ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — Tristan McKee (No. 77 Campers Inn Chevrolet) leads the ARCA Menards East into Rockingham Speedway after a hard-fought victory in last Saturday’s season opener at Hickory Motor Speedway.
McKee took the lead from Max Reaves (No. 18 Cook Out Toyota) with 14 laps to go to score his first East victory. Both McKee and Reaves will make their first start at Rockingham on Saturday.
McKee leads Reaves by two points in the ARCA Menards East standings after the first of eight races in 2026.
• Joe Gibbs Racing won at Rockingham last year with Brent Crews at the wheel; it was the first East race at Rockingham since NASCAR Cup Series star Tyler Reddick won in 2012.
• The ARCA Menards East history at Rockingham Speedway stretches back to the series’ first season, 1987, when Morgan Shepherd won a combination event with what is now the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
There were five other combination races through 1992, won by Mark Martin, Rob Moroso, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, and Ward Burton.
• Carson Brown (No. 28 Distributor Wire and Cable Chevrolet), winner of the ARCA Menards Series/ARCA Menards West combination race at Phoenix Raceway in March, will make his first East start of the season at Rockingham. Brown became the 39th driver since 1979 to win in his ARCA Menards Series debut with his win at Phoenix. He’ll be making his second East appearance; he finished sixth at Five Flags Speedway in 2025.
• Reigning series champion Isaac Kitzmiller (No. 79 A.L.L. Construction / Carter CAT Chevrolet) heads to Rockingham fresh oƯ his best career finish, third, last Saturday night at Hickory. Kitzmiller finished sixth last year at Rockingham.
• Dystany Spurlock (No. 66 Foxxtecca Ford) became the first Black female driver in history to start an ARCA Menards Series platform race when she took the green flag last Saturday at Hickory Motor Speedway. Spurlock, who made the move from straight-line motorcycle racing, will be looking to better her seventh-place finish at Hickory.
• Cory Roper (No. 17 Drydene / Preferred Industrial Contractors Chevrolet) will make his ARCA Menards East debut in a car prepared by Cook Racing Technologies, the team that won the 2023 ARCA Menards West owners championship. Roper has 48 career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts, the most recent at Talladega in 2024, with a best finish of third at Daytona International Speedway in 2021.
• Garrett Mitchell (No. 30 Kenetik Ford), known to millions of fans on his YouTube channel as “Cleetus McFarland”, will be joined by his right-hand man and cameraman George “Squirrel McNutt” Siciliano (No. 0 Heat Wave Visuals Ford) in the ARCA East Rockingham 125. It will be the first time the two have raced against each other in an ARCA Menards platform race.
Mitchell finished 11th at Daytona in his only ARCA start so far in 2026; Siciliano finished 13th in his East debut at Hickory on Saturday.
• Gavan Boeschele (No. 25 Nitro Motorsports Toyota) will make his first ARCA Menards platform start of 2026 on Saturday. Boeschele is scheduled to make 15 starts across the platform. Boeschele won the ASA STARS National Tour race at New Smyrna Speedway in 2025 on his way to fourth in the standings in his rookie season. Boeschele will have veteran crew chief Shane Wilson calling the shots on pit road.
• The 125-lap / 117-mile race will be run with the Break Pit Stop format; there will be a five-minute break at or near lap 63 when teams will be allowed to change tires, add fuel, and make adjustments. The ARCA East Rockingham 125 at Rockingham Speedway is set for 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, April 4.
