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When Tony Novotny began the Canadian Association for Stock Car Auto Racing
(CASCAR) with his crew at Delaware Speedway in 1981, his motivation was simple: he couldn't see why short track stock car racing in Canada couldn't fall under some type of sanctioning body.
In a motorsport segment that takes independent tract fiefdoms almost for granted, CASCAR has managed to provide a semblance of consistency for competition at different tracks.
"We wrote a rule book in 1981 primarily for our own use at Delaware, I guess it was 1985 that we started to take it to other tracks through Bob Slack at Cayuga Speedway," recalls Novotny.
"He was bringing in Donny and Bobby and Davy Allison etc. for an exhibition and he needed some help in terms of cars. We set up an arrangement with him offering him some of the late model cars for them to drive. We asked him to host a CASCAR race in return."
And that, says Novotny, was the beginning of a touring series that, as the CASCAR Super Series, now brings a marketable brand of short track racing to 14 tracts from coast to coast with cars competing for a prize find of cash and awards totaling nearly one million dollars.
It didn't happen overnight, of course. Novotny says that they struggled along for years. Along the way Novotny clashed with some track owners and competitors who didn't agree on the direction CASCAR should be taking. Some objected to his giving appearance priority over speed--Super Series cars continue to be just "fast enough"--still others objected to his authoritarian style that has earned him a "little dictator" reputation. Some have objected to the very existence of CASCAR, seeing it as a threat to their independence.
But in the last three or four years, the Super Series has been able to present the type of entertainment product and the kind of exposure to make a truly high profile national series possible.
Along the way CASCAR has forged some pretty impressive links with the aftermarket. As an example CASCAR marketing & sales director Dave Lloyd offers their long standing association with McKerlie-Millen.
"With McKerlie-Millen We have had 15 consecutive years of successful sponsorship marketing involvement. It grew from something relatively humble...