(TEMPERANCE, Mich. – January 24, 2013) – The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards will kick off its 2013 season Feb. 16 with a significant milestone event in the series’ 60-plus years.
The Lucas Oil 200 presented by MAVTV American Real at Daytona International Speedway will be the 50th anniversary ARCA race at the “World Center of Racing”‘ in Daytona Beach, Florida. The series held its inaugural race there in 1964. And, just as it did in 1964, the 200-mile ARCA race will jump start the 2013 stock car racing season for Daytona Beach and the rest of the stock car nation.
“If you had to list the most significant occurrences in ARCA’s 60-year history, the first ARCA race at Daytona in 1964 would be in the top-five,” said ARCA President Ron Drager.
The annual ARCA event at Daytona has helped launch the careers of some of the biggest names in the sport, including drivers like 1969 winner Benny Parsons, 1979 winner Kyle Petty and 2004 winner Kyle Busch.
“The entire ARCA community is just very proud and appreciative of the opportunity to race at Daytona,” Drager said. “It’s been a great relationship, and it’s evolved into the longest-running annual race on our schedule.”
Drager said having the ARCA race launch the stock car racing season each year has been a tremendous boost to the series and to stock car racing in general.
“Bill France, Sr. foresaw that inviting John Marcum’s Midwest-based stock car tour to Daytona would be mutually beneficial, providing unique inventory to his vision of February ‘Speedweeks’ and carrying the Daytona brand into a distant region of the country throughout the ARCA season,” Drager said.
Live on SPEED, the 50th Anniversary Lucas Oil 200 gets the green flag shortly after 4:30 p.m. Saturday, February 16. The Sprint Unlimited for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series immediately follows the ARCA race on the same night, providing race fans with the excitement of the season-opener at the legendary 2.5-mile superspeedway.
The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is among the leading and most diverse auto racing sanctioning bodies in the country. Founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum, the organization administers more than 150 events each year in multiple racing series, including the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the ARCA/CRA Super Series, the ARCA Truck Series and the ARCA Midwest Tour, plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways.
For more information about the ARCA Racing Series, to set up interviews with series officials or drivers, contact ARCA Communications Director Doug Donnelly or ARCA Communications Manager Don Radebaugh. More detailed series and race information can be found on www.arcaracing.com and www.arcaracing.com/media for members of the media.
