Nitro Motorsports delivered an impressive showing of speed in Thursday’s ARCA Menards Series race at the Phoenix International Raceway, with five of the team’s entries qualifying inside the top-15 and Thomas Annunziata leading the charge with a podium finish.
Annunziata piloted the #70 JBL Toyota Camry to a strong third-place finish, overcoming early handling challenges to charge back through the field and contend near the front in the closing stages of the race. His result marked another strong performance for the Nitro Motorsports program as the team continues its push in the 2026 championship.
“Our JBL Toyota Camry was super-fast at the beginning,” explained Annunziata. “We definitely struggled with handling early on, and I was just trying to hang on there. The guys on my team put everything together and got the car where it needed to be, and it showed. We passed a lot of cars and got back up to third and gave them a run for their money up front. As a team, we’re continuing to close the gap to the guys ahead of us. We’re close, and it was a good championship points day, so I’m happy.”
Jake Bollman added another strong result for Nitro Motorsports, bringing the #20 Toyota home in sixth place despite battling damage sustained during on-track incidents.
“Overall, we ran up front for a long time,” Bollman said. “We raced pretty hard with the lead cars and felt like we had something for them after the halfway break. Unfortunately, we got caught in a couple of messes that ripped the right side of the back bumper off and hurt our speed for the rest of the race. The car was tight after that, but we kept fighting. Finishing sixth is still a solid points day. Stuff happens in an instant in racing, so we’ll take it and move forward. Huge thanks to everyone at Nitro Motorsports — the crew chief, car chief, and everyone back at the shop who worked hard to get these cars ready with the busy schedule we’ve had.”
While Annunziata and Bollman delivered top-six finishes, the remainder of the Nitro Motorsports lineup showed strong qualifying speed before facing challenges during the race.
Isabella Robusto finished 21st, while Jade Avedisian — who qualified inside the top-ten — ultimately came home 28th. Mia Lovell finished 30th, and Julian DaCosta rounded out the team’s results in 31st.
Despite the mixed race results, Nitro Motorsports demonstrated significant pace throughout the weekend, with Annunziata, Bollman, Avedisian, Robusto, and Lovell all qualifying inside the top-15, highlighting the speed of the team’s Toyota Camry fleet.
The strong qualifying effort and podium finish reinforce Nitro Motorsports’ continued momentum in the ARCA Menards Series as the team looks ahead to the next round of competition.
Photo Credit: RTD Media