Kansas City, KS – The final round of the 2026 ARCA Menards National Series took place tonight at the 1.5-mile speedway, where there were two drivers who had a chance to win the title. Those drivers were Nitro Motorsports Jake Bollman and Thomas Annunziata. Annunziata came into the finale just 16 points behind the points leader of Bollman. In order for Bollman to win the championship, he would have had to finish 10th or better. However, there was also a winner to be determined as well.
Carson Brown ended up stealing the show when all was said and done following the 100-lap race after starting in the second position. It wasn’t an easy win for Brown, but he was able to pull it off successfully in a late-race rally to take the win by taking the lead from Gio Ruggiero coming to the white flag.
“It’s very bittersweet to end (my ARCA career) on a really high note with Pinnacle Racing Group,” Brown said to Fox Sports 1 in victory lane. “(I’m) really pumped to get this Whelen Chevrolet in Victory Lane for the first time and hopefully, more to come. (I) closed off the year about as good as we could have. Practice and qualifying got canceled. (This race) was my first mile and a half. (I) didn’t really know what to expect. (The team) said hold it wide and I said ok.
“(I) just got shuffled back there in the middle of the running of that race. Then we had to work our way back up there and I thought we did a very good job (of) just keeping the car somewhat clean. (I’m) just happy to make it back up there. (Spotter) Derek Kneeland on the roof told me to rip the top (lane) the last two laps. We did and managed to bring (the car) to Victory Lane.”
Practice and qualifying were canceled due to persistent rain showers lasting through the afternoon. Therefore, the starting lineup was based on owner points, which means the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing of Gio Ruggiero would start on pole with Brown on the outside pole. Championship contender Jake Bollman started third, and Thomas Annunziata started fifth. The race was contested over 100 laps and had a halfway race break at or around Lap 50.
Additionally, due to not having any on-track activity, there was a competition caution at or around Lap 20. Prior to the green flag, Landon Brown in the No. 15 Nitro Motorsports entry was on pit road due to smoke coming from the right-rear. Fortunately, due to the extra lap, Brown was able to rejoin the field.
Brown led Lap 1 over Ruggiero as both were side-by-side with each other at the start/finish line. However, Ruggiero retook the lead in the middle of Turns 3 and 4 on the second lap. The first caution came out at Lap 3 for Charles Wesolowski in the No. 32 who spun on the tri-oval with contact from the No. 86 of Jeff Maconi.
The race would resume on Lap 8 with Ruggiero and Brown in the front row. Brown again took the lead from Ruggiero one lap later off Turn 4. A caution came out at Lap 15 for championship contenders Bollman and Annunziata, who spun in Turns 1 and 2. Both drivers tried splitting the lap car of Ed Pompa. Fortunately, there was no damage to either car. This would serve as the competition caution. Robusto was back on pit road due to a loose wheel.
The next restart came at Lap 22 with Brown and Ruggiero pacing the top two spots; however, the restart was short-lived as another caution came out with Annunziata spinning out Bollman going into Turn 1. Another restart came at Lap 27.
A vicious crash broke out on Lap 41, which saw championship contender Bollman and another driver, Will Kimmel, be involved. Kimmel got loose on top of the track in Turns 3 and 4 before Bollman was a bystander of the incident and spun around before having hard contact from Austin Vaughn. Despite the contact, both drivers were okay. In the meantime, this served as the race-break caution since it was close to Lap 50.
The event went back green with 48 laps to go, with Ruggiero as the leader and Lanie Buice in second. There was a long green-flag run before a caution came out with 25 laps to go for Weslowski spinning on the bottom of the apron off Turn 2. The leaders, Ruggiero and Boschele, among others, came down pit road to pit.
Ruggiero and Boschele had the front row for the restart with 20 laps to go. Bollman’s car returned to the track. However, a late-race caution came with 13 laps to go for the No. 9 of Landon S.Huffman. S.Huffman had a right-front tire on the frontstretch.
The final restart of the night came with eight laps to go, with Ruggiero and Brown as the leaders. Brown and Ruggiero were side-by-side on the final lap, but Brown took the lead prior to the white flag on the frontstretch and went on to win the race over Ruggiero by 0.512 seconds. This was Brown’s second consecutive win since Bristol last week and his first 1.5-mile speedway victory. Brown led three times for 16 laps en route to victory. The victory also marked his fourth win of the season. There were six cautions for 36 laps and five lead changes among two different drivers.
Additionally, due to the tiebreaker, Annunziata won the 2026 ARCA Menards Series National Championship, while Ruggiero won the Owner’s Championship for Joe Gibbs Racing.
For more on Annunziata’s championship, read Andrew Kim’s story here.
Official Race Results Following The Menards 150 at Kansas Speedway
- Carson Brown, led 16 laps
- Giovanni Ruggiero, led 84 laps
- Gavan Boschele
- Lanie Buice
- Thomas Annunziata
- Andy Jankowiak
- Jason Kitzmiller
- Isabella Robusto
- Mike Christopher Jr
- Esteban Rodriguez
- Bobby Earnhardt, 1 Lap Down
- D.L. Wilson, 1 Lap Down
- Takuma Koga, 5 Laps Down
- Jeff Maconi, 5 Laps Down
- Michael Maples, 5 Laps Down
- Ed Pompa, 6 Laps Down
- Alex Clubb, 7 Laps Down
- Charles Weslowski, 8 Laps Down
- Brad Smith, 8 Laps Down
- Landon S.Huffman, BTW
- Jake Bollman, 42 Laps Down
- Kevin Campbell, OUT
- Will Kimmel, OUT
- Nate Moeller, OUT
- Austin Vaughn, OUT
- Brayton Laster, OUT
- Landon Brown, OUT
Up Next – With the ARCA Menards Series 2026 season now complete, there are still four ARCA Menards West Series races left for the season, with the next race tomorrow night at Madera Speedway, live at 9 p.m./ET on Flo Racing.
