INDIANAPOLIS, IN (July 28, 2011) - Officials from the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and Champion Racing Association (CRA) announced today an expansion and formalization of the working relationship between the two motorsports sanctioning bodies. Representatives from each entity met the media today at Lucas Oil Raceway, less than an hour before the start of the Ansell Protective Gloves 200.

ARCA, currently in its 59th year, will sanction racing for the CRA Super Series beginning with the 2012 season. The CRA Super Series, founded in 1997, is a super late model stock car racing series based in Salem, Ind. The newly-branded series will be known as the ARCA CRA Super Series.

ARCA president Ron Drager lauded the roles of CRA's managing partners, Glenn Luckett and R.J. Scott, in making the enhanced relationship a reality.

"We've worked with Glenn and R.J. for nearly 20 years in various capacities, and they've clearly established themselves as people that are contributing to the sport of racing," Drager said. "CRA is an organization we know and respect, and we feel that it is a very comfortable fit. This is a relationship that carries a tremendous amount of potential going forward."

The sanctioning agreement between ARCA and CRA is a natural step forward after over a decade of affiliation on the track. Toledo Speedway, one of ARCA's two short track properties, has hosted 12 CRA Super Series events since August 4, 2000, when Harold Fair Jr. won on the half-mile oval near the Ohio/Michigan border.

The partnership will provide participants in the CRA Super Series with ARCA member benefits, including Participant Accident Insurance. ARCA will provide public relations, race operations, and marketing support to its new formal partner, while building an already strong developmental racing base.

"We look forward to working with everyone at ARCA," said Luckett. "The ARCA name is well-established in the racing world and well-respected throughout the racing community. We see this relationship as a way to further strength CRA and short track racing."

ARCA officials also announced that the agreement will give CRA Super Series champions and the Rookie of the Year, as well as the ARCA Gold Cup late model champion, the opportunity to test an ARCA Racing Series car in the open test at Daytona International Speedway in December 2011 and 2012. Andy Hillenburg's Fast Track High Performance Driving School, the Official Driving School of ARCA and the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, will provide the test car. The commitment allows drivers to develop skills within the united framework of CRA and ARCA.

More details surrounding the relationship and the new ARCA CRA Super Series will be provided later this year.

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards features 19 events at 16 tracks on its 2011 schedule. The series has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks 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 0.4 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course.

Founded by John Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in two professional touring series and local weekly events.

CRA is widely recognized for sanctioning many of the top late model events in the country, including legendary events such as the "Winchester 400" at Winchester Speedway, the "All-American" in Nashville and the "RedBud 300" at Anderson Speedway. Recent additions to CRA's list of events of national recognition include "SpeedFest" in January at Lanier National Speedway and "Rowdy's Revenge" at Berlin Raceway.