The ARCA Menards Series East (formerly known by other names) is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR).
 | |
| Category | Stock car racing |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Manufacturers | Chevrolet · Ford · Toyota |
| Tire suppliers | General Tire |
| Drivers' champion | William Sawalich |
| Makes' champion | Toyota |
| Teams' champion | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| Official website | ARCA Racing |
 Current season | |
Races are held at oval tracks ranging from 1⁄3 to 1 mile (0.54–1.61 km) in length and on two road courses, 1.53 and 2.45 miles (2.46 and 3.94 km) in length. Most races are stand-alone events (i.e. not in conjunction with other NASCAR touring series), but there are three race weekends that are in combination with the NASCAR Cup Series.
Many of the ARCA Menards Series East drivers on the series are gaining experience with the hopes of moving up to one of the major NASCAR series, however some of the drivers are right at home in the series and have no plans of moving on. The series is not only developmental for drivers (including Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Ricky Craven, Mike McLaughlin, Austin Dillon, Trevor Bayne, Brian Ickler, Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Truex), but for crew members (such as Greg Zipadelli and Marc Puchalski) and officials, as well.
In 1994, it became the first NASCAR-sanctioned series to have a winless season champion when Dale Shaw won the then-Busch Grand National North Series championship without winning a single race all year. The series had the distinction of being the only NASCAR series in which this had happened until 2013, when Austin Dillon won the Nationwide Series championship the same way.[1] Matt Crafton would also do this in the Truck Series in 2019.
The other regional division at the Grand National level of ARCA is the Menards Series West.
History
edit
Formed as the NASCAR Busch Grand National North Series in 1987, the series originally raced primarily in the Northeastern United States, including Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Drivers in the series could compete in "combination" races with then named Busch Grand National Series (now Xfinity Series) that were held at various tracks over the years, including but not limited to Daytona International Speedway, Nazareth Speedway, Watkins Glen International and New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Combination races were on the schedule until 2001. In 2002, a big crash occurred at the Glen that saw many cars spinning through the esses on lap one, along with Troy Williams actually overturning over the guardrail. No one was hurt.
Over the next 18 years, the series extended its reach and added races in Delaware and Virginia. The series name was changed to Busch East for the 2006 season after a race was added in Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina. Races were added in South Boston, Virginia, and Nashville, Tennessee for 2007 to continue the push South and West, as well as East-West combination races at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, IA and Elko Speedway in Elko, MN.. The 2008 schedule had the series running races in 8 states up and down the East coast. (Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia)
In 2012, NASCAR unified the rules of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series Invitational and North/East Series to a many rules package. A pre -season invitational race known as the Toyota All-Star Race was also added to pit the best drivers from both series head-to-head.
For 2013 NASCAR made several rule changes including giving team the option of using "special" engines and a composite body to reduce the cost of competing in the K&N Series. The "spec" engine has become fairly popular, but the old style steel bodies are still preferred over the composite bodies by most teams. Chase Elliott won the series at 2010, and 2011.
On December 16, 2019, NASCAR announced that Camping World would take over as title sponsor of both series in the Grand National Division.[2]
For 2015, the names of both the East and West series were both sponsored by K&N Engineering and the East Series was named the K&N Pro Series East. In 2011, NASCAR lowered the age maximum across each of its regional touring series to 30.
In 2020, the series became part of the ARCA Menards Series banner and was renamed to the ARCA Menards Series East.[3]
ARCA Menards Series cars
editGeneral
editAs part of NASCAR's unification of the two Camping World Series in 2003, the cars can be either a 105-inch (2,700 mm, which had been used in the former Busch Grand National East) or 110-inch (2,800 mm, which had been used in the former Winston West) wheelbase. Cambered/off-set rear ends are not allowed.
Currently, the series requires the use of a Five Star bodies composite body that started in the 2015 season, currently the 2013 Chevrolet SS, Ford Fusion, or Toyota Camry. Since the 2007 debut of the new chassis at the Cup and 2010 debut at the second-tier level, many ARCA East and West cars are former Cup or Xfinity cars.
