Saturday will mark the start of the 39th season for the ARCA Menards Series East as the tour begins with a 100-mile, 150-lap showdown at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, featuring several new faces alongside returning veterans, ready to kick off the eight-race season for 2025.
Notable rookies in the field that will kick off their quest for the 2025 championship include Max Reeves, who will be making his ARCA Menards Series debut with Joe Gibbs Racing in their No. 18 Toyota entry. Reeves is tapped to drive in 10 total ARCA races in 2025. Reeves is splitting time in the seat with 16-year-old standout Brent Crews and NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie and defending ARCA East champion, William Sawalich.
A pair of 16-year-olds will make their ARCA East debuts in Isaac Kitzmiller, the son of current full-time ARCA Menards Series driver Jason Kitzmiller, and newly signed London McKenzie for CW Motorsports. Kitzmiller will pilot the No. 79 Chevrolet for A.L.L. Construction Racing with McKenzie in the No. 93 Ford Mustang.
Tyler Reif, a four-time winner in the ARCA, is set to begin his rookie season in ARCA East competition with Sigma Performance Services, driving the No. 23 Chevrolet SS. Reif recently finished in second place in points for two consecutive years in ARCA West, from 2023 to 2024, and secured three victories at Phoenix Raceway, Shasta Speedway, and Tri-City Speedway. As he heads to the East Coast, Reif aims to make headlines and contend for the series title.
Takuma Koga wraps up the rookie roundup, as the ARCA West veteran looks to make strides in his first full-time ARCA East season with Fast Track Racing in the No.12 Toyota. Koga has made a total of 132 starts, 125 in ARCA West and seven in ARCA’s headlining series, bolstering 28 top 10s over 14 seasons of action.
Several returning drivers from 2024 aiming to impact the 2025 championship include notably, Zachary Tinkle, D.L. Wilson, Brad Smith, and Rita Goulet.
Timmy Hill, a veteran of the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, will return to ARCA East competition full-time in 2025, driving the No. 56 Toyota Camry entry from Hill Motorsports.
Several notable drivers are set to compete in Saturday’s Pensacola 150, including Kole Raz, a recent standout in ARCA competition, who will race the No. 76 Ford Mustang for AM Racing. Other entrants include Carson Brown, who will be making his ARCA debut with Hettinger Racing, CRAFTSMAN Truck Series regular Connor Mosack, YouTube star Cody Dennison, and the recently signed E.J. Tamayo, among others. They are all ready for action this weekend at Five Flags.
The 33rd annual Pensacola 150 will air live on Saturday, March 22 on FloRacing at 7:30 pm EST.
Pensacola 150 Entry List
| Entry | No. | Driver | Team | Crew Chief |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Carson Brown* | Hettinger Racing PayCafe/EBB Logistics/GBS Brand Connect Chevrolet | Bruce Cook |
| 2 | 9 | Cody Dennison | Fast Track Racing Flux/Timcast Toyota | Mike Sroufe |
| 3 | 10 | Mike Basham | Fast Track Racing Double H Ranch Ford | Joseth Carabantes |
| 4 | 11 | Zachary Tinkle | Fast Track Racing Racing For Rescues Toyota | Chris Vanscoy |
| 5 | 12 | Takuma Koga | Fast Track Racing Macnica Yit Ikedo/CKB Toyota | Dick Doheny |
| 6 | 18 | Max Reaves* | Joe Gibbs Racing Cook Out Toyota | Matt Ross |
| 7 | 23 | Tyler Reif | Sigma Performance Services Sigma Performance Services Chevrolet | Tom Ackerman |
| 8 | 28 | Connor Mosack | Pinnacle Racing Group Pinnacle Motorsports Chevrolet | Steven Dawson |
| 9 | 31 | Rita Goulet | Rise Motorsports NationalPolice.org Toyota | Matthew Wright |
| 10 | 34 | Austin Vaughn* | VWV Racing Safford Trading Company Ford | Brandan Elter |
| 11 | 39 | D.L. Wilson | CW Motorsports Performance Cleaners Toyota | Riley Higgins |
| 12 | 40 | Andrew Patterson | Andrew Patterson Racing Korrect Plumbing Htg Air/WinSupply/SCS Gearbox Chevrolet | Tony Ponkauskas |
| 13 | 48 | Brad Smith | Brad Smith Motorsports Gary’s Speed Shop Ford | Carlos Leon |
| 14 | 56 | Timmy Hill | Hill Motorsports Hill Motorsports Toyota | Terry Elmore |
| 15 | 76 | Kole Raz* | AM Racing Cyclum Nextgen Travel Centers Ford | Ryan London |
| 16 | 79 | Isaac Kitzmiller* | A.L.L. Construction Racing A.L.L. Construction/Carter Cat Chevrolet | Frank Kimmel |
| 17 | 85 | Becca Monopoli* | City Garage Motorsports Orlando Health Ford | Tom Monopoli |
| 18 | 93 | London McKenzie* | CW Motorsports McKenzie Real Estate Ford | Darrel Krentz |
| 19 | 95 | Hunter Wright* | MAN Motorsports Sunset Park RV/Cedar City RV Toyota | David Noble |
| 20 | 96 | Jackson McLerran* | MAN Motorsports JSJ Construction/Arylco LLC/Bubba’s Bout Broke Toyota | Mark Noble |
| 21 | 00 | Corey Aiken* | VWV Racing Vaughn Wilcox & Vaughn Toyota | John Kennedy |
| 22 | 01 | E.J. Tamayo* | Fast Track Racing Tamayo Sports Florida/Amici Engineering Ford | Ethan Hutchens |
| 23 | 06 | C.W. Lemoine* | Wayne Peterson Racing Peterson Motorsports Toyota | Nate Moeller |
