NOTEBOOK: Ashton Higgins excited about ARCA Menards Series opportunity at Lucas Oil IRP with Nitro Motorsports

For nearly four years, Ashton Higgins has patiently waited for a chance to return to the ARCA Menards Series.

Higgins will get that opportunity at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park this Friday evening (5:30 p.m. ET on FS1) driving the No. 15 Alliance Driveway Solutions Toyota for Nitro Motorsports. With Toyota’s resources and plenty of combined experience at Nitro to rely on, Higgins is confident he can make a strong first impression against a stacked field.

“This is the first opportunity I’ve ever had to drive for a team with a caliber like Nitro,” Higgins said. “We’ve got a good chance going in. IRP seems like it kind of fits my driving style from the videos I’ve watched. I know I’ll have a pretty good piece there, so I’m just excited for the opportunity.”

Primarily known as a short track competitor in the Southeast, Higgins previously ventured into the ARCA Menards Series platform with his own team in 2022. After finishing seventh in his debut at Five Flags Speedway, Higgins’ car was destroyed in a late crash at Bristol Motor Speedway while running inside the top 10.

Forced to regroup following the crash, Higgins ended up shifting his focus back over to short track competition. The 2026 season has seen Higgins find a home in Kingsport Speedway, a NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts track located in Tennessee. Competing in the Late Model division, Higgins leads the track standings with 10 victories across 14 features.

The support of his sponsor Alliance Driveway Solutions is a key factor behind Higgins’ ongoing success and his return to the ARCA Menards Series. Higgins worked diligently with Alliance Driveway Solutions to find a path back to ARCA throughout the last year before working out a deal to drive for Nitro this weekend.

With no prior experience at Lucas Oil IRP, Higgins has been utilizing every resource available to ensure his first race with Nitro is a successful one. In addition to receiving input from Nitro, Higgins has also spoken to both current and former drivers about how to put together consistent lap times at the 0.686-mile asphalt oval.

It has been a long, arduous road for Higgins to reach this point in his career again, so he doesn’t plan to waste the moment Nitro, Alliance Driveway Solutions and everyone else in his support system helped put together. Finding Victory Lane at Lucas Oil IRP is the goal, but simply finishing strong with an intact car would be a win for Higgins.

“We’re race car drivers,” Higgins said. “We’re all greedy and we want to win obviously, but at the end of the day, if we can go run top three, I’d be super, super happy with that. I want to make sure we run all the laps and try not to tear nothing up for Nick [Tucker] and them at Nitro. I know how painful it can be to rebuild a wrecked race car.

“It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been able to go race on this scale, so I want to go out there and showcase what we’re able to do.”

ARCA Menards Series East points battle heats back up

After a two-month hiatus, the ARCA Menards Series East will begin the second half of the 2026 season at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park Friday evening.

Tristan McKee holds a 20-point advantage in the East Series standings with three victories across the first four events. The closest driver to him is Max Reaves, who picked up his lone East Series checkered flag of the season thus far at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.

Since the LiUNA! 150 presented by IDEAL Garage Door is a combination event with the national ARCA Menards Series, McKee and Reaves will have to deal with an influx of strong cars Friday. McKee’s victory at Toledo Speedway, also a combo event, serves as his lone national ARCA Menards Series triumph of 2026.

Reaves has two national ARCA Menards Series wins at Berlin Raceway and Elko Speedway, but his results have been more mixed. In his first three national starts of 2026, Reaves did not record a finish inside the top 10, but he does enter Lucas Oil IRP with some momentum on his side following a top five at Lime Rock Park.

With three of the final four East Series events serving combo events with the national ARCA Menards Series, McKee and Reaves will need to stay sharp as they each pursue the East Series crown. McKee’s first half in the East Series was stellar, but Reaves matching that efficiency could bring the championship fight all the way down to the finale at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Kaden Honeycutt ready to chase another victory with Bruce Cook

The last time Kaden Honeycutt strapped into Cook Racing Technologies’ No. 17, he dominated at Watkins Glen International and kicked off a historic weekend that saw him win four races in two days.

Only two checkered flags are on the line for Honeycutt at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park this weekend between the ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Honeycutt seeks to kick the venture off on a high note by once again driving Cook’s No. 17 Toyota into Victory Lane.

Friday’s LiUNA! 150 presented by IDEAL Garage Door will not be the first time Honeycutt has contested an ARCA Menards Series at Lucas Oil IRP. He raced in the ARCA Menards Series event at the track in 2018 with Empire Racing, where he qualified inside the top five but finished 18^th after being collected in an accident on Lap 54.

In the years since, Honeycutt has developed a reputation as one of the most efficient and versatile competitors in the United States. He helped guide Cook Racing Technologies to an owner’s championship in the ARCA Menards Series West in 2023, with his other accolades including victories in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 and the Snowball Derby.

Now a full-time Truck Series driver with Tricon Garage, Honeycutt heads to Lucas Oil IRP looking to bolster his Truck Series title hopes with a strong run on Friday evening. He will gain valuable experience in the preceding ARCA Menards Series race, where he is expected to be one of the favorites to earn a checkered flag.

Dystany Spurlock brings She Pivots to Lucas Oil IRP

A new sponsor will be on Dystany Spurlock’s No. 66 Toyota as she makes her first ARCA Menards Series start since Pocono Raceway in June.

She Pivots, a women-focused podcast helmed by New York Giants and Gotham FC co-owner Emily Tisch Sussman, will adorn Spurlock’s car for the LiUNA! 150 presented by IDEAL Garage Door. The partnership between Spurlock and Sussman will serve as She Pivots’ maiden venture into motorsports sponsorship.

Spurlock has worked diligently to blaze her own trail during her first season racing stock cars. Along with contesting six races on the ARCA Menards Series platform, Spurlock also made history as the first African American woman to start a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, which she accomplished at Dover Motor Speedway in May.

The best finish Spurlock has recorded across all her starts in 2026 was seventh in her East Series debut at Hickory Motor Speedway. Lucas Oil IRP is a short track just like Hickory, but with the facility being slightly larger in size, it will present a different set of challenges that Spurlock will need to adapt to Friday.

With her most recent ARCA Menards Series appearance ending early due to a crash, Spurlock is eager to get back on track this weekend and deliver a strong outing for She Pivots in their first race as her sponsor.

NOTES:

• After missing the last four ARCA Menards Series events, Ryan Vargas returns to Maples Motorsports’ No. 91 Ford for Friday’s race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Vargas has recorded four top 10 finishes in eight races this year, his best showings being an eighth-place efforts at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.
• The debut outing for Zachary Tinkle’s family-owned team at Berlin Raceway was a successful one, as he finished in ninth and narrowly missed out on a lead lap finish. Tinkle Family Racing’s next stop is Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday, where Tinkle’s best finish was 11^th in 2024.
• In the six starts Hunter Wright has made on the ARCA Menards Series platform, he has not finished worse than 10^th. Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park is where Wright made his national ARCA Menards Series debut last year and he’ll attempt to improve upon his ninth place run with the same team; MAN Motorsports.
• Mullins Racing will make the trip to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park for Friday’s LiUNA! 150 presented by IDEAL Garage Door. Bryce Applegate is piloting the team’s No. 3 Ford, which marks his return to the Mullins Racing stable after he finished 13^th with the team to open the year at Daytona International Speedway.