{"id":189,"date":"2007-10-16T23:09:16","date_gmt":"2007-10-16T23:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/realracinusa.com\/racelog\/?p=189"},"modified":"2007-10-16T23:10:26","modified_gmt":"2007-10-16T23:10:26","slug":"new-asa-southeast-asphalt-tour-in-2008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/realracinusa.com\/racelog\/news\/new-asa-southeast-asphalt-tour-in-2008\/","title":{"rendered":"New ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour in 2008"},"content":{"rendered":"

Real Racin’ USA Media<\/span><\/p>\n

\"asa.jpg\"<\/a>In an effort to end some of the confusion fans and even other media members have expressed in 2007, Real Racin USA will bring Dennis Huth to our listeners on next Tuesday’s “Real Racin USA Live!”<\/span> show.<\/p>\n

Dennis Huth is the owner of the ASA (American Speed Association) name and trademarks and is President of Racing Speed Associates. Huth’s background includes 17 years
\nwith NASCAR where he founded and managed the Craftsman Truck Series.<\/p>\n

He was also director of the NASCAR Winston Weekly Racing & Touring Series, and had
\nformation oversight on the former NASCAR Southwest and Northwest Tours. In
\naddition, Huth was president of IMSA and the Trans-Am Series, as well as
\nmany years spent as owner and promoter of several racetracks in Oregon and
\nNorthern California.<\/p>\n

In 2008 the ASA will expand their track sanctioning program and traveling series agenda to include an asphalt late model touring series in the southeastern states.<\/p>\n


\nThis organization is separate from the ASA Late Model Series currently operated by Ron and Sandy Varney.<\/p>\n

After the disasterous break-up of the ASA series in 2004. The series’ holdings were carved up with Huth buying the ASA Member Track program and the rights to the ASA National Tour through his company, Racing Speed Associates. With the purchase, Huth also got control over programs with several traveling series that race across the country.<\/p>\n

For more in depth history of the breakup and resurgence of the ASA, we refer you to an article in Circle Track, “ASA – Savior of the Short Track”<\/a><\/p>\n

We will hopefully clear up some of the current questions for race fans and racing teams when Huth appears next week on “Real Racin’ USA Live!” The show is heard on the Internet each Tuesday 7-9 PM and all shows and interviews are archived for later “On-Demand” listening.<\/p>\n

The following release was issued from the Daytona offices of the ASA last week:<\/p>\n

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (October 8, 2007) – Citing a need to return Super Late
\nModels back to their grassroots marketing foundation, the new American Speed
\nAssociation Southeast Asphalt Tour plans to bring a “circus” when they hit
\nthe towns in 2008.<\/p>\n

Well, maybe not a circus in the traditional sense, but according to series
\nowner\/founder John Kee, at least a “Barnum & Bailey atmosphere. When the
\ncircus comes to town everybody knows about it, is excited about it and looks
\nforward to the chance to come out and see the race. I think that this is
\nsomething that is missed with a lot of the Late Model series and the Late
\nModel tracks. Many times the people don’t even know there is a race right in
\ntheir own backyard.”<\/p>\n

The ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour has energetic plans on a 15-race schedule
\nnext year, with intentions to televise nine of those races on a cable
\nchannel which reaches most of the country. Though the exact times have not
\nbeen finalized yet, Kee is negotiating a mid-week airing during a time where
\nthere is little to no other competing motorsports programming. He also
\nmentioned that there would likely be multiple airings of these tape-delayed
\nbroadcasts.<\/p>\n

Depending on the size of the racetrack, the starting field would vary
\nbetween 24 and 36 cars for a 100-lap feature. If there are enough cars which
\ndo not qualify through the time-trials, Kee said that there would be a “Last
\nChance Race” to fill the final positions on the starting grid. Although the
\npayment structure has not been released, each starting car would be
\nguaranteed a minimum of $600.<\/p>\n

The ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour intends to make sure that the rules for the
\nteams are consistent for everyone, whether they race the entire schedule or
\njust a handful of events through the year.<\/p>\n

“You know, there needs to be some consistency in the rules and the racing
\nand I think that is something that has gotten out of hand,” Kee said. “You
\ngo to different areas of the country and (the rules) are all over the map as
\nfar as what type of engine you can run, the car setups, and even enforcement
\nof the rules.”<\/p>\n

“We are going to have a consistent set of rules and enforcing them and run a
\ngood, fair competition so that when someone comes to race with us. We intend
\nto keep the cars equal so everyone has a fair chance on the racetrack. The
\nintent is to stage professional racing and have fun along with it”<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most unique thing about the new American Speed Association
\nSoutheast Asphalt Tour is the throwback marketing elements that Kee is
\nplanning.<\/p>\n

