I got an email from USAC today hyping the live coverage on Speed of their TORC off road racing. Why not sprint cars, midgets, and Champ Dirt Cars?

If I remember correctly, Thursday Night Thunder was pretty big.



THE TRAXXAS TORC Series Announces Unprecedented Live Broadcast Coverage Of Off-Road Racing In 2013!

Series will offer thirteen hours of live /same day coverage with PRO Championships finale Live on NBC to complement reality based programming and live internet broadcasts!

INDIANAPOLIS (March 18, 2013) - Officials with the TRAXXAS TORC Series, presented by Amsoil, made off-road racing history today with the announcement of the largest live broadcast coverage of the sport ever, with thirteen hours of live or near-live network broadcast of the Series 2013 Championship races.

Following the successful "LIVE on SPEED™" programming over the last two years, TORC and SPEED have expanded on the prime-time coverage of the extreme motorsport which has exploded in recent years. This summer, SPEED will broadcast the TORC PRO classes, each race in a two-hour saturday night prime-time window. Top industry talent led by Bob Varsha, Dorsey Schroeder, Bobby Gerould and Keli Snyder will lead the viewers throughout the live racing action.

Additionally, the Series 2013 PRO 2WD and PRO 4x4 Champions will be crowned LIVE on NBC September 28th in a one-hour special event. The TORC final championship races will be featured on the Red Bull Signature Series, unleashing the most progressive and innovative competitions around the globe. This will be a first for the sport and its fans, to offer Live coverage of the most important battles determining Series National Champions.

"Unprecedented!" beamed USAC President Kevin Miller of the expanded "Live" broadcasts for the 2013 Series. Our live airings have been ground-breaking for the sport of short course off-road racing. The expansion of prime-time events will no doubt prove to be a publicity windfall for both the TRAXXAS TORC Series sponsors and it's racers. TORC could not be more pleased with the growth we have experienced and the innovation we continue to bring to the sport of off-road racing.

TV's premiere off-road racing reality show, TORC: The Off Road Championship, is planned to return this fall. The docu-reality show captures rich footage and stories along the TORC Championship battle. New episodes of original programming are planned with story-telling of all the action, both on and off the track and cover the sports greatest drivers and competitors. TORC: The Off Road Championship revolutionized off-road coverage with the use of Go-Pro cameras mounted on radio control devices, such as Traxxas Slashes and aerial helicopters to offer viewers racing action never experienced before.

TORC will also feature live internet coverage of all PRO and Sportsman races not available through live network broadcast. This years live internet broadcast will feature upgraded technical improvements to assure a quality broadcast.

The TRAXXAS TORC Series makes it 2013 "LIVE on SPEED™" debut on Saturday, April 13th when the 900 horsepower trucks battle under the lights for the Dodge City Off-Road Festival at the frontier on the Wild West in Dodge City, Kansas. The two night racing event will be a first for the sport at one of america's premier dirt track facilities, Dodge City Raceway.

What: Traxxas TORC Series, presented by AMSOIL - short course off-road truck racing - the world's premier Baja-style off-road racing in a stadium setting!

Who: Off-road racers from Baja to the Wisconsin North Woods, the TORC Series showcases champion drivers like Ricky Johnson, Johnny Greaves and son CJ Greaves, Scott Douglas, Rob MacCachren, Mike & Mark Jenkins, and Bryce Menzies.

Where: The Dirt Track at Dodge City Raceway, Dodge City Kansas

When: Friday and Saturday, April 12 & 13

Time: Gates open at 3 p.m, main event opening ceremonies begin at 7 p.m.

Tickets: $20 for adults, FREE for kids 12 and under.

About TORC

The TRAXXAS TORC Series, presented by AMSOIL, is the fastest, most punishing short course racing series on the planet! TORC events are packed with flag-to-flag fender banging action as drivers push the limits over whoops and jump-filled natural terrain race tracks. Off-road racing fans come from far and wide to experience the most challenging form of high-octane competition. And once they taste TORC for the first time they're hooked for life! For more information visit torcseries.com

About SPEED™

SPEED, anchored by its popular and wide-ranging coverage of NASCAR, is the nation's first and only cable television network dedicated to automotive and motorcycle racing, performance and lifestyle. Now available in nearly 84 million homes in North America, SPEED, a member of the FOX Sports Media Group, is among the industry leaders in interactive TV, video on demand, mobile initiatives and broadband services, including SPEED2, a groundbreaking new broadband network featuring live, streaming and on-demand events complementing offerings of the linear network. For more information, please visit SPEED.com, the online motor sports authority.

I used to get up at 4:10am but I would still stay up & watch the USAC Thunder Series races. Remember the one at Eldora that went on for ever cause of accidents. Me I would watch a tape delayed USAC Open Wheel show before NAPCAR. There is a Facebook page for on the edge, if every IOW person could contact them asking for Sprint Car, Midget, Mini Sprints ........ Maybe we could get some where I agree w/ you Ape

There are a couple of things here.

First, the offroad series is basically a promotional arm of Traxxas. Traxxas is the largest manufacturer of Radio Controlled cars. THey make replicas of the trucks and sell them for lots of money. That money is used to make these promotional races. I understand that traxxas sponsers the SIlver Crown series but there is not a SIlver Crown RC car so they don't put those on TV. I have to admit I have a Traxxas Slash and it is great fun. What would be really cool is that Traxxas made an off the shelf RC Sprint Car. Losi used to make one but no longer. THere are RC kits but they are high dollar.

Second, the cost is too high to put it on regular TV. This is where cool devices like the Roku Fit that provide internet TV connections to your TV. THis is where niche sports can put up a channel and sell connections to it. Oh yea, USAC Does that that. USACLIVE is a channel of Roku already. I have not subscribed but at least USAC is trying on that front. Oh andd the ROKU is awesome bTW.

All it would take is a LOT of cash. TV has changed drastically since the old days. In the Espn thunder days, they had no baseball and were a new network looking for programming. With Speed disappearing soon, I don't see it happening, unless they find a suger daddy like Lucas.

Just a FYI, The Live WoO shows are not live but delayed several minutes.

They can hardly handle series promotion, how could they possibly handle TV production???

steiny

TV execs really do not care what they put on the air as long as it makes money. If there were money in putting sprint car racing on TV, it would be done.

It's as easy as 1-2-3 to get almost anything on TV.

1) Buy the Airtime
2) Produce the show
3) Sell enough advertising to pay for 1 & 2.

steiny

I think the Thunder show with so many crashes was from Winchester. Jim

USAC like Napcar has forgotten their roots. USAC is mostly interested in making money for themselves and not for the participants of their races. The participants are who make USAC. USAC's failure to promote their premier series is no ones fault but their own.

What I DO NOT UNDERSTAND is why are most of the participants of USAC remain loyal?

I was always hopefully when someone like Rollie Helmling or Kevin Miller took over that there would be huge change coming in a good way. BUT, it didn't happen...

I guess we can just keep talking about the good ole days!