Actually, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, A.J. Foyt, Ron Hemelgarn, among others, were/are owners and very involved with the new generations cars. Yeley scored at least 1 win in Foyt's car. I know because we pitted next to them on several occasions. Not arguing, Just sayin.
David.

You're right, maybe I need to rock the boat a bit. Hey, did you hear about USAC going to rear engine sprinters (dirt only) by 2010? :O:
David.

Mac: Interesting that in all of your negative posts regarding the New Gen cars you never brought this out on your own.
Since you had opportunity to provide USAC with your vast knowledge and opinions you chose not to.
In my mind that puts you in the group you continuously degrade.
By the way I am signing my real name.
Jim Paternoster

well i think that the regular 410 sprinters are the way to go bar none USAC can have the go cart looking things they dont look like they would do anything for the sport of racing but making it a laughing stock just like nascar is today

Greg Staab was let go from UASC

HA! Why??? I never thought of it as that significant of a job that I needed to write a technical essay about it.
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As I'm sure you are painfully aware, usac has absolutely zero interest in the "knowledge and opinions" of others..... Besides, I get paid purty good money for my "knowledge and opinions."

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Hey, Jim. The following is some misc. technical articles I posted, probably, two years before usac invented their new car...... one is a post I wrote as their new secret car was being built. You might be interested.

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The intent of my proposal is not to replace the current formula at Indy.
My proposal is intended as a plan to give USAC and USAC trained drivers a top level pro quality series of their own so that the USAC drivers would not have to leave USAC to move to the next higher level of their careers.
There are many new quality 1.5 mile tracks available to these guys if they had suitable cars.
My proposed cars should be able to operate comfortably in the 175 to 185 MPH range. This is something the current cars can not do, as indicated by testing at Nashville, so they are seriously restricting their future opportunities and potential growth........
if USAC is even interested in growth.
Right now, with the impending management change at USAC, would be a good time to decide what they want to do with their future.
mac miller

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I think we need a front engine Indy caliber division more than we need rear engine sprint cars.
My thinking is this........... All of the little league hobby stock racers can dream of moving up as far as Winston Cup and there is a system in place for them to methodically do that. All of the little league formula ford racers can dream of moving up to IRL, CART, or even, F1 because there is a logical system in place for them to pursue those goals......... Unfortunately, when the young midget and sprint car racers reach the Silver Crown level, as the division currently exists, they are forced to take a totally different career path if they want to move to the next higher level.
The solution, as I see it, would be to develope the current Silver Crown pavement type cars technically and statuswise into a championship caliber division with cars suitable for running at speeds of 180 to 190 mph on the available tracks from .75 mile to 1.5 mile in length. there are a lot of new 1.5 mile tracks out there that these guys could be using if they had a more suitable chassis. This would require some shape, structural and mechanical upgrades to the cars but it would allow the drivers to use and develope their current skills at a higher level.
Although it would allow the drivers a next progressive step to their current careers, it would not necessarily solve the cost problem because a car could be designed to cost as much as a current Indy car, i.e. the Panoz f.e. sports car....
The key here would be the rules of the new formula. If serious cost reduction is to be realized, you could not consider using the 100 plus G IRL type engines, the 40 G X-trac type rear mounted gearbox or the multi jillion dollar computer and wind tunnel developed aero package.
I think a reasonably priced car could be designed using the offset roadster type layout and many available, reasonably priced pieces and systems.
Structurally, the chassis could be built using a basic light tubular space frame and bulkheads with molded carbon fiber stress panels attached for increased stiffness and energy absorbing crash protection. This type of construction has been used successfully by Riley and Scott on most of their WSC sports cars.
Mechanically, I would use the basic alum V8 pushrod racing engine of about 305 c.i.( to control speed and fuel milage), a nascar style Jericho transmission, and a current style, quick change rear axle center section..... I would use an independent suspension layout front and rear because I think that the improved handling and stability, as well as the known crash energy absorbing characteristics, would be a great improvement on the big 1.5 mile tracks. Another good thing would be that the driveshaft could remain stationary through the driver cockpit area.
I would get rid of the ridiculous 18 inch wide rear wheels and specify the current Indy spec 14 inch rear and 10 inch front wheel sizes. A much better quality tire than what is currently available for USAC sprint and silver crown, would be needed.......... Gee, I wonder what the Indy style radial tires would do on our new big track SC car?
Aerodynamically, obviously, the priority would be streamlining plus special attention to getting cool air to the radiator and engine air intake. I would prefer no wings at all, but a basic front and rear wing package could be specified for chassis tuning purposes.... NO UNDERWING TUNNELS!!!!!!....................on second thought , SCREW THE WINGS,
I HATE WINGS, SO NO WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bodywork would have to be upgraded from the flimsy junk that is currently used. If you look at any picture of SC cars on a mille track, the front noses are all deformed by air pressure and in car camera pix show that the engine hoods are on the verge of flying off at all times, Not Good!
Race distances could be limited to the current hundred mile length or could be increased to 200 or, even, 300 miles.
Hundred milers would cut costs if these new cars could be made to run 100 miles, nonstop, as they do now. There would be no need for the expense of high speed refueling equipment or the crew to operate it . You would, probably, change tires during your refueling stop so your tire bill would go up considerably with pit stops. Also safety would be improved without high speed pit stops. ....... A solution to running a 200 or 300 mile event would be to run them as twin 100s or triple 100s.
FUEL... Well, the biggest problem with a front engine layout is packaging a large volume and weight of fuel. I would try to come up with the amount of fuel required to run 100 miles, nonstop, and split the amount equally in cells on both sides of the main chassis structure to minimize handling changes as the fuel load burns off. ... maybe easier said than done, haha!!
Oh! one other rule that I forgot to tell you about is the "ten feet of wire rule"..... you are only allowed to use ten feet of wire on the whole car..... That should do away with the mega dollar engine control and data collecting computers. I might suggest that you use your ten feet of wire for spark plug leads instead.....hahaha!
USAC could sanction this new “Super Silver Crown” division and eliminate the old SC dirt track races which are a total dead end street..... In fact, USAC should get the sprint cars and midgets off of the dirt tracks also if they ever intend to improve their image.
The next step up from these cars, technically and moneywise, would be to use this type of chassis with the full IRL type engine and rear mounted X-trac style gearbox and run some 500 K races with full pit stops ......... now wouldn’t that be some great racing!!!!!
As can be seen in cart, IRL , F1 and, even, current SC, long standing rules formulas can become quite stagnant and with the use of computer design, the ultimate solution to the rules can be quickly determined, resulting in virtually all cars being identical except for their paint jobs... Changing or tweaking the formula once in a while can be good for adding a little variety and renew technical interest.

