"United States Auto Club National Sprint Car Division that seems likely to bolster a full-time roster of teams that could climb into the mid-teens... with the mix of youth and veterans I feel the USAC Sprint Cars will be the National Tour you will want to keep the closest watch on this season, and honestly needs to be in the discussion with the two national winged series for what they are bringing to the table."
It seems like USAC is still doing pretty well despite losing some drivers. They seem to reload with good talent. The East Coast series is really strong too with good cars and talent. California has fallen off some, and I hope they can regain some momentum. Overall I think it’s in a good place.
While it is my opinion that Non-Wing racing isn’t dying, I am concerned about its overall health and for that matter all of open wheel racing, esp. at the weekly level. Outside of the Chili Bowl and the Badger organization, it appears midget racing in general is struggling to attract participation. Indiana, which has always been the stronghold of weekly non-wing sprint cars in the country has seen car counts drop from around 100 cars/Saturday night pre-COVID to around 50-55 in 2023, spread across 3 tracks. PA., which has long been the regarded as the stronghold of weekly winged racing has seen car counts drop over the last few years as well, despite paying what is generally regarded as the largest weekly purses in the country.
I know that historically, car counts have run in cycles, and I hope that we are just seeing one of those cycles.
I know this is a conversation about nonwing dirt racing, but what has really surprised me is how for years everyone cried about the usac pavement side of things. Begged for its return. The 500 sprintcar series is one of the healthiest pavement sprintcar series east of the Mississippi, and it's crickets. Nonwing cars will be back on the hills of Salem this year. They have a firm grip on Anderson. The little 500 has never been richer. And they are traveling to tracks that havent seen nonwing racing in years. They have also been very keen on not booking against national shows.
Just because a few drivers or teams are going wing racing, doesn't mean it's all doom and gloom. For myself as someone who dreamed of racing nightly in Indiana am surprised that so many tracks have been so successful fpr as long as they have all running the same classes on the same nights.
Nick Landon
I’d be worried except…there has been threats to non wing every year forever it seems. The OP here seems like a lot of national media, trying to create news through rumor and innuendo. Traditional sprints are fine, they are never going away. I might be more worried about winged racing, which at the moment is fractured into two groups and two engine sizes. How did that work out for Indy cars?
Drivers will always follow the money. No matter what anyone wants to say, non wing racing is a reginal thing. Look across the country, there are pockets of non-wingers. Those areas will be just fine like they have been for a long time. Wing has an influx in money right now. So it is going to dominate the headlines. Not to mention wing racing is far more popular nation wide. I think USAC is doing a better job of being more of a national tour, but lets be honest most of the tour is midwest. 34 of the 48 announced events are in a 5 hour circle from Indianapolis. USAC has always been a stepping stone to something else. There is no shame in that game. Its a great place to build a name and a fan base.
Originally Posted by 767:
Drivers will always follow the money. No matter what anyone wants to say, non wing racing is a reginal thing. Look across the country, there are pockets of non-wingers. Those areas will be just fine like they have been for a long time. Wing has an influx in money right now. So it is going to dominate the headlines. Not to mention wing racing is far more popular nation wide. I think USAC is doing a better job of being more of a national tour, but lets be honest most of the tour is midwest. 34 of the 48 announced events are in a 5 hour circle from Indianapolis. USAC has always been a stepping stone to something else. There is no shame in that game. Its a great place to build a name and a fan base.
So what caused the demise of SCRA?
Halfway between Springfield & DuQuoin, and Gilbert AZ
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Lately I stumbled upon a Twitter account called Master Gasser’s. Has a lot of really cool content, I recommend a follow for every Sprint Car fan. Anyway, over the weekend they released what they dubbed, a “schedule of every 410 race in the country”, although they said they might have missed a couple. Upon further examination, there were not a wingless race to be seen, no USAC, nothing. But there in lies an unfortunate truth that I try to convey in spite of my reluctance to do so. We are a small minority in the Sprint Car world. This site releases a all inclusive 410 schedule and not even the Smackdown is on it. While my good friend 76 opines for more promotion, and others call for more money at the payout window, where does it come from, when we are the niche of the niche in Motorsport?
