9/11/17 7:57 PM USAC EAST COAST SPRINT CARS SET TO DEBUT IN 2018

http://usacracing.com/news/sprint-ca...-debut-in-2018



USAC EAST COAST SPRINT CARS SET TO DEBUT IN 2018

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

USAC Sprint Car racing is coming eastbound on a full-time basis in 2018 when the newly-formed USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series makes its debut.

USAC’s newest division joins the slate after series director Curt Michael and the United Racing Club conducted a pair of wingless sprint car events during the 2017 season.*

“The very first one at Big Diamond, we had 16 cars and the place was packed,” Michael explained. *“(The promoter) took two races this year because he’s seen it’s something to build on. *The next time out at Path Valley, we had 26 cars and I think it’s only going to get better.”

Michael believes the series, which will utilize engines that are 360 c.i., 358 and under in size, creates a place for young drivers competing in wingless micros to step up to where they can run sprint cars without the wing, a foundation he saw being laid down in this past year’s events.

“They’re cool cars and it’s different,” Michael said of wingless sprint car racing. *“The biggest thing is these kids coming up are racing 600 micros, 270s and SpeedSTRs. *It’s a big thing in the lower ranks.* We brought in a whole bunch of new guys to race with us this year.* It didn’t hurt URC’s wing deal. *We even had a couple wingless guys buy wing cars.”

The East Coast and, particularly, the state of Pennsylvania is obviously well-known for wing sprint car racing. *Michael, who, himself, has made a living racing with the wing as a 9-time URC champion and will continue to race with URC in addition to his new side endeavor leading the USAC East Coast Sprint Cars, sees an opportunity for a different breed of racing to feed the appetite of drivers, teams and fans in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Delaware region.

“I know there’s a lot of classes and that’s a bad thing in racing,” Michael admits. *“But on the east coast, nobody can tell me where to go to see wingless sprint cars. *It’s one thing we don’t have out here yet, but it seems like fans and racers want it. *There’s no doubt about it that it’s cheaper. *I’ve done both now. *It’s less fuel, it’s easier on the tires, you don’t need wings and you don’t need a big trailer. *I’m not putting down the wing deal, but it’s a fact.* It’s cheaper to run a wingless sprint car.”

Michael is adamant that the USAC East Coast Sprint Cars will not be competing with URC, where he serves as vice-president.* The wingless series will be competing on URC’s open weekends.* A full 2018 schedule is in the works and will be announced at a later date.

“It just seems like it would be best if I did it on my own on the side and didn’t book against URC races,” Michael explained. *“I’m hoping both series will help each other. *URC is known as a wing series, which it will remain, and the USAC East Coast Sprint Cars will be the wingless series.”

Thank you very much.

Being from south central PA I hope this series works out but I'm leary of USAC being involved. The ARDC midget club brought USAC on board and car counts have not gone up, the only thing that has gone up is the price to field a competitive car. The ARDC used to average 24-30 cars for their events now they average about 12-16 so I'm not sure how USAC is helping anything. I wish USAC would focus on their core divisions such as the national midgets and silver crown series where the car counts are not so good. I'm very much interested in the BOSS series and wish they could visit some of the tracks closer to my area. The BOSS series seems that it must be pretty car owner friendly considering their high car counts. I will definately travel to some of their shows next season.

The market has been ready for this for a handfull of seasons. Now that it is happening it sure looks likes it is being done in a best case scenario.

Shouldn't negatively affect the almighty 410 wing following.

Being inclusive of both ASCS 360 engines and the decades old PA 358 engine package means that on day one there are TONS of cars/teams able to participate. As soon as the Racesaver competitors in the area figure out that they can also be competitive there is literally a pool of HUNDREDS of cars within a reasonable distance to support the series.

Curt has been around a long time and his involvement pretty much guarantees that the series will be very inviting and accommodating to owners & drivers. If the promoters see how much demand is there from the spectators and are willing to pay an attractive purse and be flexible with scheduling I would have to imagine this deal should average 30-40 cars per show right off the bat.

I am very anxious to see how this unfolds... best of luck to all involved.

error.

The car count is only a fraction different from last year. ARDC Averaged 16.08 in 2016 and 16.11 in 2017 so far. I think the quality of the cars racing this year have been better that what was on track last year. BTW I did not count USAC Midget week races for either year.

This is great news for an "old timer" like me. I have made most of the Eastern Storm event the past few years, both of the Silver Crown events at Williams Grove the past two years, and all of the USAC midget shows when they come East, My racing buddy and I went to the non-wing URC shows at Big Diamond and Path Valley and the non-wing ESS show at Weedsport, NY and there were very good crowds at Big Diamond and Weedsport, the Path Valley show was a little light because of the weather. In my opinion there is a definite market for this type of racing here in the East. I am still going to hit some non-wing stuff in Indiana and Ohio next year, but for sure my racing schedule will be influenced by this new USAC East group. Good luck to Curt and this group

Now if they could eventually branch out of the typical central PA sprintcar locale and come up to N.E. PA, S.E. NY, that would be great. As fans we are ready for something besides modifieds and winged sprints. Hamlin PA has a nice thing going with nonwing 600 micros, I'm sure there would be interest.

I've been dreaming of NW racing in PA since about '86. I had to drive to The Big E to catch my wingless fix back then. Slowly, the fans and some promoters in PA have accepted wingless racing. I really hope this ball keeps rolling. Since USAC now has involvement in east coast NW sprint and midget racing hopefully we can have some double header sprint and midget shows.