USAC Silver Crown News and Thoughts

“DARLINGTON, S.C. – USAC will return to race at Darlington Raceway following a 51-year absence, track and series officials announced today, with the Silver Crown Series presented by K&N Engineering to take to the track for the first time ever later this season.”

http://www.usacracing.com/content/view/6339/100

I applaud USAC for getting their silver crown division a new venue to race at. Darlington is a historic venue in the heart of NASCAR country. Its history is intertwined with the history of stock car racing. Perhaps that's my problem with it. Since the announcement from USAC in 2005 of the new generation silver crown cars, we've seen a lot of frustration among open wheel racing fans and teams alike. The controversy has been well documented on message boards and columns.

I understand the part of the intent of USAC. Developing a formula to get more venues to race the silver crown division, as well as to make it a more important division. I also realize that with increased size in tracks come new challenges to keeping the drivers safe. If it was as simple as that I would have no problems with it. However, in my opinion I'm not so sure those are the only reasons for the change.

I think that USAC has found sort of a niche for themselves under the behemoth of NASCAR. USAC series have provided NASCAR with many of their brightest stars. NASCAR teams have found a talent rich pool of drivers to choose from. It is for that reason that I think USAC designed their new generation pavement silver crown car.

I think the fact that driving a heavy, front engine car on pavement in longer races proves to be a great training ground for drivers who are used to shorter races on smaller tracks. Now, USAC has provided a tool for drivers to learn how to run pavement with heavier cars, and learn some skills necessary on the way to Nextel Cup. Again, I don't have a problem with it other then the fact that I don't think USAC sells it that way. Just tell it like it is.

Where this whole things upsets me is USAC has taken arguably their most traditional open wheel series and made it an evolutionary step away from a stock car. In the process, the previous type of pavement silver crown cars are no longer legal to run under the USAC banner. I think that is a tough deal if you're a silver crown owner who purchased a new car in 2005, only to have your car completely obsolete to run USAC shows with less than a year later.

I am in no position to predict whether this new series will prove successful in the long run. I also don’t know how well the cars can race. Last year saw low car counts at every pavement event. It’s understandable for that and I’m sure the folks at USAC figured there would be a drop in the counts. Of the 12-14 cars that did compete, it seems like many dropped out with mechanical issues. When only a handful of the cars are able to finish, spread out on a big track it doesn't make for compelling racing. Again, new cars will have some technical wrinkles to iron out. Either way, I still don’t know what kind of show the cars are capable of putting on.

So where does this leave us at the moment? It leaves us with a split in the ranks in silver crown racing, between the dirt and pavement teams, USAC and the new Premier Racing Association, a series that gives the old style cars a place to run. It leaves us with a series that pulls in 14 hideously ugly pavement cars. It leaves us with a move to stock car country.

I don’t mean to be too critical on USAC for this one. They have to do what is best for them to compete in a tough business. I'm still a rabid fan of their midget, sprint, and dirt silver crown programs. I’m just not sure how I feel about their new pavement silver crowns. Perhaps when car counts go up and we can see how they compete, then we can make a final verdict. Until then I hope there are more than 14 cars when they take on Darlington-the track “Too Tough To Tame” in May.