How ASA Shaped NASCAR And They're Ready to Revive It
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- Опубликовано: 14 мар 2022
- For decades, the American Speed Association meant tough drivers racing on some of the best short tracks in the Midwest. Drivers like Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Alan Kulwicki, Jimmie Johnson, and Kyle Busch made their way through ASA on their way to NASCAR stardom.
The original ASA sanctioning body existed between 1968 and 2013, but it might make a return soon. As of March 2022, NASCAR is in the process of trademarking the ASA name, seemingly with intent to revive the storied series on some level.
Narrated by Brock Beard
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Anderson Speedway just announced that the 56th annual Redbud 400 in July will be having an ASA theme.
From Anderson Speedway website's article: "Track officials have announced the event will feature a special American Speed Association (ASA) throwback theme on Saturday, July 16. The weekend will serve as a reunion for ASA officials, drivers, crew members and fans with plans for special guests, events and recognition of the historic series."
As a kid, I met Mark Martin when he was 18-19 years old at ASA races along with many others like Bob Senneker, Rusty Wallace, Mike Eddy, Alan Kulwicki and Ted Musgrave including the ultimate-having my picture taken with the legendary late Dick Trickle. Lots of great memories going to short track races with my dad as a kid. Great video about a fantastic series!
I think if this brought this and the Goody’s Dash Series back, put it with ARCA and we probably won’t see anyone in Cup until their in their mid-20s, when they’re 100% ready. I can honestly think of a few current drivers who shouldn’t be in the series they are just yet but are because of money.
I mean no one will ever solve the pay driver issue without a complete economic overhaul of many countries which will most likely not happen but otherwise I agree.
Ah- freaking men..rich kids are ruining the racing
@@dee3368 It's not the rich kids, they've always been in NASCAR. The problem is the sponsors of rich kids who buy them any ride that opens up. Kaz Grala's one of those rich kids and he's probably the most talented driver in NASCAR without a full-time competitive ride (not counting Ryan Preece who's in line to drive the SHR #10 next year). Meanwhile, Riley Herbst can have any ride he wants because of Monster Energy. Unfortunately, the alternative for some race teams is to close the shop, so they're left having to accept Monster's or another company's money. SHR probably wouldn't field the #98 if Monster didn't come along with Herbst.
There's only one thing that can fix this problem and most people don't like the solution: Bring back the Buschwackers. Let Cup Series drivers compete for championships in the Xfinity Series and/or Camping World Truck Series. Create a logjam at NASCAR's second level and watch as the backup forces these kids to spend more time in the grassroots level. Make them race against guys like Bubba Pollard, Stephen Nasse and Derek Thorn regularly before they even get a chance to race in ARCA.
It's a shame this series died. It had great racing and as was seen over and again, produced some top tier talent. Pre internet, you had to pickup your news where you could, like Circle Track magazine.
In 2000 ASA mandated a spec GM LS1 engine. This dropped the cost to run and the field grew to a point where they had a consolation race for the many cars that didn’t make the main event.
Didn't that engine end up being the basis for the V8 Thunder Cars/Trans Am TA2 class?
@@lockerracing7121 Not sure. I think it was really stock like right out of a corvette. The rev limit was pretty low and guys hit the chip a lot and shifted at the larger tracks. There was a GM guy at the track every week to help the teams since these were sealed.
@@lockerracing7121 Yes. GTA was formed using the ASA cars, being the foundation of the TA2 Series.
@@underbird That doesn't sound bad at all.
Somehow i doubt this very much. The Ls1 wouldve only been 3 years old in c5s and 2 in the f body cars. Wasnt there an aluminum shortage at gm that kept the sbc2 lt4 only in very few cars? Sounds like propaganda
I was there in the stands for that 1995 crash at the Finish Line at jennerstown Speedway
Morgan once again exuding that Chad energy by wanting to race a V-6 in Winston Cup.
That Pontiac Silverdome race must’ve been insanely loud in person
I remember watching ASA and Hooters Pro Cup on Speedvision/Speed Channel growing up. I miss the levels below the Truck Series being something other than a void from which drivers randomly appear.
Our hometown driver Travis Kittleson was racing in the ASA and competing with Reed Sorenson weekly that season he won the championship. Travis Kittleton's career was on a good path, then the ASA went under along with Travis' hopes at NASCAR sadly. He ran one or two truck races that his dad funded with their Bob Steele Chevrolet sponsor (a local car dealership that his dad still owns), but that was as far as he could get. Travis was really talented, and I always wonder how far could have gone if the ASA hadn't basically dissappeared when it did.
for anyone interested as to what ASA racing was like in the 70s, you should listen to mark martin’s podcast
Got to watch many of the ASA stars race at I-70 Speedway in the 70's and 80's, Rusty, Mark, Dick Trickle, Bob Senneker,Harold Fair, Mike Eddy. I used to crew for Fred Whisler, two time I-70 track champion.