mac miller

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I am interested to see what this new SC car will look like. I am familiar with Riley & Scott, who USAC has contracted to work on this project, and I am familiar with the way they think. I believe that they are, mainly, working on crash protection. I fiqure that they will replace the nerf bars with some sort of foam or honeycomb filled carbon or alum "crash decelerator" box structures. The rear bumber/push bar will be replaced with form fitted carbon or alum, foam or honeycomb filled , "crash decelerator" structure, surrounding the fuel tank. A foam or honeycomb filled nose fairing will also be used for forward crash protection. I reckon the first prototype of this new car will look something like a cross between a "bumper car" that you see at the county fair and one of those "Legend Roadsters" that the oldtimers raced in Texas.

In addition to the Owners you have listed David, here is information about the OEG which is working to promote grass roots racing.

The OEG (Owners Exploratory Group) requested race fan input on the design of the new Gold Crown Championship car. We appreciate the remarkable contribution. Some has been less than helpful however, because of misinformation.

This request has been made through USAC, NOT by USAC.
The OEG is a group of existing car owners who have dedicated a fair amount of their lives to grass roots racing. They have fielded race teams for over 25 years, never making any income in the process. They have acted as race promoters at local tracks in an attempt to keep grass roots racing alive.
Most of the existing Gold Crown Championship car owners never abandoned the traditional Silver Crown cars and in fact are fielding one or more traditional cars today.
The Gold Crown Championship car is not intended to replace any previous or current USAC Silver Crown car. In fact, the OEG wants to strengthen the USAC ladder system, leaving Silver Crown where it is and creating Gold Crown as a prestigous Destination series for traditional American Oval racing.
The effort to build a new series is based on a desire the OEG has to return grass roots racing drivers to the forefront of racing in America and provide them with qualifications and a platform to enter the pinnacle of our Sport “The Indianapolis 500”.


The OEG wants input from the fans in this endeavor. By far the most vocal criticism has been of the look of the car. The OEG has started there to get input. More questions and research will follow in the coming months.

mac miller
Lots of interesting information here. Danny Drinan was also involved in a similar speedway project about the same time. Glad to know that you recognized the potential for a speedway series fed by USAC or any of the other grass roots racing organizations. We are glad to look at anything you can feed us. Keep it coming.

[QUOTE=mac miller;65982]USAC could sanction this new “Super Silver Crown” division and eliminate the old SC dirt track races which are a total dead end street..... In fact, USAC should get the sprint cars and midgets off of the dirt tracks also if they ever intend to improve their image.
]

Really? Eliminate ALL dirt track racing from USAC? Not even sure where to begin....:doh:
David.

Well, Let me help you out here, David, You could begin by listing a couple of essential things that these little kids can learn, skidding around on giant rubber ball tires, on quarter mile dirt tracks, that will be of any use when they get to the nascar superspeedways.............................

As of today, Sept 25 2008, usac has no pro level series, so these kiddies have no where to go but the paved superspeedways of nascar. If usac ever does create a top level pro series, it will be on paved superspeedways. At this time these rich mommies and daddies are squandering their time and money on extra dirt cars, dirt tires, dirt driving techniques and dirt car setups that are of no use to the goal of getting their driverchild into a pro level series.

Another thing usac should do, to help these kids, is to mandate radial tires in all pavement classes including their brand new quater midget kiddie cars. Anyone who has ambition to move up is wasting their time learning to drive on the current Hoosier bias plies. No pro level series in the world is using bias ply tires.


Of course, If your dream is to be a lifer quarter mile dirt track driver, then disregard everything I've said. There are plenty of local saturday night quarter mile dirt tracks where you can live your dreams.