Max Reaves is spectacular with a dominant ARCA East victory at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on Saturday night time within the Music Metropolis 150.
NASHVILLE, TN. — Ever since Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway turned part of the ARCA Menards Sequence East schedule, one automotive has been dominant – the No. 18 Toyota.
Max Reaves’ Victory at Nashville
Between the Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch Motorsports banners, the No. 18 has led 606 of 755 potential laps throughout Nashville’s 4 East Sequence occasions. Three of these races concluded with the No. 18 parked in Victory Lane. The 2023 version is the lone exception to that development.
Max Reaves confronted minimal points sustaining the dominant establishment for the No. 18 at Nashville on a cloudy Sunday afternoon. Except for the restarts, nobody within the subject might problem Reaves. He pulled away to safe his second consecutive East Sequence victory in solely his second profession begin.
Reaves entered the Music Metropolis 150 at Nashville, having beforehand competed in a Legends automotive. Excessive expectations have been positioned on Reaves not solely to attain one other win for Gibbs at Nashville but in addition to construct on the momentum from his season-opening triumph at 5 Flags Speedway.
With the steerage of NASCAR Corridor-of-Famer Bobby Labonte and the expertise of crew chief Matt Ross at his disposal, Reaves wasted no time getting acclimated to Nashville in a full-bodied inventory automotive. The inclement climate on Saturday gave Reaves an important head begin, as he inherited the pole primarily based on final 12 months’s proprietor factors.
Every little thing that occurred afterwards was procedural for Gibbs at Nashville, a textbook stalwart efficiency that noticed Reaves lead many of the Music Metropolis 150.
The one obstacles Reaves confronted in the course of the day got here on restarts, the primary of which noticed him briefly lose the highest spot to Tyler Reif. Reaves rapidly shook off the error by overtaking Reif just a few laps later. He was intent on maintaining him in his rearview mirror throughout two ensuing restarts, each of which noticed Reif fail to match Reaves’ tempo.
Reif managed to hold onto the second place till the checkered flag waved, which served as a strong rebound for the younger prospect after a mechanical failure ended his day prematurely at Rockingham Speedway. Together with his momentum, Reif will look to again up his sturdy Nashville efficiency in the course of the subsequent East Sequence race.
For Reaves, his consistency on Sunday additional solidified the No. 18 Toyota’s standing as essentially the most environment friendly ARCA Menards Sequence automotive at Nashville in the course of the 2020s. Luke Fenhaus besting William Sawalich in additional time in the course of the 2023 Music Metropolis 150 prevented the No. 18 automotive from a clear sweep of the 5 East Sequence races held at Nashville to this point.
Not like previous seasons, the No. 18 shouldn’t be contending for an East Sequence driver’s title because of Reaves’ part-time schedule. Regardless of this, East Sequence victories won’t be arduous to return by for the No. 18 in 2025 if Reaves continues the identical composure from his first two appearances.
Hunter Wright, an area Nashville competitor, bested East Sequence factors chief Isaac Kitzmiller in a hard-fought battle to carry house a third-place end. Kitzmiller and Zachary Tinkle have been the remainder of the highest 5 finishers.
Up Subsequent
The following race up for the ARCA Menards Sequence East at Flat Rock Speedway would be the final standalone occasion on their 2025 calendar. The Dutch Boy 150 will start at 7:30 p.m. ET on Might 17, with FloRacing offering reside protection of the on-track motion.
