2nd new Sprint Series forms.

[TRACK ANNOUNCER]

From www.nationalsprinttour.com :

 

Introducing the National Sprint Tour!

 

Brownfield Promotions, Inc. is pleased and excited to announce the formation of the National Sprint Tour with plans to promote dirt track Sprint Car racing nationally starting with the 2006 season.

 

The new National Sprint Tour will feature many of the best sprint car drivers and teams in the world and bring the best in 410 winged Sprint Car racing to tracks throughout the country.

 

Teams and drivers committed to racing with the National Sprint Tour in 2006 include Danny Lasoski (Roth Motorsports), Jason Meyers (Elite Racing), Brian Paulus (P and P Motorsports), Woodward Racing’s Volcano Joe’s #2, Steve Kinser (Steve Kinser Racing), Shane Stewart (Rudeen Racing), Tim Shaffer (Parsons Motorsports), Brandon Wimmer (Two Winners Racing), Jason Solwold (Lon Carnahan Motorsports), Jason Sides (Sides Motorsports) and Lucas Wolf (David Helm/Selma Shell Racing).

 

When asked his opinion on the formation of the National Sprint Tour, race team representative attorney John Deckard commented, “These dozen or so teams and drivers represent the majority of the very best the sport has to offer. Some of them are like ‘fine wine’; others are young Turks ready to explode. The real winners are going to be the fans. The race program itself will be much more exciting, and of course, they’ll get to see the likes of The Dude, Jason Meyers, Shane, The King, Brian, Jason, Tim and all the rest that stand on 800 horsepower of dynamite to get to the front. I can’t wait. You wanted the best; here they are!”

 

“I’m excited that something’s finally going to happen here,” commented Steve “The King” Kinser. “I’ve had lots of ups and downs over what’s happened here this winter,” continued the Bloomington, IN driver, “and I feel very fortunate to be a part of starting the series although it is going to be a tough thing. But, I think overall it is the best for what is happening and we are going to make it work.”

 

“On behalf of myself and Dennis Roth Motorsports we’re really excited to take on this endeavor with this new series to come out,” said Danny “The Dude” Lasoski of Dover, MO. “I feel we are racing the best of the best in the United States and I’m sure we gotta crawl before we walk. I think all the fans out there are going to understand that we are trying to make this sport bigger and better and I support it wholeheartedly.”

 

"I think this will be good for the whole sport in getting Fred Brownfield behind the new group" commented Jason Sides of Bartlett, TN. “Everyone knows that Fred promotes good racing and we believe it will succeed. I’m really looking forward to the new season.”

 

Bixby, OK driver Shane Stewart commented, “Working with Fred has always been a privilege, and once they get the National Sprint Tour introduced to the tracks and fans everything should be fine. Maybe the Pettys dropping out of the other group was a good thing as it allows the Brownfield involvement. I know Rudeen Racing and myself are ready for a change and we are looking forward to what we think will be a success.”

 

“I think this is a really neat and pretty exciting deal,” said Tim Shaffer from Aliquippa, PA. “As a successful businessman, promoter and former driver, Fred has a great background to bring this new deal to the racers. Having been on both sides of the fence, he can understand the wants and desires of both the tracks and the drivers. I also think it is great the way the drivers and everyone is working together to make this a success.”

 

“There has obviously been a need for a change in the world of Sprint Car racing for the last couple of years,” said Brian Paulus of Mechanicsburg, PA. “Something needed to change. We needed somebody that had the passion about this that wanted to be as instrumental about it as the teams themselves. For Fred to get involved and step up to the plate at this stage of the game is pretty important to all of us teams. He is someone we all trust and respect and I think his rapport with the tracks and promoters will be a step in the right direction. One thing I hope the fans get out of this in the long run is that none of our teams, including Kinser and Lasoski, did this for the money. Look at our teams and all the time and effort we are putting in to this to make it successful; we’ve all pretty much laid our careers on the line with this when we all could have just signed on the line and gone back to race where we came from. We are all willing to do this to race for less money, less tow money and probably fewer dates. We are willing to do this to make the sport better in the long run and it might not be in the next year or two but if the tracks and fans support us in five or six years it could be huge.”

 

“I think it’s going to cause a lot of grief but is going to be good in the end,” stated Burlington, WA driver Jason Solwold. “We have the right man for the right job and I think that Fred can make something happen out of this and better our sport. There is a lot of work to be done; I can't even imagine doing it myself. On the other hand I think Fred can do it and that he has been in worse situations before. He is probably in a positive position now to better his racing program with this new National Sprint Tour. I'm excited and I think everybody was waiting around after the other guys left. Everyone was confused a little bit there. I talked to Fred a few weeks ago and suggested to him that he was the right man to do it and I guess that he agreed.”

 

“We have always enjoyed the integrity and excitement that the Brownfield group brings to their shows”, stated Jason Meyers of Clovis, CA. “Fred has a good business head and a very big heart, something I always look for in a person, and the racing team is happy that we’ve found a home that we’ve been welcomed into and we are looking forward to the 2006 season.”

