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THE RACE: ARCA East Rockingham 125
THE PLACE: Rockingham Speedway
THE DATE: Saturday, April 4, 2026
THE TIME: 11:30 am ET
TV: FloRacing & The NASCAR Channel, Live
Radio: MRN Radio/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90
Tristan McKee (No. 77 Campers Inn Chevrolet) leads the ARCA Menards East into
Rockingham Speedway off a hard-fought victory in last Saturday’s season-opener at Hickory
Motor Speedway. McKee took the lead from Max Reaves (No. 18 Cook Out Toyota) with 14
laps to go to score his first career East victory. Both McKee and Reaves will make their first ever
series start at Rockingham on Saturday.
McKee leads Reaves by two points in the ARCA Menards East championship standings after
the first of eight races in 2026.
Joe Gibbs Racing won at Rockingham last year with Brent Crews at the wheel; it was the first
East race at Rockingham since NASCAR Cup Series star Tyler Reddick won in 2012.
The ARCA Menards East history at Rockingham Speedway stretches back to the series’ first
season, 1987, when Morgan Shepherd won a combination event with what is now the
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. There were five other combination races through 1992,
won by Mark Martin, Rob Moroso, Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, and Ward Burton.
Carson Brown (No. 28 Distributor Wire and Cable Chevrolet), winner of the ARCA Menards
Series/ARCA Menards West combination race at Phoenix Raceway in March, will make his
first East start of the season at Rockingham. Brown became the 39th driver since 1979 to win
in his ARCA Menards Series debut with his win at Phoenix. He’ll be making his second career
East appearance; he finished sixth at Five Flags Speedway in 2025.
Reigning series champion Isaac Kitzmiller (No. 79 A.L.L. Construction / Carter CAT
Chevrolet) heads to Rockingham fresh o his best career finish, third, last Saturday night at
Hickory. Kitzmiller finished sixth last year at Rockingham.
Dystany Spurlock (No. 66 Foxxtecca Ford) became the first Black female driver in history to
start an ARCA Menards Series platform race when she took the green flag last Saturday at
Hickory Motor Speedway. Spurlock, who made the move from straight-line motorcycle
racing, will be looking to better her seventh-place finish at Hickory.
Cory Roper (No. 17 Drydene / Preferred Industrial Contractors Chevrolet) will make his ARCA
Menards East debut in a car prepared by Cook Racing Technologies, the team that won the
2023 ARCA Menards West owners championship. Roper has 48 career NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series starts, the most recent at Talladega in 2024, with a best finish of third at
Daytona International Speedway in 2021.
Garrett Mitchell (No. 30 Kenetik Ford), known to millions of fans on his YouTube channel as
“Cleetus McFarland”, will be joined by his right-hand man and cameraman George “Squirrel
McNutt” Siciliano (No. 0 Heat Wave Visuals Ford) in the ARCA East Rockingham 125. It will
be the first time the two have raced against each other in an ARCA Menards platform race.
Mitchell finished eleventh at Daytona in his only ARCA start so far in 2026; Siciliano finished
13th in his East debut at Hickory on Saturday.
Gavan Boeschele (No. 25 Nitro Motorsports Toyota) will make his first ARCA Menards
platform start of 2026 on Saturday. Boeschele is scheduled to make 15 starts across the
platform. Boeschele won the ASA STARS National Tour race at New Smyrna Speedway in
2025 on his way to fourth in the final series standings in his rookie season. Boeschele will
have veteran crew chief Shane Wilson calling the shots on pit road.
The 125-lap / 117-mile race will be run with the Break Pit Stop format; there will be a fiveminute
break at or near lap 63 when teams will be allowed to change tires, add fuel, and
make adjustments.
The ARCA East Rockingham 125 at Rockingham Speedway is set for 11:30 am ET on
Saturday, April 4. The race will be streamed live on FloRacing and simulcast on The NASCAR
Channel; the race can be heard live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide
and on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Live timing & scoring data and live race audio
will be available on ARCARacing.com; for up-to-the-minute updates please follow
@ARCA_Racing on X (formerly known as Twitter).
