Originally Posted by PAW:
I wander if USAC as read any of this ? Do they even give a crap? I bet NOT !
That's the spirit. That is one very informative, insightful, and helpful post!
The current regime at USAC inherited a very "wounded" division after the Gold Crown, Vacuum Cleaner, or whatever they were called debacle. Shorlty there after, the economy tanks. This was the ultimate in an unfortunate case of real bad timing. The $ behind that deal, then bails.
Is this the CURRENT regime's fault? No.
They (USAC), are STILL putting on races, some of which are out of pocket.... To take that a step further, if Ignite did not come along, some of the races on the last year's schedule would not have happened at all!!
I too was not thrilled about having to run that fuel, but in hindsight, it has turned out, if researched correctly, to be not a bad deal.... I would bet most of the top teams will still be running it this year, even though you can still run methanol.
Now for someone who is trying to kill a division, why would they run very high risk races out of their own pocket? Why would they look for sponsors that are looking to the future (green initiatives)? Why would there be more races on the schedule this year, than many in previous years?
This is a double edged sword. You have inherited a weak car count from previous decisions, and a bad economy. You're promoting races, that while maybe the best in many of our eyes, is a VERY tough sell to the un-educated public that think all of racing is nascar. Add to that, it is a very required taste to the public, much like Formula 1... You either get it, or you don't. The general public does not understand cars running basically in single file on a mile long dirt track for an hour or so, in the middle of a hot afternoon. They tend to understand Jimmie Johnson being mad at Denny Hamlin for all that rubbin' is racin' s*%t on their tv screen, a lot easier.
I am not sure how to go about getting today's general public, interested in this form of racing??? That is a very tough question to answer. But if USAC didn't care enough to try, their simply would be no races... At this point, that would be a much easier, and less costly way to go, BUT THEY'RE STILL TRYING!!
On the car count side of things, same deal, what do you do?? They (USAC) call owners, I know this for a fact.
In our own particular case, we flat out just did not have the expendable funds like we used too. We even sold the Sprint Car, just so we could continue SC racing, but after a while with the current state of life in the USA, we just simply could not afford that either..... How many more of those "sitting cars" that are out there, are probably in the same boat??.... Is this USAC's fault?
Look, on a personal level, like Shane said, there is NOTHING in this world like a Big Car on the dirt mile, at the fair... NOTHING! I would give my left nut to be able to get back out there, in one of those cars.... And also for the reason that I don't use my left nut much, anymore.
Has USAC made mistakes? Sure, but so have all of us. I personally used to get pretty upset at what they charge to join the Silver Crown division as an owner/driver. I expressed this to them, and they "helped" me out on it (no it wasn't free, they helped me). They wanted another car there, and they helped to get it done. Again, they are TRYING to get this back to a better place!
This will be a very long road to bring this division back to where it was before 2006. Many factors have led to where it is now, but it is not all doom and gloom.
Everyone who loves these cars should try and help in their own way... The old, bring a freind to the races comes in to play. You can even use the incetive that we're going to take said freind to a race, and btw, there is a State Fair going on too!!!
Car owner's may try to at least make it to just one race with their "sitting around" equipment, now that methanol is back in play?
This is not all on USAC, it is on everyone who want to not only see these cars survive, but to once again flourish!