Teams have an option of building their own engines or they may run a specification engine, similar to what is used at many short tracks. Both engines are V8, pushrod, 12:1 compression motors. "Built" motors are built to team specifications using any configuration of pieces as long as it still meets NASCAR specifications. The spec engine is built using NASCAR-approved pieces that may be purchased from an approved supplier. The engines may be purchased as a kit or pre-assembled. All of the spec pieces are individually encrypted with a barcode for verification and tracking purposes and can be checked during the inspection process with an encryption reader. NASCAR has a specification supplier for the series-specification engine.
When the series first started, the cars ran a V6 engine with a maximum 274 cu in (4,490 cm3) displacement and no compression limit. In the early/mid 1990s the V8 engine with a 9.5:1 compression and maximum 358 cu in (5,870 cm3) displacement was introduced to the series as an alternative to the V6 engines. Due to the decrease in popularity of the V6, it was phased out for the 1999 season. When the East and West series rules were combined, the compression ratio changed to 12:1.
Menards Series cars use Sunoco racing fuel, NASCAR's specification fuel. For races run with national series, the cars run an E15 blend since the national series uses such fuels. The cars use radial tires. Along with the rest of ARCA and NASCAR's international series, the Menards Series have General Tire as their exclusive tire supplier.[4]
On November 4, 2014 at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, NASCAR president Mike Helton unveiled a new body style for the K&N Pro Series based on the NASCAR Cup Series Gen 6 models. The new body, developed with Five Star Race Car Bodies, is constructed of a composite laminate blend and designed with easily replaceable body panels, expected to shrink the costs of fabrication dramatically. The body style is eligible for use in both Menards Series competition and ARCA Racing Series competition, replacing the old Gen 4-style steel bodies after 2015, and the then-current one-piece composite body after 2016.[5]
Specifications
edit- Engine displacement: 358 cu in (5.8 L) Pushrod V8.
- Transmission: 4 speed Manual.
- Weight: 3,300 lb (1,497 kg) Minimum (without driver).
- Power output: ~650 hp (485 kW) unrestricted.
- Fuel: Sunoco Leaded or Unleaded gasoline.
- Fuel capacity: 22 U.S. gallons (83.2 L).
- Fuel delivery: Carburetion.
- Compression ratio: 12:1.
- Aspiration: Naturally aspirated.
- Carburetor size: 390 cu ft/min (184 L/s) 4-barrel.
- Wheelbase: 105 in (2667 mm)/ 110 in (2794 mm).
- Steering: Power, recirculating ball.
List of champions
edit- Bold driver indicates that he/she has won at least 1 NASCAR Cup Series championship.
- Italicized driver indicates that he/she has won at least 1 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.
- Bold and italicized driver indicates he/she has won both a NASCAR Xfinity Series and a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship (at least 1 of each).
Career victories
