Quote:
Originally Posted by ISF
I too, would like to know exactly who was the prime instigator of the total separation of dirt racing and pavement/road course racing way back in those days. Gurney's holy white papers have been mentioned and the Cooper Climax have shouldered some blame but no specific person or group has been identified.
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Marlboro sponsorship came aboard in 1971 for the USAC championship trail. Dirt tracks were subsequently dropped as an appeasement to the demands of the sponsorship. Dirt was taken off the National championship schedule and spun-off into its own "Dirt Championship" division, now known as Silver Crown.
Marlboro wanted exclusivity on their sponsorship of USAC as the only cigarette signage in the series. However, the Viceroy cars came along with the Vel's Parnelli Jones team the following year in 1972. Marlboro wasn't happy with that aspect and left USAC after just one year. However, the dirt tracks never came back on board the "IndyCar" schedule, more than likely due to the now "higher-end" sponsors in the sport who shied away from the dirt tracks, which did not have the amenities to cater to what the potential big time sponsors were looking for at the time in the early 1970s, as compared to say, Formula One.
Also, not ironically, Winston Cigarettes became the NASCAR Grand National Series title sponsor the same year as Marlboro went to USAC in 1971 - it was the very same year that NASCAR also took dirt tracks off the "Cup" schedule.
Cliff's note version. It was Marlboro who kickstarted this whole deal.