The 2026 Bush's Best 200 was an ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East combination race held on Thursday, September 17, 2026, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 200 laps on the concrete oval, it was the 19th race of the 2026 ARCA Menards Series season, the 8th and final race of the 2026 ARCA Menards Series East season, and the 7th running of the event.
Carson Brown, driving for Pinnacle Racing Group, pulled off a dominating performance, leading every lap from the pole position to earn his third career ARCA Menards Series win, his third of the season, and his first career ARCA Menards Series East win. Tristan McKee finished second, and Kaden Honeycutt finished third. Max Reaves and Isaac Kitzmiller rounded out the top five, while Jake Bollman, Jade Avedisian, Andy Jankowiak, Thomas Annunziata, and Taylor Mayhew rounded out the top ten.
With a second-place finish, McKee of Pinnacle Racing Group clinched the 2026 ARCA Menards Series East championship, three points ahead of his rival Reaves. At 16 years, 1 month and 14 days old, McKee became the youngest champion in series history.
Report Background
The Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.
Besides holding racing events, the track has hosted the Battle at Bristol, a college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Virginia Tech Hokies on September 10, 2016 and the MLB Speedway Classic, a MLB baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds from August 2-3, 2025.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
DriverTeamMake0Nate MoellerWayne Peterson MotorsportsChevrolet1Jake FinchPhoenix RacingChevrolet03Alex ClubbClubb Racing Inc.Ford06Con NicolopoulosWayne Peterson MotorsportsToyota10Craig Pellegrini Jr. (R)Fast Track RacingToyota11Chase BuscagliaFast Track RacingToyota12Takuma KogaFast Track RacingToyota13Brian WeberIntegrity AutosportsToyota15Jade AvedisianNitro MotorsportsToyota17Kaden HoneycuttCook Racing TechnologiesToyota18Max Reaves (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota19Brad PerezMaples MotorsportsChevrolet20Jake Bollman (R)Nitro MotorsportsToyota25Gavan Boschele (R)Nitro MotorsportsToyota28Carson Brown (R)Pinnacle Racing GroupChevrolet34Ivis EarleyVWV RacingToyota36Ty FredricksonTeam 36Toyota38Gabriel CasagrandeMCM Racing DevelopmentToyota40Andrew PattersonAndrew Patterson RacingChevrolet42Taylor MayhewCook Racing TechnologiesChevrolet48Brad SmithBrad Smith MotorsportsFord53Zachary TinkleTinkle Family RacingToyota55Isabella RobustoNitro MotorsportsToyota70Thomas AnnunziataNitro MotorsportsToyota71Andy JankowiakKLAS MotorsportsChevrolet77Tristan McKee (R)Pinnacle Racing GroupChevrolet79Isaac KitzmillerACR MotorsportsChevrolet85Quinn Davis (R)City Garage MotorsportsFord86Jeff Maconi (R)Clubb Racing Inc.Ford89Bobby Dale EarnhardtRise RacingChevrolet91Austin VaughnMaples MotorsportsFord95Hunter WrightMAN MotorsportsToyota96Jackson McLerran (R)MAN MotorsportsToyota97Jason KitzmillerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet99Michael MaplesMaples MotorsportsChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice The first and only practice session was held on Thursday, September 17, at 1:00 PM EST, and lasted for 45 minutes.
Carson Brown, driving for Pinnacle Racing Group, set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 15.427 seconds, and a speed of . Pos.DriverTeamMakeTime128Carson Brown (R)Pinnacle Racing GroupChevrolet15.427124.379218Max Reaves (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota15.470124.034355Isabella RobustoNitro MotorsportsToyota15.475123.994Full practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Thursday, September 17, at 2:00 PM EST. The qualifying procedure used was a multi-car, multi-lap based system. All drivers were on track for a 20-minute timed session, and whoever set the fastest time in that session won the pole.
