If anybody is interested, speed 51 had an interview with the head guy from USAR Pro Cup that explains some of the things this year…
http://www.speed51.com/2011_Stories/Pro_Cup/state_of_pro_cup_1_25.html
Have a great day all…
“Gary Kale came up with a great plan. He sent everybody an email and said if every team puts up $20,000 and becomes a stockholder, we?ll have a million-dollars to run the series for two years.”
A great idea? I haven’t laughed that hard in a while. Pay us $20,000 to run with us on top of everything you’re spending now, it’s a good deal, honest! I’ve also got a bridge in Manhattan to sell you and some beautiful oceanfront property in Kansas.
“What would it cost me to move to the next series, something like ARCA or Trucks? If I say ARCA, it?s going to cost me three times as much. If I say Trucks, it?s going to cost me six times as much.”
He is sorely out of touch with reality. At most tracks, these days you can get a decent Truck ride cheaper than a decent ARCA ride.
At least the good thing about the USAR race at New Smyrna is that the TBARA is on the bill too.
And, he says he has “commitments” from 30 teams to come to New Smyrna.
Actually, once the transition is made to these Arrington/Dodge/ProCup engines is done (2012 season), I think it could be a very good deal. Granted, each team will have to cough up $35,000 but that gets them a whole season. You blow a motor, they give you another. I didn’t see anything referencing re-builds though, or whether you can get another motor if yours is just plain tired. These races are 250 laps, plus practice miles, and it won’t take long to tire one out. Do you have to “lease” another, or is it built into the program?
I’d like to see what the actual lease says. That would tell if this is a good deal or not. But if I was Joey Arrington, I’d make some people happy, if I had 400 engines that need to go somewhere.
It sounds to me like it is $30,000 for the season. I would assume there would be some maintenance program built in, to determine when an engine is timed out and needs freshening, just like anyone would use running a high dollar motor on their own. If these indeed are Cup level engines, and RPM limits are kept reasonable, it would seem safe to assume this program could work. On the surface $30k sounds like a lot, but when you amortize it over 20 races, it really seems pretty reasonable.
That is why I was wondering about it earlier because it does sound expensive, but since more details are coming out, it doesn’t seem like such a bad deal, especially since you blow it and you get another one… But again I would also like to see the wording of the leases…
Hope to see and find out some more about it…