Carson Brown wins Menards 150; Thomas Annunziata claims the ARCA Menards Series Championship via a tiebreaker at Kansas Speedway.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – A lot happened during Friday’s ARCA Menards Series season finale at Kansas Speedway, but most of it happened behind Carson Brown.
Carson Brown wins by 150 over Menard
Driving the No. 28 Chevrolet for Pinnacle Racing Group, Brown passed Gio Ruggiero on the final lap of the Menards 150 to close out the 2026 season in his first start to Victory Lane at the 1.5-mile oval.
It was Brown who was standing in Victory Lane after all, on a wild evening.
“It’s very bittersweet to end on a really high note with Pinnacle Racing Group,” said Brown, who was recently named the No. 2 Chevrolet driver in the NASCAR O’Reilly Parts Series for Richard Childress Racing next season. “Really excited to get this Whelen Chevrolet in Victory Lane for the first time, and hopefully more to come.”
After practice and qualifying ended earlier in the day, Brown was second alongside Ruggero. Brown led the first lap, but was quickly passed by Ruggiero in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Ruggiero dominated most of the race, but Landon S. A late caution for the Huffman incident allowed Brown to close the gap and draw to the checkered flag.
Coming to the white flag, Brown was able to get to the outside of Ruggero, a move that allowed him to build momentum through the first turn and take the lead. He pulled away from Ruggiero to take the victory by 0.512 seconds, his fourth of the 2026 ARCA Menards Series season.
“It was my first mile and a half, I didn’t really know what to expect. They said keep it wide and I said OK,” Brown said. “Derek Kneeland on the roof told me to rip the top off the last couple of laps. We did and I was able to bring it to Victory Lane.”
Thomas Annunziata Claims ARCA Menards Series Championship Via Tiebreaker
Annunziata entered Friday’s race as the championship underdog. Trailing teammate Jake Bollman by 16 points at the start of the race, Annunziata was involved in two separate incidents with his teammate before Bollman collected in a crash not of his fault just before the halfway mark.
Bollman failed to finish better than 21stStAnnunziata needed to finish at least fifth to win the ARCA Menards Series championship via tiebreaker. A late-race pit stop and determined driving over the final few laps pushed Annunziata up to fifth, good enough to secure the series championship.
“It was crazy. I came in here with no preconceived notions. I knew it was going to be tough,” Annunziata said. “Jake Bollman did a good job as well. He had a great year, it’s just a shame he got unlucky there, but we had an awful lot of luck at the start as well.
“We led the championship for one race. It’s really cool.”
After leading most of the race, Ruggiero had to settle for second, but was able to hand the ARCA Menards Series Owners Championship to Joe Gibbs Racing. Gavan Boschele was third, ahead of Lanny Buis and Annunziata.
Andy Jankowik, Jason Kitzmiller, Isabella Robusto, Mike Christopher Jr. and Esteban Rodriguez were sixth through tenth, respectively.
Next up on the ARCA platform
The ARCA Menards Series season may be over, but that doesn’t mean the ARCA pad is done for the year.
The ARCA Menards Series West season continues Saturday night, September 26, with the Madera 150 from California’s Madera Speedway. Fans who cannot attend the race in person can watch it live at 7:15 PM PT/10:15 PM ET ET on FloRacing.