By ARCA Staff Report
Carson Brown dominates the ARCA Menards Series win on the DuQuoin dirt Sunday night in the Audubon Park 100.
DuQUOIN, Ill. — Consistency has been the name of Carson Brown’s 2026 season on the ARCA Menards Series platform.
Carson Brown. Duqueen Victory
In nine starts in the national ARCA Menards Series, Brown has only finished worse than third once. However victory at Phoenix Raceway Brown’s only win came before Sunday’s Audubon Park 100 at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.
Brown finally found his way to Victory Lane Sunday night, applying his previous dirt experience to the ARCA Menards Series chassis. The Audubon Park 100 opened in near-perfect fashion for Brown, though he had to work for his second national ARCA Menards Series win after a late charge by Gavan Bochele.
“(The win) was because of all my guys,” Brown said. “The dirt has been really dry so far today. It’s really muddy on my suit now. I just can’t thank these guys enough. It has been three months since a black cloud appeared over our heads. I hope we can continue that.”
The Closing Laps:
Ironically, the other dirt event on the ARCA Menards Series calendar, last month at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, was Brown’s only showing outside of the top five. After running strong all day at the Springfield Mile, a late release for Brown dropped him to 13th.th.
Brown wasted no time in shaking off the upset from Springfield. He set the fastest time in both practice and qualifying at DuQuoin, with that raw speed eventually translating into a dominant first outing for Brown around the historic one-mile dirt oval.
Even so, the penultimate restart of the Audubon Park 100 gave Brown his toughest challenge of the evening. Brown’s poor exit from turn four with 15 laps remaining saw him run wide through the next few corners, opening the door for Bochele to take control of the race in the closing stages.
A few laps later, Chase Buscaglia’s spin gave Brown a much needed break. he had a clear shot on Boschele with the restart only ten laps away. Brown didn’t waste the opportunity as he knocked Bochele out of the bottom groove enough to reassert the top spot and walk away with a comfortable victory.
ARCA Menards Series points leader Jake Bollman was closest to Brown when the checkered flag waved. The dirt spots at Springfield and DuQuinn have been a challenge for Bollman as he strives for his lead in the standings, so he wanted to get through both cleanly but efficiently.
After finishing sixth and second at Springfield and DuQueen, respectively, Bollman felt he had accomplished that mission, especially after approaching the latter with a different mindset.
“I feel like I was more aggressive tonight than I have been all year,” Bollman said. “It’s time for a change, isn’t it? Everyone is going to be aggressive, so I got it in my head (on Sunday) that I wasn’t going to give an inch. “I feel like we had something for (Brown) at one point in the race, but we kind of lost it at the end.”
Busy racing action for leaders
Duquesne capped off a busy weekend overall for Bollman as he competed in the Late Model Stock event at Florence Motor Speedway on Friday night. Brown also competed in that race and finished second, bringing his average to 1.5 going into Labor Day weekend.
Known for his versatility, Brown is always looking for ways to score districts and gain experience. Along with his ARCA Menards Series and Late Model Stock commitments, Brown also finds himself in the midst of a stellar season on the ASA STARS National Tour, where he currently leads the points with four wins in seven races.
All the knowledge Brown has accumulated in several different disciplines was on display in Sunday’s win at DuQuinn. A late-race fight with Bochele led to a brief upset for Brown, but he trusted himself and the Pinnacle Racing Group-prepared equipment to finish a strong weekend and continue his consistent 2026.
“I knew we were fighting in dirty air,” Brown said. “I felt like the track got really dirty on the restart there. As everyone gathered, the track got really dirty and our car was not handling in those conditions. When it all cleared on that longer green flag run, we were pretty good. Big thanks to this crew for getting this thing back to Victory Lane.”
The best of the rest
In his final ARCA Menards Series dirt race as a driver, Kelly Kovski finished third in his own No. 16 Brandt Professional Ag/Schluckebeir Farms/Allgaier Perf. Chevrolet. Kovski is followed by Boschele in the running order, and Thomas Annunziata, who is second in the ARCA Menards Series standings, rounds out the top five.
Taylor Reimer, Jason Kitzmiller, Isaac Kitzmiller, Chase Howard and Ryan Vargas made up the rest of the top ten.
Eight points separate series leader Jake Bollman and runner-up Thomas Annunziata. Jason Kitzmiller (-128) is in third place, with Isabella Robusto (-129) just one market behind. Takuma Koga (-173) completes the top five.
Next
The next ARCA Menards Series trip is Saturday night to Salem Speedway for the Spruce 212. The green flag will fly at 8:00 PM ET live flag-to-flag on FOX.
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