(Above photo is an example of an AR Bodies Super Late Model muscle car reskin from earlier this decade)
Aluminum Racing Products will enter the next-generation Super Late Model body marketplace in 2020 with a reskin of its current generation body.
The shell will premiere in the second week of December at the Performance Industry Trade Show at the Indianapolis Convention Center.
It will serve as an alternative to the Five Star Bodies Gen-6 body that has been at the center of controversy for much of the past calendar year as that company has sought approval from a unified group of leading Super Late Model promoters under the Approved Body Configuration (ABC) Committee.
The reskin, dubbed the AR Revolution, will use the current approved body’s greenhouse but with a redesigned nose and rear-end.
The development comes following the Committee’s declaration in November that it would not approve the Five Star body for 2020, while tasking the industry to jointly develop a compliant body for the 2021 season.
The current members of the ABC Committee are made up of the CRA Super Series, Midwest Tour, Big 8 Late Model Series, CARS Tour, Northwest Super Late Model Series, the Race of Champions, Southern Super Series and SRL Southwest Tour.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the Gen-6 body debate
But the Five Star Gen-6 option has begun garnering mass approval across the continent.
The body was initially approved by the Pro All-Stars Series, which has allowed it without a weight penalty all year, without any notable incidents. The APC United Pro Late Model Series approved it for 2020 without a weight penalty, as has the TUNDRA Series in the upper Midwest and several other weekly tracks.
The Granite State Pro Stock (SLM) Series revealed last month that it would approve the Five Star Gen-6 but with a 20 lb. weight break. Series owner Mike Parks confirmed on Thanksgiving week that he would also approve the new AR option for 2020 — with the same weight penalty.
“While we believe strongly in the ABC body program, we feel that the time is right to allow these two new options for our competitors,” Parks said in a press release. “As things play out over the next year, we will continue to evaluate where we go in the future. ABC has plans for change in the next year or so and we will be watching that closely.”
Parks was also adamant that he would continue to monitor the ABC landscape in regards to the 2021 industry mandate.
“The ABC program has worked very well for our series,” Parks added. “Both Nathan Kelly (head technical inspector) and I felt it was important that a team that didn’t need a new body, didn’t feel like they had to have one. Despite the fact that we are racing (Super Late Models) we are still trying to keep the cost of racing in check.”
NASCAR has approved a variant of the Five Star body for Late Model Stocks last month to mixed opinions. AR Bodies also agreed to produced a reskin of its current generation body to provide an alternative new look.
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