HARRISBURG, N.C. — With the recent return of the ASA brand to the late model racing landscape, our thoughts traveled back to March 2000 when we journeyed to Lakeland, Fla., to witness the launch of a new era for the sanctioning body.
Here’s an excerpt of our race report that appeared in the March 29, 2000, issue of National Speed Sport News:
“The BFGoodrich Tires 200 Sunday afternoon at USA lnt’l Speedway marked the dawning of a new era for the American Speed Ass’n’s ACDelco Challenge Series.
“But while the race marked the debut of GM’s Vortec ASA 5700 V-8 engine and BFGoodrich’s radial stock car tire, it was 15-year veteran and 1998 series champion Gary St. Amant who topped the 38-car field for his 15th ASA victory.
“‘This is the biggest win of my career,’ said St. Amant after beating Kevin Cywinski to the checkered flag by less than two-tenths of a second. ‘This is the first ASA race of the new millennium and we won it with our millennium yellow Wynn’s/GM Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Starting the year with a win is huge for our team and sponsors.’
Our accompanying sidebar story started with a rather bold prediction:
“Twenty-five years from now the racing community probably won’t remember who won the American Speed Ass’n season opener March 26, 2000, in this central Florida community. But they may well remember it was the day GM put the stock back in stock car racing.
“The race marked the competition debut of General Motors’ Vortec ASA 5700 V-8. The virtually stock engine that powered every car in the starting field — even those wearing Ford fiberglass — introduced fuel injection and electronic engine management to stock car racing.
“But even more importantly, it marked a major change in how this country’s largest automotive manufacturer participates in motorsports.
“‘This is truly a historical event,’ said Herb Fishel, executive director of GM Racing. ‘It is the first step in revolutionizing why automotive manufacturers are involved in racing and, believe me, what’s happening here this weekend has the attention of people all across the country.
“‘Racing this engine in a virtually stock configuration verifies that the technology we at GM are using today in our passenger cars has an application in racing,’ Fishel continued.”
That March weekend 23 years ago in central Florida brought a recharged spirit and a renewed optimism to a late model tour that had been entertaining short-track fans since November 1972.
With GM’s support and an affordable spec engine, the nomadic late model tour appeared to have a bright future as it headed down a new, unchartered road.
However, trouble was lurking not too far beyond the horizon.
After struggling to maintain adequate sponsorship and navigating a bitter lawsuit over television coverage of the series, ASA founder Rex Robbins and his family sold the sanctioning body during the final months of 2003.
The ASA National Tour was shut down following a tumultuous 2004 season, creating a void that wasn’t filled until last month when the ASA STARS National Tour debuted at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla.
The Sunshine State 200 on Saturday night, March 11, marked the dawning of the latest era in the storied history of the American Speed Ass’n, and we fully expect this new era to have many more chapters than the one that launched with so much fanfare 23 years ago.
■ Indiana University has a men’s basketball player named Race Thompson. The 6-foot-8 forward’s unique first name sent us on a search for a race car driver with the same name. We couldn’t come up with one. How about you? Know a racer named Race?
■ We were expecting improved performance from the Haas F1 team this year, but the season opener in Bahrain didn’t generate much enthusiasm for the operation owned by Gene Haas and based in Kannapolis, N.C.
■ A tip of the hat to the folks at Toyota Racing Development who saw their 410 sprint car engine win its first World of Outlaws feature March 5 when James McFadden visited victory lane at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park.
This story appeared in the April 5, 2023, edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
