RROL Elite Series

The RROL Elite Series was a North American-based racing series that sanctioned its 15th and final season in 2012.

It shares its history with the original RROL Elite Series which operated from its inaugural season in 1997 until 2010, and the Vaughn Stock Car Championship, which supplanted the original series in 2011, despite the current ownership having no connection to either series.

The series is sometimes used for driver development, as Rick Milligan Racing, Calton-Morel, Power Steering, Incorporated, among others have sent drivers to race here, with some of those going on to success in higher levels of racing. (See: Notable drivers.)

With the switchover of the TM Master Cup and ARLA Elite Series to new body styles for their cars, a lot of the older-spec cars have ended up here.

The series has had many racing families in it in the past, and many of the more recent competitors have been the children of the early RROL drivers.

1997: Formation
Robert Clarke came up with the idea of the RROL in mid-1997 with ambitions of making a top-flight stock car series that spanned across the globe. The fledgling league had a difficult time attracting teams, meaning the launch of the series would be pushed back to 1998.

At the time, it was unclear what "RROL" stood for, but no one really questioned it. To this day, it remains one of the league's best-kept secrets.

1998: The debut season

 * Main article: 1998 RROL Season

The RROL held its first season in 1998, with 15 events scheduled at tracks all over the United States, starting the season at the Daytona International Speedway (which remains the season-opening race today), and ending at the Darlington Raceway, near Darlington, South Carolina. The eventual champion of the series was Greg Johnson, Sr., who collected three wins, five top-five finishes, and eight top-ten finishes. Johnson was followed by his teammates Rick Jarrett and Jacob Jarrett. Interestingly, Rick and Greg almost instantly formed a intra-team rivalry, but always kept it friendly. Rick won two races during the season, at Charlotte and Dover, while Jacob won at Talladega.

Former open-wheel racing talent Roberto Ramirez won at all three of the road course events, which were held at Laguna Seca Raceway, Watkins Glen International, and Infineon Raceway; however, poor results at oval tracks lead to Ramirez's ninth-place finish in the point standings.

1999
A major change from 1998 saw the schedule pared down from 15 races to 10. Bradley Dunham, Brian Murray, Stephen Reid, and Hunter Moore were all newcomers to the series, serving as the Rookie of the Year contenders. Brian Murray would claim the honors, finishing 12th in the point standings with two top-5s and three top-10s. Greg Johnson, Sr. would win his second straight title in 1999, just edging out Steve Murray in a battle that went right down to the end.

After the 1999 season, Reed Racing, Rensi Mitchell Racing, and Dave Smith Racing each joined the series. JJ Racing unexpectedly split up into Greg Johnson Racing and Rick Jarrett Racing, essentially forming the first two superpower teams of the series, with both teams being anchored by championship contenders.

2000
The 2000 season started off like any other, but eventually the series saw its first major injuries, with Anthony Smith and Carl Stewart getting into a massive wreck at Talladega, in which both drivers flipped. James Howard and David Thompson (future drivers in the series), were later tabbed as the replacements.

David Klein went on to win his first race that day, making a pass in turn 4 to get around Hunter Moore, and managing to hold off Brian Murray to the finish line. Series point leader, Jacob Jarrett, went on to finish 5th. With his biggest points rival, Greg Johnson, Sr., being taken out in the same wreck that injured Anthony Smith and Carl Stewart, Jarrett would hold the point lead, with Greg Johnson, Sr., David Klein, Brian Murray, and Hunter Moore rounding out the top-5 in points.

Then came one of the most tragic moments in RROL history.

Following the first practice session at Martinsville, the 8th race of the season, Rick and Jacob Jarrett were driving to the racetrack after going out for lunch. A tractor-trailer ran a red light and stuck the driver's side of the vehicle, killing Jacob instantly. Rick was unharmed. The entire series was devastated, and the race was postponed for 2 days.

Rick changed from his #7 to Jacob's #27, originally only intending to finish that season in the 27, but Rick eventually decided to stick with the number for the remainder of his driving career. In the race at Martinsville, Rick powered his way to the front, and by lap 30, was leading the race after starting in 10th. Jarrett was on a different level that day, with his refusal to lose, he would easily win the race, and was applauded by everyone for "the most powerful performance that I've ever seen" (-Greg Johnson, Sr.). Rick dedicated the win to Jacob and his family.

But for Rick, that wasn't enough. This motivation lasted throughout the rest of the season with Jarrett finishing 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, and 1st in the rest of that season's races.

2001
By 2001, the series started to gain momentum. Attendance was steady through the beginning of the season, but picked up as the season wore on. All cars carried a No. 27 sticker in memory of Jacob Jarrett. Rick Jarrett claimed his second championship.

