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 11 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] |
| Ford | City Garage Motorsports | 5 | Quinn Davis (R) | TBA | [3] [4] [5] |
| 85 | Becca Monopoli | TBA | |||
| Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing | 18 | Max Reaves (R) | TBA | [2] |
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] | |
| Pinnacle Racing Group | 28 | TBA | TBA | 4 | [2] | |
| 82 | TBA | TBA | 4 | |||
| Ford | SPS Racing | 23 | TBA | TBA | 4 | [6] [7] |
| Toyota | Fast Track Racing | 12 | Takuma Koga | TBA | 4 | [8] |
| Nitro Motorsports | 20 | Leland Honeyman | TBA | 4 | [9] | |
| 25 | TBA | TBA | 4 | [2] | ||
| 55 | Isabella Robusto | TBA | 4 | [10] | ||
| 70 | TBA | TBA | 4 | [2] | ||
| TBA | Thomas Annunziata | TBA | 4 | [11] | ||
| TBA | Rise Motorsports | TBA | Bobby Dale Earnhardt | TBA | 4 | [12] [13] |
Notes
The full schedule was announced on December 9, 2025. [14] Some race dates were announced before then as part of the announcement of the main ARCA Series schedule on October 4. [15]
Note: Races highlighted in gold are combination events with the ARCA Menards Series.
| No | Race title | Track | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TBA | 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 | TBA | 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 |