September 11, 2025 | By Brandon White, ARCARacing.com

Brent Crews secures another ARCA East Series owner’s title for Joe Gibbs Racing with a dominant Bristol win

BRISTOL, Tenn.—Although Joe Gibbs Racing was unable to celebrate another driver’s championship in the ARCA Menards Series East for 2025, they departed Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday victorious in multiple regards.

Brent Crews delivered a stellar, wire-to-wire performance to secure his third East Series victory of the season and fifth overall on the ARCA Menards Series platform this year. The dominant performance also enabled Crews to give the No. 18 Toyota team its fourth consecutive East Series owner’s title.

While Crews celebrated a win and an owner’s championship, Isaac Kitzmiller locked up the East Series driver’s championship by tallying an eighth-place finish.

Crews understood the high standards placed upon him when he joined Gibbs’ ARCA Menards Series program for the 2025 season. He has faced minimal issues replicating the success of those who came before him in the No. 18 by showcasing maturity and composure in all his starts to date.

“There’s been a lot of success with the Joe Gibbs Racing team from Cup all the way down to ARCA,” Crews said. “I was just trying to fill the shoes. Growing up watching Kyle Busch dominate with JGR, watching William [Sawalich] have strong runs and with Sammy [Smith] being able to win, too, I came here with what I needed in my head.”

Crews shared the No. 18 in the East Series with reigning champion William Sawalich and rookie Max Reaves, who drove the car in three of the first four events.

Reaves won every East Series race he entered, leading 383 of 450 possible laps. Age restrictions prevented Reaves from contesting the entire schedule, with responsibility falling upon Crews to close out the East Series campaign strong.

A cut tire Crews sustained at Dover Motor Speedway only proved to be a temporary setback for Gibbs’ owner’s title ambitions in the East Series. Crews responded by leading the final 58 laps at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, with his runner-up showing in the following race at Iowa Speedway further solidifying Gibbs’ advantage in the owner’s championship.

With almost no concerns regarding the owner’s title for Thursday’s Bush’s Beans 200, Crews centered his attention on adding another victory to his resume. Crews had to deal with lapped traffic and several restarts but remained infallible through every challenge to visit Bristol’s Victory Lane for the first time.

As Crews celebrated, Kitzmiller relished in becoming an East Series champion with his CR7 Motorsports team after avoiding trouble all evening. The significance of the milestone was not lost upon Kitzmiller, who considers himself fortunate to join an elite list of drivers who possess an East Series title.

“It feels awesome,” Kitzmiller said. “All the training I do, it’s paid off. Obviously, I’ve got more championships to win and hopefully there is many more to come. It’s awesome to win such a championship like Kyle Larson has won, along with many other people who are racing for wins on Sundays. It’s awesome.”

The East Series owner’s title was ultimately out of reach for Kitzmiller, as the 21st place run for Crews at Dover was the only time the No. 18 finished worse than second all year.

Crews never doubted the cars prepared by crew chief Matt Ross and his team would be capable of winning races each weekend; all he needed to do was fulfill his role. William Sawalich and Sammy Smith had both done so in recent years and were rewarded with East Series championships of their own.

Through the combined efforts of Crews and Reaves, Gibbs’ gold standard in the East Series persists for another year. Crews is honored to have helped Gibbs achieve another ARCA Menards Series milestone and hopes to tally more victories with the program before the year ends.

“[Gibbs] obviously knows how to win,” Crews said. “Coming in here, the best thing you can do is match [the success]. My idea was to just try and win races and put myself in good positions to get the owner’s championship. That’s what me and Max [Reaves] were able to do. He’s been a great teammate of mine being able to win races when I’m not there and vice versa.”

Tristan McKee finished second at Bristol on Thursday evening with ARCA Menards Series national points leader Brenden Queen coming home in third. Rounding out the top five were Leland Honeyman and Thomas Annunziata.

Tyler Reif, Jake Finch, Isaac Kitzmiller, Jason Kitzmiller and Patrick Staropoli were the rest of the top-10 finishers.

With the 2025 East Series season now concluded, two championships are left to be decided on the ARCA Menards Series platform in 2025. The next chapter in the national ARCA Menards Series season takes place Sept. 20 with the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 at Salem Speedway, which will broadcast live on FS2.


RACE RESULTS

Pos. No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff.

1 18 Brent Crews* Mobil 1 Toyota 204
2 82 Tristan McKee* Gainbridge/Chevrolet Chevrolet 204 0.621
3 28 Brenden Queen* Folsom Fence/BRC Chevrolet 204 1.01
4 20 Leland Honeyman DPR Construction Toyota 204 1.576
5 70 Thomas Annunziata Bayshore Mortgage Toyota 204 1.807
6 23 Tyler Reif Vegas Fastener/Sigma Performance Services Chevrolet 204 1.862
7 15 Jake Finch Phoenix Toyota 204 1.926
8 79 Isaac Kitzmiller* A.L.L. Construction/Carter Cat Chevrolet 204 2.112
9 97 Jason Kitzmiller A.L.L. Construction/Carter Cat Chevrolet 204 2.771
10 25 Patrick Staropoli* SYFOVRE Toyota 204 11.977
11 6 Lavar Scott Max Siegel Inc Chevrolet 203 1 Lap
12 2 Lanie Buice* Max Siegel Inc Chevrolet 203 1 Lap
13 40 Andrew Patterson* Freedom Whiskey Company/WinSupply Chevrolet 202 2 Laps
14 73 Andy Jankowiak KLAS Motorsports Toyota 200 4 Laps
15 51 Carson Ware Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 199 5 Laps
16 27 Tim Richmond Immigration Law Center Toyota 199 5 Laps
17 30 Garrett Mitchell* Kenetik Ford 197 7 Laps
18 10 Tony Cosentino Universal Technical Institute Ford 195 9 Laps
19 56 Timmy Hill Hill Motorsports Toyota 192 12 Laps
20 99 Michael Maples International Brotherhood of Boilermakers/MMS Chevrolet 189 15 Laps
21 86 Alex Clubb Race Parts Liquidators/Drop The Hammer/Wallis Farms Ford 185 19 Laps
22 48 Brad Smith Gary’s Speed Shop Ford 185 19 Laps
23 67 Austin Vaughn* Main Street Cycle Ford 184 20 Laps
24 0 Con Nicolopoulos Ocean Pipe Works Toyota 184 20 Laps
25 9 Logan Misuraca* Clean Harbors Chevrolet 171 33 Laps
26 95 Jackson McLerran* JSJ Construction/ARYLCO LLC/Sapphire Social Toyota 144 60 Laps
27 55 Isabella Robusto* YAHOO Toyota 129 75 Laps
28 34 Corey Aiken* Vaughn Wilcox & Vaughn Toyota 129 75 Laps
29 06 Brayton Laster* Tranquility 72 Hour Film Festival Toyota 127 77 Laps
30 31 Bobby Dale Earnhardt* Main Street Cycle Toyota 85 119 Laps
31 11 Zachary Tinkle Racing For Rescues/Fast Track Racing Toyota 70 134 Laps
32 03 Josh White Hives For Heros  Ford 49 155 Laps
33 12 Takuma Koga Macnica Yit Ikedo/CKB/Fast Track Racing Toyota 34 170 Laps
34 01 Mike Basham Fast Track Racing.com Toyota