The 2026 ARCA Menards Series East will be the 40th season of the ARCA Menards Series East, a regional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season will begin on March 28 at Hickory Motor Speedway and will end on September 17 with the Bush's Beans 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Isaac Kitzmiller entered as the defending champion. [1]
| Manufacturer | Team | No. | Driver | Crew chief | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet | ACR Motorsports [N 1] | 79 | Isaac Kitzmiller | TBA | [2] |
| Maples Motorsports | 19 | Austin Vaughn | TBA | [3] | |
| Pinnacle Racing Group | 28 | Derek Kneeland 1 | TBA | [4] | |
| Carson Brown (R)7 | [5] | ||||
| 77 | Tristan McKee (R) | TBA | [5] | ||
| Ford | City Garage Motorsports | 85 | Quinn Davis (R) | TBA | [6] [7] [8] |
| Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing | 18 | Max Reaves (R) | TBA | [2] |
| TBA | Fast Track Racing | TBA | Craig Pellegrini Jr. (R) | TBA | [9] |
All other teams that ran full-time in the ARCA Menards Series East in 2025 have yet to announce their 2026 plans.
| Manufacturer | Team | No. | Driver | Crew chief | Races | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet | CR7 Motorsports | 97 | Jason Kitzmiller | Frank Kimmel | 4 | [2] |
| Maples Motorsports | 99 | Michael Maples | TBA | 4 | [2] | |
| Rise Racing with Earnhardt-Shearer Racing | 89 | Bobby Dale Earnhardt | TBA | 4 | [10] [11] | |
| Ford | Clubb Racing Inc. | 03 | Alex Clubb | TBA | 4 | [12] |
| 86 | Brian Clubb | TBA | 1 | [ citation needed ] | ||
| Direct Driver Development | 50 | Ryan Pawloski | TBA | 2 | [ citation needed ] | |
| SPS Racing | 24 | TBA | TBA | 4 | [13] [14] | |
| Rette Jones Racing | 30 | George Siciliano | TBA | 1 | [ citation needed ] | |
| Toyota | Fast Track Racing | 12 | Takuma Koga | TBA | 4 | [15] |
| Nitro Motorsports | 15 | TBA | TBA | 4 | [16] | |
| 20 | Jake Bollman | Doug George | 4 | [2] [17] | ||
| 25 | Gavan Boschele | Shane Wilson | 4 | [2] [17] | ||
| 55 | Isabella Robusto | Glenn Parker | 4 | [18] [17] | ||
| 70 | Thomas Annunziata | Shannon Rursch | 4 | [19] [20] [21] | ||
| TBA | Gavan Boschele | TBA | 1 | [17] | ||
| TBA | Wesley Slimp | TBA | 1 | [17] | ||
| Tim Richmond Racing | 27 | Tim Richmond | Adam Murphy | 2 | [22] | |
| TBA | Brad Smith Motorsports | 48 | Brad Smith | TBA | 7 | [23] |
| TBA | Maples Motorsports | 1 | Tony Cosentino | TBA | 4 | [24] |
| TBA | MBM Motorsports | TBA | Dystany Spurlock | TBA | 1 | [25] |
Notes
The full schedule was announced on December 9, 2025. [26] Some race dates were announced before then as part of the announcement of the main ARCA Series schedule on October 4. [27]
Note: Races highlighted in gold are combination events with the ARCA Menards Series.
| No | Race title | Track | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hickory 200 | Hickory Motor Speedway | Hickory, North Carolina | March 28 |
| 2 | Rockingham ARCA 125 | Rockingham Speedway | Rockingham, North Carolina | April 4 |
| 3 | Music City 150 | Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway | Nashville, Tennessee | May 2 |
| 4 | Owens Corning 200 | Toledo Speedway | Toledo, Ohio | May 16 |
| 5 | LiUNA! 150 | Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park | Brownsburg, Indiana | July 24 |
| 6 | Dutch Boy 150 | Flat Rock Speedway | Ash Township, Michigan | August 1 |
| 7 | Atlas 150 | Iowa Speedway | Newton, Iowa | August 7 |
| 8 | Bush's Beans 200 | Bristol Motor Speedway | Bristol, Tennessee | September 17 |