Automobile Racing Club of America (Johnsonverse)

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 in 1996 following the death of Bob Loga. The ARCA Menards Series races stock cars similar to those seen in past years in the NASCAR RCA 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 WBC, ESPN, ESPN2, or TNN, and they have been previously broadcast on USA Network and Prime Network.
ARCA owns both the Toledo Speedway and Flat Rock Speedway.
== 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. 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 has used older NASCAR Cup race cars at their events, and with the advent of the Strictly Stock Car, teams were able to sell off their older cars to ARCA teams.
On April 27, 2018, NASCAR acquired ARCA.
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.
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. ARCA has been used throughout its history as a stepping stone for hopeful NASCAR drivers.
== Points scoring system ==
== Series ==
* ARCA Menards Series
* ARCA Menards Series East
* ARCA Menards Series West
*ARCA Western Steer Truck Series
*ARCA TranSouth Midget Series
* ARCA Midwest Tour
** ARCA West Mac's Series
** ARCA West Circle K
* ARCA Late Model Gold Cup Series
* ARCA OK Tire Sportsman Series
* CRA Super Series
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