By Christian Koelle, Staff Writer
The 2022 schedules for the ARCA Menards Series, East, and West are beginning to take shape.
Although the schedule usually doesn’t get fully released until December, dates are beginning to be released. In conjunction with the NASCAR Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series schedules, tracks are releasing entire weekend schedules that include the ARCA Menards Series, East, and West.
2022 ARCA Menards Series Race Announcements
The 69th season of the ARCA Menards Series will kick off on February 19th alongside the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the Daytona International Speedway. The 44th time the ARCA Menards Series has raced at the Daytona and the second straight season where ARCA and Xfinity open their seasons on the same date.
The @NASCAR_Trucks are back under the Friday night lights in 2022, and the Saturday doubleheader with the @NASCAR_Xfinity and @ARCA_Racing Series returns!
Secure your #SpeedweeksbyAdventHealth 4-day ticket ➡️ https://t.co/VTp78RXrQ5#NextEra250 | #Beef300 | #LucasOil200 pic.twitter.com/j45TBs2cem
— Daytona International Speedway (@DAYTONA) September 29, 2021
Phoenix Raceway is the second race to be announced as the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series West will run a combination race for the second straight season. March 11th will be the date for the General Tire 150 which will mark the third race ever for the ARCA Menards Series at Phoenix.
#XfinitySeries, @NASCAR_Trucks, and @ARCA_Racing are back at Phoenix Raceway for two action-filled weekends!
🌵 #GeneralTire150 // March 11
🌵@NASCAR_Xfinity // March 12
🏆#LucasOil150 // Nov. 4
🏆Xfinity Series Championship & ARCA Menards West Series Championship // Nov. 5— Phoenix Raceway (@phoenixraceway) September 29, 2021
The tradition will continue as the ARCA Menards Series will race at the Talladega Superspeedway on April 23rd, alongside the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Corey Heim completed the Superspeedway sweep at Talladega earlier this season and is one of the crucial races that has kept Heim in the championship hunt. It will be the 53rd ARCA Menards Series race at Talladega.
The Saturday doubleheaders return to TALLADEGA for both race weekends in 2022! #AgPro300 | #Sparks300 | #ChevySilverado250 | #GeneralTire200 pic.twitter.com/pPxzUBr06U
— Talladega Superspeedway (@TALLADEGA) September 29, 2021
As the trend seems in 2022, the ARCA Menards Series will race alongside the NASCAR Xfinity Series again at Michigan and Watkins Glen International. For the 41st time, the Series will take to the fast Michigan International Speedway on August 6th while for just the third time they’ll run at Watkins Glen on August 19th.
We've got a Saturday Double in the Irish Hills with @NASCAR_Xfinity & the #HFHS200 on August 6th, 2022!
— Michigan International Speedway (@MISpeedway) September 29, 2021
Our 2022 weekend at The Glen is going to be jam packed with @ARCA_Racing on Friday, August 19th & @NASCAR_Xfinity on Saturday, August, 20th!
— Watkins Glen International (@WGI) September 29, 2021
The remainder of the ARCA Menards Series schedule will be released at a later date.
2022 ARCA Menards Series East Race Announcements
The ARCA Menards Series East will return in 2022 but only one race was announced on Wednesday, August 29th. The ARCA Menards Series East will return to one of its traditional tracks, the Dover International Speedway. The ARCA Menards Series East will be the opener for the Dover tripleheader weekend on Friday, April 29th.
https://twitter.com/MonsterMile/status/1443239642816520196
The remainder of the ARCA Menards Series East schedule will be released at a later date. Kickin’ the Tires has reached out to multiple tracks that were on the East schedule in 2021 but none of which had a comment at this time.
2022 ARCA Menards Series West Schedule Announcements
As noted in the image above, the ARCA Menards Series West will run a combination race at Phoenix with the National ARCA Menards Series. They opened the season at Phoenix this year and it’ll more than likely be the opener again in 2022. The season finale will again be at Phoenix Raceway and will be run alongside the NASCAR Xfinity Series finale on November 5th.
The ARCA Menards Series West will once again return to Sonoma Raceway in 2022 but this time will run alongside the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on June 11th. It will be the first time the Truck Series has run at Sonoma since 1998. The West Series race at Sonoma will mark race No. 43 and the second under the ARCA banner.
https://twitter.com/RaceSonoma/status/1443237269184278531?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1443237269184278531%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.arcaracing.com%2F2021%2F09%2F29%2Fmultiple-tracks-announce-arca-menards-series-race-dates-for-2022-schedule%2F
The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway returns to the ARCA Menards Series West schedule again in 2022 in the fall. The race will kick off the fall-weekend tripleheader on Friday, October 14th, 2022.
The @NASCAR_Xfinity Series will return to LVMS twice in 2022, while the Truck Series will be part of the March weekend. Due to the shift of our fall race date, a TV window was not available for Trucks that weekend.
More Info: https://t.co/u4BzkErI3i pic.twitter.com/PsFwZrzlvN
— Las Vegas Motor Speedway (@LVMotorSpeedway) September 29, 2021
As for the remainder of the 2022 ARCA Menards Series West schedule, it will be announced at a later date.
Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography