John Marcum
Encyclopedia
Automobile Racing Club of America
Automobile Racing Club of America is an auto racing sanctioning body in the United States, founded in 1953 by John Marcum. The current president of ARCA is Ron Drager. The ARCA RE/MAX Series races stock cars similar to those seen in past years in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and indeed most cars...
and a NASCAR official from Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He raced in the 1930s and 1940s. He owned cars entered in two NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
Grand National (now Sprint Cup) races with one Top 10 finish. He was inducted in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame
International Motorsports Hall of Fame
The International Motorsports Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame dedicated to enshrining those who have contributed the most to auto racing either as a driver, owner, developer or engineer...
in 1994. Marcum would be inducted into the Dayton Speedway Hall of Fame October, 2010.
Marcum's first raced as a 14-year-old in his family car after lying about his age. Marcum raced against NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
founder Bill France, Sr. in the 1940s in open wheel roadster
Roadster
A roadster is a two-seat open car with emphasis on sporty handling and without a fixed roof or side weather protection. Strictly speaking a roadster with wind-up windows is a convertible but as true roadsters are no longer made the distinction is now irrelevant...
s. After France formed NASCAR in the late 1940s, he hired Marcum as an official, a position that he held from 1949 until 1952.
In 1953, Marcum created a Midwestern United States
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
racing series called "Midwest Association for Race Cars" (MARC) with his wife Mildred in his hometown Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
. It was a regional stock car racing series, a Northern counterpart to the Southern stock car series of the day, Bill France's NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
. The first MARC race was at Dayton Speedway, in Dayton Ohio, on May 10 1953. The series race slightly modified street cars.
John Marcum, Blair Rattliff and Tom Cushman would be parts owner of Dayton Speedway in 1958.
The series was renamed "Automobile Racing Club of America" (ARCA) in 1964 when it began to race on superspeedways. France had contacted Marcum wondering if ARCA would want a race at the Daytona Speedweeks. Marcum jumped at the chance for national exposure. The ARCA/NASCAR relationship continues today. The series frequently schedule events at the same track on the same weekend. The ARCA event is frequently the Saturday support race to the Sunday NASCAR Cup event. For a several decades, ARCA used older NASCAR Cup racecars at their events. Today ARCA's President is the late John Marcum's grandson Ron Drager. John's wife Mildred Marcum now 96 years old can still be found working in the ARCA office on a regular basis.