MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Are you paying much attention to NASCAR’s Garage 56 project for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, or do you consider it just another NASCAR marketing program?
It’s understandable if you view it as a marketing endeavor. In that case, you probably have similar feelings regarding The Clash at the Coliseum at L.A. Memorial Coliseum and the upcoming street race in Chicago. That opinion is somewhat valid, but there’s more to it in regard to what NASCAR is working toward in the future.
In many ways the NASCAR Cup Series is old school. Certainly, with its technology compared to most other racing series around the world. However, one could certainly argue if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. For decades, NASCAR’s older technology provided great racing and packed grandstands.
At the same time, NASCAR has made advances in many areas. Safety for one. The sanctioning body has also been willing to explore many ideas that may have seemed outlandish at first, including putting lights around superspeedways such as Charlotte Motor Speedway and Daytona Int’l Speedway.
So why pay attention to the Garage 56 program, the Chicago street race and The Clash at the Coliseum? Each of these events provides NASCAR with the opportunity to try new things that could ultimately lead to new events in new markets.
I don’t think L.A. Memorial Coliseum is the optimal type of venue to watch the stars and cars of NASCAR perform at their highest level. However, it proved the Cup Series can race in a stadium of that size, which opens the door to other similar venues around the world.
The same can be said for the street race in Chicago. If that works, not only can NASCAR consider other city venues in America, but street circuits around the world now become viable options for race dates.
As for the Garage 56 project, that race car is loaded with concepts, ideas and technology that a Cup Series machine would not normally use, including headlights. This is one area that Chad Knaus, who is helping lead the project, told me he is very excited about. While the concept of adding headlines seems mundane, think of all of the possibilities. Yes, we have tracks with lights, but how cool would it be to run on the road course at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway or Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l with a late afternoon start and finish after dark.
Ultimately, NASCAR is thinking and looking globally. Every major sports league has expanded internationally and NASCAR knows it needs to as well. That doesn’t mean NASCAR is going to start running Cup Series points races in Europe necessarily, but maybe they do a Coliseum-style exhibition. The sanctioning body already has the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, the NASCAR Mexico Series and the NASCAR Pinty’s Series in Canada.
So, NASCAR is already establishing a footprint around the world.
The Garage 56 project will help expand that footprint.
■ I had the opportunity to call the first ASA STARS National Tour event at Florida’s Five Flags Speedway in early March. Congrats to renowned promoter Bob Sargent for finding a way to unite so many super late model series competitors from around the country.
The first event saw a very strong field of 35 race cars with star drivers such as Bubba Pollard and Ty Majeski. This wasn’t the Snowball Derby, but it was just as strong of a field. A $20,000-to- win purse helped attract the top teams.
The ASA STARS National Tour features 10 dates at such well known venues as North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway, Nashville (Tenn.) Fairgrounds Speedway, Slinger (Wis.) Speedway and Winchester (Ind.) Speedway. SPEED SPORT will be involved with live streamed broadcasts from at least four events this year, with tape-delayed television coverage provided by MAVTV.
■ Is it May yet? No, unfortunately, but Paul Page’s book, “Hello, I’m Paul Page: It’s Raceday in Indianapolis,” has us ready for opening day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. For years, Page was the voice of the Indianapolis 500 on radio and television. His passion for The Greatest Spectacle in Racing came through in all of his broadcasts as well as in his book.
This book is a fantastic trip through the history of the Indy 500 with behind-the-scenes stories that only the Voice of the 500 would have experienced during his lengthy career calling the world’s biggest race. Reading about how Page’s career developed and evolved over time – especially working alongside his mentor Sid Collins, the previous Voice of the 500 – was captivating.
If you love the speedway and the Indy 500 like I do, I highly recommend ordering a copy of Page’s book, so your passion is fully engaged for the month of May. It’s available from Octane Press, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
This story appeared in the April 12, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
