AVONDALE, Ariz. — Pinnacle Racing Group nearly experienced an unfortunate case of déjà vu at Phoenix Raceway on Thursday evening, this time with Carson Brown behind the wheel.
Brown withstood a charge from his teammate 15-year-old Tristan McKee to prevail in his maiden national ARCA Menards Series start, which also resulted in Pinnacle Racing Group’s first one-two finish with McKee following Brown across the start-finish line.
Brown led almost every lap of the General Tire 150 prior to Dustin Hillenburg’s spin that brought out the final yellow of the day. The pressure of the situation did not phase Brown, who was thrilled to bring Pinnacle Racing Group back to Phoenix’s Victory Lane.
“All the guys back at PRG, [I have to give] a big thank you to them,” Brown said. “That green-white-checkered got a little hairy there. [McKee and I] made a little contact coming off [turn] two, but I thought I could kind of persevere there and make it to the finish line.”
Although Thursday was Brown’s official national ARCA Menards Series debut, he was already familiar with Phoenix.
The 2025 ARCA Menards Series West finale at Phoenix featured Brown in the 25-car field, piloting the same No. 28 Queen had won a championship with a month prior. Brown drove a clean and composed race to place second behind the race winner in Crews.
Brown’s experience from that outing was prevalent throughout his second trip to Phoenix on the ARCA Menards Series platform. A time of 27.67 in qualifying gave Brown the pole. He then proceeded to lead most of the General Tire 150 with minimal resistance.
McKee was the only driver to apply any kind of pressure to Brown throughout the race. He managed to deny Brown a perfect race with a couple of well-executed restarts but was unable to match his teammate’s pace once the two settled into a run.
Although the overtime restart gave McKee one final opportunity to overtake Brown, he made slight contact with the No. 28 and ended up settling for second. McKee expressed regret over coming together with Brown but was satisfied with his performance and helping Pinnacle Racing Group sweep the top two positions.
“I tried to get as close to [Brown] as possible there,” McKee said. “I kind of got loose because he was on my door like that. There wasn’t much I could have done there. I had a good last lap through [turns] one and two and got pretty close, but I wasn’t going to wreck him or anything like that.”
Like Brown, McKee has a busy year ahead after Thursday’s General Tire 150. The two prospects will anchor Pinnacle Racing Group’s ARCA Menards Series East cars, with McKee also set to make his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut once he turns 16 later this year.
Thursday was just another chapter in what has already been an adventurous 2026 for Brown, who is also a development driver for Richard Childress Racing. He earned a victory in the ASA STARS National Tour season-opener at New Smyrna Speedway last month, a series in which he intends to pursue a championship alongside substantial commitments to Late Model Stocks and the East Series.
Even with so many races lined up on his schedule, Brown is already carrying on the high standard of efficiency at Pinnacle Racing Group that guided Queen to a title last year. Phoenix was only Brown’s first ARCA Menards Series race of 2026, which leaves plenty of opportunities for him to continue improving on the platform.
Following Brown and McKee home in third was Thomas Annunziata, with reigning West Series champion Trevor Huddleston securing a fourth-place finish.
Mason Massey from Douglasville, Georgia, who won the West Series opener in his debut with the series at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway last week, rounded out the top five. Mason started the race in 14th position while driving the No. 81 Brunt Workwear Chevrolet for Bill McAnally Racing, finished in the top five scored P5.
The rest of the top 10 consisted of Jake Bollman, Isaac Kitzmiller, Taylor Mayhew, Max Reaves and Robbie Kennealy.
More than a month will pass before the national ARCA Menards Series hits the track for the third race of 2026, which takes place at Kansas Speedway on Apr. 18 live on FS1. The ARCA Menards Series West returns to action the week before with a trip to Tucson Speedway on Apr. 11 with FloRacing providing live coverage.