With the Olympics ongoing, NASCAR is on its summer break. The ARCA Menards Series continues to hold races.
Yet as its three series host events, there are question marks for the series for 2025. Entitlement sponsor Menards’ deal expires after 2024, and the series does not have a TV or streaming package signed either.
According to sources, there is optimism that Menards, FOX Sports and FloRacing will re-sign for the future. Simultaneously, however, teams have mostly heard radio silence regarding the potential re-signings.
“As much as I would love to give you a full confirmation on any of that, I am so out of the loop on Menards negotiations, I don’t feel comfortable commenting on it until we have something to comment about,” ARCA Communications Manager Charles Krall told Frontstretch. “There is not much for me to say, at least for now.
“We’re all very optimistic and we have a terrific relationship. They’re an incredible partner. We’ve been affiliated with them now for 15 years. We’d like to be affiliated with them for 15 more, if not more than that. Unfortunately, I don’t have much to say about it until there has been an announcement that an extension is signed, sealed and delivered.”
Menards spokesperson Jeff Abbott attends almost every race that is sponsored by one of the series vendor partners, Krall added. During the drivers meeting at Berlin Raceway, Abbott said Menards is happy with the increase in car count and the overall product this year.
NASCAR signed its new media rights deals for its national series for next year. ARCA’s TV contract is not part of the NASCAR national series TV deal, and it instead has its own separate TV package. On that front, there is nothing further to report.
“ARCA has been around since 1953,” Krall continued. “This is our 72nd season. We did not make it this far by counting our chickens before they hatched. One way or another, we will have some news to announce. For everybody involved, you hope it’ll be sooner than later. But these are not small companies, whether it’s Menards, FOX Sports or NASCAR. It takes a lot of time to make sure the I’s are dotted and t’s are crossed.”
FloRacing broadcasts all ARCA Menards Series East and West races with Krall as the play-by-play announcer. The top 20 finishers in those races all receive $200 from Flo. It’s a welcome addition to a series whose purses remain a subject of just criticism.
“I understand the sentiment of ARCA needs to raise its purses in comparison to a late model tour, the CARS Tour or whatever else,” Krall added. “The CARS Tour is not on FS1 and ARCA is. Honestly, we do pay for some of those production costs. We would rather invest that money into getting our race teams onto television and then the race teams go out and sell those seats to drivers and their sponsors.
“Those sponsors then see a return on their investment by getting viewership from hundreds of thousands of fans throughout the race season. It’s a very structurally sound business model and it has worked for us for 25-plus years into our relationship with FS1, dating back to when it was SpeedVision.
“I get it. You look at that base number, you don’t know all the other parts of the puzzle and you think, ‘wow, that’s low.’ These other racing series – and the CARS Tour is phenomenal – are not on television; being on it, there is a cost there. We have made the business decision that it is worth the investment to make sure that Menards, General Tire, our race teams and their partners are on television. There is value to that. You cannot convince everybody that it is the right move. They’re entitled to their opinions, but this is what works for us for a very long time and will do so into the future.”
However, second-in-points Greg Van Alst advertised primary sponsorship for the ARCA race on Saturday (Aug. 3) at Elko Speedway for $8,500. The base purse for first place at Elko is $5,000. Furthermore, if all the contingencies are met, only the winner earns more than $8,500.
That falls on team expenditures, Krall argued.
“We don’t control what the race teams spend,” he noted. “We have done everything we can, within reason, to lower what race teams spend. We don’t have live pit stops because teams were spending $10,000 a weekend to fly in rented pit crews. Race teams were spending $1 million on an engine program for a year. We took that away with the Ilmor and Yates spec engine program.
“Those costs are fractions of what they used to be. You’re no longer spending tens of thousands of dollars on steel bodies and upkeep thanks to the composite bodies. What more can we do? At some point in time, the race teams determine what their budgets are. That is an independent business decision those race team owners must make for themselves. You’re going to take into account the race purse, your sponsorship and how much are you willing to invest on your own. We as a series, over the past 70 years, have done everything we can to make it cost-effective.”
A few races in 2024 have featured a different name on TV than on the ARCA website, including most recently at Salem Speedway.
That is done deliberately.
“Our vendor partners have chosen to invest in television entitlements rather than on-site entitlements,” Krall explained. “Again, no offense to any of our racetracks but some only seat 5,000-6,000 people whereas the broadcast might get 150,000-200,000 people. You’re marketing to a bigger audience when you’re on television vs. when you’re on site and that’s what they’re choosing to do. It’s our vendor partners choice and we’re fully supportive of that.”
The West series has usually seen strong car counts, including DNQs in its season opener in a combination race with the main series. At Shasta Speedway, that number dwindled to 13. While that number is indeed low, 12 drivers attempted the full distance. Series officials expect the car count to be stronger for the next West race at Tri-City Raceway.
The East has been the series requiring the most TLC. Only three of its eight races this year are standalone; the rest are all combos with the national tour.
“The East is a different deal,” Krall said. “It bounced around from a Northeastern series transformed into a Mid-Atlantic series and then a Southeast series. It lost its footprint there for a little bit but we’re committed to rebuilding it. It’s a process. We’ve seen some signs of life this year that are very encouraging. I think both series will have a similar footprint next year to the one this year. Hopefully, we’ll continue to see that car count increase; we’ll keep working hard in this process.”
Five months from now though, it’ll be Jan. 1. Six months from now, ARCA teams will likely be preparing for the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
Is it too soon to panic?
According to Krall, yes: “Our relationship with Menards and our vendor partners is as strong as it’s ever been. Our partners, FOX Sports and FloSports, have been very supportive and happy with our series. The ratings have been solid.”
Keep in mind that ARCA traditionally does not release its schedules for the forthcoming year until later in the present calendar year. It’s too early for 2025 schedule talk, but when NASCAR Cup Series teams continue to negotiate a charter agreement, eyes should also be on ARCA and what its future will entail.
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.
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