2007
Woody Watts won his second title in three seasons this year.

2008

 * Main article: 2008 RROL Season

2008 saw Adrien Devereux win the championship.

2009

 * Main article: 2009 RROL Season

Martin Boltano, Jr. won the series championship.

2010: Upheaval

 * Main article: 2010 RROL Season

Though the 2010 season had its share of controversies (including Doom-O's oil slick at Brazil), the news off the track overshadowed the events on it.

After the season, it was announced that Garth McCallister, Jr., and a group of investors from the American Stock Car Championship, purchased the (by this time) financially-struggling league. "We can make a legitimate American series that has the spirit of the ASCC and the origins of what made 1980s TM Master Cup series racing great," McCallister said. "We hope to revisit many tracks that Omecha took off the calendar, tracks like Texas World Speedway, Hickory, Rockingham and Charlotte Motor Speedway that the fans loved, but that Omecha didn't like because some foreigner was throwing a ton of money at them."

Now-former RROL owner Robert Clarke said, "We were having financial issues, and they came to us with an offer. With the economy already being this tough, I thought that in the end, this would be the best option, even if I am no longer involved with it...at least for the time being."

Reaction was swift, and mixed to say the least. Many long-time RROL teams expressed they would not return to the series, citing the reputation of the ASCC brass (namely, the officials' bias toward white American men) as the primary reason. The RROL's top three officials, president Thomas Clarke, head of officiating John Vernon, and competition director Larry Chambers all tendered their resignations as a result of the buyout.

Robert Clarke did have a trick up his sleeve, and it wouldn't be long before the world found out what it was.

2011: The Vaughn Stock Car Championship

 * ''Main articles: 2011 Vaughn Stock Car Championship season, 2011 Vaughn American Racing Tour season, 2011 Vaughn European Racing Challenge season

Clarke's words "for the time being" meant only a few hours, as he, along with former Formula A team manager and British billionaire Mark Vaughn teamed up to form the Vaughn Stock Car Championship, immediately hiring on the officials from the former RROL.

Vaughn said in an interview, "I was a fan of the RROL, and I liked what they were doing, but the series did not really have anything unique about it, and I want to give them that element." That element would become the creation of two lower leagues, the Vaughn American Racing Tour and the Vaughn European Racing Challenge, which would allow drivers a shot at the VSCC championship through a promotion-and-relegation system, which had never before been seen in racing.

Vaughn also extended an invitation to the former RROL teams dissatisfied with the ASCC buyout to join the new league, and many of them did just that. The series announced a nineteen-race schedule, opening at Daytona International Speedway (as per RROL tradition) and ending at Kansas Speedway.

However, the death of Reed Racing co-owner Jack Lucas Samson, financial difficulties, and a pair of disastrous races at Mallory Park, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, and the famed Karjala Raceway proved too much for the league to handle, and the series collapsed after just eight races.

The collapse led many observers to question the long-term viability of the league. As a result of this, the long time teams like Watts Motorsports and Rick Jarrett Racing left the series.

2012: A lifeline?

 * Main article: 2012 RROL Elite Series season

2013: Beginning of another Era?

 * Main article: 2013 National Racing Championship season

It was announced after Round 9 that the RROL would be renamed for the third time in 3 years; this time as the National Racing Championship.

Notable drivers

 * Adrian Devereux - The only person to win a championship in the RROL (2008) and the TM Master Cup Series (2011)
 * Woody Watts - 2006 and 2007 champion, TM Master Cup Series regular 2007-2011
 * Chris Anderson - Champion in 2002 and 2003, RROL/VSCC Commentator 2008-2011
 * Eric Reed - 2004 and 2005 champion. Hold series record for most wins in a single season (5).
 * Martin Boltano, Jr. - 2009 Champion
 * Ricky Flush - 2010 Champion
 * Gordon Sting - 2011 Champion
 * Greg Johnson Sr - 1998 and 1999 Champion
 * Rick Jarrett - 2000 and 2001 Champion
 * Jacob Jarrett - One of the RROL’s pioneer drivers, brother of Rick, died during the 2000 season.
 * Tom Delgado - TM Master Cup Series veteran who also made sproadic RROL appearances.
 * Cameron Taylor - won the first VERC race ever held, eventually made his way up to race full-time in TMMC
 * Ryan Matthews - of Matthews Motorsports
 * Ike Durbin - Cut his teeth in the RROL/VSCC before climbing up the racing ladder
 * Ryan Nawrocki - Former TMMC regular
 * Julian Alexander - Competed for Alex Harrison Racing in both the TM Master Cup Series and the RROL
 * Vladimir Nikolaev - Years after his time in the RROL, competing in Formula B.
 * Cris Cole - After his time in the RROL, joined Roderick Motorsports, Ltd. in the TM Junior/TM Lights for the 2010 and 2011 seasons.