Reflecting on what was billed as the biggest week of the summer for dirt-track stock-car racing … while preparing to shift gears for the busiest week of the year for non-wing sprint-car racing in the Wabash Valley.
The UMP Summer Nationals tour has made its annual visit and now it’s time for the USAC sprints to take center stage for the popular Indiana Sprints Week extravaganza.
The “Hell Tour” of the Summer Nationals, while offering its share of exciting and competitive racing, once again, unfortunately, revealed the lack of fan support the area has for late-model stock-car racing.
While UMP shows at Lincoln Park Speedway and Terre Haute Action Track drew sizable crowds, the attendance figures fell shy of making it a profitable venture for promoters at the two area venues.
Not surprising, considering the low number of late-model competitors and fans that exist locally.
So what does this mean for the future of the stockers locally and at Putnamville? If you are a fan of the late models, the news is not all that encouraging.
If you talk to those in charge of making the decision on whether the late models will appear on the 2013 Action Track slate, the response is a maybe, at Lincoln Park a no thank you.
Attempts by the late models to win over area fans have been an ongoing struggle for years and the stockers don’t appear to be gaining much ground.
Simply put, the area is a hot bed of non-wing sprint car racing and time may have run out for the stockers to get many more opportunities to win over new fans in their direction.
The odds appear better for an Action Track date in 2013 simply because local promoters what to provide fans a variety of racing rather than a crowded sprint schedule.
“If we can expose the Action Track fan base to different shows, that is all positive,” voiced Reece O’Connor, co-promoter of the Action Track. “I’m almost certain that we’ll try it again next year, but it’s something that will be decided over the winter.”
Even as optimistic as O’Connor tried to sound, one could detect that his prediction may have been more that of a fan than businessman.
“At the end of the day do we (Bob Sargent and O’Connor) want to put $25,000 into these [late model] guys and not fill stands yet know what we can do with the sprints?” cautioned O’Connor. “I like the late models, grew up with them. My dad raced them when I was a kid so they have always been special to me. At the same time, it’s a business. We’ll see.”
Joe Spiker at Lincoln Park Speedway was neither as supporting nor optimistic regarding the future of the late models at his oval.
“We don’t plan on having them [late models] again,” he said. “We’ve had them three years and we haven’t had much luck with them. I haven’t talked to the UMP guys yet, but we’re definitely leaning toward not having them back.”
Spiker says there’s simply not a strong enough fan or racer base to support the late models in Indiana.
“There might be 800 die-hard late model fans, but we can get 1,500 for a sprint-car special. You might as well have the sprints in Indiana and let the late models run in Kentucky and Illinois,” he said.
Like many around him, veteran car builder Bob Franklin finds the lack of support for late model racing in the Hoosier state puzzling.
“Its bafflying to figure out the dynamics, why you can go to Kentucky and Tennessee and not see sprint cars,” he said. “Go to Ohio and somehow there’s a mixture of support for both the sprints and late models. Yet [late models] don’t draw here.”
Franklin blames the lack of tracks in Indiana with weekly late model shows for the small Summer Nationals fields.
“Every race track you go to with the Nationals, you’ll have the 15-17 regulars that follow the circuit,” said Franklin, who serves as a track official at LPS. “The rest of the field is made up with your locals. We don’t have a late-model track around here until you get 21⁄2 hours away. The car count numbers just aren’t there for us and Terre Haute.”
Franklin’s assessment for the late models future locally is an ominous one.
“We have a very successful program with our regular Saturday night shows. Sometimes it only makes good business sense to stay on the proven path and not venture out and do specials.” he said.
Joe Buckles can be reached by e-mail at jbuckles4@frontier.com.
Trackside
TRACKSIDE: Late models may have no long-term future in Indiana
- Trackside
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Trackside: Midgets could be on rise in Wabash Valley
With Indiana Midget Week taking center stage this week at Wabash Valley ovals, it’s time to talk midget racing.
More specifically, it’s time to examine its status in the Hoosier State and what the future might hold for one of open wheel’s most competitive but yet overlooked forms of racing.
It’s no secret the mighty, little midgets have suffered from hard times in recent years. Spiraling engine costs and resulting smaller car counts have led to a sharp reduction in the number of races for the midgets.
Terre Haute Action Track supporters of the midgets know first hand. They lost their popular Hut Hundred a few seasons back and hope of them returning to the local half-mile clay oval remains a question mark. -
TRACKSIDE: Bad weather gives time to reflect
With weather-related issues continuing to plague the Wabash Valley racing scene, the lack of on-track activity presents an opportunity to offer an overall assessment of the 2013 campaign to date.
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TRACKSIDE: Burton’s death shows tragic side of racing
The tragic chain of events that had unfolded the previous night at Bloomington Speedway had cast a pall over what should have been an enjoyable night of racing at LPS.
Word had circulated the Putnam County racing facility that earlier in the day that young Josh Burton had succumbed to injuries from an accident the night before at Bloomington.
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TRACKSIDE: Chase Stockon hopes momentum stays with him in Terre Haute
Momentum, an element that can be as elusive to a race driver as that perfect setup, can spell the difference in winning or running at the rear of the pack.
It’s a force difficult to achieve and maybe even harder to maintain. One learns quickly to make the most of the opportunity when it comes his way.
It’s something Chase Stockon will carry with him coming into today’s Jim Hurtubise Classic at the Terre Haute Action Track.
