ARCA: Brake issues halt Landon Brown as Nitro teammates decide the championship on a tiebreaker
by Ben Schneider / LASTCAR.info Staff Writer
Brown’s No. 15 on jackstands in the garage. (PHOTO: Landon Brown Racing/Facebook)
Landon Brown finished last for the 1st time in his ARCA Menards Series career in Friday’s Menards 150 at Kansas Speedway when his No. 15 University of Kentucky Toyota fell out with brake issues coming to take the green flag.
The finish came in Brown’s third career national ARCA start, fourth overall ARCA-sanctioned start, and first start for Nitro Motorsports.
Brown is currently a student at the University of Kentucky, where he is pursuing an engineering degree. He simultaneously remains in pursuit of a driving career of his own, and after working his way up the ladder through karting and midgets, Brown earned an opportunity to test an ARCA car at Kansas. This gave him the approval to compete in an ARCA East race at the Nashville Fairgrounds, where he finished 17th in Kimmel Racing’s No. 69 Ford after electrical problems ended what could have been a top-five run. Brown then added two more starts with Kimmel on the national ARCA tour, finishing 15th at Chicagoland and 18th in the combination race at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Brown follows the pace car down pit road as the green flag waves at the start of the race. (PHOTO: reno62793/Discord, via Timecard100/X/Twitter)
On Friday, Brown was set to make his first start with Nitro Motorsports, and even donned the University of Kentucky colors through their sponsorship of his No. 15 Toyota, promoting the Pigman College of Engineering of which Brown is a part. Unfortunately, his race ended before it could truly begin, as he pulled off the track and into the pits on the pace laps. After his crew attempted to fix a problem with his car’s brakes, Brown returned to the track, but pulled back into the pits again as the field was taking the green. As such, he did technically and officially cross the start-finish line and take the green flag, giving his 27th-place result a legitimate DNF rather than a DNS.
In all, 27 cars appeared on the entry list for the season finale. Inclement weather canceled practice and qualifying, which set the starting lineup by owner points. After Brown returned to the garage, Brayton Laster was the next retirement from the race, with persistent oil issues bringing a premature end to his evening after 22 laps. Rounding out the Bottom Five were Austin Vaughn, Nate Moeller, and Will Kimmel.
While Moeller avoiding last place gave Brad Smith the LASTCAR ARCA Drivers’ Championship, the incident that ended Vaughn and Kimmel’s nights directly influenced the actual ARCA Drivers’ Championship battle between Jake Bollman and Thomas Annunziata. Kimmel spun out directly into Bollman’s path, and Bollman was then broadsided by Vaughn, causing catastrophic damage to all three cars.
Bollman’s No. 20 (or what was left of it) sits on pit road after the checkered flag. (PHOTO: @AlwaysRaceDay/X/Twitter)
Incredibly, the Nitro Motorsports team repaired Bollman’s No. 20 Toyota and got him back in the race, with his car still running faster lap times than some of ARCA’s independent entries. Bollman was able to get out of the Bottom Five and also passed Kevin Campbell for 21st, but the valiant effort came up just short. Annunziata’s fifth-place finish brought him into a tie with Bollman on points, and Annunziata’s single win at Lime Rock Park gave him the championship on countback over Bollman, who went winless in 2026 despite his remarkable consistency. Bollman was visibly upset in his post-race interviews with how Annunziata raced him throughout the night, saying, “I won’t ever talk to him again.”
At the very front of the field, Carson Brown outdueled Gio Ruggiero for the race win, but the result was not enough to swing ARCA’s Owners’ Championship in Pinnacle Racing Group’s favor. Ruggiero’s runner-up finish gave Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 the title by just eight points over PRG’s No. 28, adding another championship to JGR’s recent era of ARCA dominance. Days later, JGR announced that their ARCA program will cease operations following the ARCA West race at Phoenix, as the team reallocates their resources to their four NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series entries.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
27) #15-Landon Brown / 0 laps / mechanical/brakes
26) #83-Brayton Laster / 22 laps / mechanical/oil leak
25) #91-Austin Vaughn / 39 laps / crash/accident
24) #06-Nate Moeller / 40 laps / mechanical/too slow
23) #69-Will Kimmel / 40 laps / crash/accident
2026 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP (After Race 20 of 20)
1st) Brad Smith Motorsports (3)
2nd) Maples Motorsports, Fast Track Racing, KC Motorsports (2)
3rd) Ryan Huff Motorsports, Rise Racing with Earnhardt-Shearer Racing, Costner Motorsports, White Motorsports, MBM Motorsports, Clubb Racing Inc., City Garage Motorsports, CCM Racing, ACR Motorsports, Wayne Peterson Racing, Nitro Motorsports (1)
2026 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP (After Race 20 of 20)
1st) Chevrolet (10)
2nd) Ford (7)
2nd) Toyota (3)
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Click HERE throughout the 2026 ARCA season to view the full drivers’ standings for both the ARCA Menards Series and its East and West divisions. You can also find the manufacturers’ and owners’ standings for all three series HERE.
2026 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP (After Race 20 of 20)
