BRISTOL, Tenn. — The ARCA Menards Series will take to the concrete high banks at Bristol Motor Speedway for the ninth time in series history in Thursday’s Bush’s Beans 200, a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series East.
The race will be the 19th of 20 for the ARCA Menards Series in 2026 and will be the final race of eight for the ARCA Menards Series East.
Jake Bollman (No. 20 Nitro Motorsports Toyota) extended his lead in the ARCA Menards Series standings to 13 points over his Nitro Motorsports teammate Thomas Annunziata (No. 70 JBL Audio Toyota) last Saturday night at Salem Speedway.
Bollman scored his fifth runner-up finish of the season while Annunziata, who won earlier this season at Lime Rock Park, was involved in a late-race incident and finished seventh.
• Tristan McKee (No. 77 Freeway Chevrolet) leads the ARCA Menards Series East standings by one point over Max Reaves (No. 18 Cook Out Toyota) headed into Thursday’s season finale at Bristol. If either driver wins, they will be the series champion.
If the points totals end in a tie, McKee will earn the championship based on wins, 4-2. Before bonus points come into play, Reaves must finish two positions ahead of McKee to earn the title.
• Another Nitro Motorsports driver, Isabella Robusto (No. 55 Mobil 1 Toyota), moved to third in the ARCA Menards Series standings with her fifth-place finish at Salem Speedway. It was her 14th career top-five finish, extending her record for most top-five finishes for a female driver in series history.
Robusto is a virtual lock to finish third in the final ARCA Menards Series standings, which would tie her with Hailie Deegan for the best finish in the final series standings by a female driver in series history. Deegan finished third behind champion Bret Holmes and Michael Self in 2020.
The No. 18 team has won each ARCA Menards Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway since 2021. Winners include Ty Gibbs (2021), Sammy Smith (2022, as Kyle Busch Motorsports), William Sawalich (2023, 2024) and Brent Crews (2025).
Crews led all 204 laps en route to the victory last year, while Gibbs led 197 of 200 laps in his 2021 victory.
• Two-time winner Kaden Honeycutt (No. 17 MMI / Jailbreaks Potato Chips Toyota) returns to the ARCA Menards Series for his third start of the season driving for Bruce Cook and Steve McGowan.
Honeycutt won his previous two starts this season at Watkins Glen International and Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. He will be joined out of the Cook Racing Technologies stable by Taylor Mayhew (No. 42 MMI Chevrolet), son of seven-time ARCA Menards West winner David Mayhew.
Honeycutt will be doing double duty on Thursday as he’s also competing for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship driving for TRICON Garage.
• Two former Talladega Superspeedway winners will make their return to the ARCA Menards Series at Bristol. Andy Jankowiak (No. 71 DK Chevrolet), who won earlier this season, will return for the first time since he finished eighth at Iowa Speedway in July.
Jake Finch (No. 1 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet), who won at Talladega in 2023, will make his third start of the season and first for his father James’s Phoenix Racing team. The younger Finch finished 20th at Daytona International Speedway and 12th at Talladega Superspeedway in his two previous series starts this season.
• Nitro Motorsports will field five cars in the Bush’s Beans 200. In addition to Bollman, Annunziata, and Robusto, the team has filed entries for Jade Avedisian (No. 15 Yahoo! Toyota) and Gavan Boschele (No. 25 Toyota Racing Toyota).
• Defending ARCA Menards East champion Isaac Kitzmiller (No. 79 A.L.L. Construction / Carter CAT Chevrolet) has a mathematical chance to score his second consecutive title. He comes into the race 17 points out of the lead in third and would need to finish 18 positions ahead of McKee and 19 positions ahead of Reaves without any bonus points being scored to take the title.
• Craig Pellegrini, Jr. (No. 10 Let’s Be Frank / Fleet Reps Toyota) has a 21-point advantage over Quinn Davis (No. 85 Orlando Health / Dollywood Parks & Resorts Ford) in the battle for fourth in the ARCA Menards East standings.
Davis has an outside chance at tying Stephanie Moyer for the highest finish by a female driver in the ARCA Menards East standings, fourth, set in 2022.
Davis, who is originally from Tucson but now resides in Sparta, Tennessee, will be making an appearance at Dollywood in Gatlinburg on Tuesday. She is one of three Tennessee-based drivers on the entry list; she is joined by MAN Motorsports drivers Hunter Wright (No. 95 Tennessee 811 / Visit Wilco Toyota), from Lebanon, and Jackson McLerran (No. 96 Midsouth Electric / JSJ Construction Toyota), from Portland.
• Former ARCA Menards Series winners at Bristol Motor Speedway include Bobby Watson (1968), Ramo Stott (1969), Sam Mayer (2020), Ty Gibbs (2021), Sammy Smith (2022), William Sawalich (2023, 2024), and Brent Crews (2025).
• Former ARCA Menards East winners at Bristol Motor Speedway include Nelson Piquet, Jr. (2012), Dylan Kwasniewski (2013), Eddie MacDonald (2014), Kyle Benjamin (2015), Chad Finchum (2016), Harrison Burton (2017), Todd Gilliland (2018), Sam Mayer (2019 – 2. 2020), Ty Gibbs (2021), Sammy Smith (2022), William Sawalich (2023, 2024), and Brent Crews (2025).