editIn 517 races there have been 126 different winners, 73 of which have won multiple races. Does not include Combination races with Busch Series that were won by Busch Series drivers since these victories are already counted in the Busch Series. Updated after: Sprecher 150 (August 28, 2022)
| Wins | Driver | First Win | Last Win |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | Kelly Moore | Jun 12, 1987 | Sep 16, 2006 |
| 24 | Brad Leighton | Jul 12, 1989 | Aug 14, 2004 |
| 23 | Andy Santerre | Jul 12, 1996 | Sep 23, 2005 |
| 19 | Dale Shaw | Jul 18, 1997 | Jul 25, 2002 |
| 16 | Matt Kobyluck | Aug 26, 2001 | Aug 16, 2008 |
| 14 | Bobby Dragon | Jun 11, 1987 | Jun 29, 1997 |
| 13 | Ricky Craven | Aug 19, 1990 | Jul 8, 1995 |
| 13 | Dave Dion | Jun 28, 1992 | Aug 27, 2005 |
| 12 | Tracy Gordon | Sep 5, 1998 | Sep 19, 2002 |
| 12 | Mike Stefanik | Jun 28, 1991 | Jul 15, 2005 |
| 10 | Ted Christopher | Sep 8, 1996 | Sep 16, 2005 |
| 10 | Brett Moffitt | May 30, 2009 | Aug 3, 2018 |
| 9 | Jamie Aube | Jul 12, 1987 | Aug 28, 1993 |
| 9 | Sam Mayer | Apr 6, 2019 | Oct 11, 2020 |
| 8 | Mike Rowe | May 22, 1988 | May 19, 1991 |
| 8 | Dick McCabe | Jul 10, 1988 | Jun 12, 1993 |
| 8 | Robbie Crouch | Aug 20, 1988 | Sep 3, 1995 |
| 8 | Joe Bessey | Aug 26, 1989 | Sep 24, 1995 |
| 7 | Mike McLaughlin | Sep 2, 1990 | Jul 10, 1993 |
| 7 | Jerry Marquis | May 15, 1994 | Jul 12, 1997 |
| 7 | Tom Carey Jr. | May 22, 1998 | Jul 12, 2003 |
| 7 | Mike Johnson | Jul 22, 2000 | Jul 17, 2004 |
| 7 | Sean Caisse | Jun 10, 2006 | Sep 21, 2007 |
| 7 | Eddie MacDonald | Sep 7, 2002 | Mar 15, 2015 |
| 7 | Todd Gilliland | Feb 14, 2016 | Apr 14, 2018 |
| 7 | Sammy Smith | Feb 27, 2021 | Aug 28, 2022 |
| 6 | Dale Quarterley | Sep 9, 2001 | Sep 24, 2004 |
| 6 | Mike Olsen | Jun 10, 2001 | Jul 14, 2006 |
| 6 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Mar 27, 2010 | Mar 31, 2012 |
| 6 | Dylan Kwasniewski | Mar 16, 2013 | Oct 18, 2013 |
| 6 | Corey LaJoie | Jun 2, 2012 | Jul 16, 2016 |
| 6 | Ty Gibbs | Sep 21, 2019 | Sep 16, 2021 |
| 5 | Bryan Wall | Jun 5, 1999 | Aug 10, 2002 |
| 5 | Martin Truex Jr. | Jul 8, 2000 | Jul 19, 2003 |
| 5 | Joey Logano | Apr 28, 2007 | Sep 14, 2007 |
| 5 | Ryan Truex | Apr 6, 2009 | Sep 17, 2010 |
| 5 | Ben Rhodes | Mar 22, 2014 | Jun 21, 2014 |
| 5 | Sergio Pena | Apr 17, 2011 | Aug 29, 2015 |
| 5 | Austin Hill | Sep 27, 2013 | Sep 10, 2015 |
| 5 | Kyle Benjamin | Apr 18, 2015 | Apr 8, 2017 |
| 5 | Harrison Burton | Apr 22, 2017 | Sep 29, 2017 |
| 4 | Stub Fadden | May 17, 1992 | Sep 4, 1994 |
| 4 | Butch Leitzinger | Jun 5, 1994 | Oct 12, 1996 |
| 4 | Brian Ickler | May 18, 2008 | Apr 11, 2009 |
| 4 | Max Gresham | Apr 3, 2010 | Jul 15, 2011 |
| 4 | William Byron | Apr 4, 2015 | Jul 17, 2015 |
| 4 | Scott Heckert | Aug 8, 2014 | Aug 7, 2015 |
| 4 | Tyler Ankrum | May 12, 2018 | July 27, 2018 |
| 3 | Joey Kourafas | Sep 13, 1987 | Aug 13, 1990 |
| 3 | Steve Park | Jun 2, 1996 | Aug 1, 2009 |
| 3 | Matt DiBenedetto | Apr 25, 2009 | Jun 4, 2011 |
| 3 | Daniel Suárez | Jul 13, 2013 | Feb 18, 2015 |
| 3 | Cole Custer | Aug 2, 2013 | Apr 26, 2015 |
