Arena Racing USA is an indoor

motorsports Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

series founded by former

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

builder Ricky Dennis, son of 1970

NASCAR Rookie of the Year The NASCAR Rookie of the Year Award is presented to the first-year driver that has the best season in a NASCAR season. Each of NASCAR's national and regional touring series selects a RotY winner each year. History of the Award The Rookie of the Y ...

Bill Dennis Bill Dennis (born December 9, 1935) is a former NASCAR driver and rookie of the year in the Winston Cup Series. Racing career Dennis made his debut at age 26 at the 1962 Capital City 300 in the No. 98 and finished 15th. After three part-time se ...

. The league “went dark” after the 2016-2017 season, per their website.

History

The concept of arena racing started in 1993, when Ricky Dennis was watching a

Richmond Renegades The Richmond Renegades were an ECHL ice hockey team in Richmond, Virginia that played in the East Coast Hockey League from 1990 until 2003. The Renegades played at the Richmond Coliseum, which they marketed in later years as ''the Freezer''. Th ...

hockey game at the

Richmond Coliseum Richmond Coliseum is a defunct arena located in downtown Richmond, Virginia, with a capacity of 13,500 that was most often used for various large concerts. The arena opened in 1971 and the region is looking to replace the aging facility with a la ...

. The first attempt at creating the series occurred in 1994, but shut down due to financial troubles. In 2002, a second attempt at the series was created. To assist the series with financial backing, Dennis consulted

Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization owned and operated by former Washington Redskins (today the Washington Commanders) coach Joe Gibbs, which first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991. His s ...

(JGR) owner

Joe Gibbs Joe Jackson Gibbs (born November 25, 1940) is an American auto racing team owner and former professional football coach. In football, he was head coach for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1992, and a ...

, and also added

Interstate Batteries Interstate Battery System of America, Inc., a.k.a. Interstate Batteries, is a US privately owned battery marketing and distribution company. It markets automotive batteries manufactured by Brookfield Business Partners, Exide Technologies, and o ...

president Norm Miller and PACE Entertainment and PACE Motorsports' Gary Becker as investors. To help promote the series, James Ukrop, former chairman of Ukrop's Food Group, was hired as a business mentor for Dennis. JGR drivers

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...

Denny Hamlin James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and NASCAR team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He co-owns and oper ...

and

J. J. Yeley Christopher Beltram Hernandez "J. J." Yeley (born October 5, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the Nos. 13 and 66 cars for MBM Motorsports and part-time in ...

also became investors. Regarding the series, Stewart stated, "I love any kind of racing, but arena racing struck me as something that could really take off. I've raced Midgets and

Sprint Cars Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle * Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint ...

indoors, and there's definitely an added level of excitement. When I found out you could do the same thing with a half-scale

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

, but on a banked track with 14 other cars around you while making laps in 10 seconds, I was in."

Details

Arena Racing uses stock cars half-scale of

Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

cars at long, and can reach speeds up to . They weigh about and have 22-horsepower engines. Events are scheduled in a heat style format, as opposed to NASCAR's format of one long race. Each event consists of a minimum of four races: three main races and a "Top Dog" race. The 2011–2012 Arena Racing season ran from November to April, much of which is the offseason of major series such as NASCAR and

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

. There is currently one venue, the

, which hosted the 2013–2014 season races.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.arenaracingusa.com/ Stock car racing series in the United States Auto racing organizations in the United States Sports in Charlotte, North Carolina Sports in Hampton Roads Sports in Grand Rapids, Michigan Companies based in Virginia Motorsport in North Carolina Motorsport in Virginia Motorsport in Michigan Sports organizations established in 2002 2002 establishments in Virginia Sports in Richmond, Virginia