MOORESVILLE, N.C. — As a card-carrying member of the short-track racing fan club, any move that helps this all-important segment of the American racing universe is a welcome occurrence.
With the recent news that a group led by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Justin Marks has purchased the CARS Tour, it is doubly welcome.
To be blunt, if short-track racing goes away, or is compromised so severely that it ceases to fulfill its function, all of us who care about the sport in its many forms will be out of luck.
Ever since the automobile was invented, there have been races. In fact, once two cars were built and running, the first racing began. If it goes away, so in time will all the rest. There are enough worries with the advent of electric cars, alternative fuels and the like to put a scare into those of us who like nothing better than to go to the local speedway, pay our money and watch the boys and girls work.
Short-track security, for lack of a better term, is important on many levels, the first of which is ensuring that up-and-coming drivers have a place to come up to. Nobody starts at the top of the heap, after all, and it requires time, money and opportunity to keep the cupboard stocked at the top levels.
The biggest part of that is learning. Learning how to race takes time. Some people have it right away, others need a few years to find it. Short tracks are the place to learn.
The CARS Tour is a solid regional racing group that has the benefit of racing in the Carolinas and Virginia in equipment that is not all that expensive, relatively speaking. It offers solid rules, and a place for the older drivers to be able to groom the next bunch in front of a pretty significant fan base.
For the last, all you have to do is look at the crowd at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway last year.
When is the last time you saw 20,000 people turn out for a late model race that wasn’t at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway or the Nashville Fairgrounds?
Promoters such as former CARS Tour owner Jack McNelly do not grow on trees. His experience in taking the remnants of the old Hooters Pro Cup Series and turning it into what is today the CARS Tour is invaluable.
When I started in racing, it was with the American Speed Ass’n under its founder, Rex Robbins. Based in the Midwest, ASA was a true breeding ground for the stars of tomorrow. Drivers such as Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Alan Kulwicki and others came out of that fertile training ground and won NASCAR Cup Series titles, many, many races and the hearts of race fans all over the world.
The CARS Tour puts me in mind of that part of my history. Drivers the likes of Harrison Burton, Myatt Snider, Josh Berry, Ty Gibbs and others have experience running with the CARS Tour, and they are climbing the ladder just like Martin, Wallace and Kulwicki. Burton and Gibbs are already in the Cup Series, while Snider and Berry are but one step away.
Experienced CARS Tour drivers such as Deac McCaskill and Bobby McCarty are teaching the youngsters how to race, the same way that Mike Eddy, Bob Senneker and Tom Jones did in the ASA days. That’s important too, because having good equipment doesn’t necessarily mean you know how to use it, at least at first.
With the horsepower — if you’ll pardon the pun — that now owns the CARS Tour, there are at least 100 years’ combined experience in some very useful areas for the CARS Tour — and its constituents — to draw on. That will count a lot toward the end goal of keeping the top levels of the sport growing far into the future.
The CARS Tour is where the learning begins in earnest and the future is indeed brighter with the pipeline secured.
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This story appeared in the Feb. 1 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
