Last time I checked, the sprint car world does not seem to have imploded or fallen off a cliff. In fact, in this first year of a true battle between national sprint car organizations in more than a decade has progressed, it seems the sport may be better off and is as healthier than ever. 

The sport is in a much better place compared to when this happened 30 years ago. Sprint car racing has seen a lot of change in the 30-plus years since USA (United Sprint Association) and the Outlaws staged their battle, but the biggest one is the sport is healthier than it’s been in a while, and it is more accessible via online and social media. During the late 1980s, costs were beginning to catch up with racers and the mass proliferation of 360s and 305s had not happened yet, and car counts were dwindling. Outside of certain hot beds (Central PA, Northern California, Indiana), tracks were struggling for cars. 

As a 16-year-old sprint car fan living in Texas in 1988, I was disappointed the track near where I lived, Devil’s Bowl Speedway, would host the fledgling USA series in 1989, because at that time, I wanted to see other racers win other than Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell and Doug Wolfgang. Hey, I was a teenager. 
When I became a sportswriter, and got to know Lanny and Beverly Edwards, I understood why they did what they did. In Texas, the stars — namely Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell — sold tickets. Handwringing about car counts was done by us die-hards, but not by the casual fan in the growing Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex as long any combination of the 1980s “Big Three” was there. 

From reading National Speed Sport News and other publications at the time, the battle between the two organizations was not always nice but in a little over a year, USA crumbled for various reasons that are too long to go into here, and the Outlaws were back on top.

I still believe the battle set the stage for what the Outlaws evolved into over the next two decades. By the end of the 1990s, a decade that began with division, the series was racing on pristine tracks next to large NASCAR venues, television coverage improved, purses increased, and major sponsors were investing in the sport’s drivers and the series itself. 

Less than two decades later, the series had been sold and was beginning to chart a course for continued success that included streaming races live. It was no longer a mom-and-pop organization run out of a small office in Plano, Texas.

Now, it seems the sport has multiple levels where fans at multiple tracks, even in markets where sprint car racing is not prevalent, can see decent fields and good racing. The growth of the sport has provided a training ground for future sprint car racers and crew members, and a place where the part-time racer can still race somewhat competitively. Plus, promoters have an opportunity to have a sprint car series that doesn’t bust their bank account, and fans beyond their loyal fan base can see those events through streaming.

This time, as competition between major series has returned, it seems different than 30 years ago. I’m not privy to the motivation behind why Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson decided to take the gamble and start a new series, but what I see is the duo saw a need for another organization — with sound financial backing — to do what was happening in late model racing and take advantage of the growing streaming video audience. 

Let’s not kid ourselves, there are way more late models in the United States than sprint cars, but I think Sweet and Larson saw an opportunity to build a new series, serve some underserved racing markets with big-time dirt racing, help drivers earn some good money, and still offer drivers and teams a chance to rest. With the proliferation of big paying late model shows beyond the crown jewels, I think Sweet and Larson saw an opportunity to do the same in sprint car racing.  

Multiple crown jewel events of the sport may still be sanctioned by the Outlaws, but dates are open on the High Limit series, allowing those fields to have the best racers. 

Now we see a setup similar to late model racing where there are two major series, sometimes in close proximity but other times far enough away that it doesn’t affect car counts or crowds. And the band gets back together at the crown jewel events, like a few weeks ago at Eldora for a week. 

I think that might be what was envisioned for High Limit because I’ve heard Larson talk about how there are more big money late model events than sprint car events, and he saw the crowds at Flo’s Racing Night in America series. He wanted to replicate that for sprint cars.

Most of all, though, the fields at the events for both series have had high quality and solid car count numbers, which shows the health of the sport. That could change as the summer progresses, but through the first six months or so of the year, fans are seeing quality racing and quality-filled fields. 
None of us are fortune tellers or sooth sayers, although some might think they are! By the end of this season, we will not think twice about two national series crisscrossing the country because the sport will be better off as will those who watch it. 

Len Hayward is the Chili Bowl press room manager, a long-time sports journalist that covered everything from racing to boxing and is currently a senior communications specialist for the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies in Corpus Christi, Texas.