DUQUOIN, Ill. — The ARCA Menards Series will run in its second and final race on dirt in Sunday’s Southern Illinois 100 at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.
The 100-lap, 100-mile race will be the 44th ARCA Menards Series race at DuQuoin since 1957; the series has been scheduled to race at DuQuoin every year since 1983 with races in 2012 and 2020 canceled due to inclement weather and the COVID pandemic.
Brent Crews (No. 70 Nitro Kart Toyota) enters the Southern Illinois 100 looking for his fourth ARCA Menards Series victory of the season. He previously won at Phoenix Raceway in March, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in July, and two weeks ago at The Illinois State Fairgrounds.
Should Crews win and sweep the two dirt races, he will take home the $20,000 Hungry Hens Dirt Double bonus that is available to any driver who can win at both Springfield and DuQuoin.
The last driver to win at both Springfield and DuQuoin was Parker Kligerman in 2009. It’s been done nine other times; Dean Roper (1983), Dean Roper (1986), Bob Keselowski (1988, 1989), Bob Brevak (1990), and Frank Kimmel (2001, 2002, 2005, and 2008).
• ARCA Menards Series championship points leader Brenden Queen (No. 28 BestRepair.net Chevrolet) leads the series standings by 34 markers over current runner-up Lavar Scott (No. 6 Max Siegel Inc. Chevrolet).
Queen, the 2023 late model champion on dirt at Dixieland Speedway, will be shooting for his sixth win of the season and his first ARCA Menards Series win on dirt; Scott, who has finished second in each of the two most recent ARCA Menards Series races, will be looking for his first series victory.
• Jade Avedisian (No. 25 Yahoo Toyota) will be making her ARCA Menards Series debut driving for Venturini Motorsports.
Earlier this season, Avedisian became the first female to win in the CARS Tour with a victory at New River All-American Speedway. She won the 2023 Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series championship and is the first female driver to finish on the podium in a preliminary feature at the Chili Bowl.
• Max Reaves (No. 18 Cook Out Toyota) will be seeking his third win of the season and his second consecutive after taking the victory last Friday night at Madison International Speedway. Reaves also won earlier this season at Elko Speedway.
He finished sixth at Springfield, the worst finish he’s had in four career series starts.
• Lawless Alan (No. 20 AUTODockIt Toyota) will be looking to turn his luck around at DuQuoin. Alan, who won earlier this season at Talladega Superspeedway and is third in the series standings, has finished outside the top 10 in the last three series races, including a 20th-place finish at Springfield.
• Kelly Kovski (No. 16 Schluckebier Farms / Brandt Ag Chevrolet) finished third at Springfield and will be looking for his fourth consecutive top-five finish. Kovski finished fourth at Springfield and fifth at DuQuoin in 2024.
