The 40-car entry list for Thursday’s ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series West doubleheader at Phoenix Raceway (4 p.m. MT/6 p.m. ET on FS1) features plenty of drivers from a diverse set of backgrounds.
Five women will take the starting grid for the General Tire 150: Taylor Reimer, Mia Lovell, Hailie Deegan, Isabella Robusto and Jade Avedisian. They are joined by Japanese native Takuma Koga along with Brad Perez, Jaiden Reyna and Ryan Vargas, all of whom have Hispanic heritage.
Reimer’s second appearance on the ARCA Menards Series platform in 2026 will be her first behind the wheel of Central Coast Racing’s No. 13 Toyota. An experienced dirt-track racer and a former competitive cheerleader, Reimer is seeking to improve upon a disappointing 30th in the ARCA Menards Series opener at Daytona International Speedway last month.
Lovell, a Chinese American, will make her second start with Nitro Motorsports after finishing 12th in the West Series opener at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway last week. Originally a professional skateboarder before transitioning into auto racing, Lovell faces one of her biggest challenges to date on Phoenix’s unique, one-mile layout for the first time.
Deegan’s formal return to the West Series at Kern last weekend saw her start and finish sixth in Bill McAnally’s No. 16 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet. With three West Series victories on her resumé, Deegan performed well in her lone West Series start at Phoenix in 2019, when she secured a fourth-place finish after starting 17th.
Robusto caught the attention of many in the NASCAR industry with a standout performance during her national ARCA Menards Series debut at Phoenix in 2024, finishing sixth after running inside the top five all evening. Now in her second full-time ARCA Menards Series season, Robusto is eyeing her first victory.
Avedisian rounds out the female contingent at Nitro Motorsports that also includes Lovell and Robusto. A talented dirt-track racer who’s a month removed from a victory in the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna Speedway, Avedisian looks to build off a strong weekend at Kern that saw her earn her first West Series pole.
Koga is one of the most experienced drivers in Thursday’s field, having made his first West Series start in 2002. Koga during his career has earned four top fives in the West Series along with another in the ARCA Menards Series East last year.
Perez, who is of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent, is looking for a better showing in Thursday’s General Tire 150 with Fast Track Racing after a brake failure took him out 24 laps into last year’s race. Known for his road-course expertise, Perez hopes to run more events across NASCAR and the ARCA Menards Series in 2026.
After finishing 13th in his West Series debut at Kern, Reyna heads to Phoenix with the goal of gaining more experience in the cars. An African and Mexican American, Reyna was a part of the NASCAR Driver Development Program from 2021-23, which helped him break into Late Model Stocks before he found his way to the West Coast.
Vargas is back in the No. 91 for Maples Motorsports after scoring a strong eighth-place finish to open the ARCA Menards Series season at Daytona. Born in California with Mexican lineage, Vargas has more than 70 NASCAR starts to his name. He began competing in the national ARCA Menards Series last year and scored a pair of top 10s.
Pinnacle Racing Group seeks to avenge last year’s tough defeat at Phoenix
In the closing laps of last year’s General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway, Pinnacle Racing Group was poised to earn the team’s second consecutive victory with eventual ARCA Menards Series champion Brenden “Butterbean” Queen to open the season.
A late caution forced Queen to play defense against Brent Crews in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota across two overtimes. Queen did everything possible to hold his lead, but an aggressive dive by Crews in Turn 3 on the final lap was enough to move Queen out of the groove and give Crews the win.
Queen is no longer with the program now that he’s in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, but Pinnacle Racing Group returns to Phoenix with the goal of avenging the tough loss. The team has two cars on the entry list, driven by Carson Brown and Tristan McKee.
Brown made his debut with Pinnacle Racing Group during the 2025 West Series finale at Phoenix, where he scored a runner-up finish to Crews. McKee has already enjoyed plenty of success in full-bodied stock cars at just 15; his accomplishments include a victory in his ARCA Menards Series debut at Watkins Glen International last season.
Mason Massey looks to stay perfect in the West Series
In his maiden ARCA Menards Series West appearance, Mason Massey made a strong impression by winning the Oil Workers 150 at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway with a late pass of Sean Hingorani.
Prior to that evening, Massey was primarily known for his starts across the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and Craftsman Truck Series. He earned three top-10 finishes during his time in the O’Reilly Series with his best performance being a sixth on Atlanta Motor Speedway’s current configuration back in 2022.
Now Massey finds himself competing for a championship in the West Series as part of a veteran lineup with Bill McAnally Racing, which also consists of Hailie Deegan. The victory Massey obtained at Kern Raceway was McAnally’s first on the platform since Jake Bollman won at Colorado National Speedway last year in a rain-shortened event.
Massey looks to stay perfect in the West Series on Thursday at Phoenix, where he has three previous starts in his NASCAR national career. The best of those outings occurred in March last season as a driver for Alpha Prime Racing; Massey climbed from a 34th starting position to finish 22nd a lap down.
Earning two consecutive wins to open 2026 will not be an easy feat for Massey given the influx of national ARCA Menards Series drivers into Thursday’s race at Phoenix, but he does have momentum and confidence on his side following his season-opening triumph.
Bobby Earnhardt ready to build off a strong Daytona performance
Driving a car that paid tribute to his late uncle in NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Earnhardt put on a performance at Daytona International Speedway befitting of his last name, grinding out a ninth in the ARCA Menards Series opener.
Earnhardt himself is no stranger to the ARCA Menards Series platform, as he spent the formative years of his career in the now-defunct ARCA Truck Series. In 2017, Earnhardt advanced to the national ARCA Menards Series and made his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut with MBM Motorsports that same year.
Since then, Earnhardt has continued competing on an infrequent basis, but he formally returned to the ARCA Menards Series last year following an eight-year absence. Although both of Earnhardt’s starts with Rise Racing ended in crashes, the two sides elected to continue their relationship on a full-time basis for the 2026 season.
Nearly everything went according to plan for Earnhardt and Rise Racing at Daytona. Earnhardt qualified his No. 89 SmartGrid Integrations Chevrolet in the seventh position, then proceeded to stay within sight or part of the lead draft for most of the afternoon, which enabled him to secure such a strong finish with an intact car.
Thursday’s General Tire 150 at Phoenix will be a much different race for Earnhardt, featuring more off-throttle time and reliance on aerodynamics. Another clean, consistent outing could help Earnhardt stay inside the top 10 of the ARCA Menards Series point standings after the first two races.
MORE NOTES:
- Following a clean sweep of the two ARCA Menards Series platform races at Phoenix last year, Joe Gibbs Racing will look to continue that magic with Max Reaves driving their No. 18 Toyota. Reaves was efficient in his rookie season last year, earning six victories between the national ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series East.
- Reigning ARCA Menards Series East champion Isaac Kitzmiller is set to make his first start of 2026, once again piloting the No. 79 Chevrolet for CR7 Motorsports. Kitzmiller never finished outside the top 10 during his championship campaign, a streak he hopes to maintain at Phoenix on Thursday.
- Taylor Mayhew, the son of seven-time ARCA Menards Series West winner David Mayhew, nearly prevailed in his debut race at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway last weekend. The younger Mayhew is back in Cook Racing Technologies’ No. 17 Chevrolet for Phoenix, eager to score another top-five finish.
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