Officials from the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and FOX Sports Media Group announced today the 2017 broadcast schedule for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.
FOX Sports will broadcast 10 ARCA Racing Series events again this season, half of the series schedule. At least nine of the 10 races will be telecast on FS1 in 2017. FS1 waves the green flag on the 65th season of ARCA Racing Series competition with the traditional season opener, the 54th Lucas Oil Complete Engine Treatment 200 Driven by General Tire at Daytona International Speedway Saturday, Feb. 18. In addition to Daytona, races from Talladega Superspeedway May 5, Toledo Speedway May 21, both Pocono events (June 9 and July 28), Michigan International Speedway June 16, Lucas Oil Raceway July 21, Chicagoland Speedway Sept. 14 and Kentucky Speedway Sept. 22 will all air on FS1. The season finale from Kansas Speedway Oct. 20 is currently scheduled to air on FS2, but the possibility exists that it could shift to FS1, depending on the Major League Baseball postseason.
“FOX Sports and the ARCA Racing Series have enjoyed a very long history together – dating back to 1997, and their season opener from Daytona helps kick off the 2017 stock car racing season,” said Josh Oakley, FOX Sports executive director, acquisitions & programming. “The ARCA Racing Series is part of the most-watched motorsports lineup in television, as FOX Sports is home to NASCAR, the NHRA, AMA Supercross, Monster Jam, the FIA Formula E Championship, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the United SportsCar Championship and several other series.”
According to Nielsen Media Research, FS1 is currently available in 85.2 million homes, while FS2 is rapidly growing and now available in nearly 50.8 million U.S. households.
The 2015 season marked the first year of a new three-year agreement between ARCA and FOX Sports. ARCA’s relationship with the FOX Sports family of networks reaches back to April 20, 1997, when Speedvision covered the ARCA Racing Series race at Salem Speedway. In total, Speedvision, Speed Channel, SPEED, FS1 and FS2 have telecast 238 races encompassing 20 consecutive years of covering the ARCA Racing Series. NewsCorp, the parent company of FOX Broadcasting Company, rebranded SPEED to FS1 in September 2013.
“We are pleased to deliver this 10-race ARCA Racing Series package for our viewers, race teams and sponsors,” said ARCA President Ron Drager. “Our FOX relationship is the cornerstone of our overall broadcast coverage, and our commitment is to continue to deliver the major league telecast quality ARCA viewers have come to expect.”
The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards features 20 events at 18 tracks on its 2017 schedule. The series has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 racetracks in 28 states since its inception. The series tests the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, annually visiting tracks ranging from .4 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as left- and right-turn road courses.
Founded by John and Mildred Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading and most diverse sanctioning bodies in the country. ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in three professional touring series and local weekly events.
ARCA Racing PR
Follow us on Twitter @SpeedwayDigest
Latest posts by Speedway Digest Staff (see all)