Catchfence

(TOLEDO, Ohio) – SPEED television analyst and veteran NASCAR driver Phil Parsons will again be the Master of Ceremonies as the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards celebrates another season at its annual Championship Awards Banquet.

The gala will officially close the 59th season of ARCA competition, and is scheduled for Saturday, December 10 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, Ky., near Cincinnati.

Parsons, the younger brother of the late NASCAR and ARCA champion Benny Parsons, utilized the ARCA Racing Series as a stepping stone to launch a long career in NASCAR that included over 200 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, a Cup victory at Talladega, and more than 250 Nationwide Series starts. Parsons posted one ARCA victory at North Wilkesboro Speedway in 1980 and a fourth-place finish at Daytona International Speedway in 1981.

Parsons currently provides color commentary for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the ARCA Racing Series on SPEED. He has previously hosted the ARCA banquet twice, in 2009 and 2010.

Series champion Ty Dillon, Rookie of the Year Chris Buescher, other drivers from the top 20, and the top 10 car owners will be honored in a program that also features special award winners.

Additional special award presentations include the Bill France Four Crown, the Rookie of the Year, the Cometic Crew Chief of the Year, the H.G. Adcox Sportsmanship Award, the Manufacturer Championship, the Hoosier Tire Superspeedway Challenge Award, the Crane Cams Engine Builder of the Year Award, the Marcum Award, the Spirit Award, the Klotz Engine Mechanic Award, and the CGS Imaging Hard Charger Award. In addition, scholarship recipients will be announced, compliments of the University of Northwestern Ohio and the Bob Loga Memorial Scholarship Foundation.

While open to teams, series and track officials, and sponsors, the annual formal gala is also open to ARCA Racing Series fans. Ticket information is available at ARCARacing.com.

The public schedule of events for Saturday, December 10 is as follows:

9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Redline Racing Ministry Silent Auction

2 p.m. ARCA Racing Series Press Conference

3 p.m. Redline Racing Ministry Live Auction

4:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. Formal Portrait Photo Session

5:15 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. Guest Reception

6:30 p.m. – 10 p.m. Awards Dinner and Program

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards featured 19 events at 16 tracks on its 2011 schedule. The series has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 28 states since its inception. In 2011, the series has tested the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, visiting tracks ranging from 0.4 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course.

The 2012 ARCA Racing Series schedule is currently available at ARCARacing.com.

Founded by John Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in two professional touring series and local weekly events.

- Automobile Racing Club of America Press Release