2021 National ARCA Menards Schedule Released
On Tuesday (Dec. 1), NASCAR and ARCA released the tentative 2021 national ARCA Menards Series schedule, consisting of a now standard 20-race season.
The season is set to get underway on February 13th from Daytona International Speedway, with the traditional Lucas Oil 200. The season will end at Kansas Speedway with a 150-mile race in October, either on the 23rd or 24th.
The official dates for the races at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 28 or 29) and Kansas have yet to be confirmed, but will be held during the Coca-Cola 600 and Kansas Lottery 400 weekends, respectively.
Two races on the schedule are held on road courses, being at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (June 4) and Watkins Glen International (Aug. 14). Both circuits had races scheduled for 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced both weekends to be scrapped completely.
A pair of dirt races will remain on the calendar with the Illinois State Fairgrounds (Aug. 22) and the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds (Sept. 5) keeping their slots.
Along with Daytona, Talladega Superspeedway (Apr. 24) remains on the schedule, being the second of two restrictor plate races of the year. Pocono Raceway (June 25) also returns, joining the NASCAR Cup Doubleheader weekend with the other touring series.
Kansas (May 1, Oct. 23 or 24) and Charlotte (May 28 or 29) make up just two 1.5-miler circuits on the schedule. Phoenix Raceway (Mar. 12), Toledo Speedway (May 22), Elko Speedway (July 10), Berlin Raceway (July 17), Iowa Speedway (July 24), Winchester Speedway (July 31), Milwaukee Mile (Aug. 29), Bristol Motor Speedway (Sept. 16) and Salem Speedway (Sept. 25) make up the remainder of the season.
Memphis International Raceway, WWT Raceway at Gateway, Madison International Speedway, Lucas Oil Indy Raceway Park and Chicagoland Speedway do not return after being on the original 2020 calendar.
Berlin and Toledo are back on the schedule, after being absent from the original 2020 schedule. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Toledo was used to reschedule three different events, however. Winchester was removed following 2017 and returns for 2021.
The Milwaukee Mile hosted ARCA races between 1982 and 1983, and held three more between 2005 and 2007. 2021 will be the first trip to the Wisconsin circuit since then.
The full ARCA Menards Series national schedule can be found here or below.
