buckaroo
Here kitty, kitty, kitty
With the demise of ASA, NASCAR has taken over the old SMART (Southern Modified Auto Racing Teams). While this might on the surface look to be something sent from heaven, it could end up being a total bust. The problem? Two in particular. First and foremost, the cost. All of NASCAR's touring series require similar rules that are in effect with the upper series such as Cup and Busch. All pit members must have helmets, and fireproof suits. There are fuel tank requirements too and of course, the HANS device is a must. That last one requires a new seat that will work with the device. All of that will set the owners back at least 5 grand to start with. Many of these teams are hobby teams and it's hard enough to get money for tires and most teams don't even break even after a race. Many of the top running teams have said that they will skip this new tour and race elsewhere.
The second problem lies with a track in the area that was aligned with ASA and has refused to be sanctioned by NASCAR. Last year, this track held three or four of the SMART races. The track held it's weekly races on Friday night, but this year has decided to go vie for an audience directly against one of NASCAR's oldest venues, Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem. The new tour has scheduled a race at the stadium, but that could be up in the air as well. Back to the other track...NASCAR told them that if they would move their program back to Friday night, they would recieve a race or two. They have refused, but wait, here's another part of that. One of the owners of that track has a former champ of SMART driving for him and that driver, L.W. Miller has said that he will not race in the new series. There have been other top notch drivers who have said that they will instead race at the new track instead as well. The new track seems to have all the cards, but NASCAR has a pocket full of money that can outdo anything those owners can put up.
It's been rumored that the races of the new series will only have a half dozen cars at first, but those rumors could be started by those owners/drivers who are connected with the new track. Though SMART has relenquished it's dates to the new NASCAR tour, they are still an organization that meets regularly and could at any time start their tour again.
I can't wait to see how everything comes down. Will NASCAR succeed in the new series? Will the little new track be able to back down big NASCAR? Time will tell.
The second problem lies with a track in the area that was aligned with ASA and has refused to be sanctioned by NASCAR. Last year, this track held three or four of the SMART races. The track held it's weekly races on Friday night, but this year has decided to go vie for an audience directly against one of NASCAR's oldest venues, Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem. The new tour has scheduled a race at the stadium, but that could be up in the air as well. Back to the other track...NASCAR told them that if they would move their program back to Friday night, they would recieve a race or two. They have refused, but wait, here's another part of that. One of the owners of that track has a former champ of SMART driving for him and that driver, L.W. Miller has said that he will not race in the new series. There have been other top notch drivers who have said that they will instead race at the new track instead as well. The new track seems to have all the cards, but NASCAR has a pocket full of money that can outdo anything those owners can put up.
It's been rumored that the races of the new series will only have a half dozen cars at first, but those rumors could be started by those owners/drivers who are connected with the new track. Though SMART has relenquished it's dates to the new NASCAR tour, they are still an organization that meets regularly and could at any time start their tour again.
I can't wait to see how everything comes down. Will NASCAR succeed in the new series? Will the little new track be able to back down big NASCAR? Time will tell.