PIT BOX: ARCA, East Series collide once again at Iowa for another Midwest showdown

Friday’s Atlas 150 at Iowa Speedway will be the third consecutive weekend in which the national ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East have shared the track together.

Iowa is a historically significant track for both divisions. While the ARCA Menards Series has raced at the facility nearly every year since it opened to the public in 2006, Iowa also hosted combination events between the East Series and ARCA Menards Series from 2007 up until 2019.

Designed by NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace, Iowa has the appearance of a short track but shares many characteristics with intermediates. The progressive banking in the turns provides multiple grooves for drivers to utilize, yet Iowa’s 0.875-mile layout often creates an environment that often translates to close-quarters racing.

Although eight races remain in the national ARCA Menards Series season, the Atlas 150 is the penultimate event of the 2025 East Series campaign. Friday will be a crucial tilt for the East Series championship, but a solid performance from the ARCA Menards Series full-time drivers at Iowa could influence who claims that title in October.

Tickets to the Atlas 150 at Iowa Speedway can be purchased here. Below is everything to know ahead of the third combination event between the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East.

Atlas 150 at Iowa Speedway

Last year’s trip to Iowa Speedway featured a thrilling battle between William Sawalich and Connor Zilisch that concluded with Zilisch taking a trip to Victory Lane.

Sawalich and Zilisch’s respective teams, Joe Gibbs Racing and Pinnacle Racing Group, will reignite their duel from 2024 on Saturday with two different drivers in their cars. Brent Crews will pilot Gibbs’ No. 18 Toyota, while ARCA Menards Series points leader Brenden “Butterbean” Queen will pursue his fifth victory of 2025 in PRG’s No. 28 Chevrolet.

Despite only making five starts on the ARCA Menards Series platform this season, Crews has found his way to Victory Lane in three of them. This includes the most recent ARCA Menards Series/ARCA Menards Series East  combination event at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, where Crews guided Gibbs’ ARCA program to their first win at the facility.

Crews needed efficient adjustments during a race break to usurp Queen, who had dominated the first half of last week’s event before settling for third. Although he boasts a stellar background on short tracks, none of Queen’s victories in 2025 have come on a facility less than a mile in length, a fact he looks to change on Friday evening.

A solid seventh-place finish at IRP enabled Isaac Kitzmiller to increase his advantage in the East Series standings over Tyler Reif, who finished 14^th last weekend. Neither Kitzmiller nor Reif have attempted a major event at Iowa during their careers, so the Atlas 150 presents plenty of unknowns for both as they prepare for the closing stretch in their title fight.

Other names competing at Iowa this weekend include Mason Mitchell, Kris Wright, Sam Corry, Regina Sirvent and Tim Richmond.

The complete entry list for the Atlas 150 will be released later this week.

RACING REFERENCE:

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

RACE FACTS:

CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: Field limited to 28 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. Breaks at or near the conclusion of laps 50 and 100. No adding or moving tires to or from pit box once race has started.

TIRE ALLOTMENT: The maximum tire us at track (total, ‘from home’ plus purchased at track) for this event is 14.