NASCAR, ARCA Positive about Acquisition, but Questions Remain

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor

TALLADEGA, Alabama – With the news that NASCAR has purchased the ARCA Racing Series, the parties involved with the announcement were in a positive mood on Friday, but even after the news broke there are still questions that remain unanswered about what the partnership between the two series really means for the future of stock car racing in America.

Ron Drager, ARCA president, likened the move as being on a small rowboat in the ocean to being on a big ocean liner.

“From an ARCA perspective, I liken it to we’re a small independently owned company and our world continues to get more and more complicated and complex,” said Drager. “There are times when I feel like in a little rowboat out in the middle of the ocean and an ocean liner goes by and they rock the boat. And a big storm comes along and it rocks the boat. So far, we haven’t turned over.

“I want to be on a bigger boat.”

When it comes to stock car racing, NASCAR is obviously the big fish, so for ARCA to be put under the NASCAR umbrella can be a good thing, as long as the changes made to the series are positive changes and not turning the series into another series that ventures away from the grassroots nature of the sport and the short tracks that make it so entertaining.

From what Drager said on Friday, fans of ARCA need not worry about drastic changes to the schedule going forward into the future.

“Salem Speedway in Indiana, Toledo Speedway in Ohio, the DuQuoin and Springfield mile dirt tracks are part of ARCA’s history and tradition and our intention is not to leave that. Our intention is to hold onto that and grab it.

“2018 is pretty well set. We’re building 2019 as we speak. So, from an ARCA perspective, the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, what you see today is what you’re going to see tomorrow. We’re always working on it. We’re sanding and polishing. Trying to make it better, trying to make it stronger and that’s a big part of us joining NASCAR is our ability to make our product the best that it can and strengthen it and bring it together. I think the industry is stronger together than individually.”

While it seems that the future of both NASCAR and ARCA will be stronger working together than apart, the stock car world will be keeping a close eye on how exactly this will all play out in the weeks and months ahead to see if answers to Friday’s unanswered questions will come to light.