| Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) | |
|---|---|
| |
| Sport | Stock car racing |
| Country | United States |
| Founded | 1953 |
| Major series | ARCA Menards Series |
| Minor series | ARCA Menards Series East ARCA Menards Series West |
| Manufacturers | Chevrolet Ford Toyota |
| Founder | John Marcum |
| Current President(s) | Rod Drager |
| Official website | arcaracing.com |
Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is an auto racing organization in the United States. ARCA was founded in 1953 by John Marcum and is currently run under Ron Drager. The ARCA series races stock cars similar to those run in NASCAR. ARCA not only has professional racing leagues but also has hobby leagues where people looking for just a little fun can race. Though NASCAR is known for being the originator in stock car racing, ARCA is just as popular as NASCAR is today. In 2018, NASCAR acquired ARCA.
History[]
ARCA was founded by John Marcum in 1953 and began as a regional racing promotion similar to NASCAR before it began to get recognized by the entire United States. In 1964, Bill France Sr. asked John Marcum if he was interested in his promotion racing during the 1964 Daytona Speedweeks. Marcum agreed and ARCA made its debut at Daytona that same year.
To this day, ARCA and NASCAR continue to support each other and both promotions became even more popular since the deal that was made in 1964. ARCA now usually has races at the same tracks as NASCAR is at that week and up until 2007 when the Car of Tomorrow made its inaugural appearance, the two promotions used very similar cars.
Many successful NASCAR drivers such as Joey Logano and Ken Schrader began their careers in ARCA and many drivers such as Jeb Burton and Bubba Wallace hope to have the same outcome.