Annunziata Wins ARCA Title at Kansas Despite Fifth-Place Finish

NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 26, 2026

Annunziata title chase

Rain put the ARCA Menards Series Menards 150 into the hands of the rule book at Kansas Speedway, and that reshaped the starting order before the season finale even began. Practice and qualifying never happened, so officials set the lineup by the rule book and owner points. That gave Ruggiero the pole, Carson Brown the second starting spot and Jake Bollman, Lanie Buice and Thomas Annunziata the next three positions. It also framed a championship battle that came into the race tight and clear. Bollman led Annunziata by 16 points before the green flag, and the two drivers stood at the center of the title fight. Bollman needed a 10th-place finish or better to lock up the championship, while Annunziata held the tiebreaker if they finished even on points. That meant every position mattered from the start, with the front of the field and the championship picture tied together in a race where the lineup itself had already been altered by weather.

Brown wins finale

Carson Brown turned that front-row chance into the race win, passing Ruggiero on the final lap to take the ARCA Menards Series Menards 150 season finale. Ruggiero came home second, and Gavan Boschele finished third. Buice crossed the line fourth and Annunziata took fifth, giving the title contender a solid finish without the race victory he did not need. The event featured several cautions and lead changes, which kept the front of the field in motion and forced the contenders to adapt as the laps wound down. Incidents involving Charles Weslowski, Jake Bollman and Landon S. Huffman added more interruption to a race that never settled into a simple rhythm. Brown’s move on the final lap proved decisive, and it left Kansas with a winner at the front of the finishing order and a different story developing behind him in the championship chase. The result fit the shape of the race, with the lead changing hands and the pressure building until the final trip around the track.

Kansas championship

Thomas Annunziata left Kansas as the 2026 ARCA Menards Series champion even though he finished fifth and never won the race. His result was enough because Bollman could not do what he needed to clinch the title. The title settled at Kansas Speedway for only the second time in series history, giving the season finale extra weight beyond the race win itself. Brown earned the checkered flag, but Annunziata claimed the bigger prize. He delivered when it mattered and left the track with the championship after a race that demanded a steady finish more than a perfect one.