Thomas Annunziata maneuvered his way to win the 2026 ARCA Menards Series championship in a tie-breaker over teammate Jake Bollman.
Annunziata’s achievement occurred following a bizarre finale, the Menards 150, at Kansas Speedway on Friday, September 25, from start to finish. The 21-year-old Annunziata of Colts Neck, New Jersey, entered the finale trailing Bollman by 16 points and was tasked with finishing ahead of his Nitro Motorsports’ teammate by 16 spots on the track if he were to have a legitimate chance of winning the title, pending that neither Annunziata or Bollman would either win the finale or collect any bonus points.
Taking the green flag in fifth place, Annunziata wasted no time motoring his No. 70 JBL Toyota Camry entry into third place in the opening laps and being ahead of Bollman by a single position. On the 15th lap, things took a left turn for the championship teammates. It started when Bollman used the frontstretch’s apron to drive beneath the lapped competitor of Ed Pompa while simultaneously, battling Annunziata for third place. Then entering the first turn, Bollman, who was racing towards the edge of the apron entering the turn, slipped up and made contact into the left-rear area of Annunziata’s entry. The contact got both Nitro Motorsports’ teammates and contenders sideways, with Annunziata spinning below the apron while Bollman proceeded in third place. Despite dropping to 11th place following the spin, Annunziata proceeded with minimal damage.
Shortly after the event’s restart just past the Lap 20 mark, Annunziata bolted his entry back inside the top-10 mark while Bollman slipped to sixth place. Then on Lap 23, Annunziata reeled in on Bollman for sixth place through the frontstretch’s apron. He then appeared to make a right-hand turn into the left-rear area of Bollman and send the latter spinning entering the first turn. While Annunziata proceeded in sixth place, Bollman, who managed to spin his entry below the apron and continue, dropped outside the top-20 mark.
From a Lap 27 restart to Lap 40, Bollman rallied and navigated his way back from outside the top-20 mark to inside the top-10 mark. By then, the latter overtook Annunziata on the track for ninth place. Then on Lap 41, a golden opportunity struck for Annunziata when Bollman wrecked after colliding into a spinning Will Kimmel and getting t-boned by Austin Vaughn through Turns 3 and 4. The carnage took Bollman out of contention for a time being as his wrecked No. 20 Nitro Motorsports Toyota Camry entry was being repaired in the garage.
For the finale’s second half that commenced with 48 laps remaining, Annunziata primarily raced inside of the top-10 mark and had chipped away nearly all of Bollman’s points lead. Racing as high as seventh place, Annunziata was in sixth place when Bollman returned to the track following extensive repairs to his entry. By then, Bollman, who overtook Will Kimmel (who was out of the event) for 22nd place, was leading the championship battle by a single point over Annunziata.
During a late-race caution with 13 laps remaining, Shannon Rursch, Annunziata’s crew chief, directed the driver to pit road for fresh tires and adjustments for a late-race charge to the front. By the time Annunziata returned to the track, he was mired in ninth place and was tasked to gain four spots prior to the event’s conclusion to win the title over Bollman, who had gained another spot over Kevin Campbell.
At the start of the final restart with eight laps remaining, Annunziata used his fresh tires to jump from ninth to sixth in a single lap. He then outdueled Andy Jankowiak for fifth place with five laps remaining, a spot in which Annunziata would retain when he took the checkered flag while Bollman finished 42 laps down in 21st place. By then, Annunziata and Bollman were tied atop the championship standings, but the tie-breaker was awarded to the former by virtue of notching a single victory throughout this season, which occurred at Lime Rock Park in July.
With the achievement, Annunziata became the 44th competitor overall to win the ARCA Menards Series championship, he became the first Toyota competitor to win the ARCA title since Jesse Love in 2023 and he recorded the first ARCA title for Nitro Motorsports in the organization’s second season of existence.
Annunziata, who campaigned in his first full-time season in the ARCA Menards Series this year, capped off the 2026 season with 16 consecutive top-10 results. This includes his lone victory he achieved throughout this year at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut, as he was the lone full-time ARCA competitor to notch a victory this season and what ultimately enabled him to secure his tie-breaking championship.
Overall, Annunziata tallied a total of 11 top-five results (including the Lime Rock Park victory), 18 top-10 results, 129 laps led and an average-finishing result of 6.95 throughout the 20-race schedule. Despite having his racing plans for 2027 unknown, this year’s champion soaked in his hard-fought championship while also giving a nod to his teammate and title contender, Jake Bollman, over their late battle despite their pair of run-ins.
“[Tonight] was crazy,” Annunziata said on FS1. “I came into here without any preconceived notions and I knew it was gonna be hard. Jake Bollman did a good job, too. He had a great year. Just unfortunate he had back luck there, but we had horrible luck in the beginning as well. [I] Kept my head in it. We made contact there in the beginning and then, I misjudged it on the straightaway there, but it was an eye for an eye. We were racing hard and he’s gotten to me a few times so, just hard racing there at the end. Proud of my guys. We led one championship for one race. That’s really cool.”
“I didn’t think [winning the title] was gonna happen,” Annunziata added. “I missed all the late model years and legend car years of learning ovals and I had to do it the hard way. I knew it was gonna be hard, especially against my teammates. They’re very talented and I sucked in the beginning of the year, but I had Derrike Cope and [crew chief] Shannon [Rursch] by my side and they helped me a bunch just trying to get better at oval racing and it helped. We started collecting poles, wins, the only full-time driver to do that and leading the most laps. I feel like we deserved it, but I’m definitely gutted for my teammate as well. [Rursch’s pit call]’s scary, ’cause it’s now up to me and I had to make some moves, but Shannon’s one of the best in the business so, it’s hard not to trust him.”
As Annunziata celebrated his championship, Jake Bollman was left disappointed on pit road after having both a consistent season and a late rally to win the title with a repaired race car conclude by not emerging on top of his tie-breaker with Annunziata. Overall, Bollman, who finished in the runner-up spot five times on the track and led the ARCA driver’s standings for nearly the entire 2026 season, caps off his first full-time campaign in the ARCA Menards Series division with 12 top-five results, 18 top-10 results, 10 laps led and an average-finishing result of 5.9.
Like Annunziata, Bollman’s plans for 2027 remains to be determined, though the 19-year-old native of Huntington Beach, California, vows to contend for additional championship battles and on-track victories for years to follow.
“I wasn’t trying to worry about the points tonight, but I think it almost kicked us a little bit,” Bollman said. “I feel like we should’ve been more patient, but I wanted to really get that last win. I don’t feel like I put myself in any bad situation except that lapped car deal. Cost us a little bit there. Getting flat-out dumped for that, I apologized right as it happened on the radio. It wasn’t intentional. I already had 16 points on him. Didn’t need to wreck him. It just hurts real bad, but we still showed speed today. Half that race when we were falling back, we ran second-place time. We basically rebuilt the whole [car] in the pits in a matter of 20 laps, 40 laps, whatever it was. But overall, still a great day. Sucks about this year. Who knows what’s gonna happen next year, and I’m never gonna stop trying.”
The ARCA Menards Series’ teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on February 20, 2027, to commence a new season of competition.
