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Sceckert hit the nail on the head with this comment
"As of now, Hockett, Clayton, Ballou, Bacon and Schuerenberg are outside looking in. Or maybe not. Maybe looking forward. If every race last season would have been a top five tussle between just those names, would that not have been a time capsule event? Now, they're subtracted from the show (at least for now--hopefully to return)."
USAC started seeing a decline in spectators when Nascar and WOO ramped up their exposure. The same could be said for the dirt late model crowd. What these groups have that USAC doesn't have is recoginzable drivers year in and year out. Nascar has had some of the same names racing for twenty plus years. WOO has Steve Kinser, the dirt late model crowd has Scott Bloomquist...and they promote the DRIVERS! Granted, USAC does have Dave Darland, a perenial favorite..but who else that has been there for years?
Racing fans like to cheer for their favorite guy, and while we all like to see drivers better their career, I wish that some of the guys could afford to stay in USAC so they could build a loyal following. When Tony Stewart left for the big leagues, some of his loyal fans went with him, never to see another sprint car show again. Jason Leffler likely brought some fans with him as well. Could you imagine a speedweek show with all of those guys in ther today? And again next year?
Payout is obviously the issue. If they were able to score a major series sponsor, that could be helped. And that would allow some drivers to be content where they are. You can blame the Jeff Gordon syndrome on alot of this.
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