Brent Crews secures ARCA East Series Owner’s Title for Joe Gibbs Racing with another victory at Bristol Motor Speedway in the Bush’s Beans 200.

BRISTOL, TN. – 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 Owner’s Title

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

While Crews obtained 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 there would be 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.”

Max Reaves and William Sawalich Contribute to Owner’s Title

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 never lost a single East Series race, leading a combined total of 383 of 450 possible laps. Age restrictions prevented Reaves from contesting the entire schedule. So, the responsibility fell upon Crews to close out the East Series campaign strongly.

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 in 2025. 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.

The Bush’s Beans 200 Results

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. 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 would be capable of winning races each weekend. All he needed to do was fulfill his role. William Sawalich and Sammy Smith had done so in recent years. Both were rewarded with two East Series championships of their own.

ARCA East Series Point Standings

ARCA East Series Owner’s Standings

Through the combined effort of Crews and Reaves, Gibbs’ gold standard in the East Series persists for another year. For Crews, it is an honor to help Gibbs achieve another ARCA Menards Series milestone. He 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 finishes second at Bristol on Thursday evening. The ARCA Menards Series national points leader, Brenden Queen, came 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 ten finishers.

Next Up

With the 2025 East Series season ending, two ARCA Menards Series Platform 2025 championships are yet to finish. The next chapter in the national ARCA Menards Series season takes place on Sept. 20 with the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 at Salem Speedway, which will broadcast live on FS2.