The series was founded in Toledo, Ohio in 1953 as the Midwest Association for Race Cars (MARC), created by John Marcum — a friend and former competitor of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. and former NASCAR employee — as a northern counterpart to the southern-based NASCAR. Early participants included Iggy Katona and Nelson Stacy.
At France's request the series joined Daytona Speedweeks in 1964, and in the same year France suggested changing the name from MARC to ARCA (Automobile Racing Club of America) to give the series broader national exposure. The Daytona connection became a defining feature of the series, opening each season alongside the Daytona 500.
The series operated under several title sponsors before the RE/MAX era. It was the ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series from 1986 to 1991, the ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series from 1993 to 1995, and the ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series from 1996 to 2000. RE/MAX sponsored the series from 2001 to 2009. From 2010, Midwestern home improvement chain Menards shared the title sponsorship with RE/MAX before becoming the sole presenting sponsor in 2011, giving rise to the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards name used until February 2019.
The ARCA series races at a variety of track types including superspeedways, road courses, and dirt tracks. Its cars have historically been veterans of the NASCAR Cup Series — steel-bodied Generation 4 cars that continued in use in ARCA well after their retirement from Cup competition. The series has long functioned as a proving ground and developmental stepping stone toward NASCAR's three national touring series.
Notable alumni who passed through ARCA include Benny Parsons, Ken Schrader, Kyle Petty, Kyle Busch, Justin Allgaier, Casey Mears, Sam Hornish Jr., and Davey Allison, whose Rookie of the Year win launched his path to Cup stardom. Frank Kimmel won the series championship ten times, a record. The 2009 season produced the closest championship in ARCA history, with Justin Lofton edging Parker Kligerman by five points despite Kligerman winning nine races to Lofton's six.
Age minimums reflect the range of track types: drivers must be 18 to compete in the superspeedway events at Daytona and Talladega, 17 for other speedway tracks, and 15 for tracks under a mile and road courses.
On 27 April 2018 NASCAR announced its acquisition of ARCA. The 2018 and 2019 seasons continued under existing plans, and from 2020 the series became officially sanctioned by NASCAR. As part of the restructuring, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West were rebranded as the ARCA Menards Series East and West respectively.
An Indiana-based indie game developer produced ARCA Sim Racing '08, a simulation game built around the RE/MAX era championship, giving the series a presence in motorsport gaming.
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