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The CASA Chronicles (No. 21)

Keeping up with the California Asphalt Sprintcar Association

By Glenn Hopper

February 10, 2007

San Jose, CA....The California Asphalt Sprintcar Association held its annual preseason membership meeting Saturday February 10^th at Jackson Rancheria Hotel and Casino in Jackson, California prior to hosting its 2006 Champion Awards banquet later that evening.

CASA President and CEO, Scott Clough welcomed those assembled and laid out the 2007 CASA season and its continuing relationship with USAC and the "Best in the West" Sprint Car Series. USAC Vice President of Western States Operations, Tommy Hunt was in attendance as were all the officers and officials of CASA.

Clough started off the meeting with some sobering but realistic news regarding the state of short track racing in the region and across the country as well. Recent track closures in CASA's sphere of influence over the last few years have caused all touring divisions to compete for limited track availability and race dates. Several touring divisions are finding race dates difficult to come by and as a result, many are forced to run fewer dates or travel further to compete.

Neither scenario is particularly attractive to CASA but the possibility of losing still more tracks is even less palatable. Many of our tracks are still being encroached upon by development and or high property values. Track revenues are down. Promoters are less likely to assist touring clubs with track sponsorship, and open wheel insurance costs are up approximately $500 per event.

"We have to continue to provide promoters with a quality show for the fans at a price that helps their bottom line," said Clough of the track promoters, "and we believe we still have a package to do that."

Marathon sessions with track management have led to revisions to existing programs and common ground was achieved with three different tracks, Altamont Motorsports Park, Madera Raceway and Roseville Speedway. Altamont will host CASA for the fifth consecutive season, Madera returns for season number three, and the newly reconfigured Roseville Speedway will host sprint cars for the first time in decades. "Roseville is a real coop for our series," said Clough. "We have a great opportunity to race right in our collective backyard at a well established track. They draw large crowds and we have a real chance to develop a long-term relationship with a track in the heart of a metropolitan area, close to most of our teams."

Clough then addressed rule changes for 2007 starting with new radio rules. One-way radios connected to race control are mandatory beginning with the opening race. "Having spent time working in the tower this past season has convinced me we need to add a layer of professionalism to our program and not risk appearing disorganized," said Clough. "Radios will make our show run safely and smoothly." Those teams wishing to continue with two-way communication may do so but their radios must be equipped with a Priority Override system. Race control broadcasts must be able to interrupt two-way communication with necessary, prudent information to drivers. The tower will only broadcast as needed; cautions, line ups, track conditions and such. Frank's Radios will service the series throughout the season and the cost to teams has been reduced based on bulk sales. The price is expected to be $170 per team.

The next rule change was to confirm USAC's new spec muffler rule. Flowmaster Exhaust Systems will be the sole accepted muffler for USAC Western States competition. As CASA is required to meet the same strict sound reductions it is highly recommended that CASA teams use the same muffler. Said Clough, "The noise problems tracks encounter is bigger than most teams realize and we must comply in every sense." The decibel limit is to be 90 db at 100 feet. And there will be a zero tolerance rule from the opening event; too loud equals disqualification.

In the interest of safety and the growing standards adopted across the industry, SFI 38.1 Head and Neck Restraint Systems are mandatory. There is no grandfather clause; no driver enters the track without the proper safety gear.

Returning to the 2007 schedule, Clough pointed out that several touring series have fewer and farther race dates than CASA/USAC "Best in the West". "We have eight races, down two from last season and we'll have to hunt down some sponsorship money to augment the purses for four events. These are tough times but we still expect to grow given the foundation we've built over the years," said Clough. USAC and CASA have an aggressive marketing plan designed to weather the storm.

The purse structure changes for 2007 reflecting the market. The minimum CASA/USAC "Best in the West" purse will be $6,350 and each race will pay a minimum of $1000 to win and $200 to take the main event green flag.

Goals for 2007 and beyond include showing a stronger commitment to every race with an "every car counts" mentality; and a continuing effort to help tracks market our events including having cars on display in an effort to increase awareness of our brand of racing.

The 2007 schedule is as follows and will be officially posted soon:

April 14 – Madera; May 26 (Memorial Day weekend) – Roseville (100 laps); June 16 – Altamont; July 7 – Madera (3^rd Annual Mike McCreary Memorial); July 14 – Altamont; August 18 – Altamont; September 8 – Altamont; and September 15 – Madera.

