ARCA Menards Series Returning to Mid-Ohio after 55-year absence.
Toledo, Oh. (May 14th, 2021) – Stock car and road racing fans in the Midwest will have a convergence of sorts when the ARCA Menards Series returns to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the first time since 1965.
Cincinnati-based brand Dawn Dish, America’s #1 dish liquid, will be the entitlement sponsor of the Dawn 150, scheduled for Friday evening, June 4, on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course in Lexington, Ohio.
“We’re proud to join fans at the track and families at home for the Dawn 150 this year,” said Kristine Decker, Vice President of North America Dish Care at Procter & Gamble. “Our team at Dawn has spent decades making it faster and easier to get the dishes done, so you can spend less time at the sink, and more time enjoying American traditions like race day.”
The Dawn 150 will be the first ARCA Menards Series race at Mid-Ohio in 55 years, 10 months, and 11 days – or 20,404 days – breaking the record for longest interval between races at a single track in series history. The previous record was broken in 2020 when the series returned to Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee for the first time since 1969, a gap of 51 years and 4 months, which translates to 18,751 days.
“We are ecstatic to be back in central Ohio for the first time in many seasons,” said ARCA president Ron Drager. “We raced at the now-closed Mansfield Motorsports Park a couple of times about a decade ago, and we’ve had a lot of great conversations with the team at Mid-Ohio in recent years. Ohio is a great state for motorsports, and we have a lot of great fans in the central part of the state. We were all set to return last year before the pandemic put the brakes on our plans. It’s been a long time since our last visit there and we’re ready to go back and write another chapter in the history books to go with Jack Bowsher’s win there in 1965.”
Series Title Sponsor Menards is also excited to have ARCA racing at Mid-Ohio.
“Central Ohio is a huge market for Menards and all of the vendor partners that support the ARCA Menards Series,” said Jeff Abbott, promotions manager for Menards. “Stock cars have been putting on a great show there for the last several seasons and we’re looking forward to a full weekend of action now with the ARCA Menards Series on Friday and the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Saturday. We encourage all of the fans in and around central Ohio to stop by their local Menards stores and “Save Big Money” on discounted tickets to both races.”
The legendary Jack Bowsher won in the ARCA Menards Series’ only previous visit to the winding road course located Lexington, about an hour north of Columbus and about two hours south and east of ARCA’s home offices just north of Toledo. That race was a 250-mile affair that took over three hours to complete, with Bowsher eclipsing Les Snow, Jack Shanklin, Elmer Davis, and Benny Parsons at the finish.
“We are thrilled to have the legendary ARCA Menards Series return to Mid-Ohio during our 60th season of racing in 2021 with the support of a great Ohio brand like Dawn,” said Craig Rust, president of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. “The Dawn 150 is going to provide some thrilling racing action featuring the future stars of NASCAR for our fans on Friday late afternoon, then we have the B&L Transport 170 NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday to wrap up an exceptional weekend of racing.”
The Dawn 150 will be televised live on FS1 and broadcast live on MRN Radio. The ARCA Menards Series Dawn 150 will serve as a prelude to the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday, June 5. For updated event information, please visit ARCARacing.com and midohio.com.
About ARCA: The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum in Toledo, Ohio and acquired by NASCAR in April 2018, is the leading grassroots stock car sanctioning body in the United States. Bridging the gap between NASCAR’s top three national touring series and weekly racing all across the country, the organization is scheduled to administer more than 100 events in multiple racing series in 2020, including the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, ARCA Menards Series West, the ARCA/CRA Super Series, and the ARCA Midwest Tour, plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways. For more information about ARCA visit www.arcaracing.com, or follow ARCA on Facebook (@ARCARacing) and Twitter (@ARCA_Racing).
About Menards: A family-owned and run company started in 1958, Menards is recognized as the retail home center leader of the Midwest with 236 stores in 15 states. Menards is truly a one-stop shop for all of your home improvement needs featuring a full-service lumberyard and everything you need to plan a renovation or build a home, garage, cabin, shed, deck, fence or post frame building. You’ll find a large selection of lumber, roofing, siding, construction blocks, trusses, doors and windows, plus cabinets, appliances, countertops, flooring, lighting, paint, plumbing supplies and more. To complete the job, Menards has quality hand tools, power tools, fasteners, electrical tools plus storage options and supplies for everyone from the weekend warrior to the pro!
Menards has what you need to complete your outdoor projects and keep your yard in tip-top shape including mowers, trimmers, blowers, pressure washers and more, plus a beautiful garden center stocked with plants, shrubs, trees, landscaping tools, grass seed, fertilizer options, outdoor décor and patio furniture. Menards also has everyday essentials like health & beauty products, housewares, pet and wildlife supplies, automotive items and even groceries. And at Christmas, an Enchanted Forest display area with impressive trees, lighting, decorations, ornaments, inflatables and more.
Menards is known for friendly Customer Service and as the place to “Save Big Money” with low prices every day, and sales too! For more information, please visit Menards.com to learn about our store locations, offerings and services.
About Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: A comprehensive motorsports facility in Lexington, Ohio, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course sits on 380 acres and features a permanent road-racing circuit with two primary race track configurations: 2.4-mile, 15-turn or 2.258-mile, 13-turn layout. Located 60 miles north of Columbus and 75 miles south of Cleveland near Mansfield, the natural terrain road course is commonly referred to as the “Most Competitive in the U.S.” and annually hosts a diversity of locally, regionally and nationally sanctioned race events for amateur, club and professional drivers and riders. It is also home to The Mid-Ohio School, featuring over 20 driving and riding courses, for teenagers to professional racers using Honda vehicles. Opened in 1962, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has been owned and operated by Green Savoree Mid-Ohio, LLC since 2011, just the raceway’s third private ownership group in its history.
For more information, visit midohio.com, ‘like’ its Facebook page @MidOhioSportsCarCourse or follow updates on Twitter @Mid_Ohio and Instagram @officialmidohio.
