NASHVILLE, TN. — Ever since Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway became a part of the ARCA Menards Series East schedule, no car has been more dominant than the No. 18 Toyota.

Between the Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch Motorsports banners, the No. 18 has led 606 of 755 possible laps across Nashville’s four East Series events. Three of those races concluded with the No. 18 being parked in Victory Lane, with the 2023 edition being the lone exception to that trend.

RELATED: Complete race results from the Music City 150

Max Reaves faced minimal issues maintaining the dominant status quo for the No. 18 at Nashville on a cloudy Sunday afternoon. Aside from the restarts, no one in the field could challenge Reaves, who pulled away to secure his second consecutive East Series victory in only his second career start.

Reaves entered the Music City 150 having previously competed at Nashville in a Legends car. High expectations were placed onto Reaves not only score another win for Gibbs at Nashville but also build on the momentum from his season-opening triumph at Five Flags Speedway.

With the guidance of NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Bobby Labonte and the experience of crew chief Matt Ross at his disposal, Reaves wasted no time getting acclimated to Nashville in a full-bodied stock car. The inclement weather on Saturday gave Reaves a crucial head start, as he inherited the pole by virtue of last year’s owner points.

Everything that occurred afterwards was procedural for Gibbs at Nashville, a textbook stalwart performance that saw Reaves lead most of the Music City 150.

The only obstacles Reaves faced during the day came on restarts, the first of which saw him briefly lose the top spot to Tyler Reif. Reaves quickly shook off the mistake by overtaking Reif a few laps later and proceeded to keep him in his rearview mirror during two ensuing restarts, both of which saw Reif fail to match Reaves’ pace.

Reif managed to hang onto the second position up until the checkered flag waved, which served as a solid rebound for the young prospect after a mechanical failure ended his day prematurely at Rockingham Speedway. Now with momentum on his side, Reif will look to back up his strong Nashville performance during the next East Series race at Flat Rock Speedway.

For Reaves, his consistency on Sunday further solidified the No. 18 Toyota’s status as the most efficient ARCA Menards Series car at Nashville during the 2020s. Luke Fenhaus besting William Sawalich in overtime during the 2023 Music City 150 is what prevented the car from having a clean sweep of the five East Series races held at Nashville so far.

Unlike past seasons, the No. 18 will not be able to contend for an East Series driver’s title due to Reaves’ part-time schedule. Despite this, East Series victories will not be hard to come by for the No. 18 in 2025 if Reaves continues to display the same composure from his first two appearances.

Hunter Wright, a local Nashville competitor, bested East Series points leader Isaac Kitzmiller in a hard-fought battle to bring home a third place finish. Kitzmiller and Zachary Tinkle were the rest of the top five finishers.

The next race up for the ARCA Menards Series East at Flat Rock Speedway will be the last standalone event on their 2025 calendar. The Dutch Boy 150 will commence at 7:30 p.m. ET on May 17, with FloRacing providing live coverage of the on-track action.