ARCA announces new 105-inch wheelbase chassis

Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) announced today that they approved the 105-inch wheelbase chassis for competition in 19 of the 21 races for 2010. The 105-inch wheelbase chassis are currently used in the NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World East and West Series.

The 105-inch wheelbase chassis however will not be run at Daytona Int'l Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. ARCA's current 110 inch wheelbase cars will also be raced along with the 105-inch wheelbase chassis at the 19 selected races.

Along with the approval of the 105-inch wheelbase, there will be a rules package change that will create parity between the two cars. ARCA's base rules package for 3400 pound, steel-bodied stock cars with corresponding auto manufacturer engine and body configuration will remain in place.

This approval coincides with Nascar's announced integrating the Car of Tomorrow (COT) for the Nationwide Series in 2011, and the gradual exit of the present-day cars, which as said above are 105-inch wheelbase chassis, from the Series.

"Since the inception of our series in 1953, we've kept an open line of communication with NASCAR and others to monitor industry trends, At the time of the evolution of the NASCAR Sprint Cup COT technology, ARCA team owners represented a market for NASCAR team owners to sell the race cars they were cycling out of inventory. We're positioned to accommodate a similar situation with the NASCAR Nationwide team owners. We've invested a great deal of research and interaction into this move with several groups, in particular our ARCA team owners, and we feel this is the right step with the proper timing for everyone involved."
- ARCA President Ron Drager.