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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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COULD THIS BE THE FUTURE OF AUTO RACING? by Norm Bogan |
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In the last few weeks, there have been two Open
Comp sprint car races at Victorville Auto Raceway.
Interesting enough was that 410 and 360 sprints co-existed
and presented some outstanding racing for the nearly packed
grandstands of fans. At
the end of the night, most of the teams were talking about how much
fun they had throughout the evening. Over the past half century, sprint car racing
in southern California has come under three different sanctions. The California Racing Association (CRA) began as the
California Roadster Association in 1946 and stood behind the racing
until 1994, when a new group was formed.
The Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) took over the reins
and ran their program through 2004, until a new group took control
known as the USAC/CRA series. The
reason for allegiances to CRA was that they had a home track, Ascot
Park in Gardena from 1957 through 1990.
A large number of competitors resided in the nearby
communities, keeping travel to a minimum. When Ascot closed in 1990, the car counts
dwindled as a number of teams chose not to travel to other venues
for racing. Without a
regular home track, dates were scheduled at out of town tracks and
most low-funded teams either declined to make the long tows or were
unable to afford the extra cost of fuel for the haulers, lodging,
meals, etc. When CRA
started their Midwest Tours in 1985, it provided the West Coast
racers and a number of their fans an opportunity to venture back
east testing the racers and equipment in comparison to the
California machines. Most racers used vacation time and funds to complete this
journey. Extended
travel generated another transition, bigger and enclosed trailers,
pulled by tow vehicles with more reliability and power.
This was when we first saw a spare chassis strapped on top of
the trailer, just in case they needed it.
SCRA concentrated racing in central and southern California,
visiting tracks at Ventura, Santa Maria, Hanford, El Centro and
Manzy about three times each year. Perris Auto Speedway was opened in 1996 as a “state of the art” facility and renewed enthusiasm found fields growing to often around fifty cars in the pits on a Saturday night. By 1999, SCRA had started their Non Wing World Championship Tours, which carried the California racers to venues many had never seen before. The opportunity for greater exposure had also gained a new group of owners, with more expendable funds than was previously known in this circle. Teams often invested in a backup car and the haulers grew from a 30’ enclosed trailer towed by a Crew Cab Dually to larger, higher trailers some with elevators to stack cars up above the stockroom and workshop below. These haulers were connected behind a diesel tractor, some in a motor home configuration to add creature comforts to the traveling teams. In the next genesis in 2004, USAC/CRA assumed
control of the “410 sprinter” contingent.
Based at Perris, they also traveled to other West Coast
venues, in addition to making journeys to the Midwest for a number
of big purse races. By 2007, escalating economic conditions were to
blame as racing budgets stretched to bursting.
The car counts dropped off to the high twenties to low
thirties. Fans suffered
the same dilemma and many nights found blank spaces in the Main
Grandstands. The “end of the year”, large purse prestigious races like
the Oval Nationals at Perris and Western World at Manzanita
continued to see large fields on hand and the stands were filled. As the finger pointing went on, citing
promoters, sanctioning bodies, greedy racers, reduced purses, fans
decided to stay home and watch NASCAR on Saturday night TV.
The real problem was the much higher operating costs for all
of the above. Out of all of this came some quick thinking by
a couple of long time racing families.
Cary Faas and Jack Gardner Jr. in concert with Victorville
Promoters Mike and Dena Gibson laid out a blueprint to bring fun
back to racing without having to invest a multitude of dollars.
They settled on running an Open Competition race every six
weeks or so, without a lot of rules, but with incentives to the
racers. The inaugural
event on April 19th drew a field of 31 cars and gained
rave reviews as Blake Miller captured the first show. The encore
event ran on May 31st and saw a field of 42 cars, as
Casey Shuman was victorious. Racers in either 410 or 360 racecars were able
to run together. The
only requirement was that you started the feature with the same
right rear tire that you qualified on.
If you had to change the tire, you were still in the feature,
but had to start at the rear. For
this effort, the racers would be paid $5000 to win the event and
$400 minimum to start the feature.
Bonuses were paid out to the best finishing 360 racer and at
the second event on May 31, there was an offer of $20,000 to a racer
closest to the pole, who would move to the rear of the field and if
they came back to claim the feature, the prize was theirs. Josh Ford accepted the challenge from his third starting
position, but got collected in an early altercation and was not able
to get back to the checkers. In this time of rising costs, it made sense to schedule a race at a venue near the bulk of the racers. They could commute to the race on Saturday morning and return home after the event. Funding for the purse was collected through generous donations from firms that supported the concept. The success of the initial race, made it feasible to conduct the second, which gained a larger field of cars and a near sell out crowd that were treated to admission prices about 50% of today’s going rate at most nearby venues. It was a win-win situation for the promoters
and Victorville Auto Raceway. For
fans, making their first visit to this high desert track, they were
impressed with the track preparation and the racing surface.
After each event, most racers had smiles on their faces as
the money was all paid out to those that earned it.
Most seemed to have a good time and were complimentary of the
racetrack. Could this be the future of auto racing? I think that the two events thus far have proven successful. With stressed economies of scale for a number of race teams, less travel, better purses and a relaxed schedule seem appealing. What a great way to enjoy racing and the competition. |
