LOCAL PROMOTERS MEET WITH PASS & FRENCH GRIMES
10/17/2013
Harrisburg PA
Monday afternoon and unprecedented meeting was held locally at the Appalachian Brewing Company in Harrisburg. Several local promoters were invited by French Grimes to get more familiar with RaceSaver sprint racing and address concerns. Tom Worrick was also present from the PA Sprint Series as his first official work since having heart surgery in August as well as Rod Ort who volunteers for the series.
Alan Kreitzer (representing Lincoln Speedway) Steve O’Neal (Port Royal) and Todd Fisher (Susquehanna Speedway Park) joined in an active discussion about RaceSaver and its future locally and the importance of all of these tracks working together with each other as well as in concert with other tracks that have supported the series in the past.
RaceSaver Sprint Cars (often referred to locally as 305’s) are part of a nationwide series which focuses on “Recreational Racing” which utilizes a strict rules package which has remained unchanged since its inception in 1997. RaceSaver has grown across the country to nearly 1000 engines and has been well accepted in central PA where several other racing divisions also thrive. It’s been especially explosive in areas that don’t have an established Sprint Car base throughout the country. The PA Sprint series has had several popular drives come through the series including Rodney Westhafer who turned heads at this year’s National open and with many impressive runs throughout the year. They also have plenty of their own impressive talent including Mike II & Logan Wagner, Tyler Bear, Kody Lehman and Eric Parker. Recently Jake Waters of Mifflintown enjoyed his first ever win at Port Royal in the biggest race of the season along with his Dad. “I don’t know if Curt and Jake could afford to race in any other division, it was great to see Curt have that moment with his son” Stated Steve O'Neal
Grimes reviewed RaceSaver tech procedures and a thorough overview of the RaceSaver objective. Each of the promoters also conveyed some of their concerns as it applies to their tracks and concerns they heard from local drivers. Each of these items was reviewed by Worrick and some resolutions were proposed which was very well accepted by the attendees. All attendees agreed that the PA Sprint Series would continue to manage and oversee the region as tracks prefer a third party be in charge of tech and scheduling.
The PA Sprint Series is an organizational entity staffed by volunteers locally. The Series was established in 1998 and in its 15th year the series went through some turbulent times surrounding Worrick’s surgery. “I wasn’t adequately prepared to work without Tom" stated Rod Ort who was tasked with overseeing PASS when Worrick planned to retire after surgery. "As volunteers I felt we needed to work out some assignment of responsibility. The committee stepped up and staffed the races, I handled tech and the web site while Tom was recovering”.
Worrick realized after surgery that he was also not ready to retire so the meeting was called to ensure tracks of solid leadership and to establish a plan that allows the series to properly manage growth in the future. “Were going to review all of this with Todd Lynn, Gordy Lynn, Gerry Reinhart and Bill Irvine prior to next week’s annual meeting” continued Ort “Our plan will give stability within our current structure without overtaxing our personal schedules. The promoters there were very supportive of our series and the plan we presented going forward.
French Grimes has been long time friends with Alan Kreitzer but French had never discussed RaceSaver with Todd Fisher and Steve O’Neal “I was amazed how well these guys worked together behind the scenes” Ort said “as we discussed schedule; Steve, Todd and Alan were well aware of what each other was doing and had great co-operation between themselves and other tracks locally. I think that all of our local racing divisions have an awesome group of promoters in the area”
The meeting concluded after several hours with a very positive outcome. More details about 2014 will be communicated in the coming weeks as the schedule is worked out and the ongoing plan for 2014 is communicated with all of our tracks and local regions. Teams interested in racing with the series should keep an eye on pasprintseries.com for updates.
Rod Ort
717-938-5444
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