After 11 seasons operating under the Midwest Ass’n for Race Cars banner, the Midwest-based traveling stock-car series changed its name to the Automobile Racing Club of America.
In 1964, ARCA made its first appearance at Daytona Int’l Speedway and the first of 44 ARCA events at DIS was run at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
ARCA has been a mainstay on the first weekend of stock-car Speedweeks ever since.
The initial ARCA venture to Daytona, which opened in 1959, featured a pair of qualifying races and a 250-mile main event.
Earl Balmer and Jack Bowsher split the two 20-lap qualifying races.
Nelson Stacy, who had won three-straight ARCA (MARC) championships from 1958-1960, won the initial ARCA race at Daytona.
Driving a 1964 Ford, Stacy was never further back than fourth during the 100-lap event and completed the distance in one hour, 37 minutes and 27 seconds while averaging 154.103 miles per hour.
Stacy pitted twice for fuel, but never took on fresh tires during the 250-mile event, which he characterized as “a pleasant Sunday afternoon drive in a Ford.”
Balmer led 58 laps in a Plymouth, but dropped from competition with a cracked manifold while holding a two second lead after 68 circuits.
Stacy, a former World War II tank driver, dominated the remainder of the event and led six Ford drivers in the top 10 at the checkered flag. The top non-Ford pilot was Ernie Derr, who brought his Dodge to the checkered flag in second place. Derr said a decision to bypass a pit stop during a lap-27 caution flag “cost me the race.”
Derr nipped many-time ARCA champion Iggy Katona by the length of a hood for second, but both were more than a lap behind Stacy, who was the only driver to complete all 100 laps. Dick Mitchell, who started 21st, and Jim Cushman completed the top five.
One of the two qualifying races saw driver Bay Darnell crash and end up in Lake Lloyd, the large pond in the infield at the superspeedway. Darnell is the grandfather of current NASCAR Truck Series driver Erik Darnell.
The race was extended to 300 miles in 1968 and ran at that distance until it was shortened to its current 200-mile length in 1974.
Bobby Gerhart is the winningest driver in the history of the event, having visited Daytona’s victory lane on five occasions. Gerhart will be looking for victory number six on Saturday afternoon.