The 2026 Kyle Busch Classic presented by Star Nursery was an ARCA Menards Series West race held on Friday, October 2, 2026, at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. Contested over 167 laps—extended from 151 laps due to an overtime finish on the short track, it was the eleventh race of the 2026 ARCA Menards Series West season, and the 8th running of the event.
Taylor Mayhew, driving for Cook Racing Technologies, made a bump-and-run pass on Robbie Kennealy in the final corner in a one lap shootout, and snuck by to earn his first career ARCA Menards Series West win. Trevor Huddleston started second and led the race-high 153 laps, before getting spun on a late restart, rebounding to finish fifth. At race's end, Kennealy finished second, and Cole Denton finished third. Vito Cancilla and Huddleston rounded out the top five, while Mason Massey, Tyler Tomassi, Eric Johnson Jr., Eric Rhead, and Andrew Chapman rounded out the top ten.
Report Background
The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada outside the Las Vegas city limits and about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The track is located near the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The complex was built in 1985 as an oval that was assisted with donations of barriers that were used in the Caesars Palace Grand Prix. In 2000, the track was modified to become and was renamed the "Bullring".
In 2026, the track was repaved. The race was renamed the Kyle Busch Classic presented by Star Nursery in honor of the late two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, who developed his skills at The Bullring before embarking on his legendary career.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
DriverTeamMake1Robbie KennealyJan's Towing RacingFord04Ian WoodKart Idaho RacingChevrolet4Kyle KellerNascimento MotorsportsChevrolet05David SmithShockwave MotorsportsToyota5Eric Johnson Jr.Jerry Pitts RacingToyota7Gavin Ray (R)Jerry Pitts RacingToyota15Mia Lovell (R)Nitro MotorsportsToyota16Hailie DeeganBill McAnally RacingChevrolet17Taylor MayhewCook Racing TechnologiesChevrolet19Mason MasseyBill McAnally RacingChevrolet20Vito CancillaBill McAnally RacingChevrolet25Sam CorryNitro MotorsportsToyota28Helio MezaPinnacle Racing GroupChevrolet29Ryan PhippsPeyton Saxton RacingToyota31T. J. CurranRise RacingChevrolet38Ray BolingerKart Idaho RacingToyota41Quinn DavisJan's Towing RacingFord50Trevor HuddlestonHigh Point RacingFord51Scotty MilanStrike Mamba RacingChevrolet55Andrew Chapman (R)High Point RacingFord66Eric Rhead66 Rhead RacingFord70Donald TheetgeNitro MotorsportsToyota71Cole Denton (R)Jan's Towing RacingFord72Tyler TomassiStrike Mamba RacingChevrolet77Donald WitkowskiPerformance P-1 MotorsportsToyotaOfficial entry list
Practice The first and only practice session was held on Friday, October 2, at 12:00 pm PST, and lasted for 60 minutes.
Trevor Huddleston, driving for High Point Racing, set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 15.431 seconds, and a speed of .
Practice results Pos.DriverTeamMakeTime150Trevor HuddlestonHigh Point RacingFord15.43187.486228Helio MezaPinnacle Racing GroupChevrolet15.43987.44134Kyle KellerNascimento MotorsportsChevrolet15.46487.300Full practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Friday, October 2, at 2:05 pm PST. The qualifying procedure used is was single-car, two-lap system with one round. Drivers were on track by themselves and had two laps to post a qualifying time, and whoever set the fastest time won the pole.