Keep in touch with all CASA racing activity through the CASA website: www.casaracing.com

The CASA Chronicles (No. 22)

Keeping up with the California Asphalt Sprintcar Association

By Glenn Hopper

February 10, 2007

San Jose, CA....The California Asphalt Sprintcar Association held its annual Championship Honors Banquet Saturday February 10^th at Jackson Rancheria Hotel and Casino in Jackson, California. The Championship honors also incorporated honoring the first ever "Best in West" Series Champion.

The evening began with cocktails and appetizers as a huge projection screen ran a photographic slideshow capturing the 2006 season in vivid color. Thanks go to both Big John's Photos and Dennis Mattish for their fine photography throughout the year.

After a fantastic steak and shrimp dinner and while dessert was served, CASA President and CEO, Scott Clough welcomed Hall of Fame announcer Kenny Takeuchi to the podium to serve as Master of Ceremonies.

The awards ceremony began with the presentation of the "Driver's Choice Award", an award given by drivers, crew chiefs, and the CASA board members to an individual who best represents CASA and makes significant contributions the club's success. This year's recipient was a very surprised Joe Helberg who fielded two beautiful and competitive cars for the bulk of the season and participated in every event. For the last two seasons, the Helberg's have represented CASA in a very positive way. In accepting he was clearly pleased to be chosen and noted he was anxious to begin the 2007 campaign.

Next, Glenn Hopper, Director of Media Relation and Publicity, and head of CASA's rookie program presented the 2006 "Rookie of the Year" Award to 16 year old Joe Helberg who narrowly edged Jim Kaiser for the top rookie honors. "Jo-Jo" thanked his family and sponsors for all their support as well as the many veteran drivers who offered him advice and encouragement.

CASA Secretary/Treasurer Carla McCreary presented all the hardware throughout the evening and as the slideshow transitioned to driver close-ups, Takeuchi introduced the top ten CASA drivers of 2006 beginning with Ryan Baumgartner who powered his Joe Hauck Motorsports #24 to tenth in the season standings.

Greg Anderson was honored for his ninth place finish, Matt DeMartini thanked car owner Ric Carr for his support and Carr in turn thanked Matt and his family for their eighth place effort.

Seventh place Jeff Gardner was honored and sixth place finisher Glenn Hopper thanked long time good friend and last season's car owner Earle Stanton for a fun season and 29 years of friendship begun when Hopper bought his first race car from Stanton.

The top five awards began with CASA President/CEO Clough stepping in as presenter to Carla McCreary who accepted the fifth place trophy for her 2006 driver Tony Iacobitti.

Brian McClish was honored for his fourth place effort and third place Jim Kaiser took to the podium to accept his trophy for third. Jim thanked his brother Alan and family and crew for a great campaign.

Second place hardware saw Helberg back at the podium where he collected his trophy and gave duplicates to his sponsors and supporters.

Despite the program moving along swiftly it was finally time to honor the 2006 California Asphalt Sprintcar Association Champion. Takeuchi read through the long list of season accomplishments which included a four race win streak, a wedding, a dominating victory in the second annual Mike McCreary Memorial, midget wins, and capturing the prestigous Turkey Night Grand Prix. Noting that the unfortunate cancellation of the last scheduled event denied our Champion a chance to celebrate at the track, the celebration would commence immediately as 2006 CASA Champion Tony Hunt was greeted with a standing ovation.

At the podium Hunt was honored to be introduced by Hall of Famer Takeuchi noting that he was introduced at the USAC national banquet by Parnelli Jones and was in equally fine company tonight. Hunt thanked CASA for all their efforts and related how proud he was to participate in our series, thanking CASA officers, officials, and members. He called car owner Alan Kaiser to the podium and they recalled how they met to form such a dominating team.

Hunt was retained at the podium as there was one more honor to be bestowed. CASA's Scott Clough and USAC Western Stares Director of Operations Tommy Hunt combined to award the inaugural CASA/USAC "Best in the West" Series Championship trophy to Hunt who won the opening race to take the unique series points lead which he never relinquished throughout the campaign. The point format only awards main event finishes and has only a single point differential per position, making it imperative that every finishing position counts. Hunt made every finish count and was pleased to accept his award from both Clough and his own dad, Tommy. Said newly crowned champion Hunt, "I know first hand how difficult it is to produce a series like this and I appreciate all the efforts made so we can race here."

Takeuchi then closed out the evening which was enjoyed by many. A large number of participants stayed the night at the hotel, enjoyed the casino gaming and met for breakfast the following morning. The 2006 season now gives way to preparations for a busy 2007 which is just around the corner. The CASA/USAC "Best in the West" Series begins Saturday, April 14^th at Madera Raceway.

Keep in touch with all CASA racing activity through the CASA website: www.casaracing.com