Sometimes I wonder if the trip to Florida is a good thing for the teams of USAC. The tracks they run on, to me are very bland. People complain about half miles and then travel 1100 miles to go race on one. To me Ocala is just not a fun track. I watched it all but none of it was must see. In my mind, teams would be better served by saving the expense of the trip to use throughout the regular season. Just a thought, what do you think?

I agree. Volusia was a better show then Ocala but it's not worth it. There are better tracks down south then those 2. Senoia, Talladega Short Track, Whynot, Magnolia, Batesville, North Georgia, Smokey Mountain, Modac, ect. just to name a few

I think the configuration of Ocala makes it hard to produce good racing. If they shortened turn 2 and brought it in quite a bit to make the backstretch parallel to the frontstretch, the track could be more of a paperclip shape like Haubstadt.

It’s too bad USAC doesn’t have pavement sprint car races anymore. If they did, a race or two at Five Flags followed a few days later by a couple races at New Smyrna would be a good way to run some races in Florida. Some of the Florida pavement cars that usually come to the midwest for races like the Little 500 could be solid competition for those races. Bring along the Silver Crown series for 1 race at each track. I’m sure if there was any money in it, they would already be doing it, and someone here is always eager to point that out.

While I agree that the Florida trip is an expensive trip to start the year, I don’t know that it is any more expensive than going to AZ at the end of the year. The Florida races are points races, just as are Eastern Storm and the AZ trip. We have made the trip to Florida for quite a few years now, and while Bubba/Ocala Speedway hasn’t put on the best of races at times, the same can be said for an awful lot of Midwestern tracks too. The addition of Volusia has been fun and the crowd this year on both nights at Volusia was much improved over last years. Paired with the dirt LM’s it is hard to tell how many people are there for which class, but it was a good crowd both nights. My perception was the crowd at Ocala was down a little bit. I think the Florida openers do get the USAC drivers in front of eyes that wouldn’t ordinarily see them. The crowd at both venues, while IN and Ohio dominated, does include people in the area for the Daytona activities, that otherwise might not see them.

Maybe not worth it financially but if they do want to call it the USAC National Sprint Car Championship then they do need a few trips outside of the Midwest. Florida in February is about the best time for them to do some southern races

Methinks the car owners will ultimately tell USAC Central whether they are willing to make the tow to Florida.

Needs to be tweeked, Hendry County Speedway in Clewiston FL looks very racey. They have said they asked USAC for dates but were declined. Another great option could be Milton just west of Pensacola.

Agree about Milton but far from other two but Hendry County is a sand trap. Too far and fans would get sandblasted if they ran there.


Bruce Eckel

Hendry county just put on two nights of World of Outlaws late models, and had good crowds. It was also a heck of a race. I saw Chris Windom run a nonwing race there a few years ago, and it was a good race.

I love Ocala. Been there many times. Track looked good all 4 nights this year. It is way different than most tracks with a curved broad slide back stretch. I would not go to Florida for racing if not for usac shows.