 

Based in Snohomish, WA, Brownfield Promotions was formed in 1994 and currently manages and promotes Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, WA and the Northern Sprint Tour, a 360 Sprint group that has raced at tracks in Washington, Oregon, Montana and Alberta, Canada. Brownfield Promotions has also promoted the “Wild Wild Northwest Tour” since 1994.

 

If you are a fan and would like to see the National Sprint Tour race at your favorite track, let your promoter know.

 

If you are a track interested in an opportunity to have the National Sprint Tour at your facility, or a team interested in joining the National Sprint Tour, further information may be had by contacting the Brownfield Promotions office by sending an email to promotions@brownfieldent.com.

[TRACK ANNOUNCER]

AND MORE NEWS;

 

 

Grays Harbor Raceway's ( Located in the state of Washington ) promoter launches new Sprint tour

 

BY CRAIG MURPHY

 

FOR THE OLYMPIAN

 

Some have lamented the on-track action of Sprint car racing isn't as good as it used to be.

 

That has been balanced out by the pace of the off-track action this fall. The action was particularly fast-paced this weekend thanks to Fred Brownfield, who promotes races in Elma.

 

In late September, the National Sprintcar League (NSL) was announced as a direct competitor to the long-running World of Outlaw Sprint Series operated by DIRT MotorSports.

 

Twelve top Outlaw drivers, including 20-time champion Steve Kinser, signed with the NSL.

 

The split in Sprint car ranks left promoters like Grays Harbor Raceway's Brownfield in a tough spot: go with the old group and relatively unknown drivers, or go with the established drivers in an unknown series.

 

Earlier this fall, Brownfield said the split was "not good" for Sprint car racing and its fans.

 

By late November, NASCAR's Petty family, which had spearheaded the NSL effort, withdrew its support. At an early December motorsports convention in Florida, it became known the NSL had folded.

 

At the time, it seemed drivers and teams would have to go back to the Outlaw series with tails tucked between their legs.

 

Racing nation divided

 

Enter Brownfield.

 

Prior to the NSL collapse, Brownfield had committed to running the new series at his track in Elma, plus tracks in the four other states he promotes races in.

 

Earlier this month, Brownfield, a former Outlaw racer who is good friends with series founder Ted Johnson, seemed resigned to going back to the series he has promoted in the Northwest since 1994.

 

"I guess my statement would be that I'm disappointed the NSL was not able to continue their quest to be where they wanted to be," Brownfield said Dec. 7 before a trip to a promoter's convention. "But racing will continue at Grays Harbor Raceway. We're working on setting Outlaw dates. That's what I'm flying to Reno for."

 

Saturday afternoon, a press release announced the formation of Brownfield Promotions Inc's new National Sprint Tour.

 

New Sprint tour

 

The new NST will compete with the Outlaws, and comes directly as a response to the NSL folding. Twelve top drivers have announced they will be in the NST. Eleven were announced Saturday, while Brownfield said Sunday Paul McMahan would be driving for NASCAR champion Tony Stewart.

 

"I was not happy with the circumstances I was in," Brownfield said Sunday afternoon. "With the closure of the NSL, I was trying to merge back with DIRT. It wasn't going satisfactory to my liking, plus the 12 drivers hadn't signed back with DIRT. I felt compelled to talk to them. They wanted to race for me. It came together in 72 hours."

 

Brownfield said he had "no idea" what happened with the NSL, and had no thoughts of starting a national series until the NSL collapse.

 

"I was shocked," Brownfield said. "I felt a big hole in my stomach. I had put lot of faith in that organization and the teams that were racing in it."

 

While the past few days have been busy for Brownfield, he knows plenty more work lies ahead. It's been widely speculated uncertainty among promoters led to the NSL's demise.

 

"First we signed the drivers," Brownfield said. "Then we need to work on a schedule, TV and sponsors. At this point it's hard to say (when that will be done). It will take time getting promoters comfortable with this deal.

 

"Once that is accomplished, it will take a little while to finish up the schedule," Brownfield added. "Sponsors aren't going to talk to me until I have events."

 

Ambitious plan

 

Brownfield has ambitious plans, and recognizes it could take a full season before things are settled down.

 

"We would like to start with 60 races," Brownfield said of 2006. "I would like to start the season in February. I think we're close to having February dates final. We will be scheduling tracks throughout the year. It will be difficult for tracks since they've already set their schedules, and we recognize that."

 

Brownfield and wife Debbie have promoted races since 1994, and started promoting Elma Outlaw races in 1996, the same year the Northern Sprint Tour was created. The Brownfields earned Outlaw promoting awards the last two years.

 

"We are very excited about the possibility of growth and what we can contribute to the sport," Brownfield said. "There's no question that without a certain amount of pain, there won't be any gain. We'll do the best that we can."

 

So far, Brownfield noted his plans have been met with enthusiasm.

 

"All of the responses have been extremely positive," he said. "There has been considerable surprise, to be honest with you. I think it caught a lot of people off-guard."