Helio Meza, driving for Pinnacle Racing Group, qualified on pole position with a lap of 15.358 seconds, and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos.DriverTeamMakeTime128Helio MezaPinnacle Racing GroupChevrolet15.35887.902250Trevor HuddlestonHigh Point RacingFord15.53286.917325Sam CorryNitro MotorsportsToyota15.64986.267416Hailie DeeganBill McAnally RacingChevrolet15.65086.26251Robbie KennealyJan's Towing RacingFord15.66286.196619Mason MasseyBill McAnally RacingChevrolet15.73385.807771Cole Denton (R)Jan's Towing RacingFord15.73485.80185Eric Johnson Jr.Jerry Pitts RacingToyota15.74385.752920Vito CancillaBill McAnally RacingChevrolet15.76585.633104Kyle KellerNascimento MotorsportsChevrolet15.83285.270117Gavin Ray (R)Jerry Pitts RacingToyota15.92784.7621215Mia Lovell (R)Nitro MotorsportsToyota15.95584.6131341Quinn DavisJan's Towing RacingFord15.97984.4861455Andrew Chapman (R)High Point RacingFord15.98784.4441577Donald WitkowskiPerformance P-1 MotorsportsToyota16.03784.1801670Donald TheetgeNitro MotorsportsToyota16.17883.4471729Ryan PhippsPeyton Saxton RacingToyota16.21883.2411866Eric Rhead66 Rhead RacingFord16.27782.9391904Ian WoodKart Idaho RacingChevrolet16.36382.5032005David SmithShockwave MotorsportsToyota16.58081.4232172Tyler TomassiStrike Mamba RacingChevrolet16.62681.1982251Scotty MilanStrike Mamba RacingChevrolet17.87175.5412331T. J. CurranRise RacingChevrolet20.65465.3632417Taylor MayhewCook Racing TechnologiesChevrolet——2538Ray BolingerKart Idaho RacingToyota——Official qualifying results
Race Race results Laps: 167 FinStDriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPts12317Taylor MayhewCook Racing TechnologiesChevrolet1671Running47251Robbie KennealyJan's Towing RacingFord1679Running433771Cole Denton (R)Jan's Towing RacingFord1670Running414920Vito CancillaBill McAnally RacingChevrolet1670Running405250Trevor HuddlestonHigh Point RacingFord167153Running416619Mason MasseyBill McAnally RacingChevrolet1670Running3872172Tyler TomassiStrike Mamba RacingChevrolet1670Running37885Eric Johnson Jr.Jerry Pitts RacingToyota1670Running3691866Eric Rhead66 Rhead RacingFord1670Running35101455Andrew Chapman (R)High Point RacingFord1670Running3411117Gavin Ray (R)Jerry Pitts RacingToyota1660Running33121577Donald WitkowskiPerformance P-1 MotorsportsToyota1660Running32131670Donald TheetgeNitro MotorsportsToyota1660Running31141341Quinn DavisJan's Towing RacingFord1640Running30151904Ian WoodKart Idaho RacingChevrolet1640Running2916416Hailie DeeganBill McAnally RacingChevrolet1640Running28171729Ryan PhippsPeyton Saxton RacingToyota1620Running2718128Helio MezaPinnacle Racing GroupChevrolet1604Running28192005David SmithShockwave MotorsportsToyota1570Running2520104Kyle KellerNascimento MotorsportsChevrolet1450Mechanical24212251Scotty MilanStrike Mamba RaicngChevrolet1440Running2322325Sam CorryNitro MotorsportsToyota1120Mechanical22231215Mia Lovell (R)Nitro MotorsportsToyota340Accident21242531T. J. CurranRise RacingChevrolet200Mechanical20252438Ray BolingerKart Idaho RacingToyota00Did Not Start19Official race results
Race statistics
Lead changes: 6 among 4 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 6 for 52 laps Red flags: 0 Time of race: 1 hour, 6 minutes and 10 seconds Average speed:
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Trevor Huddleston 559 1 2 Robbie Kennealy 519 (–40) 1 3 Mason Massey 516 (–43) 1 4 Cole Denton 496 (–63) 1 5 Hailie Deegan 493 (–66) 6 Eric Johnson Jr. 490 (–69) 7 Andrew Chapman 470 (–89) 8 Mia Lovell 449 (–110) 9 Gavin Ray 449 (–110) 10 David Smith 398 (–161)
Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References