One of the most encouraging things I’ve seen in the sport of sprint car racing over the past decade is increased interest in the winged 410 sprint car division.
One of the most encouraging things I‘ve seen in the sport of sprint car racing over the past decade is increased interest in the winged 410 sprint car division.
There was a time not that long ago when veteran onlookers wondered if the winged 410 sprint car division was in trouble as other engine formulas such as 360 and 305 sprint cars grew in popularity.
Fresh leadership in several high-profile series and tracks over the past several years have been the catalyst for a period of steady, sustainable growth in the division. That growth appears to be continuing this season with new and existing series venturing into locations that were once considered a lost cause for winged 410 racing.
POWRi, best known for their midget, non-winged sprint cars and micro sprint divisions, continues to increase its portfolio of racing divisions by adding a winged 410 sprint car series for the upcoming season. While many of their shows are co-sanctioned with the All Stars and World of Outlaws, POWRi will contest several standalone programs. Some of those standalone POWRi programs are in locations not traditionally associated with winged 410 sprint cars.
The Fifty-Five Promotions group consisting of race team owners Kevin Rudeen and Mike Anderson and former driver-turned-promoter Peter Murphy have taken the reins at Skagit (Wash.) Speedway. Two things stand out from the new promotional group at Skagit — massive facility improvements throughout the grounds and the return of winged 410 sprint car racing to the three-tenths-mile track.
The winged 410 sprint cars were once the anchor for the track‘s biggest event, the Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup, and were a regular part of Skagit‘s program. Due to dwindling car counts then Skagit promoter Steve Beitler made the difficult decision to highlight the 360 sprint cars at the Dirt Cup and phase out the winged 410 sprint cars as part of the track‘s regular schedule.
The 50th running of the Dirt Cup, scheduled June 24-26, features 410 winged sprint car, concluding with a $50,000 prize awaiting Saturday night‘s winner.
In addition to the Dirt Cup, the NARC King of the West Sprint Car Series will make appearances at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., and Cottage Grove (Ore.) Speedway leading into the Dirt Cup weekend. NARC King of the West also has a separate Northwest swing through Oregon and Washington scheduled over Memorial Day weekend.
Prize money increases are popping up at the highest levels of the sport as well. The World of Outlaws announced purse and point fund increases for their sprint car series along with a substantial expansion of the bonus program for full-time teams.
The All Star Circuit of Champions have shown tremendous growth the past several years since being acquired by Tony Stewart, leading to 30 percent of the series‘ races paying $10,000 to win or more, and a point-fund increase for teams.
Race tracks that regularly feature winged 410 sprint cars as part of their racing programs are raising the bar for their programs as well. Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway and Pennsylvania‘s Williams Grove Speedway announced increases to their weekly purses and point funds.
Ohio‘s Eldora Speedway, known for making big splashes when it comes to money paid out in racing events, announced the return of the Historical Big One as part of Kings Royal weekend with its $100,000-to-win first prize as an addition to the weekend where the finale pays $175,000 to the winner.
That‘s just a sample of tracks and series bumping purses and point funds this year. Touring series are also establishing events at new venues that are starting to take hold and morphing into regular events at those facilities. This kind of growth is trending in a direction many of us would not have thought possible 10 years ago.
With the events on schedules, now we must wait and see if race teams venture out in force to support these races and the series organizing them.
In addition, seeing if these events will garner enough fan support to solidify these events for 2023 and beyond. While some events have been assisted by pay-per-view revenue, going to the front gate still matters for your biggest and smallest shows.
The fans that go to the races still wield a lot of power and can be the ultimate decision maker if these new series take root for years to come.
There are a lot of people that enjoy waxing nostalgia on how good things used to be, but with the quality of competition top to bottom and all these great offerings, we are in the middle of another great era of winged 410 sprint car racing.
Hopefully, all our readers are just as excited as I am to walk in and watch the action unfold.