18-Year-Old Wins Fourth Career ARCA Race and Second Straight
Date: Friday, Sept. 25
Event: Menards 150
Series: ARCA Menards Series
Location: Kansas Speedway in Kansas City (1.5-mile oval)
Length: 100 laps (150 miles)
Start/Finish: 1st / 1st (Running, completed 100 of 100 laps)
Overview:
Carson Brown had never turned a lap around Kansas Speedway prior to Friday night’s ARCA Menards Series season finale, but by the end of the 100-lap race at the 1.5-mile oval located just 17 miles west of downtown Kansas City, Brown seemed right at home, parking his No. 28 Whelen Chevrolet in victory lane.
Brown’s route to victory was hard-earned. After rain washed out practice and qualifying, the 18-year-old racer from New London, North Carolina, went into the Menards 150 completely green with zero track time. He lined up second by virtue of the No. 28 team’s standing in owners’ points, and with veteran spotter Derek Kneeland in his ear, Brown stalked leader Giovanni Ruggiero and passed the Joe Gibbs Racing driver on lap nine following a restart. By lap 13, Brown held a half-second lead over Ruggiero.
But soon the race turned into a start-and-stop affair, with numerous caution periods leading to multiple restarts. Whether he wanted it or not, Brown got a crash course in the intricacies of intermediate-style tracks, where high speeds, aerodynamics and handling coalesce.
Brown dropped to sixth after a restart on lap 27 when he got bogged down behind the No. 69 of Will Kimmel, who got loose. And after some slight contact with the No. 71 of Andy Jankowiak, Brown fell to seventh. “Right-front is plowing the fence center off,” said Brown ahead of the midway break, when teams could change tires and make adjustments.
With a fresh set of tires and some chassis adjustments, Brown lined up sixth for the lap-53 restart. He methodically began his drive to the front, grabbing fifth from Jankowiak on lap 56 and fourth from his Pinnacle Racing Group teammate, Lanie Buice, on lap 59. From there, Brown set his sights on third-place Landon S. Huffman.
A caution on lap 75 allowed Brown and the rest of the leaders to pit for fresh tires. Brown took advantage of the opportunity. While in fourth place for the lap-80 restart, he grabbed second at the outset before falling back to third place behind Huffman. Four laps later, however, Brown got by Huffman and set his sights on chasing down Ruggiero, who was leading the race by a hefty margin.
But the start-and-stop nature of the race surfaced one more time with a caution on lap 88, bunching up the field and giving Brown one last chance to make a run at Ruggiero. With only eight laps remaining and guided by Kneeland, Brown ran multiple lines in an effort to find speed. He passed Ruggiero on the final lap, crossing the stripe with a .512-second margin to take his fourth career ARCA victory and his second straight after winning last week at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Carson Brown, driver of the No. 28 Whelen Chevrolet for Pinnacle Racing Group:
“First of all, just very bittersweet to end the year on such a high note with Pinnacle Racing Group and my last ARCA race of the year, and we’ll see if we can get some more on the schedule next year. Those last few laps were just crazy. We fell back in the middle part of the race, felt like we fired off really good, lost track position, got single-filed out, and just got in some lapped-car incidents, and the race was ending a lot quicker than I wanted it to. I knew we had to go, so I started moving all over the place. Felt like we made a really good change on the pit stop, and just worked our way up there, and then the last few laps, Derek (Kneeland, spotter) told me to rip the top, and I gave it everything I had, held it wide open, and for my first mile-and-a-half, pretty stout. Just pumped to put this Whelen Chevrolet in victory lane.”
Notes:
● This was Brown’s fourth career win in the ARCA Menards Series. Brown earned his maiden ARCA victory March 5 at Phoenix Raceway when he started from the pole and led every lap. He won his second race Sept. 6 at the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds, where he again started from the pole and led all but 10 of the race’s 100 laps. His third win came in the penultimate race of the season Sept. 17 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway where – you guessed it – he started from the pole and led all 200 laps.
● This was Brown’s ninth overall victory of 2026. In addition to his four ARCA wins, Brown has four ASA Stars National Tour victories. He won Feb. 10 at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway, March 14 at Five Flags Speedway, June 21 at Slinger (Wis.) Speedway and July 25 at Newport (Tenn.) Speedway. Brown also earned his first CARS Tour West win Aug. 15 at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington, by leading every lap from the pole.
● This was Brown’s 13th top-three finish in 18 career ARCA starts, a number that includes National and East/West divisions.
Next Up:
Brown returns to his Late Model roots, competing in the Oct. 3 zMAX CARS Tour event at Newport (Tenn.) Speedway. Brown visited Newport earlier this year on the ASA Stars National Tour, winning the July 25 HickoryHillTN.com 325 by .310 of a second over runner-up Matt Craig.
