Historic Venues To Showcase Championship Race
TOLEDO, Ohio (Jan. 6, 2019) – The ARCA Menards Series West will continue the history of one of the longest-running stock car series in the United States with a 10-race championship schedule in 2020. The slate will include visits to seven western states and include stops at some of the most iconic venues in the region.
In its first season under the ARCA banner, the West Series will continue the lineage of crowning series champions that dates back to Lloyd Dane’s Pacific Coast Late Model Division title in 1954.
The slate brings the total ARCA Menards Series calendar to 38 races over 34 weekends, covering the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East and the inaugural Sioux Chief Showdown. The showdown is a 10-race super series within the 20-race ARCA Menards Series bringing the best drivers from all three series together.
“Equally important as we move forward with the ARCA Menards Series was ensuring that we maintained the traditions of each of the series,” said ARCA Series president Ron Drager. “We’re very pleased to be able to build a schedule that will not only bring out the best in the drivers over a variety of venues, we were also committed to continuing our relationships with the tracks that have helped build the West series.”
The 67th season will take the green flag at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Thursday, Feb. 20, with the Star Nursery 150 kicking off the Pennzoil 400 weekend at LVMS. The ARCA Menards Series West championship will culminate at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, Nov. 7, as part of the NASCAR championship weekend.
The West Series has run all three venues at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, including seven times on the Bullring, dating back to the 1994 race won by future NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. Last year, Hailie Deegan won a thrilling final lap clash with Jagger Jones to take the checkered on the neighboring half-mile Dirt Track at LVMS. This season, the series will take its action to the fast .375-mile asphalt oval.
Phoenix Raceway has hosted the West since 1977 when another future NASCAR Hall of Famer, Cale Yarborough, won the season finale, and Bill Schmitt won his first of four titles. Ty Gibbs won the 2019 race as Derek Kraus was crowned the series’ champion.
Other schedule highlights include:
The ARCA Menards West schedule will include its annual road-course event on Saturday, June 13 at Sonoma Raceway. The winding, multi-elevation course in northern California, first hosted the series in 1969 and has been a staple of the schedule every year since 2006.
The three jewels of California short tracks will play crucial roles in the ARCA Menards Series West championship, beginning Saturday, March 28, at Irwindale Speedway and continuing in October at All American Speedway in Roseville (Saturday, Oct. 10) and Kern County Raceway Park (Saturday, Oct. 24). The West has been a regular visitor to Irwindale, outside of Los Angeles, since it opened in 1999, and Kern County since it opened in Bakersfield in 2013. All American, a fairgrounds short-track near Sacramento, first hosted the series in 1977 and has been on the schedule every year since 2008.
The Pacific Northwest will again be home to a pair of races. The Douglas County Speedway on the fairgrounds in Roseburg, Oregon, will welcome the series on Saturday, May 16, while the historic Evergreen Speedway will bring the series to Monroe, Washington, on Saturday, Aug. 8. Roseburg, located south of Portland and Eugene, has held 17 races, including each of the last five years. Evergreen, outside of Seattle, held its first West race in 1964. This year will be the 60th race at the Super Speedway of the West.
Meridian Speedway in Idaho will host the Idaho 208 on Saturday, Aug. 29. The quarter-mile track held one West race in 1972, and has been part of the schedule every year since 2015, including Deegan’s historic first career NASCAR win in 2018.
The Sioux Chief Showdown will feature a separate points championship and will include several traditional West race dates, including the annual combination races at Iowa Speedway and WWT Raceway at Gateway. It will open the season on Friday, March 6 at Phoenix Raceway.
The complete NBCSN and TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold schedules for the ARCA Menards Series West, including broadcast times, will be released at a later date.
2020 ARCA Menards Series West Schedule
Date Track Location
Thursday, Feb. 20 Bullring at LVMS Las Vegas, Nevada
Saturday, March 28 Irwindale Speedway Irwindale, California
Saturday, May 16 Douglas County Speedway Roseburg, Oregon
Saturday, June 6 Colorado National Speedway Dacono, Colorado
Saturday, June 13 Sonoma Raceway Sonoma, California
Saturday, Aug. 8 Evergreen Speedway Monroe, Washington
Saturday, Aug. 29 Meridian Speedway Meridian, Idaho
Saturday, Oct. 10 All American Speedway Roseville, California
Saturday, Oct. 24 Kern County Raceway Park Bakersfield, California
Friday, Nov. 6 Phoenix Raceway Avondale, Ariz.
2020 Sioux Chief Showdown Schedule
Date Track Location
Friday, March 6 Phoenix Raceway Avondale, Arizona
Sunday, April 19 Salem Speedway Salem, Indiana
Friday, May 29 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio
Friday, July 3 Lucas Oil Raceway Brownsburg, Indiana
Saturday, July 11 Elko Speedway Elko, Minnesota
Friday, July 17 Iowa Speedway Newton, Iowa
Sunday, Aug. 2 WWT Raceway at Gateway Madison, Illinois
Friday, Aug. 14 Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York
Thursday, Sept. 17 Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, Tennessee
Saturday, Sept. 26 Memphis International Raceway Millington, Tennessee
