Federated Auto Racing Championships

Federated Auto Racing Championships
Year Founded	2014
Founder(s)	Jeff Falkner Jen Walker
Executive(s)	Jeff Falkner Jen Walker
Current Divisions	FARC Lowe Dollar Series FARC Larry Lemon Super Series FARC Truck Series
Current Champion	Hunter Blaize (Lowe Dollar Series) Isaac Lightener (Super Series) Eddie Vero (Truck Series)
Racing Series

The Federated Auto Racing Championships, abbreviated FARC and formerly the American Racing League of America (abbreviated ARLA), is a Midwest-based North American motorsport sanctioning body founded by Henry Walker in 1973. The current CEO of FARC is Jeff Falkner, and the race director for the Lowe Dollar Series is his wife and former ARLA CEO Jen Walker, granddaughter of Henry Walker. It is generally accepted that the redundancy in the league's former name is due to Henry Walker's self-described excessive patriotism.

The series' new name comes from a merger betweer ARLA and the Falkner Auto Racing Championship Enterprises (FARCE) series, which occurred after the 2013 ARLA Elite Series season.

FARC is popular for hobbyists and young drivers (some as young as 14) looking to make a name for themselves. The league has recently enjoyed an explosion in popularity due to attention from teams based in the higher echelons of racing and extensive TV coverage.

Founding

For a listing of FARC champions, please see List of FARC champions.

In December of 1972, 13 Midwest short-track drivers rented the Rockford Speedway for a day and held a scrimmage race. The total attendance was less than 250, but Texas businessman and racing fan Henry Walker was among the spectators. After the race, he approached the drivers and pitched the idea of creating a national tour for low-budget teams. They agreed to it, and in January 1973, Walker officially established the American Racing League of America.

The inaugural 10-race season only saw approximately 25 cars (including 11 of the original 13 drivers from the Rockford scrimmage) show up at most of the events. The first race was held at the Daytona International Speedway, which at 2.5 miles, was a new challenge for teams accustomed to racing on short tracks. That race was won by Jeb Klinger, with Bjorn Green taking the championship when the season wrapped up at Rockford.

Current divisions

FARC currently sanctions three different classes of national touring racing.

Lowe Dollar Series

The FARC Lowe Dollar Series (formerly the ARLA/FARC Elite Series presented by Smash Beer and FARC Smash Beer/Lowe Dollar Series) is the most popular FARC division, boasting the highest car counts and a calendar that features occasional events outside of the United States. Regular season races currently can receive as many as sixty entries, while the 2017 Rockford 200 had nearly 200 cars attempt to qualify.

The Lowe Dollar Series is also the only division whose races are all televised live. Races were broadcast on OEN from 2003 to 2015, and currently by KLTV, with the FARC Racing Network and Fuel Spill TV providing online highlight reels.

A brand-new car with an engine costs approximately $50,000. The current technical regulations for the Lowe Dollar Series car, introduced in 2017, feature muscle-car style composite bodies provided by Cromwell Race Works. The ASCC East and West Series features cars with near-identical regulations, allowing for occasional cross-competition between drivers and teams, and a few combined points events starting in 2021.

Late Models

The Larry Lemon Super Series, which replaced the Regional Cup division in 2015, is the second-highest FARC division, sanctioning a late model championship on short tracks throughout the United States, primarily the Midwest and the East coast. It advertises itself as a low-cost alternative to the Lowe Dollar Series, and has become popular among both young up-and-comers and Lowe Dollar Series veterans.

The Bummin' Beaver Brewery Tornado Alley Tour was introduced in 2021, and races up and down the Midwest, regularly venturing west of the Mississippi. Both series will schedule a few big shows with the longest feature races on the calendar, including the legendary Rockford 200 that now concludes the Tornado Alley Tour season on its traditional date in November.

FARC Truck Series

The FARC Truck Series was the second-highest FARC division, but with the advent of the Super Series it has fallen to the third tier. Most teams use secondhand Lowe Dollar Series cars with truck shells, making the series an attractive starting point for new and lower budget teams.

The Truck Series runs primarily in the Lower Midwest, with races in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Iowa.

American Short Trackers

FARC also sanctions low-budget regional racing series throughout the United States under the American Short Trackers banner. One of the more prominent AST series is the AST Voltson Super Trucks, which has seen several drivers develop and graduate to FARC's national touring divisions.

Defunct divisions

FARC has sanctioned other divisions over the years, but the divisions listed below are either no longer operated, or they are now sanctioned by different promoters.

The ARLA Street Stock Series (1975-2013) was the grassroots division of ARLA, which consisted of two classes; Regional and Local. The Regional class is divided into East and West championships, and these consist of higher-budget teams that can easily travel from state to state. The Local class is made up of individual track championships that have received sanctioning from ARLA, and must follow a common rulebook.

The Regional Class expanded into the FARC Regional Cup division in 2014, with the addition of a Central division and new technical regulations, with cars that were more similar to modern stock cars and featuring more aerodynamic bodies. The three divisions were unified into the new Super Series for 2015.

Formula Overdrive sanctioned by ARLA (2011) was an independent open-wheel series when it was formed in 2008, but it folded after only one year. ARLA resurrected the series in 2011. Kiriki Hetsuno won the championship in that season, but Hanmore bought the series from ARLA afterwards, operating it until 2014. The series was revived in 2018 under the sanctioning of the National Sports Car Club.

The ARLA Special Stock Series (2006-2009) was a spec series established in order to provide opportunities for drivers with mental disabilities. The series only lasted for 4 years before it was cancelled due to extremely negative PR and excessive driver incompetence.

The ARLA Modified Series (1985-2005, 2014-15) was a division for modified racing that held events in the New England region. The series was bought by Falkner Auto Racing Championship Enterprises after the 2005 season and continued to run under the FARCE banner until 2014, when it returned under the FARC banner. The tour was divested after 2015 as FARC management decided to focus on sanctioning their closed-fender divisions.

The MotorBrawl Tour Presented by ARLA (2001) was a demolition derby series that utilized cars fitted with weapons, inspired by robot fighting leagues. The series was cancelled after a year due to concerns about driver safety.

International involvement

FARC has enjoyed recent growth in the international market. The league has regularly held races in Canada since 1974, with occasional races in Mexico as well. The series now known as the Lowe Dollar Series raced in Japan in 2008, 2012 and 2013. A Russian race bankrolled by the breakout RUS Autosport team was held in 2013, and will return in 2019. The series formerly raced in Europe in 2008 as a four-race exhibition, and in 2009 as part of the official schedule.

FARC races are broadcast in approximately 15 countries, with commentary in several different languages. Japan in particular boasts a large FARC fanbase, reportedly because of the participation of Japanese drivers such as Akira Tsukari (the 2009 Elite Series champion, the first female and Japanese driver to do so), Seiju Dejao, and Nanami Miura.

See also: List of FARC champions.