ARCA, University of Northwestern Ohio Extend Sponsorship Agreement; Race Officials Train, Refresh at University

(TOLEDO, Ohio) - The University of Northwestern Ohio, located in Lima, has renewed its position as the Official and Exclusive Educational University of the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards for the 2012 season.

The agreement includes a continuation of the UNOH student intern program, which creates at-track internship opportunities with race teams and the sanctioning body for UNOH students. Numerous UNOH students have served as technical officials at ARCA events, and many others have worked in varying roles on ARCA race teams.

"The program we have with ARCA and the ARCA teams has been extremely beneficial to our marketing and branding strategies," said Steve Farmer, vice president of corporate development for UNOH. "Our students have benefited from the hands-on experience they get working with some of the best teams in the racing industry. It is an education they can get nowhere else in the country."

The university will contribute $2500 to the series' annual point fund, and also sponsor several special award programs - totaling $300 per each of the season's 20 events and a $2500 award at the season's end.

The relationship's ninth season began in earnest last weekend, when over 25 ARCA Racing Series officials traveled to Lima to visit the university's Dr. Jeffrey A. Jarvis High Performance Motorsports Complex for a preseason training session.

Split into four small groups, the officials took instruction on several elements of at-track procedure. Two classroom settings provided pit road and race procedure discussions, and two in-garage classes allowed officials to learn more about qualifying and impound procedures. A race car formerly used in competition stood on jack stands to give officials a closer view. Each of the four classes lasted one hour, allowing for a lecture, a question-and-answer session, and other discussion in every area. All officials - returning and new - were tested at the end of the day.

Though many attending the program were ARCA veterans looking to refresh their knowledge after seasons of experience, several new officials participated and gained real experience.

At 75,000 square feet, UNOH's High Performance Motorsports Complex features eight different compartments: custom engine-building, engine-building, fabrication, high-performance welding, high-performance chassis, steering and suspension, accessories trends, and a dyno building with four dyno machines. The dyno building also houses the school's motorsports team, which fields modified cars and stock cars at the university's Limaland Motorsports Park.

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.