Joe Gibbs Racing has won the ARCA Menards Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway for the past five years, but during Thursday’s Bush’s Best 200, it was Carson Brown who denied JGR of a sixth consecutive.

Driving the No. 28 Distributor Wire & Cable Chevrolet SS for Pinnacle Racing Group, Brown started out the day by winning his sixth Sioux Chief PowerPEX Pole Award of 2026, and his fifth in the last eight races. From that point on, he never left the top spot and proceeded to lead all 200 laps of the event to earn his third career ARCA Menards Series win, and his first in the East Series.

Despite not facing much competition, Brown stated how difficult it was managing the lead while navigating through lap traffic.

“[This one’s] pretty high up there to be honest,” Brown said post-race. “[My spotter] Derek Kneeland up on the tower was working his butt off, just being my other set of eyes. This was a tough one, but I’m glad I was able to bring it to Victory Lane for these guys.”

Not only did Pinnacle Racing Group win the race, but Tristan McKee, who finished second in a close finish with Kaden Honeycutt, was able to clinch the 2026 East Series championship, three points ahead of Max Reaves.

“It sounds great,” McKee told Charlie Krall post-race. “Thanks to Freeway, everyone else on the car, everyone at Spire, Chevrolet, Josh Wise, Scott Speed, everyone over there, all the PRG guys, they did a good job this year.”

Honeycutt was not able to score his third win in three starts of 2026, coming home with a solid third place effort. Reaves did not repeat his performance from Salem Speedway, but still managed a fourth place finish. Isaac Kitzmiller completed the top-five positions.

ARCA Menards Series points leader Jake Bollman settled for sixth, with Nitro Motorsports teammate Jade Avedisian finishing seventh. Andy Jankowiak finished eighth, and Thomas Annunziata, who dealt with an early restart violation, made his way back through the field to finish ninth. Taylor Mayhew completed the top-10 spots.

With his sixth place finish, and the early troubles for Annunziata, Bollman extends his points lead to 16 points with one race left remaining to determine the ARCA Menards Series championship.

That race will be Kansas Speedway on September 25 for the Menards 250, as Bollman and Annunziata battle it out to determine the 2026 champion.

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Bush’s Best 200 Race Results

1. #28 Carson Brown
2. #77 Tristan McKee
3. #17 Kaden Honeycutt
4. #18 Max Reaves
5. #79 Isaac Kitzmiller
6. #20 Jake Bollman
7. #15 Jade Avedisian
8. #71 Andy Jankowiak
9. #70 Thomas Annunziata
10. #42 Taylor Mayhew (-1 Lap)
11. #97 Jason Kitzmiller (-1 Lap)
12. #40 Andrew Patterson (-1 Lap)
13. #25 Gavan Boschele (-1 Lap)
14. #36 Ty Fredrickson (-1 Lap)
15. #38 Gabriel Casagrande (-1 Lap)
16. #96 Jackson McLerran (-4 Laps)
17. #10 Craig Pellegrini Jr. (-6 Laps)
18. #91 Austin Vaughn (-8 Laps)
19. #13 Brian Weber (-8 Laps)
20. #55 Isabella Robusto (-12 Laps)
21. #03 Alex Clubb (-16 Laps)
22. #11 Chase Buscaglia (-18 Laps)
23. #86 Jeff Maconi (-20 Laps)
24. #12 Takuma Koga (-21 Laps)
25. #85 Quinn Davis (-26 Laps)
26. #99 Michael Maples (-38 Laps)
27. #34 Ivis Earley (-50 Laps)
28. #1 Jake Finch (OUT)
29. #06 Con Nicolopoulos (OUT)
30. #53 Zachary Tinkle (OUT)
31. #48 Brad Smith (OUT)
32. #95 Hunter Wright (OUT)
33. #89 Bobby Earnhardt (OUT)
34. #19 Brad Perez (OUT)
35. #0 Nate Moeller (OUT)