BROOKLYN, Mich. — The ARCA Menards Series will take to the two-mile D-shaped Michigan International Speedway in Friday’s Henry Ford Health 200, the seventh race of the 2026 season.
It will be the 36th ARCA Menards Series race at Michigan International Speedway dating to the first in 1980 won by Joe Ruttman.
Jake Bollman (No. 20 Nitro Motorsports Toyota) leads the ARCA Menards Series championship standings into the Henry Ford Health 200. Bollman, who leads second-place Ryan Vargas (No. 91 Maples Motorsports Ford) by 17 points, is still hunting for his first series victory. Bollman may be in luck this week: Michigan has played host to 16 first-time winners over the years.
Drivers who have scored their first career ARCA Menards Series victory at Michigan International Speedway include Ruttman (1980), Dave Mader III (1991-1), Stanley Smith (1991-2), Ron Barfield (1996), David Keith (1999), Chad Blount (2002), Casey Mears (2003), Reed Sorenson (2004), Steven Wallace (2005), David Stremme (2006-1), Brent Sherman (2006-2), Justin Lofton (2008), Mikey Kile (2010), Austin Theriault (2014), Ross Kenseth (2015), and Sheldon Creed (2018).
• Thomas Annunziata (No. 70 JBL Toyota) moved into third place, 20 points out of the lead, in the ARCA Menards Series standings following a runner-up finish two weeks ago at Toledo Speedway. Annunziata, who won last year at Lime Rock Park, is still in search of his first series victory on an oval track.
• Talladega Superspeedway winner Andy Jankowiak (No. 71 DAKS Markets Chevrolet) dropped to fourth in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings after an early-race crash at Toledo relegated him to 23rd at the finish. Jankowiak has been solid in his previous starts at Michigan International Speedway; he finished what as at the time a career-best fourth in the Irish Hills in 2023.
• Two-time 2026 winner Gio Ruggiero (No. 18 First Auto Group Toyota) returns to the ARCA Menards Series for the first time since a fifth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway in April. Ruggiero drove the Joe Gibbs Racing entry to victory in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway and again at Kansas Speedway in his first two starts of 2026.
• Garrett Mitchell (No. 30 BaldEagle.com Ford), known to his millions of fans on YouTube as Cleetus McFarland, will make his first ARCA Menards Series start since he finished a close second at Talladega Superspeedway. Mitchell will be making his first start at Michigan International Speedway as he prepares for his second career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start in Saturday’s DQS Solutions & Staffing 250 Powered by Precision Vehicle Logistics.
• Connor Mosack (No. 28 Friends of Jaclyn / Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet) will make his first ARCA Menards Series start of 2026. It will be Mosack’s first series start since he finished 11th at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in 2025.
• Gavan Boschele (No. 25 Nitro Motorsports Toyota) will make his third ARCA Menards Series start of the season in one of the five Nitro Motorsports entries. Boschele has finished fourth in each of his first two starts of the season at Kansas Speedway and Watkins Glen International.
• Daniel Dye (No. 24 Champion Container Corporation Chevrolet) will make his first ARCA Menards Series start at Michigan International Speedway since 2022 when he finished third. Dye’s only other start at Michigan came in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2024; he finished 34th after being swept into a mid-race crash.
• Morgen Baird (No. 19 Alro Steel Chevrolet), from nearby Jackson, Michigan, will make his first ARCA Menards Series start since he finished 13th in this race last year. Baird has three career top-10 finishes, all at Michigan, with a career-best sixth in 2023.
• Dystany Spurlock (No. 66 Foxxtecca Ford) continues her history-making season as the first Black female driver to race in the ARCA Menards Series.
Spurlock, whose sponsor Foxxtecca is based in Detroit, about 60 miles from Michigan International Speedway, will look to rebound from a 29th-place finish in her most recent start at Watkins Glen International; she finished 10th in her debut at Kansas Speedway in April.
