USAC/CRA vs SCRA STORY UNWINDING AS SCHEDULES ARE POSTED.!!

I attended the annual CRA reunion organized by Dottie & Walt James this past week. It was my first visit to the “old timers” review of the famous people in our sport who are still with us and started our historical path up to today. I ate at a table with Jimmy Oskie and Roger Ward, two rather famous racers, as well as Don Weaver, Belita Michnowicz, Bob Falcone and several others, and enjoyed the bench racing with many other luminaries during the afternoon.

Walt intro’d all the old CRA heroes in the house and told a little history of them as well. They also honored Jack Gardner Sr and his brother Howard, and it was a shock how the normally “quiet Howard” had so much to say. Howard had so many stories to tell and mostly talked about him and his brother’s history together and their battles on the track. Jack added a little along the way and the crowd of over 350 roared their approval and enjoyed their stories. A very nice gathering of great people, that went too fast for me. Afterwards, I did go to another B Ball Tournament nearby, so shoot me. Now I have a cold and don’t know whether to blame it on the banquet folks or the B Ball crowd.

Although I missed this years edition of the Chili Bowl, the excitement reached all the way to the west coast as Cory Kruseman won his 2nd Chili Bowl in Andy Bondio’s midget. J J Yeley took the “alphabet soup” tour from the “F” Main to third in the “A” main in a 2nd Bondio car. Cory’s boss, Tony Stewart, AKA Smoke Johnson, was 4th and his WOO driver, Danny Lasoski, took 2nd.

Cory Kruseman continues to show he is the one to beat as he bested over 200 other drivers looking for a win in the toughest midget race in the world. The best field of drivers continues to show up every year in Tulsa to view the weather and take a shot at the top prize. Cory was 2nd on his qualifying night behind Jerry Coons and then made the winning pass on Danny Lasoski in the finale for another big win in his long growing history. He flies back to Australia to pick up where he left off down under, and will return for the Perris opener in March. J J Yeley ran hard with his wheels up all night, so I hear, up to the A main where he swooped in to third before the end. That must have been a show behind his former teammates win. Danny Stratton ran 7th for a good ride and earned him rookie of the year. For a quick synopsis of west coast stars Click here.

I understand an anonymous person called the police from inside the building to complain about noise and toxic dangers and it brought out the authorities who tested the air and made some changes in the doors being open. This is another example of one person making a change on something they don’t like and ruining something others really love. I hope Lanny and Emmett get the support they need to solve this dilemma, that is certainly not new, and the Chili Bowl continues to be the best midget show there is. Can’t these chronic complainers go to Florida for the week?

Now that the SCRA schedule is out, here is a side by side comparison sheet, click here. The question is where will teams be racing in the coming year, and where will the fans go? The announcement of a USAC/CRA west coast 410 series that will run at Perris, Ventura, Manzanita, Bakersfield and Hanford in 2004 should open your eyes. Why did this happen? For more than the reasons already published about money, those above tracks are going on without SCRA into a new deal because they wouldn’t continue to pay the cost of SCRA’s purse. So, enter USAC/CRA and a negotiated plan to give the racers reportedly the same amount of purse money, more point fund money and allow them to still run their regular tracks, plus two that weren’t open to SCRA, Hanford and Bakersfield.

The 30 race schedule for a USAC/CRA series debut is all set with some possible adds. SCRA will run 17 dates plus the NWWC Tour. Now, it’s up to the racers and fans to decide what is good for them. Only 10 conflicts for the two posted schedules at this point but the SCRA has 5 TBA’s for later?

For the non traveling teams, they can run 14 races in SCRA within 200 miles, and USAC/CRA has 23 local. SCRA announced at least $50 tow money for each race plus special tow money for the tour and Skagit. It could be a cheaper year for some of the racers, due to less races, unless of course they do double dipping and run some of both. For now, it’s time to ponder the future and pick which is best for each of us. USAC/CRA has left open the Indiana Sprint Week dates for those who wish to travel to Indiana and run around Indianapolis for two weeks. The SCRA starts their tour in New Mexico, then goes to Indiana, back to Illinois and ends in Kansas on it’s 9 race trip.

There it is, now what? I be doing my thing this week, do I hear a groan, and then taking Terry off on a fun weekend birthday trip that will have a special surprise for her at the end. Don’t tell, she’ll surely ask! Keep those cards and letters coming, I am still having fun.