After a streak of finishes outside of the top-five, Max Reaves managed to find redemption during Saturday’s Sunbelt Rentals 150 at Flat Rock Speedway.
Driving the No. 18 Cook Out Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing, Reaves was able to power his way to lead from Carson Brown early in the event, navigating through heavy lap traffic and a late restart to grab his fifth career win in the ARCA Menards Series East, and his second of 2026.
“My guys brought me such a good car, so we had to win this one,” Reaves said post-race. “I wanted to back it up from last year, but there was a lot of good competition here this year. They ran a good race. I like this track, I’m learning to like it a lot. I like these little tracks like this.”
The final restart proved to be the deciding factor for Reaves, as Tristan McKee and defending series champion Isaac Kitzmiller did everything possible to take the lead away. After multiple bump and run’s took place, Reaves was able to comfortably pull away after McKee punted Kitzmiller up the track to move into second.
“That’s racing,” Reaves said post-race. “I was making sure to stay on the outside of [Kitzmiller] because I knew we were better than him. Me staying to his outside and not tucking in behind him is what won us the race.”
McKee knew that he needed a good result and a rebound from the last race, and while he showed competitive speed, it was not enough to compete with Reaves. Afterwards, he explained his displeasure to the No. 18 driver following the late contact.
“I think everything was fair, we were all just racing except for the restarts,” McKee said post-race. “That’s a little unacceptable I think [with Reaves] just running me up like that, slinging stuff everywhere and about hitting the wall. Everything on the track was fine, we were just beating and banging. That’s what happens when you’re on a track this small.”
Although Isaac Kitzmiller wanted to get to victory lane, he continued to show consistency after finishing third, grabbing his fifth top five finish out of six races.
“I was going to do whatever I could do to get to Victory Lane, just fell short,” Kitzmiller said post-race. “I messed up there on exit, got Max. Got moved into [Turn] 1, but that’s almost the only way to pass here. If you get someone loose a little bit, you can pass them, but it’s pretty hard to pass here. I know there’s a few things I could have done differently.”
Pole-sitter Carson Brown had a struggling day, beginning with a trip to pit road after the first caution due to handling issues. He returned to the pits for the second time with 50 laps to go with a fuel pressure issue. He eventually came back on the track, but finished 27 laps down in 18th.
Michigan native Matt Kemp had a solid day and came home with a fourth place effort, repeating his best career finish from the track in 2025. Quinn Davis, who also had a career day, grabbed her first top-five finish of the year with a fifth place run.
Toro Rodríguez finished sixth in his third start of the season, with Austin Vaughn, Jackson McLerran, Craig Pellegrini Jr., and Blaine Donahue rounding out the top-10.
Reaves’ win was crucial for the championship battle, as he now leads by seven points over McKee, and 14 over Kitzmiller with two races left in the season.
The ARCA Menards Series East competitors will be back in action on August 7 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, for the third combination race of the year with the national ARCA Menards Series division.
Sunbelt Rentals 150 Race Results
- #18 Max Reaves
- #77 Tristan McKee
- #79 Isaac Kitzmiller
- #91 Matt Kemp
- #85 Quinn Davis (-1 Lap)
- #38 Toro Rodríguez (-2 Laps)
- #19 Austin Vaughn (-3 Laps)
- #95 Jackson McLerran (-4 Laps)
- #10 Craig Pellegrini Jr. (-4 Laps)
- #11 Blaine Donahue (-4 Laps)
- #34 Brian Barbarow (-5 Laps)
- #65 Jeff MacZink (-6 Laps)
- #03 Alex Clubb (-8 Laps)
- #06 Nate Moeller (-12 Laps)
- #13 Rita Goulet (-12 Laps)
- #86 Alex Malycke (-15 Laps)
- #00 Toby Blanton (-19 Laps)
- #28 Carson Brown (-27 Laps)
- #12 Dan Boys (OUT)
- #5 Michael Clayton (OUT)
- #99 Michael Maples (OUT)
