ARCA: Brown pulls away late for Bristol win

NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 17, 2026

Race turns on late move

Carson Brown won the ARCA Menards Series Bush’s Best 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, after taking the lead late and pulling away from Tristan McKee. The race was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET and was set to air on FS1 and FOX One. Brown’s victory followed the fastest pace in practice and a pole start. Kaden Honeycutt finished third, Max Reaves was fourth and Isaac Kitzmiller took fifth to round out the top five behind the leaders.

Brown tops practice

Practice was complete before qualifying, and Brown set the tone there with a 15.427-second lap. Max Reaves was next at 15.470 seconds and Isabella Robusto followed at 15.475 seconds, which put three drivers within a small window at the top of the sheet. Brown backed up that pace in qualifying and was set to start on the pole after earning his sixth pole of the season. Thomas Annunziata qualified second and Tristan McKee qualified third, so the front of the grid carried plenty of speed before the green flag ever flew. That order gave Brown the edge in track position, while Annunziata and McKee had strong starting spots of their own.

Annunziata penalty shapes race

Thomas Annunziata started on the front row and led early, but a jump-start penalty changed the race quickly. He had to serve a pass-through penalty down pit lane after jumping the start, and that gave Brown and the rest of the lead group a cleaner path once the opening order settled. The race also included cautions involving Ivis Earley, Hunter Wright, Zachary Tinkle and Con Nicolopoulos, along with a scheduled caution break for pit stops. Those interruptions kept the pace from staying steady for long and added more movement to the race.