The series was founded in Toledo, Ohio in 1953 as the Midwest Association for Race Cars (MARC), a regional touring group created by John Marcum, a friend and former competitor of Bill France Sr. and a former NASCAR employee. Marcum designed MARC as a northern counterpart to the southern-based NASCAR, with early competitors including Iggy Katona and Nelson Stacy.
At France's request, the series joined Daytona Speedweeks in 1964, allowing it to open its season alongside the Daytona 500. That same year, at France's suggestion, the series changed its name from MARC to ARCA — Automobile Racing Club of America — to convey broader national reach.
The series operated under various title sponsorships over the following decades. It was known as the ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series from 1986 to 1991, then the ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series from 1993 to 1995, and the ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series from 1996 to 2000. Real estate company RE/MAX sponsored the series as the ARCA RE/MAX Series from 2001 to 2009. Menards, a Midwest home improvement retailer, joined as co-sponsor in 2010 and became the sole presenting sponsor in 2011. The series carried the name ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards until February 2019, when the Menards title was formalized following the NASCAR buyout.
When NASCAR purchased ARCA in 2018, the 2018 and 2019 seasons continued under existing plans before full integration. From 2020, NASCAR's former K&N Pro Series East and West were rebranded as the ARCA Menards Series East and West, becoming regional companions to the national ARCA Menards Series. The national series retained its name and identity, now operating within NASCAR's developmental ladder below the Craftsman Truck Series, Xfinity Series, and Cup Series.
The ARCA Menards Series has a well-established history of developing drivers who go on to compete in NASCAR's national series. Alumni who progressed through ARCA include Benny Parsons, Ken Schrader, Kyle Petty, Kyle Busch, Justin Allgaier, Casey Mears, and Sam Hornish Jr. The series also accommodates experienced drivers who choose to remain rather than pursue full-time NASCAR careers, including ten-time champion Frank Kimmel. Cup Series regulars, notably Ken Schrader, have been known to race in the series alongside developmental talent.
Minimum age rules differ from NASCAR's national series: drivers as young as 17 may compete on speedway tracks, and drivers as young as 15 may race on tracks under one mile in length and on road courses. Drivers must be 18 to participate in the two superspeedway events at Daytona and Talladega.
The series is historically associated with veteran steel-bodied cars from the NASCAR Cup Series, often running cars several model years after their Cup tenure had ended. The series transitioned to composite body panels derived from the Cup Series Gen 6 models — Chevrolet SS, Ford Fusion, and Toyota Camry shapes — beginning with eligibility in 2015. Steel Gen 4 bodies were phased out, mandated only at Daytona and Talladega from 2018, then fully retired from all tracks by 2020.
Engines are carbureted V8 units built to specifications similar to NASCAR counterparts, with displacement ranging from 350 to 360 cubic inches. An alternative Ilmor 396 spec engine, using Holley electronic fuel injection and producing around 700 horsepower, was introduced as an option from the 2015 season. Cars are significantly less expensive to campaign than their NASCAR Cup equivalents; one owner estimated an ARCA budget at roughly ten percent of what a Cup program requires.
The championship points title has been dominated by a small number of long-term competitors. The Rookie of the Year award, which has recognized future NASCAR stars including Benny Parsons, Davey Allison, Jeremy Mayfield, Michael McDowell, and Parker Kligerman, is awarded to the highest-scoring eligible rookie across the season.
The Bill France Four Crown award, introduced in 1984, recognizes the driver who accumulates the most points across four specific events covering dirt ovals, short ovals, superspeedways, and road courses. It was originally a three-event award known as the Bill France Triple Crown until 2009, when the road course component was added. Frank Kimmel is the all-time leader in Four Crown victories with seven.
The series was not consistently broadcast live in its early decades. A landmark came in 2019 when ARCA announced that all races would be broadcast live on television for the first time in series history, split between FS1, FS2, and MAVTV. Beginning in 2023, all events have aired on FS1 or FS2, and in 2024 the series signed a multi-year television deal with Fox Sports through 2028.