Has USAC been tipping a little too much of the Christmas bubbly?
Or gotten hold of a "too rich" rum cake?
Maybe I missed the whole X-Mas thing and it's actually April 1 ^st.
Has Weary Willy become USAC's Director of Competition? That can't be... Willy has long since gone to the great circus in the sky.

I have no explaination for the following, so via Who Won I'll let USAC tell of the sad demise of another racing tradition.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The United States Auto Club (USAC), seeking to build participation, boost competition and expand its fan base within its premier race program, the Weld Racing Silver Crown Series, has developed an evolutionary design that will become the new Silver Crown pavement car for the 2006 racing season.

“Safety was clearly a fundamental factor in our consideration of what USAC wanted to accomplish with this evolutionary design,” stated USAC President and Chief Executive Officer Rollie Helmling. “Additionally, we wanted to achieve three other primary objectives: simplicity, economic stability and ultimately, performance.” All goals have been realized, Helmling added.

USAC’s current Silver Crown race car is an upright, traditional design open-wheeler utilizing a tubular frame. The new car will be designated for competition at paved tracks in excess of one mile in length, as well as all shorter pavement venues. “This will lead to easy adaptation of the series’ current cars to the new package, and thus keep incremental costs to a minimum,” Helming said.

Citing safety’s prominent role, Riley Technologies’ general manager Ron McMahon, who oversaw the prototype construction, said the new sidepods bring an Indycar look to the Silver Crown machine, while protecting the wheels, as does the new front nose that discourages cars from climbing wheels. Driving on one-and-a-half-mile ovals will increase the speed of the cars, especially on the straightaways, but “the stability of the car has been significantly enhanced,” McMahon noted.

Riley Technologies, of Speedway, Indiana, has been involved in the concept since the fall of 2003. McMahon and his staff tested the prototype on a half-mile track first, then took the car to a wind tunnel facility at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, before finally shaking the car down at Kentucky Speedway, a 1.5-mile tri-oval course. Regular Silver Crown drivers Jason McCord and Tony Ave conducted two tests at the larger track.

Having the opportunity to run at larger facilities is another key goal for USAC and ultimately, its entrants and drivers. Playing to larger crowds will increase the competitive series’ fan base and in turn, increase purse size as well as driver and sponsor recognition.

My Thoughts:
I'll' be straight to the point. safety, larger crowds, cost to the participants and by extension to the fans should all be part of the equation for all racing series. The traditionalist in me has been shocked into a numb sense of loss. When viewing this concoction I visualize the radical shift Super Modifieds took in the mid-seventies. At the time Jim Shampine campaigned a "radical offset" Super Mod that thru its dominance forced a change from the upright look to what many Supers closely resemble today.

But thats me. Time marches on and sometimes I struggle to keep up. But I still see grease painted Hobos tumbling out of this thing before a crowd of 5,000 on a still, cool Saturday evening.

Cross posted @ Sprints n Midgets and my ome base Full Throttle.