3-26-10) - ARCA History takes a look back at the roots of the ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards through the decades.
Last week: The ARCA History Series took a look at the changes that began to take place in the series in the 60s. The name was changed from the Midwest Association for Race Cars (MARC) to Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), superspeedways were added to the schedule, and Jack Bowsher, Iggy Katona and Benny Parsons dominated the series.
The 1970s: The 70s opened with bang for Ramo Stott, as he raced towards his first ARCA championship with six wins, including a victory at the famed Daytona International Speedway and two wins at Talladega Superspeedway.
Iggy Katona, coming off a very successful decade in the 1960s, finished second in points after winning three races. For the 12th time in 15 seasons, Paul Wensink finished in the top-10 in points, ending the season fifth in the point standings.
In a fierce battle to the 1971 championship, Stott and Tom Bowsher fought to the finish in the points race. Stott's nine wins to Bowsher's eight made the difference as Stott earned the ARCA crown by only 30 points. ARCA also saw two-time NASCAR Sportsman champion Red Farmer compete in the series and win the Nashville Fairgrounds race.
As the ARCA Racing Series drove into the new Texas World Speedway in Bryan-College Station, Texas, Ron Hutcherson was welcomed to the track with a victory, one of five victories during his course to the ARCA crown. Bobby Watson, runner up in the standings, also won five races. Although he did not record a victory in the 1972 season, it marked the 20th consecutive season Katona finished the season in the top-10 and 19th in the top-5-a run that covered the entire MARC/ARCA history.
As the series moved into its third decade in 1973, the season remained busy with 28 races across nine states. Ron Hutcherson, the defending champion, won the season opener at the two-mile Texas World Speedway. The season ended at Ohio's New Breman Speedway, where Bruce Gould drove his Ford to his 10th win of the season. However, Hutcherson utilized his early season wins and consistency to claim his second straight championship. In addition, ARCA and NASCAR made a move to help both divisions by co-sanctioning several events during the year. Top ARCA drivers ran in NASCAR's Grand National East Division and a separate point award was created for the two groups of competitors.
Fight to the Finish
The 1974 season was especially exciting with a tie for the championship. Although Bruce Gould's four wins were the season's high, the attention was focused on the points battle between Dave Dayton and Ron Hutcherson. Dayton's lone victory in 1974 was the season opener at Salem Speedway, while Hutcherson won twice that year. Both drivers, however, finished close to the top consistently and ended the season in a tie, with 1,045 points each. Wayne Watercutter was in second, a mere 10 points behind the duo. It was the only championship tie of the ARCA Racing Series and the closest top-three point finishers over the entire half-century of ARCA racing. Also notable that season, Katona won his third Daytona race, taking the checkered flag at age 57.
Dayton won four races in 1975, earning his first outright championship. Hutcherson also had a successful year, winning his only Daytona race. The circuit returned to Talladega to begin the second longest running affiliation between the sanctioning body and any of the nation's superspeedways. A new face graced victory lane as Bobby Allison won at Salem Speedway in July.
Lennie Pond started the 1976 season off with a bang, winning at Daytona in ARCA's then-fastest race. The former NASCAR Rookie of the Year recorded an average speed of 153.224 mph for the 200 miles, an event record that still stands 26 years later. The season ended like it had for two seasons prior-with Dayton taking the championship.
The 1977 season consisted of 13 races, with Moose Myers taking four victories on his way to the ARCA title. Woody Fisher worked his way to victory lane at Daytona in a Dodge, and Bill Green won for the first time in his career at Cincinnati. Green went on to win three more events and finished second in points behind Myers.
Silver Anniversary
ARCA's 25th year began at Daytona with Bruce Hill on the pole and Jim Sauter taking the victory. Bill Kimmel Sr. scored his first ARCA victory that season at Cincinnati's Tri-County Speedway, with his 16-year-old son Frank joining in the celebration in victory lane. The season ended at Jeffersonville's Sportsdrome in Indiana where Smith claimed his third win of the season to equal Myers' victory record that year. Smith won the championship by only 35 points over Delmar Clark.
Only nine events were on the schedule for the 1979 season. The first race was actually in October 1978, since the seasons concluded at the end of September each year. Kyle Petty made his first auto racing start that day, driving a Dodge fielded by his father Richard. Richard had already won NASCAR's Daytona 500 six times. Kyle added his name to the winners list and became the third generation of his family to be a stock-car winner at Daytona. His grandfather Lee Petty won the first Daytona 500 20 years earlier, and his grand-uncle Julie Petty, won during the 1953 inaugural season of MARC/ARCA. Marvin Smith defended his 1978 crown, winning three of the year's nine events and six of the nine poles while repeating as champion
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
