The car owners should take over this series before its too late.
There are many dirt tracks at the big Fairs in the Plains States; places they call 5/8 miles, but are really closer to a mile !!!!
Dirt Champ Car racing is only dead if nobody wants to keep itb going
In the niche sports world of dirt track racing, Silver Crown cars are truely a niche class. While they may be the link to the past and the last link to the Indy 500, there is a reason that this series is on the downturn. While you claim there are 50-75 dirt cars out there, there is only five dirt tracks on the schedule this year. The entire Silver crown schedule consist of a 9 race schedule. It is easy to see why the owners of these cars are not excited about putting the money into the cars.
I watched my first Silver Crown race on a mile track last year. I was glad that I was able to watch the Silver Crown cars race because it is a link to the past. However, as a die-hard race car fan, I was not blown away. If I had to prioritze my spending money on what shows I wanted to see, Silver Crown would be towards the very bottom of the list. While it is easy to blame USAC and the promoters for the current situation, the truth is that people vote by putting the butts in the seats. There is not a lot of fan demand for silver crown cars. If there was, more promoters would be running them.
Does anyone know if USAC waved the licsence fee or reduced it to try to help the owners make the switch. Unless your head is 2 feet under the sand you have to think that USAC got a nice hunk of change from the fuel deal?? I can't imagine shooting yourself in the foot for no reason unless you stand to make a little jingle?
To liscense a car and driver and 3 man crew, plus entry fee,(all of which goes toward the million $ payroll) a owner will put out of pocket around $1800!! Thats not pit pass money, thats not money toward the purse, thats money for USAC!!! 11th place on the mile pays $700!!
It didn't work the first time when car owners tried run it on their own. Even with Tony Stewart in the field, PRA had a slim crowd at IRP back a few years ago. The Silver Crown series never really recovered after the "new car experiment" of a few years.
Originally Posted by ossuks:
Does anyone know if USAC waved the licsence fee or reduced it to try to help the owners make the switch. Unless your head is 2 feet under the sand you have to think that USAC got a nice hunk of change from the fuel deal?? I can't imagine shooting yourself in the foot for no reason unless you stand to make a little jingle?
To liscense a car and driver and 3 man crew, plus entry fee,(all of which goes toward the million $ payroll) a owner will put out of pocket around $1800!! Thats not pit pass money, thats not money toward the purse, thats money for USAC!!! 11th place on the mile pays $700!!
Your USAC hatred in every post is starting to smell like sour grapes.
I did a little simple research and found some answers for you.
I would like to know when and where Bob Sargent said that about not promoting anymore if they don't get 25 cars at the Hoosier Hundred. I will be picking up a new SC engine in Indy Memorial weekend and am planning on racing starting at Springfield. Hope I'm not wasting my money. USAC might just self promote those shows anyway and we would probably see better track prep than Sargent. Sargent tried to cancel the Hoosier Hundred last year but McCord went out and worked on the track himself and talked Sargent out of it and ended up with a huge crowd. The weather forecasts were terrible for Springfield and DuQuoin last year which hurt the turn out.I heard USAC even did some of their own advertising for Springfield to help out Sargent. USAC is saving us $400 per race in fuel cost and have also increased the purse to $700 to start which equates to a minimum $600 cheaper deal per race for us.
Never blame Bob or USAC for track prep, there is nothing that can be done to these surfaces as they are used year round by the horsemen, and there is now way around the fact that racing is a guest in someone elses backyard (on the miles). Worked with Bob for years and he has done everything he can. Given perfect conditions you might get a cushion at DuQoin but thats it. Stop and think about all the hot as hell day shows they have run, and there was never a dust problem on the miles! That did not happen by accident!
