Founded in Toledo, Ohio in 1953, the Temperance, Mich.-based company will begin 2012 with a refined business plan and offer new opportunities to increase the level of on-track competition and off-track growth within the racing industry.
“Entering our 60th season, we’ve done some internal alignment to best position ourselves going forward,” said Ron Drager, ARCA’s president and chief executive officer. “Our moves will offer continued stability and a responsible pattern for growth at an important time in our company’s history.”
Drager announced the promotion of Jeff Brehmer to executive vice president and chief financial officer. Brehmer, 47, of Tecumseh, Mich., had been the vice president of finance and administration since joining the ARCA staff on a full-time basis in 2008.
Brehmer’s involvement with ARCA stretches back to the early 1980s, when he sold programs and stubbed tickets at ARCA’s two short track properties, Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways. He advanced to become the tour director for the ARCA Figure-8 Series, and returned to ARCA over three years ago after spending 20 years working in the cement and building products industry.
“Jeff has the best comprehensive base of knowledge across all of our properties, from our on-track racing activities to our business interests,” said Drager. “His experiences in racing and the strong business acumen he has developed over the years make him a worthy leader for many of our efforts going forward.”
Brehmer will directly oversee the business operations of the sanctioning body, including: the flagship ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards; Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways; the ARCA Truck Series; and the newly formed sanction agreement with Champion Racing Association and the ARCA CRA Super Series.
In addition to Brehmer’s promotion, Drager also announced changes in the marketing department, including the promotion of Mark Gundrum to vice president of business development and corporate partnerships. Gundrum, 49, has been the vice president of marketing and communications since 2004, and will now focus more of his time and efforts on business development and sales opportunities.
“Mark’s ability to bring new business opportunities and marketing partners to our company in challenging economic times has been extremely valuable,” Drager said. “Our new structure allows him to spend more time on the sales and corporate partnership side of the business, and with the growth and development of the marketing department as a whole, this is a logical progression.”
ARCA’s director of marketing, George Mergen, will be charged with the added responsibility of public relations. Mergen, a former Ford Racing agency representative who joined ARCA in the spring of 2010, will oversee the marketing and communications department.
2012 will be the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards’ 60th Anniversary Season, featuring 20 races at 18 tracks. The season begins with the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 18. The event will air live on SPEED.
The complete 2012 event schedule is available at ARCARacing.com.
The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards 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. 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 in its most recent season. This year, the series will visit Alabama’s Mobile International Speedway and Minnesota’s Elko Speedway for the first time; ARCA’s first visit to Minnesota will give ARCA a race in a 29th state.
Founded by John and Mildred 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 three professional touring series and local weekly events.
- Automobile Racing Club of America Press Release
