Max Reaves dominates for the ARCA East Series win at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on Saturday night in the Cook Out Music City 150.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — With Cook Out sponsoring Saturday’s ARCA Menards Series East race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, it was only fitting that Max Reaves ended up visiting Victory Lane.
Max Reaves: Victory at Nashville
Reaves, driving the No. 18 Cook Out Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, enjoyed a flawless outing in the Cook Out Music City 150, leading every lap from the pole. The triumph was Reaves’ first on the ARCA Menards Series platform in 2026 and his fourth overall with the East Series.
Having won at Nashville Fairgrounds just last year, Reaves knew how to navigate the half-mile complex and stay consistent while pacing the field. A late-race caution briefly disrupted Reaves’ cadence around the track, but he was determined to reward his team’s hard work by taking home another checkered flag.
“My crew chief Matt [Ross] gave me such a good car, [so] I had to win with it,” Reaves said. “I was a little scared at the [final] restart, but after we got going, we got a little bit of a gap. I was really nervous for a caution there at the end because I know what these guys do. The only way they can beat us at a place like this is to wreck us.”
Since the East Series returned to Nashville Fairgrounds back in 2021, the No. 18 Toyota has established a gold standard for success at the historic facility.
Of those five previous events, the No. 18 finished first in four of them. Reaves continued a tradition started by Sammy Smith’s two consecutive victories in 2021 and 2022, while William Sawalich nabbed a Nashville Fairgrounds win of his own in 2024.
The status quo at Nashville Fairgrounds did not change Saturday. Reaves set the fastest times in both practice and qualifying for the Cook Out Music City 150 before carrying that speed into the race, executing each restart efficiently and staying composed with the lapped traffic.
The Cook Out Music City 150 Results
As Reaves maintained a comfortable pace up front, the battle for second ended up being close between Landon S. Huffman and East Series points leader Tristan McKee. After relentlessly pressuring McKee during the final run, Huffman finally worked his way around him to come home with a runner-up showing.
Huffman nearly prevailed in his East Series debut with CR7 Motorsports at his home track of Hickory Motor Speedway last month before a late spin knocked him back to sixth in the running order. Knowing he could be competitive with CR7, Huffman eagerly looked forward to Nashville Fairgrounds despite possessing limited experience there.
While the night was far from perfect for Huffman, he said his second-place finish was indicative of the chemistry already built with CR7 and the team’s potential to win races together.
“We started the race [with] a solid fifth or sixth-place car,” Huffman said. “We weren’t very good, but I asked for a softer left-rear spring there at the break, and that’s what they did. I can’t thank these guys enough. They stood behind me the whole time even when it wasn’t pretty there at the beginning. I think the night was great, especially [after the way] it started.”
Huffman’s next outing with CR7 is at Chicagoland Speedway in July, all while the rest of the full-time East Series competitors will be left to deal with Reaves as a threat for the championship.
The ARCA East Series Point Standings
The start to Reaves’ 2026 has not been to his liking, with a flat tire at Rockingham Speedway leaving him 15 points back to McKee in the standings. Despite this, speed was never once an issue for Reaves across all his starts this season; he and Gibbs were simply waiting to put together a complete race.
Following his stalwart performance in the Cook Out Music City 150, Reaves is firmly back in the title hunt, ready to deliver Joe Gibbs Racing another accomplishment while being part of the ARCA Menards Series platform.
McKee maintained his East Series points lead by finishing in third, all while reigning Nashville Fairgrounds Pro Late Model champion Hunter Wright came home in fourth. Rounding out the top five was Isaac Kitzmiller.
Craig Pellegrini Jr., Esteban Rodriguez, Jackson McLerran, Carson Brown, and Ivis Earley made up the rest of the top ten.
Next Up
The ARCA Menards Series East will be back in action on May 16 for the Owens Corning 200 at Toledo Speedway, the first of four combination events with the national ARCA Menards Series. The green flag waves at 7 p.m. ET, with FS1 carrying live coverage of the on-track action.