Trio of ARCA Menards Series West Newcomers Headline Trans Am Drivers Headed to Portland

A trio of Trans Am Series drivers will make their ARCA Menards Series West debut this Saturday, August 8, as the series goes road course racing at Portland International Raceway.

Those three drivers, all under the Nitro Motorsports stable for the weekend, are just some of the competitors who have competed in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli, hoping to convert that road-course experience into success in Saturday's Portland 112.

Ethan Tovo will make his first start on the ARCA Menards Series platform, piloting the No. 70 Nitro Motorsports Toyota. Tovo currently sits second in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series Sunoco Young Gun Driver’s Championship standings.

Graham Jacobson will make his second start under the ARCA banner, and his first with ARCA Menards Series West, on Saturday at Portland in the Nitro Motorsports No. 90. Jacobson scored a Western Championship win at Sonoma during the Trans Am doubleheader weekend in April.

2019 Western Championship TA2 champion Brad McAllister will also make his ARCA Menards Series West debut on Saturday, driving the No. 20 Nitro Motorsports Toyota. McAllister has seven class wins under the Trans Am banner, two of which have come at Portland International Raceway.

Sam Corry finished second in last year’s CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series championship standings, with a win at Lime Rock Park to his credit. A winner already this season with ARCA Menards Series West at Sonoma, he hopes to continue that success this weekend at Portland.

Mia Lovell has competed full-time with the ARCA Menards Series West in 2026, and is coming off a runner-up finish at Sonoma to Corry in June for a 1-2 Nitro Motorsports finish. Lovell competed in both the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series and Trans Am Series Western Championship in 2025, including a fifth-place finish at Portland last year.

Caleb Shrader, who has earned two top-five finishes in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli Western Championship, will make his fourth visit to Portland International Raceway with ARCA Menards Series West. He has two top-10 finishes in the previous three races, with a best finish of seventh in 2023.

Hailie Deegan continues her full-time ARCA Menards Series West campaign for 2026. The three-time ARCA West race winner made one career CUBE 3 TA2 Series start in 2024, finishing 10th at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

David Smith has become a regular with ARCA Menards Series West, competing full-time with the series since 2023. Smith made 11 Trans Am Western Championship starts between 2017 and 2019, with seven top-five finishes.

Saturday's Portland 112 takes the green flag at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET. Competitors will battle for 57 laps around the 1.98-mile circuit.

-Photo credit: Chris Clark Photography