PIT BOX: Championship battles heat up as Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park begins the ARCA Menards Series season’s second half

The second half of the 2025 ARCA Menards Series season begins Friday evening with the LiUNA! 150 presented by Dutch Boy at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Across the opening 10 races of the year, seven different drivers have found their way to Victory Lane, six of whom were first-time winner. The only previous winner amongst that group is Brent Crews, who emerged victorious in the second race of the season at Phoenix Raceway after edging Brenden “Butterbean” Queen on an overtime restart.

Queen has four victories to his name in his rookie ARCA Menards Series campaign, the most of any driver this season. Triumphing at storied facilities like Daytona International Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Michigan International Speedway and Dover Motor Speedway has helped Queen build a 26-point advantage over Lawless Alan in the point standings.

The next step in the championship battle for Queen and the other full-time competitors is Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, located only 15 minutes away from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Among the drivers who have won an ARCA Menards Series race at IRP are Bob Schacht, Frank Kimmel, Chase Briscoe, Ty Dillon and Jesse Love.

Tickets to the LiUNA! 150 presented by Dutch Boy at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park can be purchased here. Below is everything to know ahead of the 11^th race on the ARCA Menards Series calendar.

LiUNA! 150 presented by Dutch Boy at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park

Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park presents an ideal opportunity for Brenden Queen to earn his fifth victory of 2025, as his team Pinnacle Racing Group won at the facility last year with Connor Zilisch behind the wheel.

PRG is bringing two cars to IRP in their pursuit of a second consecutive victory at the track, with Connor Mosack joining Queen in the No. 82 Chevrolet. Austin Green brought the No. 82 to Victory Lane at Charlotte Motor Speedway earlier this year, so Mosack will look to deliver PRG another win in his first ARCA Menards Series start of 2025.

Two other organizations have multiple ARCA Menards Series victories to their name this season, one of them being PRG’s persistent rival in Joe Gibbs Racing. An IRP victory is something Gibbs has not yet accomplished with their ARCA Menards Series program, but they will look to change that Friday with Brent Crews in their No. 18 Toyota.

Nitro Motorsports is the other team with more than one win, as they have prevailed with Treyten Lapcevich and Thomas Annunziata in their debut ARCA Menards Series campaign. For Friday’s event at IRP, Nitro will field a car for Sam Corry in his series debut, who earned an overall victory with their Trans Am 2 Series program at Lime Rock Park in May.

Thad Moffitt is also back in his familiar No. 46 with Nitro after last competing with the organization at Michigan International Speedway. Moffitt was inches away from earning his first ARCA Menards Series victory at Talladega Superspeedway earlier this year; he will look to re-establish momentum with Nitro on Friday evening.

With Friday also being a combination event with the ARCA Menards Series East, Isaac Kitzmiller and Tyler Reif will continue their own championship battle. Kitzmiller bested Reif at Dover Motor Speedway with a fourth-place run, but Reif placing one spot behind him only gives Kitzmiller a seven-point buffer entering IRP.

Other names set to compete at IRP include Mason Mitchell, Jason Kitzmiller, Lanie Buice, Regina Sirvent, Andrew Patterson, Zachary Tinkle and Hunter Wright.

The complete entry list for the LiUNA! 150 presented by Dutch Boy will be released later this week.

RACING REFERENCE:

• Previous ARCA Menards Series races at IRP
• ARCA Menards Series drivers at IRP

RACE FACTS:

CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: Field limited to 26 starters plus provisionals. This event will be run under the 2025 ARCA Menards Series rules, procedures, regulations and specifications.

QUALIFYING: Starting position will be set by each car’s fastest recorded lap per the Timed Session Qualifying procedure, plus provisionals.

RACE PIT STOP: Break pit stop procedure. Break at or near lap 75. No adding or moving tires to or from pit box once race has started.

TIRE ALLOTMENT: The maximum tire use at track (total, ‘from home’ plus purchased at track) for the event is 12.