The latest edition of Circle Track Magazine is taking a follow-up look at the United States Auto Club, or USAC. As you may have heard, AMSOIL is the Exclusive Official Oil of USAC and the title sponsor of the AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship.
Here is an excerpt from Part 1 of Rob Fisher's USAC article. You can read the rest on-line here, or pick up a copy of the magazine.
United States Auto Club - USAC-Two Years Later, Part One
Kevin Miller Has Been At The Helm Of USAC For A Couple Of Years Now. We Sat Down With Him To See How It's Doing.
May, 2010 issue of Circle Track
By Rob Fisher
Toward the end of January 2008 Kevin Miller was appointed the head of USAC, the 50-plus-year-old sanction that was formed when AAA got out of the auto racing business. By many accounts, Miller and the other new hires, including Jason Smith and James Spink, inherited a hornet's nest of problems. Fixing them and moving the sanction forward would be a challenge to say the least. Several months after Miller and company took over, Circle Track sat down with the former Mopar Brand Strategist and got his take on those challenges and how he was about to tackle them (April '09 Circle Track). With the dawning of a new decade, we thought it would be the perfect time to ring up his Speedway Indiana office and check on how the series is doing.
First up on Kevin's mind was his impending trip to East Bay Raceway Park for 2010 Speedweeks. Miller had inked a deal for a three-day show at the 3/8-mile clay oval just outside Tampa, Florida.
"I am very excited to be back in Florida. Getting back into that Speedweeks environment is very important to us to grow our brand," says Miller. "The dates (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights) aren't ideal but they were in one of the sweet spots we looked at. The Outlaws end on Sunday at Volusia and the All Stars start on Thursday at East Bay."
Despite that sweet spot between the two competing winged dirt Sprint sanctions, Miller couldn't convince East Bay management to take the gamble on USAC. So, he did.
"This is not a track promotion, this is a USAC promotion," explains Miller. "We're renting the track, we're paying the purse. The track liked the idea a lot but didn't want to take the gamble so we're taking the gamble even though we don't normally promote races."
Becoming the promoter of record is something new that USAC has been doing to really expand its racing product. "Our first promotion we ever did was Calistoga in 2008 and it sold out two nights in a row. We're trying to build events not just races. This Tampa thing is a fresh one we can get people excited about."
Miller's goal for Tampa? "It was kind of an off time and with Daytona being down there, there may be some opportunity to capitalize."
United States Auto Club - USAC-Two Years Later, Part One
Kevin Miller Has Been At The Helm Of USAC For A Couple Of Years Now. We Sat Down With Him To See How It's Doing.
May, 2010 issue of Circle Track
By Rob Fisher
Toward the end of January 2008 Kevin Miller was appointed the head of USAC, the 50-plus-year-old sanction that was formed when AAA got out of the auto racing business. By many accounts, Miller and the other new hires, including Jason Smith and James Spink, inherited a hornet's nest of problems. Fixing them and moving the sanction forward would be a challenge to say the least. Several months after Miller and company took over, Circle Track sat down with the former Mopar Brand Strategist and got his take on those challenges and how he was about to tackle them (April '09 Circle Track). With the dawning of a new decade, we thought it would be the perfect time to ring up his Speedway Indiana office and check on how the series is doing.
First up on Kevin's mind was his impending trip to East Bay Raceway Park for 2010 Speedweeks. Miller had inked a deal for a three-day show at the 3/8-mile clay oval just outside Tampa, Florida.
"I am very excited to be back in Florida. Getting back into that Speedweeks environment is very important to us to grow our brand," says Miller. "The dates (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights) aren't ideal but they were in one of the sweet spots we looked at. The Outlaws end on Sunday at Volusia and the All Stars start on Thursday at East Bay."
Despite that sweet spot between the two competing winged dirt Sprint sanctions, Miller couldn't convince East Bay management to take the gamble on USAC. So, he did.
"This is not a track promotion, this is a USAC promotion," explains Miller. "We're renting the track, we're paying the purse. The track liked the idea a lot but didn't want to take the gamble so we're taking the gamble even though we don't normally promote races."
Becoming the promoter of record is something new that USAC has been doing to really expand its racing product. "Our first promotion we ever did was Calistoga in 2008 and it sold out two nights in a row. We're trying to build events not just races. This Tampa thing is a fresh one we can get people excited about."
Miller's goal for Tampa? "It was kind of an off time and with Daytona being down there, there may be some opportunity to capitalize."
Read the rest of the article online at Circle Track.com.
AMSOIL also works closely with Circle Track Magazine on the AMSOIL Great American Circle Track Tour, which will hit 25 tracks this summer.
Until then, we'll see you at the races.
Jeremy Meyer
AMSOIL Race Program Manager
