Changes are coming in 2020 for three of NASCAR’s development series: ARCA, K&N Pro East and K&N Pro West.
NASCAR’s purchase of ARCA, completed earlier this year will change the division into the ARCA Racing Elite Series. The division will consist of 20 races, half of which will be at tracks measuring a mile or more in length. The minimum age to enter will be 18 years old (compared with 15 in K&N). The series will transition into a merged system with NASCAR’s K&N feeder series as drivers can compete for up to four championships.
All ARCA drivers will be eligible to run in K&N Pro Series East and West. Those divisions will feature between six to eight events, all on short tracks. This means races held at Dover (East) and Sonoma (West) will no longer be on the schedule.
A fourth series of all short tracks will comprise the other ten ARCA Racing Elite Series races. These races will also feature drivers from K&N East and K&N West who have already competed in a certain amount of races in their respective series. This “Stock Car Invitational” division will feature a points champion, further highlighting these drivers.
So essentially, all of ARCA’s short track races now will also feature K&N Pro drivers. These races will also be its own separate championship. 15 years old is the minimum age to race in K&N Pro and the “Stock Car Invitational” but the other 10 ARCA events at speedways will have a minimum age restriction of 18 and up.
Chassis and car bodies will be “roughly the same,” according to NASCAR across all major series. But ARCA will keep its own engines while K&N Pro will use their current specs across all three series.
All three divisions will keep their current formats next season.
About the author
Michael has watched NASCAR for 20 years and regularly covered the sport from 2013-2021. He moved on to Formula 1, IndyCar, and SRX coverage for the site, while still putting a toe in the water from time-to-time back into the NASCAR pool.
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Huh??? I can’t keep track of all these changes anymore. Keep up the great work effing everything up NASCRAP!
Why the changes??? If it aint broke don’t fix it. ARCA has been doing fine for a long time. If these changes (because they can) have the same result as the Cup series “improvements” ARCA as we knew it is dead.
First off, nobody ever cared about the KN East or West series. So all these confusing changes really amount to nothing. Second, ARCA didn’t need any changes – it was quirky (DuQuoin dirt), competitive (Talladega, Pocono), and challenging (Elko). Any changes to ARCA were/are unnecessary. Third, if NASCAR thinks it’s taking back the short tracks then they’re oblivious – that ship sailed ten years ago with the advent of spectacular PASS, CARS, SSS, CRA events culminating in the annual Snowball Derby. If NASCAR truly wanted to be relevant to the average fan, then the Cup Series would be running now at NASHVILLE, IOWA, ROCKINGHAM, or even DOMINION, HAMPTON & FIVE FLAGS. NASCAR is slowly rotting from the inside (see France, Helton and especially Phelps). The truly innovative good guys that need to be running the show (Marcus Smith, Barney Visser, Max Seigel, Rutledge Wood, Marty Snider) are conspicuously absent from the executive suite…
Rutledge Wood an innovative good guy who should run the show???! Please explain your reasoning on him.
So good y Salem. Goodbye Toledo and IRP in Indy. Goodbye Berlin. Guess we won’t by visiting any time soon. Sucks.0
Seeing the comments to this post I would like to point out three things:
1. No track dates have been finalized, and NASCAR has said they wish to keep the ARCA schedule largely intact. So don’t worry too much about LORP or Salem just yet.
2. ARCA was not in good shape when NASCAR acquired it. Both from a financial standpoint and a competition standpoint- the defending series champion should not be reduced to being a guest TV commentator at Daytona with no plans to run in any major series.
3. Without K&N, where else are young talents going to develop? It’s imperative these series remain as healthy as can be if NASCAR wants to keep the future bright
Why do you believe ANYTHING that the toadies at NA$CAR say?
Michael,
I agree with you with a few of your points such as the K&N series being a development series.
I do not know the financials of the ARCA series; however I do not think any series is doing very well without the TV money and we know that is a matter of time before that runs out.
NASCAR just bought out ARCA this past spring. With that being said, how are these new rules going to help the sport? Please explain your reasoning because I do not see how any of this will help.
This is just my opinion but no rule changes were required for these series. NASCAR should have taken at least a year and did more promoting and working to get more of these races on live TV. That right there would be more help than changing rules.
My frustration is the constant major rule changes every year. When a hard core fan has problems understanding the rules then how can an average or new fan even have a chance of understanding?
I had a friend watch the Darlington race with me who had no clue about the sport. He started asking about stages, points, and the playoffs. I did my best to explain how it works and his exact words were “I don’t get it and this is way to confusing for me to understand.” I’m getting off subject here but it explains the problem. The sport needs stability in rules and not constant changes.
If these new rule changes do something great and improve the sport then I will eat crow. I just can’t see how the changes listed above will help for the fans but i see it being done for someone’s bottom line somehow.
If ARCA had been in good shape the Frances wouldn’t have had the opportunity to acquire it.
But here we have the paradox. Nascar apparently sinking towards irrelevance, get having the financial power to virtually monopolize racing in the US. open wheel and amateur racing being the exceptions. For now.