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ARCA: Cunningham Motorsports officially shutting down

By Alex Herbst

TALLADEGA, AL - OCTOBER 05: Scott Speed, driver of the #21 Red Bull Toyota, leads a group of car during the ARCA RE/MAX Series 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 5, 2007 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
TALLADEGA, AL - OCTOBER 05: Scott Speed, driver of the #21 Red Bull Toyota, leads a group of car during the ARCA RE/MAX Series 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 5, 2007 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /
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The ARCA Racing Series has lost one of its top organizations heading into 2018. Cunningham Motorsports has closed its doors in the series officially.

The ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards honored their champion this weekend in their series banquet, held in honor of Austin Theriault and Ken Schrader Racing. But the news coming out of the ceremony was not about the champion, but about one of the championship’s oldest teams. Cunningham Motorsports will be shutting down their ARCA operation, effectively making 2017 their last season.

Cunningham Motorsports competed in the ARCA Racing Series for 17 years, beginning back in 2000. In 2017, they fielded cars full-time for Shane Lee and Dalton Sargeant, as well as a part-time drive for Ty Majeski. The team maintained a partnership with Dodge from 2001 to 2007, replacing it with an alliance with Team Penske in 2008. This agreement continues to the team’s shutdown, joined with a team partnership with Ford Performance and Roush-Fenway Racing.

Brian Eberly of the Motorsports Tribune confirmed the news via Twitter:

Many great NASCAR drivers got their start with Cunningham Motorsports, including Parker Kligerman, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, and Austin Cindric. Dario Franchitti began his stock car racing career with the team as well, both in ARCA and the Truck Series. Cunningham Motorsports was reportedly set to add a part-time Truck Series entry for 2017, but that did not come to fruition.

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Rumors have circulated, however, that the race team is not entirely dead. While their ARCA Racing Series equipment has been sold, some talk has suggested that team owners will purchase the assets of the former Brad Keselowski Racing operation in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series. Cunningham did compete briefly in the former-Busch and former-Craftsman Truck Series in the mid-2000s.

The departure of Cunningham Motorsports from the series will leave a very serious hole in the competition at the top of the grid. The team was the only multi-car organization that fielded two drivers full-time for the championship hunt in 2017, and was the Ford-aligned organization of the series. While some suggest that another team such as Ruolo Brothers Racing could take over that Ford Performance alliance, there is no confirmation of if that partnership shall continue. This will also leave both Dalton Sargeant and Shane Lee without rides for the 2018 season.

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What are your memories of Cunningham Motorsports in the ARCA Racing Series? Do you think they will compete in a different series in the future?

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