Max Reaves has an opportunity to accomplish a rare feat on the ARCA Menards Series platform Sunday at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds (7:30 p.m. CT/8:30 p.m. ET on FS1). He has a chance to sweep both of the series’ dirt races in the same season.
Parker Kligerman was the last driver to do so in 2009, with his DuQuoin win coming after he started 34th. If Reaves were to join Kligerman by backing up his Illinois State Fairgrounds triumph with a DuQuoin checkered flag, he would earn $20,000 courtesy of the Audubon Park Dirt Double.
A dominant-but-eventful outing at the Springfield Mile last month validated to Reaves that he can excel on dirt in the ARCA Menards Series. With three dirt races on the platform now under his belt, Reaves believes he can add his name to the list of drivers who won at both Springfield and DuQuoin in the same season.
“I feel pretty good about [DuQuoin],” Reaves said. “We were pretty fast there last year, but [I] made a rookie mistake by not saving the tires. I’m pretty confident in all my guys and myself. We’ll definitely be one of the cars that can win the race.”
Reaves’ confidence on dirt is a stark contrast compared to where his mindset was going into the 2025 Springfield 100, his first major start on a dirt oval of any kind.
Dirt racing was not an extensive part of Reaves’ developmental process, so he needed time to understand all the fundamentals that lead to success with the discipline. Even with the lack of experience, Reaves’ first dirt start was a modest success, as he earned a lead-lap finish of sixth despite getting involved in a late-race crash.
No practice or qualifying at Springfield due to inclement weather only added to the uncertainty for Reaves on race day, yet he felt optimistic after his first 100 laps in an ARCA Menards Series car on dirt. DuQuoin proved to be a reality check for Reaves, who led the first 20 laps but was involved in two early spins that relegated him to 10th, one lap behind the leader.
The highs and lows from Springfield and DuQuoin did provide Reaves and Joe Gibbs Racing plenty of notes to study ahead of 2026. Reaves felt he understood what he needed to improve upon from the two dirt events last year and was eager to showcase his knowledge when the ARCA Menards Series returned to Springfield in late August.
“Everything about [dirt] was so much different than anything I had done before,” Reaves said. “The main thing [this year] was saving tires. That was the main thing I struggled with last year. After I got that figured out, we were pretty good.”
Springfield was not perfect for Reaves, particularly when it came to navigating lapped cars, yet he knew when to be conservative and aggressive. Reaves withstood challenges from talented dirt-track prospects like Taylor Reimer and Gavan Boschele to lead 98 of 100 laps at Springfield for his third national ARCA Menards Series win of the year.
The progress Reaves made on dirt over the course of a year now has him in line for a $20,000 bonus. All he has to do Sunday is replicate what he did at Springfield.
DuQuoin is a one-mile dirt oval just like Springfield, but a key difference between the two venues is that Sunday’s race will occur in the evening.
Reaves still plans to approach DuQuoin the same way he did Springfield but admitted there are many factors outside of his control when it comes to the track conditions. That’s why Reaves and JGR intend to pay close attention to how the car handles on the dirt surface in practice to see if they need to divert from the baseline they utilized at Springfield.
“It just depends on how they set [DuQuoin] up and how they water it,” Reaves said. “[Springfield and DuQuoin] can be pretty close or they can be super far off. We won’t know until we get there.”
The sooner Reaves can get acclimated to whatever DuQuoin presents Sunday evening, the better he will feel about a potential dirt sweep. Achieving that milestone would give Reaves a jolt of momentum to finish off what has been a strong sophomore season on the ARCA Menards Series platform.
Especially since he is set to race for an ARCA Menards Series East championship in just a couple weeks.
Currently sitting two points behind East Series championship leader Tristan McKee, Reaves has two victories in the division this year at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and Flat Rock Speedway, both standalone East Series events. Despite this, Reaves has no idea what to expect from the finale at Bristol Motor Speedway, as that will be his first start at the renowned track.
Yet Reaves is not concerned about being competitive at Bristol, as JGR has developed a habit of locking up the East Series title there with drivers like Sammy Smith and William Sawalich. Besting McKee is not going to be an easy feat for Reaves, but he is eager to keep building on JGR’s legacy in the ARCA Menards Series by delivering the team another East Series title.
“We’ve brought speed every weekend,” Reaves said. “That’s one thing to be proud of. We just have to go to Bristol, run a clean race, and hopefully it’ll go our way.”
Right now, DuQuoin is at the forefront of Reaves’ mindset as a race that presents enough challenges on its own. Boschele and Reimer are both entered for Sunday’s Audubon Park 100 alongside names Reaves has seen plenty of times is the East Series this year in Isaac Kitzmiller and Carson Brown. He knows a victory is not guaranteed.
Sunday’s field is expected to be the largest at DuQuoin since the mid-2010s, something that would have been slightly more intimidating to Reaves this time last year. The trepidation Reaves had for dirt has been replaced with poise and self-assurance as he prepares to claim the Audubon Park Dirt Double.
Along with Kligerman, Dean Roper, Bob Keselowski, Bob Brevak, Billy Thomas, Bob Hill, Frank Kimmel and Ken Schrader are the drivers to complete a dirt sweep in the ARCA Menards Series. Given how arduous dirt racing can be, Reaves understands the significance behind potentially joining that exclusive club.
Pulling off the sweep and taking home $20,000 would give Reaves immense pride, as it would solidify his development into a driver who can win anywhere, regardless of surface.
“Not many people have done that,” Reaves said. “It would show how good I am with this team and how much we’ve grown together. We struggled a little bit last year at both these dirt races. To be able to win Springfield shows how much we’ve grown together. If we could go and do it again this weekend, it would show even more how much we’ve grown together as a team.”
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