Carson Brown, driving for Pinnacle Racing Group, qualified on pole position with a lap of 15.334 seconds, and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos.DriverTeamMakeTime128Carson Brown (R)Pinnacle Racing GroupChevrolet15.334125.134270Thomas AnnunziataNitro MotorsportsToyota15.445124.234377Tristan McKee (R)Pinnacle Racing GroupChevrolet15.481123.945420Jake Bollman (R)Nitro MotorsportsToyota15.513123.690525Gavan Boschele (R)Nitro MotorsportsToyota15.538123.491697Jason KitzmillerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet15.559123.324718Max Reaves (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota15.563123.292879Isaac KitzmillerACR MotorsportsChevrolet15.569123.245917Kaden HoneycuttCook Racing TechnologiesToyota15.581123.150101Jake FinchPhoenix RacingChevrolet15.605122.9611115Jade AvedisianNitro MotorsportsToyota15.626122.7951255Isabella RobustoNitro MotorsportsToyota15.742121.8901342Taylor MayhewCook Racing TechnologiesChevrolet15.812121.3511471Andy JankowiakKLAS MotorsportsChevrolet15.865120.9451536Ty FredricksonTeam 36Toyota15.873120.8851640Andrew PattersonAndrew Patterson RacingChevrolet15.911120.5961753Zachary TinkleTinkle Family RacingToyota15.957120.2481895Hunter WrightMAN MotorsportsToyota16.017119.7981996Jackson McLerran (R)MAN MotorsportsToyota16.043119.6042038Gabriel CasagrandeMCM Racing DevelopmentToyota16.062119.4622119Brad PerezMaples MotorsportsChevrolet16.459116.5812289Bobby Dale EarnhardtRise RacingChevrolet16.609115.5282391Austin VaughnMaples MotorsportsFord17.008112.8172413Brian WeberIntegrity AutosportsToyota17.229111.3702510Craig Pellegrini Jr. (R)Fast Track RacingToyota17.278111.0552612Takuma KogaFast Track RacingToyota17.496109.6712734Ivis EarleyVWV RacingToyota17.513109.5642899Michael MaplesMaples MotorsportsChevrolet17.968106.7902903Alex ClubbClubb Racing Inc.Ford18.173105.5853086Jeff Maconi (R)Clubb Racing Inc.Ford18.808102.0203148Brad SmithBrad Smith MotorsportsFord19.164100.125320Nate MoellerWayne Peterson MotorsportsChevrolet21.09890.9473385Quinn Davis (R)City Garage MotorsportsFord——3406Con NicolopoulosWayne Peterson MotorsportsToyota——3511Chase BuscagliaFast Track RacingToyota——Official qualifying results
Race
Race results Laps: 200 FinStDriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts1128Carson Brown (R)Pinnacle Racing GroupChevrolet200200Running492377Tristan McKee (R)Pinnacle Racing GroupChevrolet2000Running423917Kaden HoneycuttCook Racing TechnologiesToyota2000Running414718Max Reaves (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota2000Running405879Isaac KitzmillerACR MotorsportsChevrolet2000Running396420Jake Bollman (R)Nitro MotorsportsToyota2000Running3871115Jade AvedisianNitro MotorsportsToyota2000Running3781471Andy JankowiakKLAS MotorsportsChevrolet2000Running369270Thomas AnnunziataNitro MotorsportsToyota2000Running35101342Taylor MayhewCook Racing TechnologiesChevrolet1990Running3411697Jason KitzmillerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet1990Running33121640Andrew PattersonAndrew Patterson RacingChevrolet1990Running3213525Gavan Boschele (R)Nitro MotorsportsToyota1990Running31141536Ty FredricksonTeam 36Toyota1990Running30152038Gabriel CasagrandeMCM Racing DevelopmentToyota1990Running29161996Jackson McLerran (R)MAN MotorsportsToyota1960Running28172510Craig Pellegrini Jr. (R)Fast Track RacingToyota1940Running27182391Austin VaughnMaples MotorsportsFord1920Running26192413Brian WeberIntegrity AutosportsToyota1920Running25201255Isabella RobustoNitro MotorsportsToyota1880Running24213103Alex ClubbClubb Racing Inc.Ford1840Running23222911Chase BuscagliaFast Track RacingToyota1820Running22233386Jeff Maconi (R)Clubb Racing Inc.Ford1800Running21242612Takuma KogaFast Track RacingToyota1790Running20253085Quinn Davis (R)City Garage MotorsportsFord1740Running19262899Michael MaplesMaples MotorsportsChevrolet1620Running18272734Ivis EarleyVWV RacingToyota1500Running1728101Jake FinchPhoenix RacingChevrolet1290Mechanical16293206Con NicolopoulosWayne Peterson MotorsportsToyota1140Accident15301753Zachary TinkleTinkle Family RacingToyota890Accident14313548Brad SmithBrad Smith MotorsportsFord480Mechanical13321895Hunter WrightMAN MotorsportsToyota440Accident12332289Bobby Dale EarnhardtRise RacingChevrolet420Accident11342119Brad PerezMaples MotorsportsChevrolet110Mechanical1035340Nate MoellerWayne Peterson MotorsportsChevrolet10Mechanical9Official race results
Race statistics
Lead changes: 0 among 1 different driver Cautions/Laps: 5 for 55 laps Red flags: 0 Time of race: 1 hour, 26 minutes and 40 seconds Average speed:
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings (ARCA Main) Pos Driver Points 1 Jake Bollman 874 2 Thomas Annunziata 858 (–16) 3 Isabella Robusto 728 (–146) 4 Jason Kitzmiller 699 (–175) 5 Takuma Koga 672 (–202) 1 6 Alex Clubb 609 (–265) 1 7 Michael Maples 608 (–266) 8 Brad Smith 525 (–349) 1 9 Max Reaves 523 (–351) 1 10 Jeff Maconi 514 (–360)
Drivers' Championship standings (ARCA East) Pos Driver Points 1 Tristan McKee 431 2 Max Reaves 428 (–3) 3 Isaac Kitzmiller 411 (–20) 4 Craig Pellegrini Jr. 360 (–71) 1 5 Jackson McLerran 338 (–93) 2 6 Carson Brown 332 (–99) 7 Austin Vaughn 332 (–99) 3 8 Quinn Davis 331 (–100) 9 Nate Moeller 290 (–141) 10 Michael Maples 226 (–205)
Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References