The ARCA Truck Series was a

pickup truck racing Pickup truck racing is a form of auto racing which involves modified versions of pickup trucks on Race track, racing circuits, mostly Oval track racing, oval tracks. Race pickup trucks are mechanically similar to coupé-shaped Stock car racing, s ...

series which ran on numerous short tracks throughout the

American Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

, running in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Sanctioned by the

Automobile Racing Club of America The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is an auto racing sanctioning body in the United States, founded in 1953 by John Marcum. The current president of ARCA is Ron Drager, who took over the position in 1996 following the death of Bob Log ...

, it raced

mid-size Mid-size—also known as intermediate—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than compact cars and smaller than full-size cars. "Large family car" is a UK term and a part of the D-segment in t ...

trucks with V6 and V8 engines unlike the

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 ...

Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

which ran

full-size Full-size car—also known as large car—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than mid-size cars, it is the largest size class for cars. In Europe, it is known as E-segment or F-segment. Af ...

trucks. Most of the teams in the series were owner-driver combinations or family-owned. It was announced January 9, 2017 that the series would cease operations, effective immediately.

History

The ARCA Truck Series ran exhibition races late in 1998 with the first full season in 1999. The series evolved from the series which ARCA sanctioned from 1990 through 1998 called The Pro 4 Series. The

Pro 4 Series Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired ...

cars were full tube chassis

stock cars 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 ...

with highly modified

4-cylinder The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized. Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categorize ...

engines. Both full body and

open-wheel car An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

s competed in the series together. With the popularity of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

s in general, a long time ARCA official came up with the idea to race compact trucks. The inaugural season consisted of eleven asphalt and four dirt races in four states in the Midwest. The series produced ten different winners but sixteen-year-old Aaron Hulings dominated the series with six wins and eight pole awards but sat out the last race of the season for unknown reasons and the championship went to Pro 4 Series veteran

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. The decision to go to trucks was popular with fans and competitors alike. Over twenty three different trucks with twenty five drivers competed in the fifteen races the first season.

Rules and truck bodies

The basic rules required the use of a tube frame racing chassis from ARCA approved builders, stock appearing fiberglass body from PMG approved suppliers, and specification

Hoosier Racing Tire Hoosier Racing Tire is an American tire manufacturer primarily specializing in the production of tires for competition use. Headquartered in Lakeville, Indiana, the company was founded in 1957. Hoosier employs nearly 500 people, and has provided t ...

. Body styles are

Mid-size Mid-size—also known as intermediate—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than compact cars and smaller than full-size cars. "Large family car" is a UK term and a part of the D-segment in t ...

trucks, the

Ford Ranger Ford Ranger is a nameplate that has been used on multiple model lines of pickup trucks sold by Ford worldwide. The nameplate has been used for distinct model lines of vehicles worldwide since 1982 from the compact and mid-size pickup category. ...

Chevrolet S-10 The Chevrolet S-10 is a compact pickup truck that was produced by Chevrolet. It was the first domestically built compact pickup of the big three American automakers. When it was first introduced as a "quarter-ton pickup" in 1981 for the 1982 m ...

and the

Chevrolet Colorado The Chevrolet Colorado, and its counterpart, the GMC Canyon, are series of compact and later mid-sized pickup trucks marketed by American automaker General Motors. They were introduced in 2004 to replace the Chevrolet S-10 and GMC S-15/Sonoma com ...

Dodge Dakota The Dodge Dakota, known as the Ram Dakota for the final two years of production, is a mid-size pickup truck from Chrysler's Ram (formerly Dodge Truck) division. The first Dakota was introduced in late 1986 as a 1987 model. From its introduction th ...

, and

Toyota Tacoma The Toyota Tacoma is a pickup truck manufactured by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota since 1995. The first-generation Tacoma (model years 1995 through 2004) was classified as a compact pickup. The second generation (model years 2005 t ...

. The rules were very stable during the history of the series, the biggest change being the introduction of V8 engines in 2011. The V8 proved to be much more reliable and cost-effective than the V6 and the 4-cylinder engines partially because of the rules the ARCA Truck Series established: additionally, the fans seemed to be more interested in the V8-powered trucks.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arca Lincoln Welders Truck Series Pickup truck racing series Stock car racing series in the United States Automobile Racing Club of America Recurring events established in 1999