TERRE HAUTE — By nature, racers are noted for their reluctance to accept change. It’s a trait that U.S. Auto Club officials know all that well these days.
In a move that they hoped would help pump new life in to their stagnant Silver Crown series has all but backfired on the Speedway-based sanctioning body.
The introduction of the “New Generation” cars for the pavement tracks has not generated the results that the brass at USAC had envisioned.
Small car counts and wide-spread dissension among many of its club members has left USAC’s premier circuit in turmoil and the future of the new cars for the time being in doubt.
It’s a subject officials didn’t care to discuss and one that several car owners and drivers reluctantly express their views on during the recent Sumar Classic.
Some view the current controversy as only temporary growing pains that will gradually disappear once more of the new cars arrive on the scene.
Other view it in a much different light and one they fear threatens the future of USAC.
Car owners, many who had the most to lose with the introduction of the new pavement creations have been the most vocal about the changes.
Terre Haute sprint and Silver Car owner Bill Biddle has watched with interest the way the current dilemma has played out. The local businessman continues to field a car for the USAC dirt tracks but like many has reframed from purchasing one the new cars.
He continues to run his pavement cars but instead on the splinter Premier Racing Association circuit. He thinks there’s a place for both series but is not certain how many of his fellow car owners share the same chain of thought.
Questioned if he feared for the future of the Silver Crown series he expressed the views most commonly heard from many USAC car owners.
“I’m not concerned because I enjoy running the cars I’ve got. I hope Jason McCord and Jason Smith [PRA founders] program’s works so we can to continue to run the older cars,” expressed Biddle.
He’s sees the upstart series as plus for champ cars on two fronts.
“You can’t take these kids off the quarter mile tracks and put them on the mile and halves. When USAC made the decision to go with the new cars I talked to several USAC representative. I told them I thought they should keep the main series so that it would allow development of the young drivers,” offered Biddle.
“Along with that it gives 50-60 car owners resources to move their equipment so they could move to the next series. By stopping it leaves everybody in a hole with hundred of thousand dollars worth of equipment and no place to use it.”
He says his he will sit down over the winter and reevaluate his future plans in racing.
“I’m in a wait-and-see mode. We’re looking at our entire program. We have to decide what we want to race and what we don’t want to race. The sprint cars are racing to much, paying to little and traveling to much.”
Biddle says the new cars would be an expensive proposition for car owners. “You would have to have a couple cars and backup equipment. It would take $300,000 to do it right.”
The fact the new cars have encounter more than their share of gremlins right out of the box has not gone unnoticed by the skeptics of the new cars.
“When you spend the money they are on the new cars and they aren’t able to get them functional and raceable through the R&D; program how many are going to be able to hang on during that 2-3 year period?” he asked.
“If you had 30 to 40 car owners you’d have more opportunities to make it move. But by destroying the other series they alienated so many car owners they aren’t interested in working with them.”
“They had 60 registered Silver Crown cars and they have 14 now. It shows the split is pretty deep right now.”
Two drivers who figure prominently in Silver Crown racing Brian Tyler and Russ Gamester share their love for the big cars but take different views on how the changes are playing out.
No driver has more Silver Crown starts than Gamester. He would like to be running on the pavement but says USAC forced car owners like himself into a corner.
“It’s a shame what’s happening. I enjoying running USAC. I have nothing against them. I understand what they are trying to do. They [USAC] just did it so wrong. They gave us the ultimatum to buy a new car or not come run with them. That is wrong,” said the six-time winner in the big cars.
“If you knew where the money is coming from, you know why it was done that way,” said Gamester.
Tyler says it will take time but believes the new cars will eventually catch on with the racers and fans alike.
“Like any new series, it’s going to take a year or two to get its feet on the ground. The IRL struggled getting cars. It took a couple of years for them to get full fields,” voiced Tyler, who currently ranks second in Silver Crown points.
“There’s been a couple of races where there were only five or six cars running at the finish but four of them were racing for the win. It’s just going to take time,” offered the two-time Silver Crown champion.
Time in which many fear the big-car series’ future lies precariously in the balance.
Joe Buckles can be reached by mail at the Tribune-Star, P.O. Box 149, Terre Haute, IN 47808.
Trackside
Trackside: Change doesn’t come easy in auto racing
- Trackside
-
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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?
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Trackside: Sadler’s wreck brings up memories for Terre Haute racer Sizemore
One of the many fans that viewed Elliott Sadler’s wild crash at Pocono over the weekend with more than casual interest was former Terre Haute racer Paul Sizemore.
-
Trackside: Talented young racer Blake Fitzpatrick savoring USAC success
The dust has long settled. The congratulatory phone calls and handshakes are becoming less frequent but that first taste of victory remains as fresh and sweet as ever for the U.S. Auto Club’s newest first-time sprint car feature winner.
-
Trackside: Positive story lines in USAC
Reflections on events surrounding a highly successful USAC Indiana Sprint Weeks while looking forward to a crowded schedule of events leading up to this weekend’s Brickyard 400.
- More Trackside Headlines
-
TRACKSIDE: Chase Stockon hopes momentum stays with him in Terre Haute
Raw Video: Washington State Bridge Collapse
Raw: Utah Teen Arrested in Death of His Brothers
Sheriff: No Sign Killing of 2 Kids Was Planned
Boy Scouts Decision "First Step" Say Activists
Raw: Jurors Deadlock on Jodi Arias Penalty
Raw: Heckler Interrupts Obama on Guantanamo
Closer Look at Okla. School Where Children Died
Boy Scouts Mom Supports Gay Inclusiveness
Obama Offers Drone Strike Defense
Boy Scouts Approve Plan to Accept Gay Boys
Obama Defends Drone Strikes, With Limits
Two Suspects in Murder Known to London Police
Obama Renews Call to Close Gitmo
Raw: Scuffles in London After Hacking Death
Johnson: Don't Blame Islam or UK Policy
Britain Attack Believed Linked to Radical Islam
Oklahoma Family Reflects on Lost Son
Chain-Reaction School Bus Crash Injures About 50
A Slice of Apple History Up for Grabs
Raw: 80-Year-Old Climbs Mount Everest
AK-47-wielding thug may be the most bumbling crook ever
Oklahoma Survivors, Heroes Survey Damage
Trout's cycle a boost for Angels
Raw: New Video of Deadly Oklahoma Tornado
Kim Kardashian Flaunts Pregnant Bikini Body in Greece
NBA star pledges $1M to help tornado recovery
Shakira's Shocking Talent
Morgan Freeman falls asleep on air
GRAPHIC: Blood-Soaked Machete Killer Caught on Tape
Elin Nordegren Furious With Lindsey Vonn For Parading Kids in Public
Camera Captures Climber As He Loses Grip And Falls
Helen Mirren Meets with Dying Boy in Queen Elizabeth's Place
Crowd Chants '¡Si, Se Puede!' After Passage of Immigration Bill
DWTS Crowns a Winner
Police Ram House to End Hostage Standoff
Demi Moore a Rocks Bikini at Harry Morton's Family House
Anthony Weiner: I'm running for New York City mayor
Kate Middleton's Dress Flies Up
VIRAL: Baby makes epic soccer goal
The Hangover Baby All Grown Up
