What Silly Season says about the state of sprint car racing

November 22, 5:35 PMSprint & Midget Car Racing ExaminerRichard Manfredi

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Tony Stewart
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/35437620@N05)
 

In any form of racing, the off-season is known as the “Silly Season,” when rumors about drivers switching teams flow freer than the drinks at a pub in Dublin on St. Patrick's Day. However, the torrent of rumors and movement happening this Silly Season – and before Thanksgiving – is thick as pea soup this year, with every sprint car racing Web site and message board filled with people who have “heard from good sources” that a certain driver is switching to a different team in 2010.

But the truly stunning part is how much movement has already happened – and sometimes for the wrong reasons. It wasn't surprising when Tony Stewart Racing announced on Friday that the team had parted ways with World of Outlaws driver Kraig Kinser – it was a move rumored to have happened months ago. But when Stewart said on Saturday that he was curbing his USAC involvement in 2010 – including only having one sprint car and no midget racing program – that news sends shockwaves through the sport.

Combined with Kasey Kahne also scaling back his open wheel team for 2010, the latest news about Tony Stewart Racing confirms what most people should know but sometimes forget – sprint car and midget racing is a business, and even millionaire NASCAR drivers with backing from major national sponsors are feeling the pinch of the current economic downturn.

In the short term, restricted finances are going to lead to more good drivers looking for rides. Not only are financial pressures leading to major teams pulling back their resources, but it also ramps up the pressure for drivers to succeed. Consider that Tony Stewart is choosing to pull back on his financial commitment after winning both the USAC National Sprint Car and World of Outlaws championships and wonder what it must be like for smaller teams trying to make it on a national level.

There might have been a time where a driver like Kraig Kinser would have been given more time to regain his confidence after returning to sprint car racing – especially with the most dominant driver in the sport in Donny Schatz as his teammate. But the realities of racing in 2010 wouldn't allow that to happen, leaving him scrambling for a ride and a lot of other drivers looking over their shoulders.