INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Jan. 6, 2017) – Officials from the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and Champion Racing Association (CRA) powered by JEGS have announced a 3-year extension of the formal working relationship between the two motorsports sanctioning organizations, through 2019. The announcement was made at the 20th annual CRA Championship Awards Banquet in Indianapolis.
ARCA, celebrating its 65th Anniversary Season in 2017, first sanctioned racing activities in CRA’s flagship tour in 2012. The ARCA/CRA Super Series, based in Salem, Indiana, was founded in 1997 and features template bodied super late model stock cars racing in the Midwest’s most widely recognized racing events.
“This affiliation has been, from the beginning, about two strong, stable independent racing companies joining forces to create a platform for aspiring stock car racing participants,” said ARCA President Ron Drager. “Glenn Luckett and R.J. Scott have done a great job in organizing and administering racing events and we’ve been fortunate to have had a working relationship with them in various capacities for over 20 years. CRA has grown to become a respected entity in our sport, and our goal is to continue to provide opportunities for drivers, owners, and crew members from the local level to the top tier of motorsports. The ARCA CRA relationship is a good fit.”
The ARCA/CRA Super Series schedule annually features some of the biggest pavement short track late model races in the Eastern US including the Winchester 400 at Winchester Speedway and the RedBud 400 at Anderson Speedway, both in Indiana, the Battle at Berlin 251 at Berlin Raceway in Michigan and CRA SpeedFest at Watermelon Capitol Speedway in Georgia. New to the schedule in 2017 are the US Nationals of Short Track Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee and the Glass City 200 at Toledo Speedway in Ohio.
The series has attracted many of the most recognized names in racing as drivers, including Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Ryan Newman, Ken Schrader, David Ragan, Erik Jones, Kenny Wallace, Landon Cassill, David Stremme, Ryan Blaney, John Hunter Nemechek, Daniel Hemric, Ross Kenseth. Cody Coughlin made history in 2016 when he became the first driver to win championships in the same season in both the ARCA CRA Super Series powered by JEGS and the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour presented by Chevrolet Performance.
“We look forward to continuing to work with everyone at ARCA,” said Luckett. “The ARCA name is well-established in the racing world and well-respected throughout the racing community. We see this relationship further strengthening CRA and short track racing. Working with ARCA the last five years has been very beneficial for the ARCA/CRA Super Series. Extending our agreement with ARCA for the next three years sets us up to further grow and build on what we’ve been able to accomplish so far.”
The sanctioning agreement extension between ARCA and CRA will continue to offer ARCA member benefits to participants in the ARCA/CRA Super Series, including $500,000 in Participant Accident medical insurance. ARCA will also continue to provide public relations, race operations, and marketing support, while building on the already-strong CRA developmental racing base. Both of ARCA’s short track properties, Toledo Speedway and Flat Rock Speedway, will continue to host ARCA/CRA Super Series events annually.
In addition to providing support for race operations, the agreement also annually provides one ARCA/CRA Super Series driver the opportunity to test an ARCA Racing Series car in the open test at Daytona International Speedway. The “Road To Daytona” program will see reigning ARCA CRA Super Series Rookie of the Year Dalton Armstrong on-track at Daytona Friday, Jan. 13, 2017. The test car and support team are fielded by Andy Hillenburg, the 1995 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards driving champion, current ARCA Racing Series team owner and one of the few drivers to race in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. Hillenburg’s Fast Track High Performance Driving School is the Official Driving School of ARCA. Other sponsors of the Road To Daytona program include Ilmor, General Tire, Sunoco, Eibach Springs and JRI Shocks. The Daytona open test is in preparation for the ARCA Racing Series season opening Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire at Daytona Saturday February 18, televised live on FS1.
The first race of 2017 for the ARCA/CRA Super Series is a non-championship point’s event at the .4 mile paved Watermelon Capitol Speedway in Cordele Georgia Jan. 28-29. The championship point’s season begins April 8 at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville in Tennessee in conjunction with the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.
The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is among the leading and most versatile auto racing sanctioning bodies in the country. Founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum, the organization administers more than 100 events each year in multiple racing series, including the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the ARCA/CRA Super Series, the ARCA Midwest Tour and the ARCA Truck Series, plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways.
Champion Racing Association (CRA) is widely recognized for sanctioning many of the top late model events in the Midwest. The series, based in Salem, Indiana, conducted its first race in 1997 and officiates dozens of races annually in four touring series: The ARCA CRA Super Series powered by JEGS, the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour presented by Chevrolet Performance, the Lawrence Towing CRA Street Stocks Powered by JEGS and the Vore’s CRA LM Sportsman powered by JEGS.
