04/08/2023
Australia’s only national Sprint Car series, World Series Sprintcars, will never come back now.
Instead of our sport taking a step forward, we’ll take a step backwards.
It goes to show that the excuses of COVID, tyre & diesel expenses was all a load of 💩.
The truth is that there are some really good people at Speedway Australia that wanted and worked hard for it to happen.
Every box was ticked.
Schedule sorted.
Contracts sent out.
Teams and tracks ready to go.
It was going to be announced in Darwin at CoT.
The majority of the SA board (9 people) voted against a business plan that SA put together...
I know the Sprintcar Control Council of Australia (SCCA) - the sanctioning body of Sprintcar racing in Australia that does not contribute to the running of WSS - said no to the concept.
Why would an organisation that represents the clubs/teams say no?
There is no legitimate reason.
Let’s not forget that tracks will now lose SA-funded state series money as it was only ever a replacement to WSS in the interim.
Some teams are skeptical to be part of the series because the money isn’t adequate for what it takes to compete at the events.
These are teams that would travel to these races anyway.
Now they’ll go there for less or not at all.
These are teams that will buy A$100k engines, travel around in A$500k+ rigs, and compete in $1500-to-win events...
The idea of knocking back the best-paying and only national series lacks common sense and vision.
In fairness, it is their money and they can be as illogical as they want.
The Classic continues to be our only real pillar.
The Australian Sprintcar Championship - an SCCA event (1 of 2 that they “promote”) - is living off history.
WSS has history, had prestige, and was a chance for fans to care about Sprint Car racing throughout the season.
Short-sightedness and spiteful decisions are rife in Australian Sprint Car racing.
The frustrating part is that most people are pushing for change, but it takes only a couple to ruin it.
�It doesn’t matter if you’re a driver, owner, sponsor, promoter, fan… whatever. You can’t possibly think Sprint Car racing is in a good spot.
And I genuinely hate saying that.
-Toby