“I know that the Cup series has a lot of marketing elements which are great
\nfor the bigger companies, but I sort of look at that like the 35,000-foot
\nlevel. I want to have a program that is affordable for the smaller, regional
\ncompanies or the franchise businesses to get some benefit from these markets
\nthat we are going to and to drive sales. There is a whole tier of people out
\nthere that are being missed,” Kee said.<\/p>\n

Some of the elements that Kee mentioned were a “ride along” program where
\nthe businesses would have access to the racetrack and drivers at all of the
\nraces to get a “hands on” racing experience. The ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour
\nwill also require that the teams make a car and driver appearance in market
\nwhich is tied into the point system. There is no charge to the sponsor for
\nthese appearances, but the benefit is obvious by having a car and driver
\navailable to bring traffic into the business.<\/p>\n

The racetracks will have an interactive display with tent space available
\nfor the sponsors to show their products and give the fans something else to
\nenjoy while at an ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour event. A portion of the revenue
\nwill go to the host track resulting in a gain for everyone.<\/p>\n

To help get the word of the races out in the market, Kee has setup a
\nguaranteed media program to help promote the races. Basically, the ASA
\nSoutheast Asphalt Tour will double the track media advertising budget; as an
\nexample, if the racetrack spends $3,000 to promote the event, Kee said that
\nhe intends to spend an additional $6,000. This is capped at $10,000 which
\nwould result in tremendous exposure in a market to help interest people in
\ntheir event.<\/p>\n

Additionally, there is an advance promotion team which is visiting each of
\nthe 15 race markets and meeting with the Chamber of Commerce, economic
\ndevelopment groups, and the local television, radio and newspapers. This
\nteam will then make a second trip to the area a few days ahead of the race
\nto continue the promotion of the race and the sponsoring companies.<\/p>\n

Kee is proud of the role that the American Speed Association has played over
\nthe decades in motorsports, and looks to continue that with the ASA
\nSoutheast Asphalt Tour.<\/p>\n

“Dennis Huth from ASA has been a tremendous asset to us in the formation of
\nthis Series,” said Kee. ” He has had years of oversight on numerous series
\nand also involved in many start-up series, which has saved us valuable time
\nand resources in the formation of the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour.”<\/p>\n

“What I want to do is get back to the heritage that the American Speed
\nAssociation has,” he said. “I want the racers to know that, and I want the
\nfans to know that. I want them to know that (the drivers) are racing a
\nseries that Mark Martin raced at; that Rusty Wallace, Alan Kulwicki, and so
\nmany other (NASCAR) Cup champions have all raced at. We want the drivers to
\nbe proud of this and to meet those standards and think about these type of
\nlegends when they are out there racing.”<\/p>\n

Over the years, the American Speed Association has provided many of the
\nfinest drivers in stock car racing the avenue needed to learn and hone their
\nskills. Among the ASA graduates are such noted names as Rusty Wallace (1983
\nASA champion), Mark Martin (four-time champion in 1978, ’79, ’80, ’86),
\nJimmie Johnson (1998 Rookie of the Year), Matt Kenseth, Reed Sorenson, Kyle
\nBusch, and Dick Trickle. Each of these drivers, and hundreds of others, took
\nto the bullrings to learn what it takes to be a professional race car driver
\nand how to handle the rigors of a national touring series including car
\nhandling skills, media relations, and of course fan interaction.<\/p>\n

“This new ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour is certainly one of the most exciting
\nnew Late Model tours to come along in some time and I am really excited to
\nbe part of their program,” said Dennis Huth, president of Racing Speed
\nAssociates which owns the American Speed Association. “John has setup so
\nmany positive elements and I have no doubt that the ASA Southeast Asphalt
\nTour will be embraced by the communities they go to, the companies that
\nbecome involved in the program, and the fans that are able to experience ASA
\nshort track racing in a very unique way. This will quickly become one of the
\nmost popular Late Model series in the country.”<\/p>\n

The ASA Member Track program is comprised of 27 short tracks around the
\nUnited States, as well as a variety of regional and national touring series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Real Racin’ USA Media In an effort to end some of the confusion fans and even other media members have expressed in 2007, Real Racin USA will bring Dennis Huth to our listeners on next Tuesday’s “Real Racin USA Live!” show. Dennis Huth is the owner of the ASA (American Speed Association) name and trademarks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/realracinusa.com\/racelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/realracinusa.com\/racelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/realracinusa.com\/racelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realracinusa.com\/racelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realracinusa.com\/racelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/realracinusa.com\/racelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/realracinusa.com\/racelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realracinusa.com\/racelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realracinusa.com\/racelog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}