ARCA EAST: Jeff Smith anchors the field as brother Brad scores career-best eighth-place finish
by Ben Schneider / LASTCAR.info Staff Writer
Smith behind the wheel of the Brad Smith Motorsports team’s older second car, renumbered to the 01 in a similar manner to Rita Goulet’s Nashville entry. (PHOTO: DriverBradSmith/X/Twitter)
Jeff Smith finished last in Saturday’s Dutch Boy 150 at Flat Rock Speedway when his No. 01 Brad Smith Motorsports / Fast Track Racing Ford pulled behind the wall on the opening lap of the race.
The finish came in Smith’s second career ARCA East start.
Smith’s first appearance on this site came almost exactly two years ago when the ARCA Menards Series East returned to Flat Rock Speedway, the site of his initial one-off ARCA appearance in 1987, resulting in more than 35-year gap between starts. In his 2023 return, Smith completed one lap before pulling behind the wall with a clutch issue. The Michigan native then made another two starts in 2023, running two laps at Berlin and pulling in on the opening lap at Michigan.
After remaining out of the driver’s seat in 2024, Smith got back behind the wheel on Saturday to “start-and-park” a second car for his family’s team, renumbered to Fast Track Racing’s No. 01 in a collaborative effort between the two programs. The deal appeared to resemble that of the Wayne Peterson Racing / Fast Track Racing entry Rita Goulet drove at the last ARCA East race, leaving her with the last-place finish at the Nashville Fairgrounds.
The bigger story, however, came from Smith’s teammate, car owner, and brother, Brad Smith. After an 11th-place finish at Nashville, the longtime series veteran and ARCA’s active starts leader went the distance again on Saturday, finishing in a strong eighth place and completing 143 of the race’s 150 laps. Brad’s previous career-best came at Winchester in 2020, where he scored his first-ever top ten with a ninth-place result in his 363rd ARCA start. Another top ten finish followed at Berlin in 2022. Saturday’s result at Flat Rock marks Brad’s first career Top Ten in ARCA East, his third overall Top Ten, and overall career-best finish across ARCA-sanctioned competition.
While Jeff’s 15th-place result was also a career-best that earned much-deserved recognition from the team’s social media, Brad suggested post-race that he might have been able to run even better, as a rare weekend with two entries to prepare split the team’s workload. “We had to spend a lot of time on the second car this weekend, which we normally don’t,” he explained. “We could have had a lot more caster and camber in the front end and picked up probably a half a second a lap.” Nevertheless, Brad was upbeat in his post-race interview: “Guys on new tires, once their tires wore out and they were like mine, they weren’t pulling away from us,” he said. “We could run with them quite a bit, and that felt good.”
All 15 cars that appeared on the entry list started the race. After Jeff Smith secured his 15th-place finish, Trevor Ward, Jeff MacZink, and Rita Goulet all fell victim to mechanical issues, ending their races after 15, 79, and 121 laps respectively. The final car running at the finish, Nate Moeller, rounded out the Bottom Five after fighting through a flat tire and other damage sustained during the race. Moeller said in a Facebook post that he is currently seeking additional funding to run some upcoming ARCA national races, as Saturday’s race marked the final East standalone of the 2025 ARCA season.
Up front, Max Reaves continued the undefeated start to his career, earning his third East Series win from pole position in as many races. Tyler Reif placed second while Takuma Koga placed third, a career-best finish for the longtime West Series veteran from Japan. Koga’s Fast Track teammate, Matt Kemp, converted his front row starting spot into a strong fourth-place result, while Austin Vaughn rounded out the Top Five, securing career-bests for both of them as well.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
15) #01-Jeff Smith / 0 laps / mechanical
14) #9-Trevor Ward / 15 laps / mechanical
13) #65-Jeff MacZink / 79 laps / mechanical
12) #31-Rita Goulet / 121 laps / mechanical
11) #06-Nate Moeller / 127 laps / running
AUTHOR’S NOTE: While the collaborative efforts from Rita Goulet and Jeff Smith’s Nashville and Flat Rock last-place finishes used Fast Track Racing owner points, both were primarily Wayne Peterson Racing and Brad Smith Motorsports entries, respectively. For the sake of consistency with ARCA’s standings, Fast Track has been credited with the last-place finishes in our standings below.
2025 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES EAST OWNERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP (After Race 4 of 8)
1st) Fast Track Racing (2)
2nd) Venturini Motorsports, Brad Smith Motorsports (1)
2025 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES EAST MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP (After Race 4 of 8)
1st) Ford (2)
2nd) Toyota, Chevrolet (1)
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Click HERE throughout the 2025 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.
2025 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES EAST DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP (After Race 4 of 8)
