Automobile Racing Club of America

The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is an auto racing sanctioning body in the United States, founded in 1953 by John Marcum. The current president of ARCA is Ron Drager, who took over the position 1996 following the death of Bob Loga.[1] The ARCA Menards Series races stock cars similar to those seen in past years in the NASCAR Cup Series, and indeed most cars used in the Menards Series were previously used in NASCAR. ARCA's competitors contain a mix of both professional racers as well as hobby racers alike, in addition to younger competitors trying to make a name for themselves, sometimes driving as part of a driver development program for a NASCAR team. ARCA Menards Series races are broadcast on Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2 or MAVTV, and they have been previously broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2, USA Network, TNN, Prime Network, CBS Sports Network, NBCSN, TBS and TNT.

For other uses, see ARCA.
Automobile Racing Club of America
SportStock car racing
JurisdictionUnited States
AbbreviationARCA
Founded1953
AffiliationNASCAR
HeadquartersToledo, Ohio
PresidentRon Drager
Official website
www.arcaracing.com

ARCA owns both the Toledo Speedway and Flat Rock Speedway. ARCA formerly sanctioned the ARCA Midget Series from 1988 until 2002 and a truck-racing series called the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series from 1999 to 2016.

History

John Marcum founded the Midwest Association for Race Cars (MARC) in 1953 as a regional stock car racing series after working as an official for NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. In 1964, the name was changed to the "Automobile Racing Club of America" when the series became national by racing on superspeedways.[2] This ARCA is not to be confused with the organization founded in 1933 with the same name. ARCA started racing at Daytona International Speedway in 1964, during the Daytona Speedweeks, at the request of Bill France, Sr., who had raced against Marcum in the 1940s.

The ARCA/NASCAR relationship continues today. The series frequently schedule events at the same track on the same weekend. The ARCA event is frequently the Saturday support race to the Sunday NASCAR Cup event.[2] For several decades, ARCA used older NASCAR Cup race cars at their events, and with the advent of the Car of Tomorrow, teams were able to sell off their older cars to ARCA teams; current NASCAR Cup driver Joey Logano drove in ARCA in 2008, driving veteran NASCAR Cup cars after the Cup move to the COT.[2]

On April 27, 2018, NASCAR acquired ARCA.[3][4]

In 2019, it was announced that the NASCAR K&N Series East and West would be moved under the ARCA banner as the ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards Series West for 2020.[5]

Former NASCAR drivers, such as Benny Parsons, Kyle Petty (who won the 1979 Daytona ARCA 200, the first race he ever competed in), Ken Schrader and others, have competed in and advanced through the ARCA series on the way to successful NASCAR careers.[2] ARCA has been used throughout its history as a stepping stone for hopeful NASCAR drivers.[6][7]

Points scoring system

ARCA uses a relatively simple point system to determine champions.

Year 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd 33rd 34th 35th 36th 37th 38th 39th 40th+
2009-2018 200 195 190 185 180 175 170 165 160 155 150 145 140 135 130 125 120 115 110 105 100 95 90 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5

Note:

  • Every finishing position between 1st and 40th is separated by five points, with the winning driver receiving 200 points and the 40th place driver receiving five points. Any driver who finishes behind 40th will receive five points.
  • Points are also awarded for qualifying, with: 15 points awarded to the pole position, 10 points for the second fastest qualifier, and five for the third fastest qualifier.
  • Any driver who leads an official lap will receive five bonus points.
  • The driver who leads the most official laps will receive an additional five points.
  • All drivers who pre-enter and compete in a race will receive an additional 25 points.
  • Any driver who enters and competes in each pre-designated five race leg of the overall schedule will receive an additional 100 points.[8]

Series

Former series

References
  1. Kernan, Sean. "ARCA's Drager Willing to Delegate". Daytona Beach, FL: The Daytona Beach News-Journal, February 7, 1997. Page 02R.
  2. ARCA at 50 Archived February 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine; Stock Car Racing magazine, accessed 2008-02-26.
  3. Dale, Holly (April 27, 2018). "NASCAR acquires ARCA, affirming commitment to next generation of racers". NASCAR. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  4. "NASCAR Welcomes ARCA to the Family". Automobile Racing Club of America. April 27, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  5. Bonkowski, Jerry (October 2, 2019). "NASCAR, ARCA announce new format for 2020; ARCA to take over K&N Series". NBC Sports. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  6. "TRUCKS: NCWTS Announcer Phil Parsons To Host ARCA Banquet". Speed TV. Archived from the original on 2 February 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
  7. Ackerman, Lee (July 2012). Omaha World-Herald https://archive.is/20130130195807/http://www.omaha.com/article/20120712/SPORTS/707129865/1001. Archived from the original on 2013-01-30. Retrieved August 18, 2012. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. Archived December 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine"ARCA RE/MAX Series Point System Explanation" Retrieved February 8, 2009
  9. Kallman, Dave (November 13, 2012). "Midwest Tour joins ARCA stock-car family for 2013". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
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