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Would it be completely unreasonable to make rules that forced the teams to use the same car on pavement as dirt? If EVERYBODY had to run a car with torsion rear suspension, a jacobs ladder instead of a panhard bar, left side steering gear, engine & rear end centered in the chassis, 53" front axle max, etc etc nobody would be at a huge disadvantage and it would be like back in the day when you could run a dirt show on Saturday then just change shocks, springs, ride height, wheels and tires and run Winchester on Sunday afternoon. All the parts I just mentioned come off the car after/before every race for maintenance & cleaning anyway so it really wouldn't be lots of extra work... Sure the big budget teams would have a separate car that always had the pavement set up on it but it would still be a dirt car so somebody with less money and more elbow grease could still be on a level playing field....combine this with a reasonable tire rule that kept daddy warbucks from throwin 4 new ones on every time his car hit the track and I think pavement could flourish again.
Would something like this obsolete a few asphalt only cars out there? kind of...it couldn't make em any less valuable than they already are and there are still a handfull of pavement only series to keep those cars on the track with or without a wing...hell Troy Decaire proved last year that a converted obsolete dirt car can be competitive on pavement with the Must See series...
I have been racing something for 28 of my 39 years on this earth and been a huge fan/student of the sport since I was 1 year old. My forst USAC race I saw as a kid was on the pavement at i-70 speedway in Odessa, MO. I loved it. I have seen USAC on some other paved tracks and always enjoyed the show although I do prefer dirt. I totally think there is a place for pavement racing and I agree that the combination is what made USAC special for so many years.
I will end this ramble with a challenge.....Somebody out there with lots of knowledge please explain to me why a plan such as this won't work. And because "that's the way it is" is not a sufficient argument....I need to hear some cold hard technical or logistical reasons this wouldn't work.....and remember, it used to work just fine until people started building cars just for the asphalt.
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