<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4ZgyzX_0voKrvwE00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4ZgyzX_0voKrvwE00" width="780" height="520" ><figcaption>Photo: David Berding/ARCA Racing used with permission</figcaption></figure>A trio of good news came to the ARCA Menards Series at Kansas Speedway on Friday (Sept. 27).Menards is back.FOX Sports is back.And the 2025 schedule is out.All three announcements are massive for the series. Menards stays with the series as it is fully entrenched as part of the NASCAR ladder system. Hopefully more companies come onboard to increase purses and make the series even more financially worthwhile for teams.FOX Sports is back and the 2025 season opener at Daytona International Speedway is on FOX. Big FOX. The same TV channel the NASCAR Cup Series’ Daytona 500 will be broadcast on. For a series that has faced criticism over purses, car counts, competition quality, among others – some of those criticisms just, others not as much – airing its season opener, as the opening act to the NASCAR Xfinity Series race later that Saturday, on FOX is huge.For comparison, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race will be on FOX Sports 1, not FOX.ARCA viewership could reach an all-time high at Daytona. Per the series, it’ll be the first time in series history that a race will be broadcast live on an over-the-air network. And for as much criticism as FOX’s NASCAR coverage receives, the network’s decision to air Daytona on FOX is a vote of confidence in the series. FOX is backing ARCA for the long haul… or at least until 2028.It wouldn’t surprise me if the Daytona entry list is large as a result. More possible TV exposure for drivers, teams and sponsors. Remember, nine drivers failed to qualify for the 2024 Daytona race, one that was moved up to late Friday night due to impending weather as well as was broadcast on FS1.It is a bummer that the ’25 season finale will be broadcast on FOX Sports 2. Hopefully FloRacing will return – series officials are optimistic – to simulcast it as well.Speaking of the schedule, while there are only two new racetracks, there are multiple changes.Chiefly of all, the “Hell week,” as several drivers and team members described it, is over. There are no race weekend doubleheaders at two different racetracks. Considering the series didn’t additionally reward those who competed in both events, this is a godsend for much of the garage. Frankly, even for the top-tier teams, it is probably a welcome change too simply from the cost of transporting racecars from one venue to the other in one weekend.Unfortunately, the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds race will directly compete, again, against the Cup Series’ Southern 500.When ARCA promoted DuQuoin this year, Chris Buescher spoke about the specialness of the race.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Racing on the dirt oval at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds is special. Allow <a href="https://twitter.com/Chris_Buescher?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">@Chris_Buescher</a> to explain why 🗣️ <a href="https://t.co/AGAjX6w0aq" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">pic.twitter.com/AGAjX6w0aq</a>— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) <a href="https://twitter.com/ARCA_Racing/status/1828824830013325476?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">August 28, 2024</a><input type="image" src="empty.gif" style="opacity:0" onerror="s=document.createElement(&quot;script&quot;);s.src=&quot;https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js&quot;;document.body.appendChild(s);"></blockquote>Yet because he was racing at the same time, he could not moonlight in the ARCA race there. Even if he did not want to compete, he could not be there to support the series and the event. At minimum, he could not tweet about it, thereby shining a light on it, because he was racing.Buescher is the 2012 series champion. His support and presence for the series would be the equivalent of an ambassador for other sports. Could you imagine if he went to DuQuoin? That alone might increase ticket sales; if nothing else, it increases marketability.However, because DuQuoin is competing against the Southern 500, one of NASCAR’s crown jewels too, none of that is possible. It makes growing the series’ recognition, and frankly respect, tougher. Because honestly, unless you’re attending the race or writing about it like yours truly, which are you going to choose – the Southern 500 or ARCA at DuQuoin?Another cool part of the schedule is there are back-to-back races in Michigan. First the series will be a part of the NASCAR race weekend at Michigan International Speedway, then eight days later the series will visit awesome short track Berlin Raceway. Perhaps the series could market it as The Mitten State week?Now, let’s dive into the two new racetracks on the schedule: Lime Rock Park and Madison International Speedway.Lime Rock replaces Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Having covered two ARCA races at Mid-Ohio, the facility is cool, the fans showed up and there were storylines in both races.Yet without the Truck Series race there this year, from both my watching on TV as well as word from folks in the garage, it lost its luster.How do we fix that? By re-joining the Trucks at Lime Rock, the newest road course on the Truck schedule too. It’ll be the first time ARCA goes to Connecticut and almost feels like a return to the NASCAR K&amp;N Pro Series East roots of racing in the Northeast.Ideally, some Truck drivers will compete in the ARCA race to learn the racetrack and log some laps under green-flag conditions.While Madison was added to the schedule, it is not a brand-new racetrack for ARCA.The 0.5-mile short track has hosted the series eight times, most recently in 2019.First, yay for Wisconsin race fans. With the Trucks no longer competing at the Milwaukee Mile, NASCAR national series will not go to a state with many diehard race fans, a storied history of talented drivers and a bevy of short tracks. ARCA did not leave though. Let’s pack Madison on Aug. 22.Madison, per sources, is also rumored to be one of two racetracks to fill an opening on the ARCA Menards Series East schedule. The ’25 East slate is expected to be very similar with eight races and the other events, including the combination ones, set to return. Expect a balance of either four or five combos and the rest standalones. Without Milwaukee, Madison is an option for a combo race.The other option is Rockingham Speedway, which will host Xfinity and Trucks. A standalone East race at Rockingham seems grandiose for that series, but if it breathes life into the series which had five of its eight races as combo ones with the national tour, I’m all for it.Meanwhile, the ARCA Menards Series West schedule is expected to again be 12 races, per sources. Both Phoenix Raceway events will return as well Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway, All American Speedway and Sonoma Raceway. One team owner informed Frontstretch that several other tracks are under consideration, including a possible return to Evergreen Speedway, The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Utah Motorsports Campus or Stockton 99 Speedway.As for the rest of this season, ARCA wraps up its season at Toledo Speedway (it will also host the ’25 season finale). That race will take place on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. ET with live coverage provided by FS2 and FloRacing.Sign up for the Frontstretch NewsletterA daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.comWe hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.</div></body>

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What To Make of ARCA’s 2025 News Drop

A trio of good news came to the ARCA Menards Series at Kansas Speedway on Friday (Sept. 27). And the 2025 schedule is out. All three announcements are massive for the series. Menards stays with the series as it is fully entrenched as part of the NASCAR ladder system. Hopefully more companies come onboard to increase purses and make the series even more financially worthwhile for teams.

What To Make of ARCA’s 2025 News Drop

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