 | |
| Sport | Stock car racing |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | United States |
| Abbreviation | ARCA |
| Founded | 1953 |
| Affiliation | NASCAR |
| Headquarters | Toledo, Ohio, U.S. |
| President | Ron Drager |
| Official website | |
| www | |
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TheAutomobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is anauto racing sanctioning body in theUnited States, founded in 1953 byJohn Marcum. A subsidiary ofNASCAR since 2018,[1] the current president of ARCA isRon Drager, who took over the position in 1996 following the death ofBob Loga.[2] TheARCA Menards Series racesstock cars similar to those seen in past years in theNASCAR Cup Series, and indeed most cars used in the Menards Series were previously used in NASCAR. ARCA contains a mix of both professional racers and hobby racers alike, in addition to younger competitors trying to make a name for themselves, sometimes driving as part of adriver development program for a NASCAR team. ARCA Menards Series races are broadcast onFox Sports 1,Fox Sports 2 orMAVTV, and they have been previously broadcast onESPN,ESPN2,USA Network,TNN,Prime Network,CBS Sports Network,NBCSN,TBS,TNT,SpeedVision/Speed andFox Sports Net.
ARCA owns both theToledo Speedway andFlat Rock Speedway. ARCA formerly sanctioned the ARCAMidget Series from 1988 until 2002 and atruck-racing series called theARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series from 1999 to 2016.
John Marcum founded the Midwest Association for Race Cars (MARC) in 1953 as a regionalstock car racing series after working as an official for NASCAR founderBill France Sr. In 1964, the name was changed to the "Automobile Racing Club of America" when the series became national by racing onsuperspeedways.[3] This ARCA is not to be confused with the organization founded in 1933 with the same name. ARCA started racing atDaytona International Speedway in 1964, during theDaytona 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.[3] For several decades, ARCA used older NASCAR Cup race cars at their events, and with the advent of theCar of Tomorrow, teams were able to sell off their older cars to ARCA teams; current NASCAR Cup driverJoey Logano drove in ARCA in 2008, driving veteran NASCAR Cup cars after the Cup move to the COT.[3]
On April 27, 2018, NASCAR acquired ARCA.[4][5]
In 2019, it was announced that the NASCAR K&N Series East and West would be moved under the ARCA banner as theARCA Menards Series East andARCA Menards Series West for 2020.[6]
Former NASCAR drivers, such asBenny Parsons,Kyle Petty (who won the 1979Daytona 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.[3] ARCA has been used throughout its history as a stepping stone for hopeful NASCAR drivers.[7][8]
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:
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
