MARNE, Mich. – Given how dominant Joe Gibbs Racing has been with Gio Ruggiero during the 2026 ARCA Menards Series season, Max Reaves decided to join in on the fun Saturday at Berlin Raceway.

Winning the Herr’s Snacks 200 was not an easy task for Reaves, who faced consistent opposition from polesitter Thomas Annunziata throughout the day. Reaves finally dispatched Annunziata inside of 35 laps to go, pulling away for his first national ARCA Menards Series victory of the year and his fourth overall.

RELATED: Complete results from the Herr’s Snacks 200

Briefly losing the lead to Annunziata after the second competition caution put Reaves under the most pressure he faced all day. Yet the young prospect handled his charge back to the top spot with a veteran’s composure.

“I wasn’t nervous at all,” Reaves said. “I knew how much better this piece was than [Annunziata’s]. He got around me there on that restart. I messed up, but I knew we’d get back to him. I was so much better in lapped traffic, too.

“A little worrying being behind him like that, I wasn’t gaining much there for a while, but once we got around him, I just knew we were so much better.”

Saturday’s trip to Berlin carried plenty of significance for Reaves, as it was the track where he made his national ARCA Menards Series debut last year.

A runner-up finish to Nitro Motorsports’ Treyten Lapcevich that evening provided Reaves a good tune-up ahead of what became a standout debut season. Over his next six national starts, Reaves ended up scoring three victories, bringing his total on the ARCA Menards Series platform in 2025 to six.

Aside from an ARCA Menards Series East triumph at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in May, the start of the 2026 season has not gone the way Reaves envisioned. Prior to the Herr’s Snacks 200, Reaves’ best finish across three national ARCA Menards Series appearances was an eighth at Watkins Glen International, a race in which he started on pole.

Reaves had plenty of motivation fueling him going into Saturday evening. He was eager to showcase what he learned in an ARCA Menards Series chassis at Berlin last year, knowledge that would be invaluable toward usurping the Nitro No. 70 Toyota this time around.

Misfortune appeared to find Reaves again, as he left enough of an opening on the bottom line for Annunziata to pass him during the penultimate restart of the evening. Reaves utilized patience while riding second and worked his way to the top spot after Annunziata was impeded by slower traffic.

Given that Berlin was the site of Nitro’s first ARCA Menards Series victory as a program last year, Annunziata wanted nothing more than to defend the 2025 triumph. Annunziata was disappointed he was unable to fend off Reaves but came away from the Herr’s Snack 200 having gained tremendous knowledge on leading oval races.

“Obviously the lapped cars make it difficult,” Annunziata said. “It’s over the course of 50 laps. You have to be the quickest doing this. I’ve never controlled an oval race before. Many road-course races, but not this. I made a few mistakes on the restarts, but I started to get my groove down there at the end.

“I learned a lot and thought I was on my A game there at the end. Too little laps, I guess.”

Annunziata’s runner-up to Reaves also enabled him to decrease his deficit to ARCA Menards Series points leader Jake Bollman. Plenty of events remain for Annunziata to assume control of the championship lead, but doing so will require him to build on the momentum from his near victory at Berlin.

Reaves is focused on excelling in his national ARCA Menards Series appearances while simultaneously chasing an East Series title. Berlin was a much-needed change of pace for Reaves, as it reminded him that he can excel on a national stage.

Now that he has joined Ruggiero as a national ARCA Menards Series winner for Gibbs this year, Reaves is confident Berlin will be the start of a dominant run.

“We’re going to some tracks that we’re good at,” Reaves said. “Hopefully we can get some more [wins]. I think we can.”

Bollman minimized the points lost to Annunziata by coming home in the third position. Taylor Reimer scored a fourth-place finish with Isabella Robusto rounding out the top five.

The rest of the top 10 consisted of Tyler Lupton, Will Robinson, Matt Kemp, Zachary Tinkle and Jason Kitzmiller.

Up next for the ARCA Menards Series is a visit to another short track in Minnesota’s Elko Speedway for the Shore Lunch 250 presented by Dutch Boy. The green flag waves at 8 p.m. CT/9 p.m. ET Saturday evening on FS2.