ARCA Racing Series to Debut at Mobile Int’l Speedway in 2012

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards will make its inaugural appearance at Mobile International Speedway a Rick Crawford Performance Track in, 2012. The ARCA-Mobile 200 will see the national touring series bring its old school door handle to door handle style of hard nose racing for 200 laps on the half-mile, high-banked paved oval on Saturday, March 10, 2012. Since the series’ inception in 1953, the series has raced at over 200 different tracks but this will be the first at Mobile International Speedway.

“The 2012 season is ARCA’s 60th, and Mobile will be the first short track on the schedule following the season opener at Daytona in February,” said ARCA President Ron Drager.  “The ARCA Racing Series short track races have proven to be highly competitive and entertaining regardless of the venue. Mobile’s style of racing lends itself to an exciting ARCA show.”

From the short tracks like Mobile, to dirt, to road courses to speedways and superspeedways, the ARCA Series has proven itself to be the most versatile driving series in the world. With a diverse schedule and competitive fields the ARCA Series has produced an impressive list of alumni including Alabama gang members, Red Farmer, Davey, Donnie and Bobby Allison and current racing stars, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, David Ragan, Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Danica Patrick.

Not only does ARCA have a rich history, today’s drivers are carving out their own places in the ARCA record books. Today’s stars include 9 time ARCA Series Champion, Frank Kimmel, current Championship Point’s leader Ty Dillon, along with Mobile’s Grant Enfinger, who has become a series regular and is currently in the top 5 in the Championship standings along with Chris Buescher and Chad McCumbee.

“Having the ARCA Series come to Mobile International Speedway is a real honor for myself and our track. In the Truck Series we spent many weekends around the country sharing tracks with the ARCA Series and these guys put on a heck of a show. I can’t wait to see them on my home track,” offered Manager/Promoter of Mobile International Speedway Rick Crawford. “The effort to bring the ARCA series to Mobile is a team effort and couldn’t be possible without the Mobile Convention & Visitors Bureau, Mobile Sports Authority and our elected officials.”

The ARCA Series is the latest in first and big time promotions at the Speedway since Crawford took the helm at the beginning of 2011. Along with great racing highlighted by NASCAR stars through the year, fans have helped fuel the Speedways resurgence while enjoying performers like Larry the Cable Guy and Bubba Blackwell’s Daredevil Motorcycle jumps.

Opened in 1964 Mobile International Speedway is Alabama’s fastest half mile and is currently host to the Sunoco Gulf Coast Championship Series and Miller Lite Super Late Model Series along with a regular schedule of Saturday night racing. Lee and Ida Fields purchased the Speedway in 1972 and for almost 40 years the duo produced “The Fastest Fun Around”.  In 2011 the Speedway embarked on a new era of track management when Mobile native, multi time Track Champion and all time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts leader Rick Crawford returned to Mobile to become the Manager/Promoter.

Although the ARCA-Mobile 200 marks ARCA’s first appearance at Mobile International Speedway, the ARCA Racing Series history in Alabama reaches back to 1961 when, on November 5, Ernie Derr won a 250-lap race at Birmingham. ARCA race events at the Fairgrounds in Montgomery in 1962, at Huntsville Speedway in 1963 and 1965, followed by a long tenure at Talladega Superspeedway (1969-present) have kept ARCA’s presence in Alabama alive over the decades.

Mobile International Speedway PR