By: Ashley McCubbin

The wait is finally over as the ARCA Menards East will kick off their season on Saturday at Five Flags Speedway – and that is just where the anticipation begins. There are several storylines entering the event throughout the full entry list, with a variety of contenders looking for the checkered flag.

Bubba Pollard may be a new name to fans of the series, but those who follow short track late model racing know him very well. He has won numerous events across North America, including the Rattler 250 at South Alabama Speedway and ASA National Tour season opening Clyde Hart Memorial at New Smyrna Speedway this year. He also proven to be fast in Florida previously, winning the Snowflake 100 on a couple occasions and regularly is a threat to win the Snowball Derby each December. A lot of eyes will be interested to see how well he adapts to the ARCA cars, especially as this comes ahead of his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut with JR Motorsports at Richmond Raceway.

William Sawalich enters this weekend as the defending event winner, as it was one of the four races he won en route to being crowned 2023 ARCA Menards Series East Champion. He also has momentum on side after picking up the checkered flag in the ARCA Menards Series event at Phoenix Raceway a couple weeks ago.

Gio Ruggiero will make his first trip to 5 Flags Speedway in an ARCA car after scoring a runner-up to Sawalich at Phoenix. Although his experience with the series is lacking, he falls into the same category as Pollard as he has won several late model races across the United States, and was the runner-up to Ty Majeski in the 2023 Snowball Derby in Pensacola.

Jake Finch is no stranger to ARCA now, after placing eighth and third in his previous two East series events at 5 Flags Speedway with the tour. The experience to run up front, though, comes from his late model days in regularly competing for the Blizzard Series Championship.

Late Model aces throughout the field seems to be the theme here, and you can add Hunter Wright to that conversation. He will make his series debut after winning the New Smyrna Speedway World Series Pro Late Model Championship in February.

Connor Zilisch made his ARCA Menards Series debut last season, picking up a runner-up finish at Watkins Glen International. He hopes to repeat the same magic this weekend in what will be a busy time as he will also compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Circuit of the Americas earlier that same day.

Zachary Tinkle showed speed in his first trip to 5 Flags Speedway, posting a seventh-place finish last season as one of his four top-10 finishes en route to placing fourth in the year-end ARCA East Series standings.

Ed Pompa ran two ARCA East events in 2023, with a pair of top-10 finishes. One of those came at 5 Flags Speedway as he was 10th in the final rundown.

Nate Moeller hopes to have a better time in Florida this year, after brake issues saw his race end with just three laps on the board in 2023.

Presley Sorah’s ARCA debut comes this weekend following success with the Ultimate Heart of America Super Late Model Series, recording a best finish of eighth at Salem Speedway last season. His jump up to late models came following success in go-karts and online SIM racing.