Automobile Racing Club of America
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Automobile Racing Club of America | |
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| Sport governing body | |
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| Category | Stock car racing |
| Area of jurisdiction |  United States |
| Formation date | 1953 |
| Headquarters | Toledo, Ohio |
| President | Ron Drager |
| Website | arcaracing.com |
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. ARCA (aka the ARCA RE/MAX Series) races stock cars similar to those seen in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and indeed most cars used in ARCA 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 also sanctions a truck racing series called the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series and owns the Toledo Speedway and Flat Rock Speedway. Formerly sanctioned the ARCA Midget Series from 1988 until 2002.
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[edit] History
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.[1] This ARCA is not to be confused with the organization founded in 1933 with the same name (now known as the Sports Car Club of America). ARCA started racing at Daytona International Speedway in 1964 during the Daytona Speedweeks at the request of France, who had raced against Marcum in the 1940s.
The ARCA/NASCAR relationship continues to 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.[1] For a several decades, ARCA used older NASCAR Cup racecars at their events.[1]
Former NASCAR greats such as Benny Parsons, Kyle Petty, Ken Schrader and others have competed in and advanced through the ARCA series on the way to successful NASCAR careers.[1] ARCA is still often used as a stepping stone for hopeful NASCAR drivers.
[edit] Series
[edit] Gallery
 Frank Kimmel racing in ARCA in 2006 |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d ARCA at 50; Stock Car Racing magazine; Retrieved February 26, 2008
[edit] External links
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