Max Reaves prevails at the Springfield Mile after late battle with Gavan Boschele

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A shower of boos and an angry Gavan Boschele awaited Max Reaves in Victory Lane following Sunday’s Calypso 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

The win was the only thing that mattered to Reaves.

Apparent contact between the two in the closing laps nearly sent Boschele around and enabled Reaves to cap off what had been a dominant day at the Springfield Mile. Boschele was not thrilled with the maneuver, proceeding to chase Reaves around the track during the cool down lap before attempting to confront him in Victory Lane.

Reaves chalked up the on-track exchange with Boschele as a racing incident, all while relishing the jeers he received from the crowd as a result.

“This is the most sound decibels we’ve gotten on the boo scale so far,” Reaves said. “[With Boschele], he got under me off [Turn] 4 and I ran him down the straightaway. I’ve got to see the replay. I don’t know if I hit him going into [Turn] 1. If I did, my bad, but racing’s racing and we’re at a dirt track.”

Max Reaves takes the checkered flag at Springfield! 🏁 pic.twitter.com/kYNu9d8XzR

— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) August 23, 2026

While the statistics from Sunday show Reaves led 97 of the 100 laps at the Springfield Mile, he only had minimal breathing room throughout the day.

Carson Brown and Isaac Kitzmiller both gave Reaves genuine challenges for the top spot. Brown did not get credited for leading a lap, but Kitzmiller did manage to take the top spot briefly before Reaves passed him back.

It was then Boschele’s turn to make a charge at Reaves in the closing laps. Armed with plenty of dirt track experience, Boschele was more than ready to tackle the challenge in front of him.

When Reaves caught the slower car of Takuma Koga at the exit of Turn 4, Boschele saw the opportunity he needed. Boschele split Reaves and Koga down the middle on the frontstretch in a bold move that gave him the lead.

That jubilation would be short lived. One corner later, Boschele was facing the inside guardrail instead of open track ahead, ending any chance of securing his first ARCA Menards Series victory.

While Boschele attempted to air out his frustrations to Reaves, Kitzmiller celebrated a career-best national ARCA Menards Series finish of second. The overall speed of his No. 79 Chevrolet was a pleasant surprise for Kitzmiller, who was even more stunned when he passed Reaves for the lead.

Had he not been held up by a lapped car, Kitzmiller believes he could have fended off Reaves for the victory. Although he was slightly disappointed about coming up one spot short, Kitzmiller said Sunday’s race at the Springfield Mile showed he and CR7 Motorsports are in a good place with their dirt track program.

“This place is really big on manipulating the lapped cars,” Kitzmiller said. “If you catch one at the wrong time, you can lose a spot and you can lose a lot of seconds. That’s what happened to me, but this CR7 [Motorsports] crew doesn’t have very much experience on the dirt tracks and they brought a good piece today.”

Kitzmiller entered the Calypso 100 with only a handful of starts on dirt tracks in a Legends car. Reaves is also relatively inexperienced when it comes to the discipline, as Sunday was only the third time he has raced on a dirt track in his career.

In only his third ARCA Menards Series start on dirt tracks, Max Reaves led 97 of 100 laps at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on Sunday (Photo: Dilip Vishwanat/ARCA Racing)

Yet Reaves tackled the Springfield Mile with the composure of a veteran who had raced on dirt for more than a decade. The concept of dirt racing may still be new to Reaves, but he expressed his gratitude to Joe Gibbs Racing for providing all the essentials he needed to be so dominant on Sunday afternoon.

While Reaves maintained his uncertainty over hitting Boschele, he was also relieved that his fellow driver did not get a proper chance to retaliate.

“I was glad [Boschele] kept going because I didn’t have a caution and I got to drive away,” Reaves said. “I’m so glad I could win this race for all the kids at Victory Junction, all the campers. I’m just thankful to Cook Out, thankful to all my guys at Toyota and my crew chief [Matt Ross] brought such a fast car.

“I’m starting to like these dirt tracks a little more.”

Thomas Annunizata enjoyed a strong points day at the Springfield Mile with a third place finish. Taylor Reimer rebounded from a restart violation to come home fourth, with Boschele limping his battered car home in fifth.

Rounding out the top 10 were ARCA Menards Series points leader Jake Bollman, Kelly Kovski, Isabella Robusto, Tim Monroe and Jason Kitzmiller.

A busy stretch for the ARCA Menards Series continues Friday evening with a return to pavement at Madison International Speedway. The Atlas 200 will commence at 8 p.m. CT/9 p.m. ET, with live coverage on FS1.