Alex Clubb becomes 52nd driver with 100 ARCA starts at Iowa

The ARCA Menards Series is the highest level among NASCAR’s non-national divisions, being a nationwide championship unlike its East and West siblings and theoretically the final springboard into the Truck or O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. It has a rich history dating back to 1953, starting out as a northern counterpart to NASCAR before spanning the country.

ARCA has long been a stomping ground for teams that can’t afford to compete in NASCAR and drivers too inexperienced for the latter. This became even more apparent when NASCAR bought the Automobile Racing Club of America in 2018. Nowadays, the typical ARCA season is an amalgamation of races at big tracks to support NASCAR or at smaller venues by itself.

However, as the cost of racing continues to rise, going across the country becomes more unfeasible for mom-and-pop operations (hence the need for East and West series). Similarly, those in ARCA for developmental reasons don’t stick around long as they usually spend just a season or two before moving up to NASCAR.

These factors culminate in the Menards Series being a shell of its former self. Gone are the days of lifers and those with the patience to hone their skills. O’Reilly and Trucks hosting more support races to the Cup Series mean you don’t see those guys showing up either. Instead, you just have rich kids smashing into each other in the top rides and cars trawling about at the back at dangerously slow speeds.

Through the first 13 races in 2026, only one driver in the top ten in points had a win: Thomas Annunziata, a sports car racer growing up, at Lime Rock. What’s strange is that this is a series which is actually in a better situation than it was just a few years ago; only five drivers ran the full 2020 season, though that can be forgiven due to COVID, while 2021 only had two drivers attempt every race including Sunday’s Cup Series winner Ty Gibbs. Even if ARCA isn’t on life support, it’s easy for fans to just brush it off as a pay-to-win series.

That’s probably why guys like Brad Smith and Alex Clubb are so interesting. Every discipline has its backmarkers like these two and their respective teams, but they’re among the very few independent drivers left and try to make every effort to run every race. Friday’s JR&CO 150 at Iowa Speedway only proved this as Clubb finished a quiet 22nd and Smith got caught up in a crash to place 29th.

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Smith, now 57 years old, has competed in ARCA since 1988 with just two top-ten finishes to his name and several retirements. The low turnout got so bad that Smith finished fifth in the 2021 standings. Still, with no opportunities whatsoever in NASCAR, the former General Motors engineer has been a mainstay in ARCA and a welcome face as an affable guy trying to run his own show on meager resources.

He’s such an ARCA stalwart that he has a staggering 476 career starts, which ranks third all time. Everyone around him are among the series’ greats like ten-time champion Frank Kimmel and series pionner Iggy Katona; if Smith runs every race the rest of 2026, he’ll leapfrog the latter for second. Behind Smith, are Bobby Gerhart, the 2006 runner-up and a Daytona ace, and fellow owner/driver Darrell Basham, who also never won but has dabbled in the Cup Series.

Clubb, on the other hand, is a 34-year-old lawncare business owner and city councillor. He had been doing ARCA races since 2015 before setting up his own team and increasing his schedule since 2022. His equipment is never particularly great either, but his team—which includes several cars—has shown up to every event. Before he knew it, he had hit 100 starts.

With the declining state of ARCA and the above-discussed reasons, it has become increasingly rare for drivers to stay long enough to record 100 starts. Clubb is only the 52nd in ARCA’s entire history to reach the milestone. While he aspires to reach the Cup Series, it’s going to be tough without the dollars. In the meantime, he’s content with the grind here.

“I didn’t think I would ever get to this point,” Clubb told the ARCA website prior to Friday’s race. “I didn’t think I would ever get a start. Now here we are 11 years later and I’m getting ready to make 100 starts. I own my own team and we have a couple cars that run full-time. It’s absolutely wild, to be honest.”

Other ARCA drivers with 100 starts

Drivers in italics are still active as of 2026.

1. Frank Kimmel: 503
2. Iggy Katona: 481
3. Brad Smith: 476
4. Bobby Gerhart: 341
5. Darrell Basham: 334
6. Mark Gibson: 325
7. Norm Benning: 281
8. Bob Dotter: 251
9. Bob Strait: 214
10. Bob Brevak: 191
11. Tom Hessert III: 189
12. Bill Venturini: 188
13. Andy Belmont: 184
14. Bobby Bowsher: 184
15. Bob Schacht: 184
16. Paul Wensink: 180
17. James Hylton: 176
18. Todd Bowsher: 173
19. Roger Blackstock: 171
20. Bob Keselowski: 170
21. Ron Cox: 165
22. Billy Venturini: 162
23. Mike Buckley: 158
24. Les Snow: 153
25. Tim Steele: 147
26. Joe Cooksey: 146
27. Will Kimmel: 142
28. Chuck Weber: 142
29. Dave Dayton: 141
30. Nelson Stacy: 141
31. Lee Raymond: 137
32. Jack Bowsher: 136
33. Jerry Churchill: 135
34. Marvin Smith: 134
35. Bobby Watson: 134
36. Glenn Brewer: 133
37. Andy Hampton: 132
38. Jack Shanklin: 132
39. Bill Clemons: 126
40. Eric Smith: 125
41. Mike Harmon: 122
42. Scott Stovall: 118
43. Jason Jarrett: 114
44. Thomas Praytor: 113
45. Clyde Parker: 110
46. David Simko: 104
47. Josh Williams: 102
48. Mike Basham: 101
49. Grant Enfinger: 100
50. Dick Freeman: 100
51. Mark Thompson: 100
52. Alex Clubb: 100

Bell loses to Gibbs, drought continues

With only three weeks left until the Chase, it’s surprising that Christopher Bell still has yet to win a race in 2026. It’s not like he is in an slump either as he sits a more-than-solid sixth in points.

Rather, luck hasn’t been on his side so far and he’s still trying to put together a complete race. After coming up short yet again in Iowa, he now has seven second-place finishes in 2026, including back to back since he lost to Corey Heim at Indianapolis a week ago.

His JGR team-mate Gibbs had gambled on the final set of green-flag pit stops by taking just two tyres with 60 laps to go. While this left his right side far older than Bell’s, the latter was unable to catch Gibbs.

“This is what you call a bad second-place finish for sure,” said Bell. “I don’t know what else to say.

“Ty did a really good job. He did a great job managing the race. I could tell that he was slipping and sliding around. Similar to last week or two weeks ago with Corey Heim, he just didn’t make a mistake.”

Bell has not won since the 2025 Bass Pro Shops Night Race, a winless streak that has now reached 30.

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2026 JR&CO 150 – Results