archives

Scroll down to view past ARCA Racing Series news and rumors.

December 2018

  • Brian Kaltreider suffers shop fire on Christmas Day: ARCA team owner and driver Brian Kaltreider lost the majority of his racing equipment in a fire at his race shop on Christmas day. Included in the loss were two race cars, one that had just returned from GMS Racing and was completely updated with a new composite body, and another car that was set to be sent down to the Carolinas to be updated for 2019. Kaltreider also lost a considerable amount of construction equipment and materials in the fire. "Right now the fire is under investigation," Kaltreider said. "The forensic team has been over and the half of the building that was damaged has been roped off so we can't even access it." For now, it does not appear that the loss will be covered by insurance. "I have tried and tried to make this work and I've taken out a lot of personal loans to try to make it happen," Kaltreider said. "My business insurance came to look at it and said it's not a covered loss and that I didn't have the right type of coverage. I have one racecar left, but right now I would have to sell it just to try to start to pay off the loans I've taken out. Right now we are just hoping for a miracle." (In part from ARCARacing.com) (12-31-18)
  • Thomas Praytor makes delivery to toy drive: In what has become a Holiday tradition Thomas "Moose" Praytor with a little help from his friends, Grant Thompson and Connor Okrzesik made a delivery to WKRG’s Magical Christmas Toy Drive. Praytor and WKRG Sports Anchor, Randy Patrick, started the delivery of remote control cars years ago and over time have included some pretty fast drivers from the Gulf Coast. "Randy does a tremendous job of covering racing and he’s always fun to beat racing remote control cars with. What Channel 5 does with the Salvation Army is incredible," said Praytor. There were over 32,000 donated to the 2018 Magical Christmas Toy Drive. (In part from Max Force Racing PR) (12-19-18)
  • Ty Gibbs to drive part time in 2019; sharing car with Herbst: Ty Gibbs, the grandson of NASCAR Cup team owner Joe Gibbs, will compete part-time in the ARCA Racing Series in 2019. The 16 year-old driver will split the No. 18 Toyota with Riley Herbst. Gibbs is expected to race at the short track events, while Herbst is expected to drive at larger tracks like Daytona and Talladega. Mark McFarland has joined the No. 18 team as the team manager and crew chief. (12-09-18)
  • MDM Motorsports to restructure; Mark McFarland leaves for Gibbs: MDM Motorsports, which has previously fielded teams in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and ARCA competition, will be scaling back its racing operations starting with the 2019 season. MDM Motorsports will no longer compete in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. The multi-car team operation in both ARCA and K&N competition will also decrease to a two-car operation. The team plans on competing full time in both series and defending their current ARCA Series championship, which they are celebrating tonight in Indianapolis with MDM driver Sheldon Creed. "MDM Motorsports has amassed more than 30 wins over the last two racing season," said Matt Miller, Team Partner at MDM. "We've had a great run with more than a dozen different drivers win for us across three series. However, with the growth of driver development programs across all series, we feel that it's time to scale back our operation and our driver development efforts." With the reduction in teams, restructuring of the organization will begin as well. Former team partner Mark McFarland will move to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2019 to manage the team's ARCA operation. The MDM Motorsports driver line-up, as well as numbers, sponsors and more will be announced at a later date. (In part from MDM Motorsports PR) (12-08-18)
  • GMS Racing returning to ARCA with Sam Mayer: GMS Racing officials announced today that the Statesville, N.C., based organization would expand competition into the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West, as well as in the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) Series in 2019. Sam Mayer, a Franklin, Wis., native will drive the No. 21 entry for the team in both series. "GMS Racing has had tons of success over the past couple years, especially this past year," said Mayer. "Knowing that a great team is behind me going into next season gives me a lot of confidence that we will have success, too." In 2018, Mayer competed in six K&N East races with his highest finish being fourth-place at Dover International Speedway. The 15-year-old also competed in the ARCA Racing Series three times, making his series debut at Iowa Speedway finishing 10th and later topped that finish at Lucas Oil Raceway where he finished seventh. "We are excited to add K&N, as well as ARCA to our organization in 2019," said Mike Beam, President of GMS Racing. "Mayer is very talented at such a young age, and I see a big future for him in motorsports. I’m glad that he chose us to pursue his career in racing. Our goal has always been to build championship caliber teams no matter what series we participate in. With Mayer behind the wheel and Mardy Lindley leading the team, I do not doubt in my mind they will be successful in 2019." (In part from GMSRacing.net) (12-05-18)
  • Scott Melton to compete in a 10 race schedule for Kimmel: Scott Melton will expand his ARCA schedule to 10 races in 2019 with Kimmel Racing. Melton, who serves as the president of insurance agencies in Michigan, competed in two races this past season at Berlin and Lucas Oil. A full schedule has not been released, but the Kimmel Racing team is preparing a car for the upcoming Daytona test. (12-01-18)
  • Kimmel Racing looking for sponsorship for 2019; FASS not back: Kimmel Racing is searching for sponsorship for the upcoming season, as FASS Diesel Fuel Systems has decided to take its marketing program in a different direction next year. FASS had supported the Kimmel team for the last two seasons. Will Kimmel, who pilots the No. 69 entry, still hopes to compete at both Salem races and both dirt tracks in 2019. (12-01-18)