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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
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View From The PAS by Scott Daloisio |
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July 8, 2001 The July 14th SCRA race at The PAS will be “Fan Appreciation Night.” Thanks to KATY radio, the first 500 ticket buyers (one per family) will be given a free camera. All of the SCRA drivers and cars will be waiting just inside the front gate to pose for photos and sign autographs. The front gate will open at 3:00 PM… Sad to report the death of five important Sprint Car personalities in the past five weeks. Former CRA and Pennsylvania driver Jimmy Edwards, Northern California announcer/PR Man Bill Spencer, Hall of Famer Glenn “Bud” Trainor, former URA Midget star Frank “Satan” Brewer and Bill Shuman. Shuman’s son, Ron, is SCRA President, and his grandson is SCRA driver Casey Shuman. The PAS sends condolences to all… For the first time, this year’s Oval Nationals will be three nights and three complete shows… Hotfoot Troy Cline was the focus of a fine three-page spread in the July issue of Circle Track magazine. 6 color photos accompany the article and it talks of Cline running SCRA, USAC 360 Sprint Cars and NASCAR Winston West. The article breaks down the costs of competing in all three. It states the cost at $15,000.00 for one race in the USAC 360 Sprint Car? If that is true, I have some ocean front property for sale in Nebraska… Fun loving former CRA Sprint Car and USAC Midget car owner Bill Hicks was on hand when SCRA raced at The PAS on June 2nd. Hicks, who lives in Cedarville, Ohio, won a CRA main as an owner at Texas’ Devils Bowl Speedway with John Redican as his driver. He also had many fine moments with Jim Lauri IV in both his Sprint Car and Midget. What many people do not know is the fact that Hicks won the 1980 USRC Midget Semi Main-Championship as a driver. However, what he is most widely known for was beating his Midget with a baseball bat when it broke at Ascot and then laying flowers across the top of it. There was never a dull moment when “Billy Bob” was around… Want to hear something stupid? In the August 2001 Circle Track magazine, Emmett Hahn, head of the ASCS Series (American Sprint Car Series), talks of the cost of racing and points out, “A titanium brake pedal that will save you a few pounds costs $200.00, while a steel pedal is a mere $6.50.” That is ludicrous! Expenses like that hurt racing. Get rid of titanium and the other exotic materials. They may be great for sending man to the moon, but last I checked, there weren’t to many certified astronauts racing open wheel cars. If you don’t think expenses can kill racing, think about this. Twenty years ago when the USRC Midgets were still in business in Southern California, fields of 40 to 50 cars were not unusual. These days, with the absurd price to field a USAC Midget, fields can range as low as 16-18 cars… The 2001 SCRA Non Wing World Championship Tour Book is on sale now for $10.00 (that includes the shipping) from the SCRA office at PO Box 50937, Phoenix, AZ 85076. Forty-four pages filled with great text and photos. Be sure to add it to your racing library… |