| 3 | Will Rodgers | Aug 4, 2017 | Jun 16, 2018 |
| 3 | Derek Kraus | Aug 24, 2018 | May 5, 2019 |
| 2 | Chuck Bown | May 3, 1987 | Oct 12, 1987 |
| 2 | Pete Silva | May 5, 1988 | Jul 2, 1988 |
| 2 | Billy Clark | Apr 26, 1987 | Jun 10, 1989 |
| 2 | Larry Caron | Jun 25, 1988 | Jul 1, 1989 |
| 2 | Tom Bolles | Sep 8, 1995 | May 4, 1997 |
| 2 | Jimmy Spencer | Aug 1, 1987 | Jul 18, 1998 |
| 2 | Ryan Moore | Jul 9, 2005 | Aug 10, 2005 |
| 2 | Kyle Larson | Jun 9, 2012 | Sep 22, 2012 |
| 2 | Ben Kennedy | Apr 13, 2013 | Jun 1, 2013 |
| 2 | Jesse Little | Jul 11, 2014 | Apr 18, 2015 |
| 2 | Justin Haley | Mar 26, 2016 | Jul 2, 2016 |
| 2 | Austin Cindric | Apr 30, 2016 | Aug 5, 2016 |
| 2 | Noah Gragson | Jun 17, 2016 | Sep 17, 2016 |
| 2 | Tyler Dippel | Mar 12, 2016 | Apr 28, 2018 |
| 2 | Rubén García Jr. | Jun 2, 2018 | Oct 6, 2018 |
| 2 | Chase Cabre | Jun 1, 2019 | Jul 20, 2019 |
| 2 | Spencer Davis | May 30, 2016 | Aug 24, 2019 |
| 2 | Brandon Jones | Aug 1, 2014 | Jun 11, 2022 |
| 2 | Matthew Reid | Aug 27, 1990 | Jun 16, 1991 |
| 1 | Mike Weeden | Jul 1, 1987 | N/A |
| 1 | Tommy Houston | Jul 14, 1987 | N/A |
| 1 | Ralph Nason | Aug 28, 1987 | N/A |
| 1 | Richard Martin | Sep 26, 1987 | N/A |
| 1 | Ken Bouchard | Sep 8, 1990 | N/A |
| 1 | Bruce Haley | May 25, 1987 | N/A |
| 1 | Tony Hirschman | Sep 5, 1992 | N/A |
| 1 | Brian Ross | May 29, 1993 | N/A |
| 1 | Ken Schrader | Oct 16, 1993 | N/A |
| 1 | John Preston | May 28, 1994 | N/A |
| 1 | Martin Truex Sr. | Jul 9, 1994 | N/A |
| 1 | Glenn Sullivan | Jul 24, 1994 | N/A |
| 1 | Keith Lamell | Jul 29, 1994 | N/A |
| 1 | Tom Rosati | Aug 20, 1994 | N/A |
| 1 | Jeff Fuller | Sep 22, 1996 | N/A |
| 1 | Kip Stockwell | Aug 1, 1997 | N/A |
| 1 | Rick Fuller | Jul 3, 1998 | N/A |
| 1 | Kim Baker | Aug 8, 1998 | N/A |
| 1 | Dennis Demers | Jul 23, 1999 | N/A |
| 1 | Denny Doyle | Oct 26, 2002 | N/A |
| 1 | Joey McCarthy | Jun 28, 2003 | N/A |
| 1 | Brian Hoar | Aug 30, 2003 | N/A |
| 1 | Bryon Chew | Jun 24, 2006 | N/A |
| 1 | Tim Andrews | Sep 22, 2006 | N/A |
| 1 | Rubén Pardo | Sep 30, 2006 | N/A |
| 1 | Rogelio López | Jul 22, 2007 | N/A |
| 1 | Austin Dillon | Apr 19, 2008 | N/A |
| 1 | Trevor Bayne | Jul 12, 2008 | N/A |
| 1 | Aric Almirola | Sep 19, 2008 | N/A |
| 1 | Peyton Sellers | Oct 12, 2008 | N/A |
| 1 | Kyle Busch | May 17, 2009 | N/A |
| 1 | Andrew Ranger | Jul 3, 2010 | N/A |
| 1 | Ty Dillon | Aug 28, 2010 | N/A |
| 1 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Mar 17, 2012 | N/A |
| 1 | Chase Elliott | May 19, 2012 | N/A |
| 1 | Cale Conley | Jul 21, 2012 | N/A |
| 1 | Tyler Reddick | Nov 3, 2012 | N/A |
| 1 | Brandon Gdovic | Apr 6, 2013 | N/A |
| 1 | Ryan Gifford | Apr 25, 2013 | N/A |
| 1 | Rico Abreu | Jul 4, 2015 | N/A |
| 1 | Dillon Bassett | Aug 15, 2015 | N/A |
| 1 | Collin Cabre | Oct 3, 2015 | N/A |
| 1 | Chad Finchum | Apr 16, 2016 | N/A |
| 1 | Ronnie Bassett Jr. | Feb 19, 2017 | N/A |
| 1 | Travis Miller | May 6, 2017 | N/A |
| 1 | Anthony Alfredo | May 12, 2018 | N/A |
| 1 | Brandon McReynolds | Sep 22, 2018 | N/A |
| 1 | Tanner Gray | May 4, 2019 | N/A |
| 1 | Max McLaughlin | Aug 2, 2019 | N/A |
