ARCA Menards series

the **ARCA Menards Series** is the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America.

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### Car makes

* Chevy
* Ford
* Toyota

## History.

The series was founded in Toledo, Ohio in 1953 as the *Midwest Association for Race Cars* (MARC), a local touring group in the Midwestern United States. The series was founded by John Marcum, a friend and former competitor of Bill France, Sr. and former NASCAR employee, who created MARC as a northern counterpart to the southern-based NASCAR. Early drivers included Iggy Katona and Nelson Stacy.

The series became a part of Daytona Speedweeks in 1964 at the request of Bill France, allowing the series to open its season alongside the Daytona 500. That same year, the series name was changed from MARC (Midwest Association for Race Cars) to the current ARCA (Automobile Racing Club of America) as a suggestion from France to give the series more national exposure.

Drivers as young as 17 may be approved to drive on speedway tracks, and drivers as young as 15 years can be permitted to drive at courses less than one mile in length and road courses. This is one year younger than the minimum age of 16 in the Craftsman Truck Series (also for short tracks and road courses only). Drivers must be 18 to race in either of the two superspeedway events the series hosts at Daytona and Talladega.

An Indiana-based indie game developer created *ARCA Sim Racing '08* to simulate the RE/MAX championship.[

From 1995 until 2016, the Hoosier Racing Tire company was the series tire supplier, with the tires being branded in 2016 by their business partner Continental AG's General Tire. Continental acquired Hoosier in October 2016.

On April 27, 2018, it was announced that the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) had bought out the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), though 2018 and 2019 seasons continued as planned. The ARCA Menards Series plans to retain its name for the 2020 season, while the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West will rebrand as the ARCA Menards Series East and West, respectively. On October 2, 2019, NASCAR and ARCA announced the creation of a ten-race short track and road course slate called the ARCA Racing Series Showdown, with drivers from all three series eligible to compete.

In January 2019, ARCA announced that every race for the 2019 season would be broadcast live on television. Eight races were broadcast between FS1 and FS2, while the remaining 12 races ran on MAVTV. This was the first time in series history that every race in a season was broadcast live. Starting in 2023, all races will be broadcast on FS1 or FS2.

## Champions

* 1953: Jim Romine
* 1954: Bucky Sager
* 1955: Iggy Katona
* 1956: Iggy Katona
* 1957: Iggy Katona
* 1958: Nelson Stacy
* 1959: Nelson Stacy
* 1960: Nelson Stacy
* 1961: Harold Smith
* 1962: Iggy Katona
* 1963: Jack Bowsher
* 1964: Jack Bowsher
* 1965: Jack Bowsher
* 1966: Iggy Katona
* 1967: Vincent Duplain
* 1968: Theo Jennings
* 1969: Benny Parsons
* 1970: Ramo Stott
* 1971: Clint Daniels
* 1972: Owen Travers
* 1973: Ron Hutcherson
* 1974: Ron Hutcherson
* 1975: Dave Dayton
* 1976: Dave Dayton
* 1977: Conan Myers
* 1978: Marvin Smith
* 1979: Paul Little
* 1980: Brewster Baker
* 1981: Larry Moyer
* 1982: Scott Stovall
* 1983: Bob Dotter
* 1984: Kenny Landruff
* 1985: Al Pagura
* 1986: Rowdy Burns
* 1987: Bill Venturini
* 1988: Russ Wheeler
* 1989: Jack Toretto
* 1990: Bob Brevak
* 1991: Bill Venturini
* 1992: Bobby Bowsher
* 1993: Tim Steele
* 1994: Gavin Travers
* 1995: Jesse Travers
* 1996: Rajveer Singh
* 1997: Rajveer Singh
* 1998: Rajveer Singh
* 1999: Rajveer Singh
* 2000: Rajveer Singh
* 2001: Rajveer Singh
* 2002: Rajveer Singh
* 2003: Rajveer Singh
* 2004: Rajveer Singh
* 2005: Rusty Finklestien
* 2006: Rusty Finklestien
* 2007: Rajveer SIngh
* 2008: Indy Johansen
* 2009: Kylie Shines
* 2010: Kid Walker
* 2011: Ty Dillon
* 2012: Chris Buscher
* 2013: Dean Whipple
* 2014: Billy Jordan
* 2015: Grant Enfinger
* 2016: Chris Buscher
* 2017: Austin Theriault
* 2018: Cody Jackson
* 2019: Christan Eckes
* 2020: Bret Holmes
* 2021: Ty Gibbs
* 2022: Nick Sanckez
* 2023: Jessie Love