KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Carson Brown (No. 28 Whelen Chevrolet) won the battle, but Thomas Annunziata (No. 70 JBL Audio Toyota) won the war on Friday at Kansas Speedway.
Brown made a daring last-lap pass on Gio Ruggiero (No. 18 First Auto Group Toyota) to score his fourth ARCA Menards Series victory of the season and third in his last four starts. Brown also notched victories in his series debut at Phoenix Raceway in March, three weeks ago at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, and last week at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“First of all, just very bittersweet to end the year on such a high note with Pinnacle Racing Group and my last ARCA race of the year, and we’ll see if we can get some more on the schedule next year,” Brown said. “Those last few laps were just crazy. We fell back in the middle part of the race, felt like we fired off really good, lost track position, got single-filed out, and just got in some lapped-car incidents, and the race was ending a lot quicker than I wanted it to. I knew we had to go, so I started moving all over the place.
“Felt like we made a really good change on the pit stop, and just worked our way up there, and then the last few laps, Derek (Kneeland, spotter) told me to rip the top, and I gave it everything I had, held it wide open, and for my first mile-and-a-half, pretty stout. Just pumped to put this Whelen Chevrolet in victory lane.”
This was Brown’s ninth overall victory of 2026. In addition to his four ARCA wins, Brown has four ASA Stars National Tour victories. He won Feb. 10 at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway, March 14 at Five Flags Speedway, June 21 at Slinger (Wis.) Speedway and July 25 at Newport (Tenn.) Speedway. Brown also earned his first CARS Tour West win Aug. 15 at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington, by leading every lap from the pole.
Annunziata became the 43rd driver to win an ARCA Menards Series championship with his fifth-place finish in the Menards 150. It was a drama-filled evening for the Colts Neck, New Jersey native as he tangled on the track twice with his championship rival and Nitro Motorsports teammate Jake Bollman (No. 20 Nitro Motorsports Toyota). Bollman was involved in a third on-track incident that left his car heavily damaged but he was able to return to the track and gain two positions to finish 21st, which meant Annunziata needed to finish fifth to tie in the final point tally. Annunziata was running seventh at lap 87 when Landon S. Huffman (No. 9 Lyle’s Tires and Wheels Chevrolet) made contact with the frontstretch wall to bring out the final caution of the race. Annunziata pitted for fresh tires and an adjustment which ultimately allowed him to gain two positions in the final nine laps to finish fifth. Annunziata and Bollman both scored 947 points, but Annunziata won based on the tie breaker formula with his victory at Lime Rock Park.
The tie in the championship points marks the second time in series history there has been an tie for the title but the first time a champion was decided on the tie breaker. Ron Hutcherson and Dave Dayton tied for the 1974 series and were named co-champions.
Ruggiero finished second to secure the ARCA Menards Series Owners Championship for the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 team. It is the fifth owner’s championship in the last seven years for the No. 18 team, which won in 2020 and 2021 with the late Coy Gibbs as owner and team namesake Joe Gibbs as owner in 2024; the team operated under the Kyle Busch Motorsports banner in its 2022 title run.
Gavan Boschele (No. 25 Toyota Racing Toyota) finished third, the highest race finisher for Nitro Motorsports. It was Boschele’s eighth top-five finish in 12 starts and his second-best finish after his runner-up effort at Pocono Raceway in June.
It was a historic night in another way for Nitro Motorsports. In addition to being the first team to have two drivers tie for the series championship, the Nick Tucker and Joe Tovo-owned operation is also the first to sweep the top three positions in the ARCA Menards Series standings with Isabella Robutso (No. 55 Mobil 1 Toyota). Robusto finished eighth, her tenth top-ten finish of the season, and matched Hailie Deegan for the best overall points finish by a female driver in series history.
Lanie Buice (No. 77 Sunoco Chevrolet) finished fourth, her fifth top-five finish in five 2026 starts. Buice, who finished second in her most recent ARCA Menards Series start at Chicagoland Speedway to tie the record for best series finish by a female driver, finished fifth in her other three starts at Kansas in the spring, Michigan International Speedway, and Pocono Raceway.
Andy Jankowiak (No. 71 Philips 66 Lubricants / Dak’s Markets Toyota) finished sixth, Jason Kitzmiller (No. 97 A.L.L. Construction / Carter CAT Chevrolet) finished seventh, Mike Christopher, Jr. (No. 42 Mohawk Northeast Toyota) finished ninth, and Esteban “Toro” Rodriguez (No. 38 MCM Racing Development / Collino Toyota) finished tenth.
Will Kimmel (No. 69 Avsky / Aviation Technology Ford) was running in the top five when he spun in fluid in turn four on lap 41. Kimmel was then struck by Bollman, who in turn collected Austin Vaughn (No. 91 Maples Motorsports / WAV Racing Ford). All cars were heavily damaged with only Bollman able to return, albeit 42 laps down. All drivers involved were evaluated and released from the infield care center.
There were 6 cautions for a total of 37 laps, holding the average speed to 93.750 miles per hour.
Gio Ruggiero led 84 laps, Carson Brown led 14, and Landon S. Hufffman led 2. There were a total of six lead changes among the three drivers.
