Short track meets road course

[UREZ2PASS]

Interesting concept !

How about a weekend of road course racing for all short track classes at Sebring International Raceway ?

If I started a sanctioning body, how many of you would be interested in an annual road course championship weekend at Sebring. It would be a 2-3 day event with all short track classed invited.

NASA and SCCA have car construction and licensing requirements that make it next to impossible for the short track cars to compete. So, a seperate sanction body with proper insurance would be a necessity.

If there is an interest, I will proceed with this idea. It will be a VERY expensive undertaking, but with the support of the racing community, it could happen.

Comments and ideas are welcome. I would really like to see everything from a strictly stock to a Tour-type modified represented !

[Dana Barlow]

We did that years back at Miami Hollywood road course in the 80's with a Miami out fit call ACALM ( was a great group,mostly Cuben sports car racers that had fromed a club to get around all the BS stuff that SCCA did at the time keeping them from racing with them, I set it up to run with them. First time was just Mini mods along with there sports cars,and later we did Late Models too. We had a very good turn out.
It was a lot fun running there/only two rights and 7 lefts.

[jacko241]

I would be very interested!

[Bigbuck]

Let me know ez, I'll start getting some t-shirts made!! SELL THEM, ALL I WANT IS MY COST (OR MOST OF IT) BACK. Sorry, accidently hit the caps key!!

[UREZ2PASS]

Tunaman,

Thanks for the offer. If this was to come together, it would not be anytime real soon. There is alot of details that would need to be worked out. My concern is the same concern local short tracks are having in these difficult ecomomic times - getting racecars to the track.

Track rental and insurance are the big ticket items along with payouts to the drivers. There are many other details that would need to be worked out - staff, advertising, corner workers, EMS, towing, website, plus much more to run a sucessful event.

Running with another organization is an option, but not my first choice. A stand alone sanctioning body if properly funded would be the way to go.

It's just discussion at the moment to see if there is an interest.

Thanks for your offer again, EZ

[tedrichard]

You're gonna find that this concept is going to be a tough sell when the guys find out that they're going to have to cough up a couple hundred bucks in entry fees and they're going to be running for trophies. You will find out that the expenses involved in running road courses are MUCH higher than your basic Saturday night short track. There ain't no way on the planet that you can generate enough income to pay the expenses and still pay a purse like the oval track racers are used to. I love road racing myself, had the opportunity to do a few back when I ran the FLARE Legends series back in the 90's. Wish I could have done more of it, but even the entry level classes were always out of my reach financially. Short track racing has always been a blue collar sport, road racing is more of a white collar affair.

[RSB]

I would be the FIRST one in line to do this IF I could afford to. If it takes you 6 months to a year to get it together, I PROMISE I'll start saving now!I would even Pay a couple hundred bucks, IF you could get the track to open up the entire course or at least the section that the Chump Car Series used awhile back.
If you decide to do something, let us know soon so we can start looking for shifters. Lever types would be a bitch when it comes to downshifting.

After my LeMons experience in S.C. back in February, I'm definetely ready for more road racing!

[Bigbuck]

Seriously EZ, I'm sure you could work it all out if anyone could. I wish you all the luck in the world and If i can be any help i would donate some time anyhow if nothing else. Business is pretty slow so time is something I can find.Just let me know. You were my friend when I was down, I don't forget things like that!!

[Mike Bresnahan]

You need to get in touch with Don Nerone. We went there in 2001 and 2002 with the Sunbelt series. Even had dwarfs and mini stocks too. Huge turn out, I think there was about 35 Super and Limited late models the first year. Easily the most fun my crew and I ever had at a race track.

But get with Don, he can tell you why it didn't work out with the SCCA people. With the turn out and car count we had, I'm sure it was a political or economic issue.

[Don Nerone]

4 times

went to Seabring 4 times. I had more fun there than anything we did over 32 years of puting on races. the 2nd time we went i bought a $25,000 ticket to watch the show. Be carfull wat you wish for. Tra at the track not SCCA is the way its done.
don62

[UREZ2PASS]

Don,

Thanks alot for your insight.

If you were to do it again, how would you go about it ?

[Don Nerone]

Get a bigger bag of money. No joking it this time it comes down to someone has to pay for the show and its hard to fing some one willing to

Now all i do are crash shows. We do 10 a year at some of the best tracks in the country and no problem who is going to pay. The gate does. The racers are there to have fun and do. When its over there is one racer mad. We all point at him and say, STOCK CAR RACER.

The cry babbys have made the sport of weekley racing unbarable for the promoters ,fans and sponsors so the only way it can work is to have a big bag of money and do it the way you think it should be done.(read the internet promoter JB)

If they dont stop crying soon it will be like roadracing. pay $500 entry and race for a wood trophy. They break the classes up til every one runs in the top 3 and every one is frends. No one cares who won. They race 6 or 7 times a year .
sound like fun?
Let some one else bare the cross


don62.(does any one want to hear it nope)

[UREZ2PASS]

Don,
Your experience is appreciated. The thing I see the most obvious is having a sack full of cash. The track rental alone is a large figure.

What I do find interesting is that a typical short track driver will spend big bucks on their car to have at a chance to win a minimal payout.

Your crash shows definitely draw a croud !

Thank you very much for the advice.

[al_tere_go_05]

NASA and SCCA have car construction and licensing requirements that make it next to impossible for the short track cars to compete. So, a seperate sanction body with proper insurance would be a necessity.

bull crap they will let just about anything in

[UREZ2PASS]

So I can show up and race my modified or superlate model ? The last time I checked the driver needed to go to an approved school or an scca school and the car had lots of requirements that would need to be changed.

My idea was to have an annual road course event for short track cars and drivers without any requirements but changing the set-up on their cars.

The idea is not dead yet. I plan to meet with the track and another established race group.