Mark Martin sent me here and I'm happy he did.
I never got TNN on my cable system (NJ) in the 90's and early 2000's, so I missed out on some great racing. I remember watching Speed News for ASA highlights and seeing they had a really good product on the track. I hope NASCAR truly does something with the name and have it live up to the history this vid shows. Another great job on this, nascarman.
I always knew a lot of good drivers came from the ASA and I loved watching Rusty and Mark back when they were running in the ASA but I didn't realize how many of the top NASCAR drivers had came from the ASA wow that's crazy boy I hope nascar is going to bring it back I will be watching and just think of the drivers that will come to nascar from it wow!
I got Jimmies autograph at milwaukee in 98. Only because i spent most of my time in adam's line, then scrambled to get anyone else that had nobody in line before the session ended. I had no clue who the hell he was nor did anyone else apparently lol
Thanks so much for a video on the ASA. It’s series like them, ARCA, USAC Stock Car, and ARTGO that defined late model short track racing in the Midwest. The competition was some of the best short track racing in history and produced dozens of drivers that went on to race successfully in NASCAR.
I've got so much more to add on to this video...
But, I'll leave this little nugget first... And you and Brock can IM me for more...
The same person who helped sieze the series vehicles and equipment at Charlotte in 2004... Was the same person who actually worked and flagged the series from 1993 through 1997... And has told me a lot of good info about what happened when and what went wrong.
A lot of the footage I've gathered of old races from the series are my recordings, but I will give credit to Joe Nott who raced in the series from 1992 through 1998 before dabbling in ARCA in 1999, as well as Ken DeLabastide who handled ASA's victory lane "Hot Dance" for a number of years while also doing a good amount of P.R. work for the series as well who fortunately had a lot of his tapes saved and let me convert those.
Preserving this series' television library has been a personal project of pride as its what I grew up with short track wise in the Midwest and it's memories shouldn't be forgotten.
The TNN Master Tapes are... According to a few people I've talked to... In the NASCAR HoF in their archives. Maybe one day those will make their way out of hiding. In the meantime, my quest continues through the world's basements searching for recordings of this great series.
I know when the ASA offices were in Daytona Beach on Ridgewood Avenue, they had all the old tapes in a storage room. Years ago i talked to the lady in charge down there and she told me. Not sure what happened to them though. I have some older ones from Cayuga (the Hanley/Trickle incident) plus other old ones. Lots of old ASA collectibles as well. All for sale soon. Just don't want my collection anymore. Got ARTGO, ICEMAN, AA 400, local stuff. Too much to deal with anymore, so time to sell it off.
@@hanley72 I'll take all the tapes.
Nice to see your name in here. Love reliving the series through your bideos
Videos... sorry.
Thanks so much for your input! What are your favorite ASA races to watch? Big fan of your channel
I had always wondered for a while why the number and sponsor placements changed in 2004, man that is crazy. And also the short lived ASCAR Rockingham Series in the UK used cars from the ASA series for the drivers to compete in.
Nascar did the same thing now
@@mvd4436Whelen Euro Series?
I saw them over the years from the late 80s till the late 90s racing at Tri-City Motor Speedway(RIP). Always good racing and the names. Never realized how big they were till a long time later. Benson, Trickle, Senneker, and the local boys Howe and Eddy.
Man I miss the ASA. Eddy, Senneker , St Amont, Benson, etc battling on TNN. It was as important as Nascar to me.
Have you ever looked at doing a retrospective on the USAC stock car series?
I've never really heard of the ASA until ol Slapshoes mentioned Mark Martin's early career. Now, here is a video explaining the series briefly. Thank you!
2016 wasn't the right time for a NASCAR-owned ASA. But with NASCAR's deal with FloRacing, as well as the rise of Racing America and Speed Sport, this is the perfect time to revive the ASA. I can see NASCAR rebranding the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series into the new ASA, with a national super late model touring series being the top division in ASA. There is a precedent for this after all; NASCAR moved the K&N Pro Series under the ARCA banner back in 2019. Who knows what NASCAR has planned for ASA, but I can see this as a realistic possibility.
Great look at the real story ! I was lucky enough to be a crew chief for my childhood hero Butch Miller. These were the best days of my life ! Nascar needs to remember that ASA created a racing buzz that brought fans to there seats as they wanted to see there drivers they had followed for so many years move up to Nascar. Would have like to see more of Butch Miller , Tim Sauter and Jr Hanley in this video. Great job with this !