Only days following the biggest victory of his young and promising career, the $10,000-to-win USAC feature at Lawrenceburg, Stockon followed that up with another rich payday this past weekend at Tri-State Speedway. -
TRACKSIDE: Stanbrough continues points chase after recent skirmish with rival
Veteran sprint car driver Jon Stanbrough has never been one to hide his distaste for chasing point championships. It simply doesn’t bode well with his style of racing.
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TRACKSIDE: Brett Andrew plays role in developing NASCAR's new body styles
The recent announcement from NASCAR regarding the approved body styles for the 2013 Sprint Cup Series follows extensive wind-tunnel testing that was a year in the making.
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TRACKSIDE: Stockon takes giant step forward in USAC
One of the more impressive and welcomed storylines of the recently completed Indiana Sprint Week was the emergence of area driver Chase Stockon on the national sprint car scene.
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TRACKSIDE: Indiana Sprint Week rises above heat, rain, poor economy
The 25th annual version of Indiana Sprint Week is now officially in the record books and the latest chapter will go down as one of the most successful in recent years.
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TRACKSIDE: Late models may have no long-term future in Indiana
Reflecting on what was billed as the biggest week of the summer for dirt-track stock-car racing … while preparing to shift gears for the busiest week of the year for non-wing sprint-car racing in the Wabash Valley.
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TRACKSIDE: Summer heat has made this ‘The Hell Tour’
It is fittingly billed as “The Hell Tour” for many of the Midwest’s leading late model stock car drivers and their crews.
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TRACKSIDE: Retired driver LaJoie spreads the word of safety
In his roles as past driving champion and television analyst, Randy LaJoie has rightfully earned the reputation as a major contributor to the sport of auto racing.
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Trackside: Stanbrough on track at midseason
When veteran driver Jon Stanbrough ushered in a new season in Florida back in February, he found himself facing a pair of unfamiliar challenges.
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TRACKSIDE: Clauson bucks the IndyCar trend
On the surface, the distance from the dirt oval at Lincoln Park Speedway to the massive, paved Indianapolis Motor Speedway may appear only a few miles apart.
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TRACKSIDE: USAC Midget Classic not nearly as revered as it once was
It might be three years removed from its birthplace but the Hut Hundred USAC Midget Classic still holds a special place in the hearts of Wabash Valley racing buffs.
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TRACKSIDE: What could have been: Indy’s folklore got richer this week
It’s a question that will linger for years and only add to the folklore of the Indianapolis 500.
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TRACKSIDE: Sprint car event could generate close racing
One of the hottest and most competitive weekends of the 2012 motorsports season gets under way tonight at the Terre Haute Action Track with the scheduled running of the Tony Hulman Sprint Car Classic.
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TRACKSIDE: Mulling over the biggest weekend in motorsports
We’re approaching what has traditionally become one of the busiest and most prestigious weekends in all of motorsports.
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TRACKSIDE: Helfrich: Short-track racing has good future
When questions arise regarding the current state of sprint car racing, whether they be at the local or national level, one doesn’t have to search much further for the answer than veteran promoter Tom Helfrich.
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TRACKSIDE: Near-capacity crowd turns out for opening night of racing
Opening night at one of the midwest’s premier short track operations can be like no other time of the year.
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TRACKSIDE: Racing season has promise
With several “test and tunes” sessions and season openers having already taken the green flag, it’s a sure sign the Wabash Valley racing campaign is shifting into high gear.
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TRACKSIDE: Valley racing showed best, worst of times in 2011
A look back on the 2011 Wabash Valley auto racing season reveals the best and worst of times the sport has to offer.
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TRACKSIDE: Menard's victory at Brickyard momentous for family, race fans
Who says one of those familiar bright fluorescent-colored Menards race cars can’t find its way to victory lane at Indianapolis?
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TRACKSIDE: After a delayed start, the Terre Haute Action Track gets season cranked up
Its arrival may have been delayed by several months — for a host of reasons — but the 2011 Terre Haute Action Track season is finally out of the blocks.
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TRACKSIDE: Changes come up on Indiana racing scene
With the highly anticipated USAC Indiana Sprint Week sprint card on tap at the Terre Haute Action Track tonight and the Tony Hulman/Don Smith Classic and a host of events leading up to the Brickyard 400 looming on the horizon, it would appear that it’s the best of times for Wabash Valley racing buffs.
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TRACKSIDE: Fortunes of dirt track racing at Action Track can be written in the dust
In the 40 plus years of covering motorsports, it would appear the process of writing this weekly race column would come together rather routinely.
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TRACKSIDE: Auto racing in May in Indiana runs on history and tradition
Possibly nowhere in the sports world does history and tradition play such a key role in an event’s success and future as that found in auto racing.
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TRACKSIDE: Wabash Valley racing ready to take green flag — even Action Track
Despite having already lost several bouts to the elements, the 2011 Wabash Valley motorsports season has taken the green flag and will soon be shifting into high gear on several fronts.
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TRACKSIDE: Fitzpatrick on track to continue impressive start to racing career
One of the top stories on the Wabash Valley motorsports stage last season was the emergence of Blake Fitzpatrick as a legitimate front-runner on the national sprint-car scene.
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Frightening finish to season at Terre Haute Action Track
The 2010 Terre Haute Action Track season came to a climactic close over the weekend. Unfortunately, the campaign closed on a near-tragic note for the second consecutive year.
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Trackside: Attractive USAC sprint car card this weekend
With the area circle track season rapidly drawing to a close, fans will have a pair of attractive USAC sprint car cards to attend this weekend. Back-to-back shows at Lincoln Park Speedway and Terre Haute Action Track not only offer fans a final opportunity to see the sprints in action one final time, but they also serve as pivotal stops in the chase for the USAC sprint car drivers championship.
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