By Sarah Handy, Staff Writer
NASCAR and ARCA announced earlier today a new championship format for the 2020 racing season. The 2020 season will see a continuation of three regional championship series along with a new fourth champion all under the new ARCA Menards Series banner.
The four championships will be the ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards West Series which currently run as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West. The series will have an annual schedule of six to eight races with the crowning of separate regional champions. The series will continue traditions established by the Busch North Series which was founded in 1987.
The ARCA Menards Series, a 20-race series founded in 1953 is a mixture of events at Daytona International Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway. The series also hosts events at short tracks such as Madison International Speedway located in the state of Wisconsin, as well as Illinois and DuQuoin State Fairgrounds mile dirt tracks.
The ARCA Racing Series Showdown with consist of ten races within the larger portion of the ARCA Menards Series championship and it will feature the best of the three series which will come together to ultimately crown a Showdown champion.
“We cannot be more excited about 2020,” said Brandon Thompson, Managing Director, NASCAR Touring Series.
“Both NASCAR and ARCA have worked extremely hard over the last year to provide a rules package and schedule that will serve as the foundation for the preeminent series for racing at this level. It was important for us to move the series forward while creating an environment inclusive for both the current long-term owners and drivers in the series as well as aspiring competitors.”
“What first started as a friendship between Bill France Sr. and John Marcum nearly 70 years ago took a momentous step forward today,” said ARCA President Ron Drager. “The amount of history and tradition these series are bringing together to form four elite championships for drivers is an amazing testament to the strength of this sport.”
“We are proud and honored to be able to bring the ARCA sanction to the East and West Series; and we are looking forward to working with the race teams, tracks, media partners, fans, and sponsors that have helped those series achieve their long-term success.”
Furthermore, NASCAR went on to announce that if an East, West or current ARCA Menards Series owner has a car that meets the current 2019 rule book there will be a rules package allowing them to compete in 2020.
“We’re pleased that we’re able to extend our racing sponsorships to include the ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards Series West,” said Menards President & CEO John Menard.
“We hope that race fans throughout the country will further enjoy great racing action while also becoming familiar with the Menards brand by shopping at our home improvement stores located in the Midwest or at Menards.com”.
In addition, ARCA and MAVTV also announced an extension of its telecast rights agreement for select ARCA Menards Series races. This partnership, together with events covered by FOX Sports, will ensure that all 20 ARCA Menards Series races will be available live to race fans, including the 10-race Showdown.
NBCSN (NBC Sports Network) will continue to carry the ARCA Menards Series East and West as part of their extensive coverage of NASCAR.
The 2020 ARCA Menards Series will officially begin on Saturday, Feb. 8 at Daytona International Speedway with the Lucas Oil 200 Driven by General Tire. It will mark the 57th annual ARCA visit to Daytona.
Complete schedules for all four championships 2020 seasons will be announced in the near future.