Race Weekend Central

ARCA Menards Series Adjusts Championship Points Format

The ARCA Menards Series has changed its championship points format to align with the structure used in the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series, Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, and ARCA Menards Series East and West. ARCA announced the change in a press release Friday morning (Jan. 24).

Under the old points system, the race winner was awarded 235 points, with 220 points to the runner-up and a five-point interval throughout the field for each remaining position. Additionally, five bonus points were given to the General Tire Pole winner in qualifying as well as to those who led a lap and led the most laps. In each race a maximum 250 points were available.

The new format awards 43 points and three bonus points for the winner, 42 points for second-place and one-point intervals throughout the remaining field. A driver will also earn one bonus point for winning the pole, leading a lap or leading the most laps. A driver could complete a race with a maximum 49 points.

There will also be bonuses for completing five races in one segment; these events end at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Lucas Oil Raceway, Watkins Glen International and the season finale at Kansas Speedway. Any driver or owner entering and competing in each race in a segment will be awarded 50 bonus points. If a driver or owner competes in all the races of the season, they will earn a maximum of 200 bonus points.

All of these changes come just shy of two years after NASCAR purchased ARCA.

“Entering our third year as NASCAR property and now as the sanctioning body for the ARCA Menards Series East and West, we felt it was time to align our points system to fall more in line with the other national series,” said ARCA President Ron Drager in the press release. “The one-point-per-position points format has led to some great championship battles since it was implemented, and we are looking forward to seeing how it plays out in the ARCA Menards Series in 2020.”

The season opener, the Lucas Oil 200 Driven by General Tire at Daytona International Speedway, is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 8. TV coverage will be provided by FOX Sports 1.

About the author

Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised as a motorsports fan and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.

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3 Comments
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Mike

They couldn’t leave well enough alone. Points were fin as they were. How long before nascrap forces arca onto the stupid chase?

DoninAjax

I’d call the decision makers in Daytona bozos but I don’t want to insult Bozo The Clown.

If it ain’t broke they will try to “fix” it.

Bill B

No it’s actually,
“If it ain’t broke, they will eff with it until it is”.

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