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How many current USAC stars, Dave Darland, etc. race regularly at places like Kokomo, Gas City and Bloomington on off weekends?
Is this just to keep the reflexes sharp, or does the $1200 or whateve these tracks pay to win actually come in handy in paying the bills after racing season ends?
Ron Shuman's name was mentioned earlier. In the late 90's, he co-sanctioned a race at Terre Haute with USAC that paid $17,000 to win.
I thought that this was going to be the event that would grow into traditional sprint car's version of the Knoxville Natls.
I don't know what happened, but in succeeding yeas, every time SCRA came back here, USAC schduled against them. (And these are guys who work for a living and use vacation time to travel). At the same time, for the most part, the only time you seen midwest drivers at the Western World or Oval Natls. was in a western car.
I have not done the math, but it seems to me, that the majority of USAC races are scheduled in or near Indiana, with a few trips around the country. Closer to an All Star type racing than the WoO National series. The All Stars go to Fla. in the winter and do a Thunder Through the Plains in the summer, and a trip or two to Pa. each year. Add a trip to Ca. in the fall, and you'd have a schedule very similar to USAC and probably about as many competitors who use up all of their vacation time on these trips.
I would LOVE to see USAC become a series that could support 10 to 15 full time teams traveling the country, and paying the racers a livable wage.
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