Pete Pistone
Managing Editor
INDIANAPOLIS - The final chapter in the American Speed Association's history may take place as early as next week when the sanctioning body files for bankruptcy.
Sources have told RacingOne during the 17th annual Performance Racing Industry trade show that the troubled ASA will formally file for bankruptcy in the coming days. Neither a series sponsor or potential buyer has been found to save the ASA from finally going under.
Series president Steve Dale had promised an answer as to the series' future by December 1st, a deadline that came and passed without any official announcement.
Most all of the ASA's in-house staff was laid off weeks ago and only a skeleton crew remains in the sanctioning body's Pendleton, Indiana headquarters.
There was no point fund money paid for the 2004 season and ASA's "Rookie of the Year," Brett Sontag, will also not receive the $50,000 prize for the award. And while the final two race purses of the season, held at Lowe's Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway were paid by those tracks, teams have not yet been paid for the September event held at Kentucky Speedway.
Some car owners are hopeful a buyer will ressurrect the National Tour after the filing. There was a report that several track operators were contemplating running as many as six events for the National Tour cars next season to keep the series at least partially alive in hopes a new ownership group could then put together a 2006 season return.
While the pending bankruptcy will most likely end any hopes of a 2005 schedule for the series' headliner National Tour, two other regional circuits will continue to operate under the ASA name.
Ron and Sandy Varney, part of the original founding team of the former USPRO Series which was purchased by Dale last year and became known as the ASA Late Model Series, have reacquired the series. The circuit, which enjoyed tremendous success in 2004, will run a series of 14-16 events in 2005.
The ASA Speed Truck Challenge, which was also run under the sanctioning body for the first time last season, will also continue. Series headman Jay Rutherford has released a 15-race schedule for the truck series which will once again feature a television package with The Outdoor Channel.
The ASA Member Track Program, a project launched last year for weekly track operators, will also continue in 2005. Dennis Huth, a former NASCAR official who was instrumental in building the sanctioning body's Weekly Racing Series and regional touring divisions, will continue to manage the ASA Member Track Program.