By Nick Fultz (New Hartford, NY) | On Sunday (2/11), teams and staff from both the CRSA Sprint tour and Land of Legends Raceway met to discuss the upcoming season for the 305 Sprints. Topics of discussion included the new technical rules for the CRSA tour and the Land of Legends Raceway, procedural rules, purse and point fund money and safety rules.
For the 2018 tour the CRSA sprints will follow the RaceSaver engine package, but will not be IMCA sanctioned. For this season competitors will have two options in regards to getting their motor sealed. They can see either the CRSA series Technical Inspector, Mike VanDusen, or Land of Legends Technical Inspector Rob Noaker, and have their motor sealed with CRSA approved seals that will allow them to run with the tour and at Land of Legends, or they may purchase an IMCA membership through IMCA, and provide that documentation to the Technical Directors and they will be able to seal your motor with RaceSaver approved seals.
With the change in sanction, CRSA will also mandate a new Right Rear tire. For the upcoming season teams will be required to run a HTC right rear tire, or will have the option to use the RD25 right rear tire on hard surfaces. The CRSA tour will allow teams to run the RaceSaver RR tire until six (6) shows have been completed, then the HTC or RD25 will be mandatory. The Land of Legends Raceway will allow the RaceSaver tire to be run for the first six (6) weeks of competition. After that the HTC or RD25 will be mandatory. The other three tires (LR, RF, LF) are open compound but must be Hoosier manufactured.
Safety remains a key concern in racing, and the CRSA tour is taking a step to protect both fans and drivers. Effective the first race of the year, drivers choosing to use wheel covers will be required to have a minimum of five (5) steel DZUS buttons, or they have the option of using either three (3) studs and nuts or three (3) inserts with bolts in them to secure the wheel cover to the beadlock.
For the 2018 season MEM Inc. parent company of the CRSA tour is guaranteeing a $12,000-point fund for the CRSA tour, with the points champion taking home at least $2,500. In order for drivers to be eligible for point fund money with the CRSA tour, they must attend at least 75% of the completed shows. With the new year, the CRSA Sprints will also see a purse increase as well. This year the tour will pay out $400 to the winner, and will pay $150 to start. At least three shows will have larger payouts and purses. The Saturday June 23 show at the Land of Legends Raceway, Canandaigua, NY, the October 5 Short Track Super Nationals at Afton Motorsports Park, Afton NY and the October 20 Eastern States Weekend at Orange County Fair Speedway, Middletown, NY will all pay $1,000 to win!
Currently the CRSA Sprints have 19 confirmed dates on the schedule. The CRSA Sprints will open up the 2018 season with a familiar stop at The Track of Champions, Fonda Speedway, in Fultonville, New York on April 28, 2018.
The CRSA Sprint tour will be on hand at three area auto shows during the month of March 2018. On March 3 and 4 the Tour will be at the Finger Lakes Speed World Show at the Finger Lakes Mall in Auburn, NY. On March 10 and 11 the Tour will be at the Syracuse Motorsports Expo at the New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, NY. On March 17 and 18, the CRSA Tour will be at the Woodhull Raceway show at the Arnot Mall located in Horseheads, NY. Printed schedule cards will be available at our display during these three shows.
For fans, teams and marketing partners looking for more information you can check out the CRSA Sprints on the web at www.crsasprints.com on Facebook under CRSA Sprints or follow @CRSASprints on twitter.
- Nicholas Fultz on Feb 16, 2018
- Article Date: 2/16/2018 by Nick Fultz