MOORESVILLE, N.C. — There is almost no offseason in motorsports these days.
While many sanctioning bodies and tracks take some time off during the winter months, particularly the holiday season, if a person wants to race, attend races or watch them on streaming video, there is almost always an event somewhere.
More and more wintertime special events are being created every year, many with the purpose of creating streaming video content.
The World Racing Group recreated the Drydene Xtreme DIRTcar Series, adding six late model races in the Southeast from late November through mid-February. It also kicked off its World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series on Jan. 2 at Vado Speedway Park in New Mexico and created the DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals, which will be run Jan. 16-18 at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park.
There is also more racing than ever in New Zealand and Australia, which draws many of this country’s racers and crew members overseas and attracts audiences via pay-per-view outlets such as World Racing Group’s DIRTVision and others.
Indoor racing is plentiful.
With the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show a little later this year, the Gateway Dirt Nationals inside The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis was pushed back almost until Christmas, with modifieds, midgets and late models in action Dec. 19-21.
Lenny Sammons’ Indoor Auto Racing Series offers eight nights of TQ midget racing in four cities in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. December’s popular Rumble in Fort Wayne midget program, the Tulsa Shootout, which kicks off the new year at Tulsa Expo Raceway and, of course, the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals Jan. 14-19 are other key players in the indoor scene.
And that’s only scratching the surface of the multitude of events that keep racers and fans busy during what was once the offseason.
Couple all this with the fact that many of the country’s short-track touring series are starting sooner and racing deeper into the calendar every year, and in many cases, the offseason has dwindled to only a handful of days for many.
As a result, many teams have much less time to prepare their cars for the new season, to enjoy time with their families and generally download from a long season of racing — be it on the road or on the local level.
While the mid-December PRI Show at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis drew huge crowds as usual, the number of racers seen walking the aisles was noticeably down from previous years.
Several folks we spoke with said they had to cut their annual treks to the Circle City to only a day this year in order to prepare cars for the Gateway Dirt Nationals, Tulsa Shootout or the Chili Bowl.
More racing means more potential for racers to make money, but it also means potentially more costs. At the same time, more racing equals more parts, tickets and pay-per-view telecasts being sold, which in turn should continue to fuel the racing machine.
Still, is an offseason too much to ask for?
– The biggest racing story out of PRI was the return of Scott Bloomquist to World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series competition with Drydene sponsorship.
Bloomquist’s two-car team will include Chris Madden. It will be the first time “Bloomer” has raced full time with the WoO LMS since winning the championship in 2004. Since then he’s won numerous Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series titles while picking up several WoO LMS wins as a part-time performer and being fined by or suspended from WoO and DIRTcar for various missteps.
World of Outlaws officials said they expected an immediate uptick in ticket sales because of Bloomquist’s participation.
– Thanks to Scott Gobrecht Racing co-owner Jeff McCall and his Cyclone Trucking organization for transporting SPEED SPORT’s booth to and from PRI. Much appreciated gang.
– We knelt behind Scott Dixon’s Indy car fitted with the new aeroscreen, looked through the windshield and wondered, “How does he see out of that thing?”
The support pillar for the aeroscreen appears to be in the driver’s line of sight much like with Formula One’s halo system.
It would be interesting to sit in Dixon’s seat and see what he sees.