| 1 | Max Gutiérrez | Feb 8, 2021 | N/A |
| 1 | Taylor Gray | Apr 29, 2022 | N/A |
Bolding indicates driver has won at least 1 NASCAR Cup Series Championship
Most wins at each track
editAll-time wins under Menards Series East banner. Does not include the combination races with Busch Series because the drivers who won those races are computed as Busch Series winners. Also does not include the combination races with Menards Series West that were won by Menards Series West drivers because the drivers who won those races are computed as Menards Series West winners.
Current tracks
edit| Track | Driver | Wins | Race Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol Motor Speedway | Sam Mayer | 2 | Spring: Zombie Auto 150 Fall: Bush's Beans 150 |
| Dover International Speedway | Brett Moffitt & Austin Hill | 2 | General Tire 125 |
| Iowa Speedway | Multiple Drivers | 1 | Casey's General Stores 150 |
| Memphis International Raceway | Multiple Drivers | 1 | Memphis 150 |
| New Hampshire Motor Speedway | Brad Leighton | 8 | Summer: United Site Services 70 Fall: Apple Barrel 125 |
| New Smyrna Speedway | Todd Gilliland | 2 | New Smyrna 175 |
| South Boston Speedway | Multiple Drivers | 1 | Who's Your Driver Twin 100s |
| Watkins Glen International | Andy Santerre, Bryan Wall, Ted Christopher & Scott Heckert | 2 | Great Outdoors RV Superstore 100 |
| World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway | Multiple Drivers | 1 | Monaco Cocktails Gateway Classic 125 |
Bold indicates a combined race with the ARCA Menards Series West
Former tracks
editRaces in Bold were combination events with the then NASCAR Busch Grand National Series
References
edit- ^ Jeff Olson, Special for USA TODAY Sports (November 16, 2013). "Austin Dillon wins Nationwide title in celebrated No. 3". USA TODAY. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
- ^ "NASCAR : NASCAR Drivers, Race Standings & News — NASCAR.com". nascar.com. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
- ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (October 2, 2019). "NASCAR, ARCA announce new format for 2020; ARCA to take over K&N Series". NBC Sports. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
- ^ "General Tire to Serve as Exclusive Tire Supplier For NASCAR's K&N Pro Series, Pinty's Series and PEAK Mexico Series". NASCAR Home Tracks. February 5, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
- ^ Media Release (November 4, 2014). "NASCAR unveils new K&N Pro Series car at 2014 SEMA show". Fox Sports. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
- ^ "NASCAR K&N Pro Series & Whelen Modified Tour Rulebook" (PDF). speedbowlct.com. NASCAR. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 23, 2016.
- ^ Cunningham, Jason (November 19, 2014). "Touring Series Most Popular Drivers Revealed: Champions Rhodes, Seuss Lead 2014 Honorees". hometracks.nascar.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: NASCAR. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
- 2008 NASCAR Camping World Series Rule Book
- The Official NASCAR 2008 Preview and Press Guide
- 1996 NASCAR Busch North Series Rule Book
