Charlotte, N.C. – Officials with the ASCS Carolina Sprint Series in conjunction with the FSCA Series were forced to cancel this weekend’s Southern Sprint Car Showdown at Oglethorpe Speedway Park and Needmore Speedway in Georgia.
ASCS Series Director Tom Baker didn’t mince words as he made the announcement after talking with both track promoters.
“As of Tuesday night we had a dozen cars committed between the two series and the possibility of more who were still working to get their cars ready. Unfortunately, FSCA had a tough weekend last weekend with torn up equipment and it became apparent over the past two days that they weren’t going to be able to guarantee all of their cars they had anticipated. We had a couple of our top racers dealing with last minute motor issues and other challenges that put their participation in jeopardy as well. I humbly apologize to the staff and fans at both Oglethorpe and Needmore who looked forward to us racing this weekend as much as our staff and racers did. You gear up, spend advertising dollars and get fans excited for a race and then at the 11th hour it goes away. There’s no easy way to explain that except for the truth. It’s not fair to bring a half-dozen or eight cars and call that a show. That’s a heat race. That’s not what we’ve been working for the past six or seven months building here and it’s not what the tracks and fans deserve.”
Baker said the decision was especially hard because the buildup was so strong and it’s not how he hoped his series would kick off its’ first season. “Oglethorpe was the first track to step up and have faith in us last fall by booking us for two shows. They run weekly on Friday nights. John King at Albany and Keith Stith at Needmore agreed last month to step in and each take one Saturday date for us so that when we came to Oglethorpe we’d have a second show the next night for our racers. I’ve been a track promoter. I understand what this last minute decision does to them and to the fans and I hate it. Sprint cars have a bad reputation in the south and we are a new series working as hard as we can to change that. This obviously sets us back. This is not the tracks’ fault and I hope each track’s fans will understand that. It’s not ASCS’s fault. I own this regional series and chose ASCS as my sanction because it’s the right model to build success from. This is my responsibility and regardless of the circumstances this falls on me. We’re determined to build a top-notch regional series for affordable and exciting sprint car racing and we have a solid base of drivers in the region with which to begin that process. We’ll learn what we can from this, keep our heads high and focus on moving forward.”
The rest of the ASCS Carolina Sprint Series schedule remains intact. July 5th is the $1000 to win show at Antioch Speedway and the series moves to Harris Speedway on July 19th. September 5th and 6th will be their second Georgia swing of the season for shows at Oglethorpe and Albany. October 17th and 18th they return to Harris as part of their “Monster Mash Weekend” where $1000 will be on the line for the winner once again.
County Line Raceway hosts the series’ “Fall Finale” on November 14th and 15th as part of the track’s huge “Racing for the Kids” to support Victory Junction Gang Camp weekend and $1500 will be on the line to win in that two-day event.
For more information about the series, visit their website at www.Carolina305.ASCSRacing.com or email ASCScarolina305@yahoo.com.