Funny, I've heard the name Butch Miller more than once. Probably not the same guy, but as a kid I knew a guy by that name that worked at the elementary school I attended in Southern Oregon. He drove a light blue Camaro stock car. I believe 15s. 15 for sure. I've got that photo SOMEWHERE, signed.
They should race at the Freedom Factory with still the good ol 4th gen.
Appreciate the credit for using some of my uploaded clips. The full race inside the Pontiac Silverdome is on my channel as well as the 1980 ASA Dri-Powr 400 from Winchester Speedway
Maybe a play against the SRX summer series? Hell, I'd watch ASA vs SRX
Doesn't help Asa built a fancy new shop out by the interstate in Pendleton,IN. Now owned by the school district. Was ran from a small basically house just outside of downtown Pendleton for years.
If ASA is coming back next year, maybe Dodge could use it as a springboard back into NASCAR.
Don't know if it will be easy to find information but the Free State 500 certainly deserves it's own vídeo. Great presentation on this video!
After that troubled 2004 season 85%of the teams competing in the national tour joined the new ASL series that lasted only 2 or 3 years before folding.
I was able to go to a handful of ASA races in the late 90s in Cedar Rapids, IA. Always a great time. One of the most memorable moments was in 97. The top 3 crossed under the checkered flag side by side.
There are but so many things you can put into a video, and they've done a great job with it. There's a lot of stories that didn't get touched on though. The story of Ron Varney and the ASA Late Model Challenge is an interesting legal battle towards the end of the series. Other interesting tidbits were the fate of the ASA SMART modified series, all their truck series, and even involvement in the remnants of the old Dash series. Also of note was their national short track champion one year who earned a test with Joe Gibbs Racing - wiley NASCAR National champion Barry Beggarly who came out or semi-retirement to run for the Ace Speedway championship. Finally, up into some time last year, the ASA web page was still active but un-updated in some time. I was unable to find it today when I looked for it though.
I really hope ASA does return
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I'm putting my money on ASA being the exhibition electric series run on short tracks. You heard it here first.
Honesly that doesn't sound like a bad idea. You could have 1 series for electric vehicles and another for vehicles that use alternative fuels like hydrogen
I wouldn't be opposed to this at all! Maybe partner it with SRX and put on a full weekend show for those SRX weekends
how much money ya puttin down?
@@nattiedraws 3 million Russian rubles... so 2 USD.
If your theory holds true, I will gladly go to Lucas oil short track in Indianapolis to watch a race! They could even add an electric dragster competition on the world's best drag strip a stone's throw away
Correction - Mike Garvey won that final race at Atlanta in 2004. Sorenson won at Charlotte two weeks prior.
Currently the CRA has the ASA branding for their national asphalt super late model series, the ASA STARS National Tour.
I really enjoyed watching ASA racing at jennerstown Speedway. GREAT SERIES and great action
At least the ASA was honest about why they moved the numbers. Not like NASCAR
NASCAR did it for the same reason and admitted such
Always wondered what happened to ASA. They put on some great races with some great drivers. Sure wish we hadn’t lost Adam Petty. Would’ve loved to see what he would’ve done in NASCAR.
i remember it on TNN ages ago
My memories of ASA are limited to the few broadcasts I did see on TNN, as the only name I truly recognized from that series was Gary St. Amant; To the point that I had considered him "Mr. ASA," not knowing anything about drivers like Mike Eddy & Bob Senneker until years later.
I later learned of other things in relation to ASA from the past when it came to particular drivers in NASCAR. I'm not sure what this apparent plan regarding NASCAR is, but the pessimist in me says it's to prevent people from reviving it whatsoever.
Wear its name like a skinsuit for some development series like they do with ARCA.
Outstanding work and video
I grew up knowing about this cuz of tri-city speedway in Auburn, MI, only a town over from Mike Eddy's hometown. It used to be a huge buzz in the small town anytime they raced at the half mile oval...ish track
I remember back in "97 when they came to my hometrack the Tri-City Motor Speedway in Auburn Michigan.
Mike Eddy is a local legend around here and it was a pretty big deal to us when TNN televised it.
Names like Bob Senneker and Johnny Benson Jr raced that day as well.
Asa was my favorite, hope it comes back in full throttle! I was at that Jennerstown race, went every year ❤
Alan Kulwicki.....5 ASA wins.
It just came back, you ought to make a video on it
Fun fact: Jimmie Johnson ran an ASA race at La Crosse (WI) Fairgrounds Speedway, my home track, exactly one nonth before I was born
We had a guy who ran a v6 in a ump modified and when the tracks are dry slick there was no stopping him
No mention of asa west? Thanks for doing these history videos. Very cool stuff.
I think the ASA should serve as NASCARs Developmental Series should NASCAR Revive it, either that or NASCAR should make it a Series with All Short Tracks, Stadium Races, International Races, and Street Courses
I think it'll be at the same level of ARCA/NWMT and run the Pinty's cars in the US, sort of as a way to finally kill off the dying husk of ARCA.
