NEWTON, Iowa — The ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East will come together for the third of four combination races in Friday’s JR& CO 150 at Iowa Speedway.
The race will pay full points through the field for both series, and the winner will be credited with a victory in both series. The JR & CO 150 will be the 14th race of 20 for the ARCA Menards Series and seventh of eight for the ARCA Menards Series East.
The battle for the ARCA Menards Series points lead has heated up immensely over the last month, with Jake Bollman (No. 20 Nitro Motorsports Toyota) still in command, but his lead has been cut to just three points over his Nitro Motorsports teammate Thomas Annunziata (No. 70 JBL.com Toyota).
Bollman is still on the hunt for his first career series victory, while Annunziata notched his second career victory with his second straight win at Lime Rock Park two races ago.
• Max Reaves (No. 18 Cook Out Toyota) extended his lead in the ARCA Menards Series East standings last Saturday night with his second East win of the season.
Reaves, who has ARCA Menards Series wins at Berlin Raceway and Elko Speedway and East wins at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and Flat Rock, will be making his first career appearance at Iowa Speedway. Joe Gibbs Racing has three wins at Iowa Speedway, two with Ty Gibbs in 2020 and 2021, and one with Brandon Jones in 2022.
• Pinnacle Racing Group has won at Iowa Speedway the last three years with three different drivers. Luke Fenhaus earned the organization’s first ARCA Menards Series victory in 2023, Connor Zilisch won in 2024, and reigning series champion Brenden “Butterbean” Queen won in 2025.
The team has entered Phoenix Raceway winner Carson Brown (No. 28 DWC Distributor Wire & Cable Chevrolet), who will also be making his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut for Jordan Anderson Racing on Saturday, and Tristan McKee (No. 77 Chili’s Chevrolet).
McKee, who became the second-youngest ARCA Menards Series winner with his victory at Watkins Glen International in 2025 at 15 years, 4 days of age, turned 16 earlier this week. McKee has ARCA Menards East wins this season at Hickory Motor Speedway, Rockingham Speedway, and Toledo Speedway; the Toledo win was also a combination race with the ARCA Menards Series.
• Jason Kitzmiller (No. 97 A.L.L. Construction / Carter CAT Chevrolet) heads to Iowa third in the ARCA Menards Series standings. His son Isaac (No. 79 A.L.L. Construction / Carter CAT Chevrolet) also sits third in the ARCA Menards East standings.
The elder Kitzmiller has seven top-10 finishes so far in 2026, including a career-best short track finish, fifth, at Elko Speedway. Isaac, who also enters third in the East standings and is the reigning ARCA Menards East champion, is coming off a third-place finish at Flat Rock, which matched his career-best set earlier this season at Hickory and Rockingham.
• Isabella Robusto (No. 55 Yahoo! Toyota) dropped to fourth in the ARCA Menards Series standings after an early race incident at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. When Lady Luck has been on her side, Robusto has performed well with a pair of top-fives including a season-best fourth at Talladega Superspeedway.
Unfortunately, finishes outside the top-20 have cost her in the standings; she’s had five finishes of 21st or worse which have left her 103 points out of the lead in fourth.
• Gavan Boschele (No. 25 Toyota Racing Toyota) returns for the second consecutive ARCA Menards Series race. He finished fourth last time out at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park before scoring an eighth-place finish in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut. Boschele has a 4.83 average finish across his six ARCA Menards Series starts in 2026, including a career-best second at Pocono Raceway.
• Talladega Superspeedway winner Andy Jankowiak (No. 71 USNE Power Chevrolet) returns for the first time since a 14th-place finish at Lime Rock Park. Jankowiak finished fifth at Iowa Speedway in 2024, his only previous start at the 0.875-mile oval.
• Previous ARCA Menards Series winners at Iowa Speedway include Steven Wallace (2006), Frank Kimmel (2007), Matt Hawkins (2008), Parker Kligerman (2009), Tom Hessert III (2010), Ty Dillon (2011), Alex Bowman (2012), grant Enfinger (2013), Mason Mitchell (2015), Chase Briscoe (2016), Dalton Sargeant (2017), Sheldon Creed (2018), Chandler Smith (2019), Ty Gibbs (2020, 2021), Brandon Jones (2022), Luke Fenhaus (2023), Connor Zilisch (2024), and Brenden Queen (2025).
• Former ARCA Menards Series East winners at Iowa Speedway include Joey Logano (2007), Brian Ickler (2008), Kyle Busch (2009), David Mayhew (2009), Max Gresham (2010), Brett Moffitt (2011), Chase Elliott (2012), Corey Lajoie (2012), Michael Self (2013), Cole Custer (2013), Ben Rhodes (2014), Brandon Jones (2014), Brandon McReynolds (2015, twice), Todd Gilliland (2016, 2017), Tyler Ankrum (2018), and Sam Mayer (2019).
• The ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards East track qualifying record at Iowa Speedway was set by Brent Crews in 2025 at 22.901 seconds/137.549 miles per hour.
• The 33 entries are the most for an ARCA Menards Series race at Iowa Speedway since 2012.
