User:Bsoyuz

The 2017 Professional Auto Racing Tour is the thirty-first season of PART. this is the second season after the merger between APRS and USRT.

Three touring series will take place in 2017 under the PART banner:
 * PART Racing Series powered by Hanmore
 * PART All-Pro Series presented by Cipriani
 * PART Dash Series presented by X-Auto.com

PART Racing Series powered by Hanmore
The 2017 season of the Racing Series will feature noticeable changes and controversies from the 2016 season. Firstly, Cyra scales back on sponsorship, giving Hanmore the push they needed to become the series title sponsor. Secondly, the opening round returns to Daytona after missing the 2016 openeer due to repavements done to the track. A introduction to the schedule is the Hokkaido SpeedPark race, a event formed by both Japanese Touring Car and PART promoters, it will be the longest road course race of the season with 100 laps, it will also feature 4 qualifying races, instead of the usual two.

The race format also changes, as two short qualifying races will take place the day before the main event, a full distance race, as opposed to the format used in years prior, where the distance of the race was split in half and divided between each round. The schedule decreases in size following this move, from 24, to 19 races.

The amount of full-time drivers stays in 72 despite an a effort to allow more part-timers each weekend. Thirty-four to Thirty-six cars will take part in each duel. All part-timers can start up to 12 races.

The Cromwell and Duncan spec cars have been updated and no longer carry a model name, being solely known as spec cars.

Triple digit numbers will also be outlawed for full-time cars, as a organization measure. The triple digit numerals will only be allowed for part-timers and one off entries. The same will happen with numbers that contain letters, those will only be used for part-timers and one-off cars.

Rookie of the Year championship reverts back to the format used in 2015, where the driver with the best average finish at the end of all 19 events will be crowned Rookie of the Year.

Once again joint efforts for the championship will be allowed.

Controversies
These changes were met with a rather big amount of controversy, with Paul Martin, promoter of the Talladega Superspeedway and Tears TryHard 500 deciding to walk out and form the North American Auto Club with multiple teams unhappy with the situation at the moment. Teams walking out would join the NAAC and together they would announce the formation of two series to be sanctioned by NAAC: The Championship Series and National Series, and they would officially start in 2018. However, in order to decide an innaugural NAAC champion a 5-race series would take place in unconflicting dates with PART, except for the final race, the 2017 Tears TryHard 500, which would be the finale for both series.

Most teams walking out at the end of the 2017 season would run both series normally, however, a few teams decided to either run PART exclusively or even race only the NAAC races as a way of spending less.

PART All-Pro Series presented by Cipriani
The Challenge Series undergoes several changes, as the Truck Series becomes defunct, the series becomes the All Pro Series.

The schedule will comprise of only companion events with the Racing Series, with this move, part-time and double-duty campaigns by Racing Series drivers will be allowed, although not scoring any points towards the championship battle.

Thirty teams will compete full-time in 2017, being joined by up to six part timers in each race.

The Cromwell and Duncan spec cars receive the same update as the Racing Series models.

PART Dash Series presented by x-auto.com
The latest series to join the PART family is the Dash Series, based around the same concept of the Dash Cup Aspira Juniors, sanctioning body which has good relations with PART, oftenly holding companion events.

The series will use a small spec body, rather different than the Racing Series one, the cars will be drastically slowed down, only being able to perform up to 140mph by themselves. Only drivers between 14 and 18 years of age will be allowed to compete, as the objective of the series is create young new stars.

The championship will be contested throughout 12 races, in which one will be a superspeedway, five will be roadcourses and seven will be ovals. All races will be held companion to the Racing Series and All-Pro Series Series.