Pinty's cars are around $500k cheaper than an ARCA car, and they use former cup engines.
bruh i was not expecting to see 14 year old logano
My source told me that they will call it ASAP, and they'll race on 100 yard ovals. A bunch of 6 year olds are stoked.
has anyone told you you sound like EmpLemon? Loved the video btw lots of cool info!
2:25 someone is running 180 degree headers
hey it's back
RIP Rex Robbins
They’ll bring it back as an electric series
The Midwest has and always had better drivers. We just have an actual winter to deal with.
i never knew they raced in the silverdome or much about the asa until this video
11:04 Where have I heard of something similar recently ;) ?
So this is the Phantom Word on the Street about that Potential National Late Model Series, and for reasons, I'd want to say every Season is a Revival like the Toledo Mud Hens because that's how they got the most publicity in the 1970's.
I think if they're gonna 'bring back' a defunct series with electric run cars, it makes a lot more sense to resurge the old Dash series. Short tracks in the southeast, cheaper, smaller cars, 4 cylinders, they already sounded kinda dopey as far as stock cars go haha. Plus it was actually a NASCAR sanctioned series. I don't see how bringing the ASA back really makes any logistical sense.
Me neither, it sounds more like NASCAR buying a defunct series name so nobody can attempt to create a rival series to me.
10:25 LOL
Welcome back, ASA?👀
Joey Logano was a baby 11:45
ASA
2:24 wow and I thought the great colaseum was tough to pass on
No mention of the ASA Late Model series?
If they revive the asa..I hope napcar stays the hell away ...we need a series with 0 gimmicks and 0 social justice sh!t....just oval track racing
I remember MIKE EDDY DOMINANCE IN THIS SERIES MUSTA BEEN LATE 80'S EARLY 90'S WAS THE GM GOODWRENCH 88 CAR
NASCARman: …a snowstorm in the middle of august…
Me: what where would that happen
NM: …in Alberta Canada
Me: (having been born and raised there) oh ok yup that tracks
I look for Nascar to purchase CARS and rebrand it as ASA. Streaming has done for short track racing what TNN did for short track pavement and sprint car racing. With the uncertainty of network TV deals, I also predict nascar to launch their own streaming service.
Makes sense
I can't believe they ran full size stock cars i. The pontiac Silverdome. I think there's no way thats a 1/4 track, it's smaller!
Trivia question: who was Jimmie Johnson's ASA team mate?
@@robertadams6017 nice!
@@robertadams6017 now that I'm not sure of lol
@@robertadams6017 ah thanks I learned something today lol
The rear quarter panel was a bad idea. Too hard to read. NASCAR did it right.
lets fuckin gooooo new vid
It's a good start when you see more nascarman stuff with Brock! Also, if the ASA comes back, it'll probably be shown through the FloRacing service, akin to the weekly dirt and ARCA series.
Edit: If so, this might help grow the series with the audience that is built in from the dirt races that are already shown and would stave off, at least in the short-term, the contract issue that doomed the National Tour in the first place.
FloRacing isn't that good.
If ASA come back. I don't know how many races will be a good start but if they can start with Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, Bristol, Martinsville, Richmond, Five Flags Speedway, & Rockingham (if track return). Those would be a great start for the series.
If I were them I would use ASA as a replacement for the late model division.
As long as the ASA comes to Iowa Speedway I'll be happy. NASCAR shouldn't let the track die.
IndyCar has a double-header weekend there in July.
I wonder if NASCAR would try to revive the L-R Series again lol
NASCAR could use the TA2 setup and be ready to go.
@@chada75 V8 Supercar-
oh wait, that's literally the Cup Car
So ASA is coming back... what is that gonna do for ARCA?
Side note, this could be a new K&N Pro Series revival
@@twiggyb8713 But K&N Pro is now regional ARCA.
Some how I got unsubscribe to you and Brock beard but I resubscribe how else is hyped up about racing coming back to North Carolina speedway
I don't think Joey Logano aged at all
Or matured
With auto racing dying a slow death, I’d be careful about investing energy into another racing series. I was asked to arrange funding for a golf course recently. I still can’t stop laughing. Also, where is the prize money coming from? Guys are racing Modifieds for less money than they got 30 years ago - including inflation. Good luck, kids.
Those quarter panel numbers look horrible! Makes the cars look cheap.
someone show this to joey logano.
They'll probably try to use it for the lame BS electric series they've been trying to push
Lol now Nascar wants to put money in short track racing? What happened to this decades ago? And if its an electric series… lmao! Count on maybe a couple hundred people showing up, at best.
Whoever revives it will go broke and wished they hadn’t…