Brent Crews (front) turns through the esses at Watkins Glen International during the General Tire 100. (Photo: Joe Gibbs Racing via X)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — The No. 18 machine has been a powerhouse in the ARCA Menards Series for the past several years, and Brent Crews has been no exception to excellence in his short time with the JGR camp, but the sweet fruits of victory have been scarce throughout the 2025 season.
From the drop of the green flag in the General Tire 100 at Watkins Glen International, Crews showed the race-winning pace that his No. 18 had shown with other drivers in the past, such as current Xfinity Series rookie William Sawalich. By the first quarter of the show, the young superstar was out to a several-second lead on his competition.
Overall, it was a quiet day for Crews, who was pretty much driving by himself and racing the twists and turns of Upstate New York for most of the race, but that all changed when the driver of the No. 97 Chevrolet in Jason Kitzmiller, went charging into the tire barrier in the exit of Turn 1.
From there on out, the race took a strange and terrible turn for the lone JGR crew. When the field was coming down the backstretch entering the carousel, Crews began to come to a stop, reporting that his JBL Toyota Camry was out of power. The day of victory and dominance was over for Crews in a matter of moments.
The No. 18 was pushed down pit road for service by an on-track crew vehicle. Once he made it to his pit stall, crew members of the Crews’ team went over the wall to replace the battery, putting the young driver back out on track in the 9th position, the last car on the lead lap, opening up for 15-year-old driver Tristan McKee to score his first win in just his first outing with Spire Motorsports, becoming the second youngest driver in ARCA Menards Series history to pick up a victory.
Brent Crews during on-track action at Watkins Glen International for the General Tire 100. (Photo: Joe Gibbs Racing via X)
Crews reached the finish of the General Tire 100 from 9th, a poor result on a day that was finally looking like it was coming together for one of NASCAR’s rising prospects. This isn’t the first time Crews has been in this position. Three weeks ago, at Dover Motor Speedway, the driver from Davidson, North Carolina, blew a tire battling for the victory in the ARCA event there, while Brenden Queen cruised to victory.
“It’s probably the worst feeling in the world”, said Crews in post-race availability with FOX. “Just grateful to be able to have heartbreaks like this, I guess, is the way to say it.” Even with the issues at the end of the show, Crews was still happy with the pure speed in his race car, but he wished he could’ve battled for the win.
“We had a fast car. I think we had an 11-second lead at one point and then an eight-second lead… we had a battery issue and lost voltage there. Right before that caution there, about a half a lap before, I saw my voltage light turn up yellow, and I was a little nervous after that,” Crews added. “The second I saw (Jason) Kitzmiller in the wall there, I knew we were in trouble.”
Crews may have lost the grasp of victory, but he’ll have another shot at an ARCA win later on in the season with his Joe Gibbs Racing organization, a powerhouse that is never away from victory lane for very long when he climbs back into the ARCA car at Bristol Motor Speedway on September 11.
