Strike like a mamba: Jonathan Reaume is fulfilling his dream of being a team owner

Across the NASCAR and ARCA Menards Series platforms, there are now two teams being operated by members of the Reaume family.

As Josh Reaume continues to build his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series program, his older brother Jonathan finds himself managing a start-up organization in the ARCA Menards Series West known as Strike Mamba Racing. The plan for Jonathan is to have two full-time cars contest all 12 events on the 2025 West Series calendar.

Jonathan Reaume had the chance to climb into one of the Strike Mamba cars for his West Series debut at Phoenix Raceway in March, when he finished 25^th. Being a team owner is his primary focus with Strike Mamba, though he found gratification in turning his first competitive laps around a major NASCAR facility.

“I was a little surprised to see [my debut come] together,” Reaume said. “I’ve been racing since I was seven years old along with Josh. At some point, we all put our weight behind him, and he is where he is today.

“We’re all proud of that, so [it’s great] for me to get an opportunity to go out and do my own team instead of being crew all the time.”

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Jonathan initially followed the same trajectory in motorsports as Josh. The brothers started their careers in go-kart competition, which saw them face many other talented international drivers in events like the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals in Portugal.

After moving on from go-karts, Jonathan and Josh began taking turns behind the wheel of a Street Stock in their home country of Canada before advancing into late models. Jonathan’s love for racing only grew during this time, particularly when it came to working on cars and improving their overall performance.

When Josh entered a driver development program in California back in 2008, he and Jonathan ended up taking a tour around Bill McAnally’s West Series shop. The scale of McAnally’s operation was comparable to a Cup Series team from Jonathan’s perspective, which motivated him to one day build a successful West Series program of his own.

Individual ownership would have to wait for Jonathan. When he was not helping Josh progress through the developmental ladder, Jonathan occupied himself by earning a graduate degree in fluid dynamics to bolster his engineering knowledge — all while starting a family — which kept him out of the driver’s seat for a decade.

Newfound flexibility in his schedule not only enabled Jonathan to restart his racing career; it allowed him to enact upon his dream of being a West Series owner. A crucial first step in the process was selecting a name that was unique and could properly reflect the long-term ambitions for the venture.

After several deliberations, Jonathan Reaume and his team settled on Strike Mamba Racing.

“One of our marketing guys [Blaine Alexander] was going over a bunch of different names, and [Strike Mamba] really stood out,” Reaume said. “A mamba is the fastest, deadliest snake in the world, so we thought it had a good ring to it.

“Being Josh’s brother, I had to get my own identity. We couldn’t do JR Racing, because my initials were taken and my last name was taken.”

With the identity of the team determined, Reaume turned his attention toward who would pilot Strike Mamba’s two West Series cars. The program’s No. 51 seat ended up going to Blake Lothian for the entire year. The No. 72 would be shared by a variety of competitors, including Reaume himself.

Lothian, a NASCAR Drive for Diversity alum, connected with the Reaume family when he made his Truck Series debut with Josh’s operation in 2022. He quickly developed a friendship with Jonathan and was eager to help manifest the latter’s dream of becoming a team owner on the ARCA platform.

 “Once it seemed like stuff was moving together pretty well, I was like, ‘I’d love to be a part of this,’” Lothian said. “With the amount of track time you get with the ARCA program, I felt like it was a perfect opportunity for me to learn. The biggest thing going from partial schedules is having a car where you know [everything is] in the exact same spot.

“It makes it feel more like home.”

For Reaume, having someone like Lothian is invaluable under the circumstances. Strike Mamba’s location on the West Coast isolates the team from other major programs in the Charlotte area, which puts more emphasis on finding a driver who excels at leadership, communication and composure.

There are still many challenges for Reaume from a logistical standpoint, but his brother’s tribulations with team ownership have provided inspiration. Jonathan witnessed how long it took Josh to develop Reaume Brothers Racing into an organization with three full-time Truck Series teams, so he does not intend to rush the process with Strike Mamba.

With all the minute aspects that go into making a stock car team functional, Jonathan is appreciative of every piece of advice Josh provides.

“Josh and I are really close, and I’m so fortunate [to have him],” Jonathan said. “I still would have ventured out if Josh wasn’t in racing anymore, but he’s had some great insight and really good experience to share. He’s helped me out immensely.”

Strike Mamba’s first two appearances in the West Series featured the growing pains Reaume expected. Cody Dennison delivered the program its first top-10 finish at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway, but Phoenix was a more strenuous outing. Neither car placed inside the top 15.

Poor weather conditions at Phoenix meant neither Lothian nor Reaume could accumulate any track time prior to the green flag. Despite this, Lothian considered Phoenix a success, as the laps he and Reaume recorded gave the team plenty of data to analyze ahead of their return trip to Phoenix in the fall.

Lothian knows Strike Mamba has all the fundamentals needed to become a sustainable West Series program. Cohesion is already a prevalent theme around the shop, which is why Lothian is confident consistent results will start materializing as the team progresses through each race on the schedule.

“Everyone knows each other really well,” Lothian said. “Everyone has accountability, which is really nice, and I feel like we all get along. With a new team, there will be growing pains, so you have to check everything over, which is something we also do really well. We just don’t have a notebook yet.

“I’d love to get at least a couple of top fives, but for the team, I’d love for us to pick up a second driver at least part-time.”

As Reaume continues filling out the schedule for the No. 72, which will include a couple more races for himself, he remains determined to provide Lothian everything the driver needs to excel. Having Lothian secure West Series Rookie of the Year honors is a goal Reaume believes is feasible for Strike Mamba in their first season together.

Team ownership has proven to be laborious, yet Reaume finds himself cherishing every moment. He has fond memories of traveling with his brother to McAnally’s shop and admiring haulers at team auctions in Charlotte, hoping he would have a motorsports program of his own one day.

Nearly two decades on from those trips, Reaume is now a team owner, just like his brother. The creation of Strike Mamba might have taken longer than expected, but he is fully committed to building his operation into a perennial West Series contender.

“This is a dream come true,” Reaume said. “I’m still processing it. The desire was there [years ago], but it just wasn’t in the works. I see how my career and my family wouldn’t be where they are today if I had headed that way, but God gave me an opportunity to see that dream. [Hopefully] I have many years ahead of me to be involved.”

Although his team is still finding its footing, Reaume knows from his brother’s experiences that sustainability in NASCAR does not happen overnight; it requires a mamba mentality of resilience, persistence and passion.