Despite finishing the 2026 season as a dominant force in the ARCA, Joe Gibbs Racing is walking away from the series. The team confirmed that its resources are being redirected toward its NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series operation.
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This decision brings the curtain down on the No. 18 ARCA programme after the October 17 event at Phoenix Raceway, thus ending one of the most successful development operations in the series. The news was confirmed in a series of tweets made by Joe Srigley on X.
Steve DeSouza, the Executive Vice President at JGR, described the decision as a difficult one, but he was clear about the organization’s priorities heading into the 2027 season.
“At the end of the day, we made a really difficult decision to close the [ARCA Menards Series] program at the end of the season,” DeSouza told JosephSrigley.com. “As we went through the evaluation of this year, and as we start to plan for 2027, we just determined it was important to place our focus, and the resources we have available, on making significant improvements across our O’Reilly Series program.”
What makes DeSouza’s explanation particularly notable is the fact that JGR is leaving ARCA not because of non-competitiveness, but because its priorities have changed. The organization believes its O’Reilly operation needs more attention and resources, after a season in which only two of its four full-time entries qualified for the Chase.
“It’s pretty obvious we’ve been struggling there a little bit, and we need to really ramp that back up,” DeSouza added.
Between Gio Ruggiero and Max Reaves, JGR’s ARCA programme has won eight races in 2026 and secured the Owner’s Championship by eight points over the Pinnacle Racing Group. The title is also the fourth Owner’s Championship JGR has captured across the ARCA platform, adding to championships won in 2020, 2021 and 2024.
Since returning to ARCA competition in 2017, JGR has collected more than 50 wins in the national division while producing a long alumni list, who eventually moved up the NASCAR ladder. The No. 18 has also produced four Driver’s Championships across the ARCA platform, including Ty Gibbs’ 2021 national title and William Sawalich’s back-to-back ARCA East championships in 2023 and 2024. That development ladder is now set to change.
JGR will field four full-time O’Reilly Auto Parts Series entries again in 2027, with William Sawalich in the No. 18, Brent Crews in the No. 19, Brandon Jones in the No. 20, and Taylor Gray in the No. 54. Therefore, JGR’s decision to prioritize that series comes as it prepares to put greater resources behind a deeper national-series operation.
One particular name stands out in this transition: Brent Crews. The 18-year-old has already made an impression in the O’Reilly Series. Driving the No. 19 car, he has stacked up ten top-5 finishes, coming close to his first win in the Series. His performance has also led Cup veteran Denny Hamlin to identify him as the likely successor to the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Cup Series seat when he eventually hangs up his boots. Hamlin said Crews is likely to be ready by the end of 2027.
Crews’ rapid rise highlights precisely what JGR’s development system has been designed to accomplish. He previously competed successfully in ARCA before moving into the O’Reilly Series, where he has continued challenging for strong finishes. The organization now appears intent on concentrating more of its development infrastructure at that level, which it now needs more than ever.
This decision creates uncertainty around another promising JGR prospect, Max Reaves. The 16-year-old has won seven ARCA races and was under a JGR development deal. However, following JGR’s decision to close the program, DeSouza said that the relationship is now “on pause”.
Even so, it does not necessarily mean the end of Reaves’ relationship with Gibbs. DeSouza stressed that JGR remains committed to helping the Reaves family determine what comes next.
DeSouza added that the organization is still exploring different options for Reaves, saying that there are already “a lot of different options” emerging as teams and interested parties react to the news. It is important to note that the future of JGR’s ARCA equipment is yet to be finalized.
To sum it up, JGR believes now is the time to amp up its O’Reilly program, and the results from that series are taking priority over maintaining a separate ARCA operation.
This means that the October 17 event at Phoenix is more than just another race on the schedule. It will be the final appearance for the No. 18 ARCA Toyota, after nearly a decade of competition and a run that produced more than 50 national-series wins, multiple championships, and some of NASCAR’s most recognizable young talents.
JGR is therefore leaving ARCA at a moment when it is still at the top, like many other sporting figures have done in their time. The organization has simply decided that its next challenge lies higher up the ladder, one that needs more attention now than it ever did.