Sport Stock car racing Abbreviation ARCA Headquarters Michigan, United States Founded 1953 | Jurisdiction United States President Ron Drager Founder John Marcum | |
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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. The ARCA Series races stock cars similar to those seen in past years in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, and indeed most cars used in the ARCA Racing 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. Most ARCA Racing Series races are broadcast on either Fox Sports 1 or CBS Sports Network, they have been previously on ESPN, MAVTV, NBCSN, TBS and TNT. ARCA also sanctions a truck-racing series called the ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series and owns both the Toledo Speedway and Flat Rock Speedway. ARCA formerly sanctioned the ARCA Midget Series from 1988 until 2002.
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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. 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 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. For several decades, ARCA used older NASCAR Cup race cars at their events, and with the advancement of the Car of Tomorrow, teams have been able to sell off older cars to ARCA teams; current Sprint Cup driver Joey Logano drove in ARCA in 2008, driving veteran Sprint Cup cars after the move to the COT.
Former NASCAR drivers, such as Benny Parsons, Kyle Petty (who won the 1979 Daytona ARCA 200; 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. ARCA has been used throughout its history as a stepping stone for hopeful NASCAR drivers.
Point system
ARCA uses a relatively simple point system to determine champions. There is only one scale for points awarded per finishing position. Every finishing position between 1st and 40th is separated by 5 points, with the winning driver receiving 200 points and the 40th place driver receiving 5 points. Any driver who finishes behind 40th will receive 5 points. Points are also awarded for qualifying, with: 15 points awarded to the pole position, 10 points for the second fastest qualifier, and 5 for the third fastest qualifier.
There are many ways to score bonus points. Any driver who leads an official lap will receive 5 bonus points. The driver who leads the most official laps will receive an additional 5 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 5 race leg of the overall schedule will receive an additional 250 points.