race at Madison in June.
  • Tristan McKee (No. 77 Zeigler Chevrolet) will make his seventh ARCA Menards Series start of 2026 on Friday night and will be hunting for his third winner’s trophy of the season. McKee, who leads the ARCA Menards East standings headed into that series’ finale at Bristol Motor Speedway in September, won earlier this season at Toledo Speedway and in his most recent start at Iowa Speedway. McKee finished sixth in the ASA STARS National Tour race at Madison in June.
  • Fifteen-year-old Taylor Mayhew (No. 42 MMI Services Chevrolet), son of seven-time ARCA Menards West winner David Mayhew, will make his second ARCA Menards Series start driving for team owner Bruce Cook. Mayhew finished third in his West debut at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in February and then finished eighth in the ARCA Menards Series / ARCA Menards West combination race at Phoenix Raceway. Cook Racing Technologies has won twice this season, at Watkins Glen International and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, with Kaden Honeycutt at the wheel.
  • Isaac Kitzmiller (No. 79 A.L.L. Construction / Carter CAT Chevrolet) heads to Madison fresh off his best career ARCA Menards Series finish, second, on Sunday at Springfield. Kitzmiller, the reigning ARCA Menards East champion, has finished in the top-five in each of his most recent three ARCA Menards Series starts with a pair of fifth-place finishes at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park and Iowa Speedway to go along with his runner-up finish at Springfield.
  • Ty Fredrickson (No. 36 Hermans Landscape Supply / Rack Shack BBQ Toyota) will make his fourth start of the season and the first in his familiar No. 36. Fredrickson, the son of former ASA Midwest Tour champion Dan Fredrickson, finished a career-best third in his first start of the season at Elko Speedway, and 12th in his debut with his family-owned team at Iowa Speedway. Fredrickson also raced in the ASA STARS National Tour race at Madison in June, coming home in fourth.
  • Previous ARCA Menards Series winners at Madison International Speedway include Ramo Stott (1970), Tom Bowsher (1971), Bruce Gould (1973), Alex Bowman (2011), Chris Buescher (2012), Kyle Benjamin (2013), Justin Boston (2014), Josh Williams (2016), Austin Theriault (2017), Chandler Smith (2018, 2019), and Max Reaves (2025).
  • The ARCA Menards Series track qualifying record at Madison International Speedway, set in 2019, is held by Chandler Smith at 17.982 seconds/100.095 miles per hour.
  • The ARCA Menards Series race record at Madison International Speedway, set in 2013, is held by Kyle Benjamin at 79.210 miles per hour.
  • ARCA Menards Series races at Madison have been extended into overtime only one previous time, in 2012. Should the race be extended into overtime, there will be unlimited attempts at a two-lap “green-white-checkered” finish. Should the caution be displayed after the white flag has been shown, there will be unlimited attempts at a one-lap “green and white together” finish.
  • The Atlas 200 is set for 9 pm ET / 8 pm CT on Friday, August 28. The race will be televised live on FS1. Live timing & scoring data and live race audio will be available on ARCARacing.com; for up-to-the-minute updates please follow @ARCA_Racing on X (formerly known as Twitter).

About ARCA

The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum in Toledo, Ohio, and acquired by NASCAR in April 2018, is the leading grassroots stock car sanctioning body in the United States. Bridging the gap between NASCAR’s top three national touring series and weekly and regional tour racing all across the country, the organization sanctions over 100 races per year in the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, ARCA Menards Series West, ASA STARS National Tour, ASA CRA Super Series, ASA Midwest Tour, ASA Southern Super Series plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways. For more information about ARCA visit www.arcaracing.com, or follow ARCA on Facebook (@ARCARacing) and Twitter (@ARCA_Racing).  

About Menards

A family-owned and run company started in 1958, Menards is recognized as the retail home center leader of the Midwest with 236 stores in 15 states.  Menards is truly a one-stop shop for all of your home improvement needs featuring a full-service lumberyard and everything you need to plan a renovation or build a home, garage, cabin, shed, deck, fence or post frame building.  You’ll find a large selection of lumber, roofing, siding, construction blocks, trusses, doors and windows, plus cabinets, appliances, countertops, flooring, lighting, paint, plumbing supplies and more.  To complete the job, Menards has quality hand tools, power tools, fasteners, electrical tools plus storage options and supplies for everyone from the weekend warrior to the pro! 

Menards has what you need to complete your outdoor projects and keep your yard in tip-top shape including mowers, trimmers, blowers, pressure washers and more, plus a beautiful garden center stocked with plants, shrubs, trees, landscaping tools, grass seed, fertilizer options, outdoor décor and patio furniture.  Menards also has everyday essentials like health & beauty products, housewares, pet and wildlife supplies, automotive items and even groceries.  And at Christmas, an Enchanted Forest display area with impressive trees, lighting, decorations, ornaments, inflatables and more.   

Menards is known for friendly Customer Service and as the place to “Save Big Money” with low prices every day, and sales too!  For more information, please visit Menards.com to learn about our store locations, offerings and services. 

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

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