ROOTS OF RACING, THE

Motor,  Mar 2004  by Nash, Tom

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Each year, new stars emerge in auto racing. They weren't born in the roll cage of a Nextel Cup car or the cockpit of an IRL racer. So, where do those young driving stars come from?

Man has always sought to prove his individual superiority over others of his species. In prehistoric times, the benefits of being the clans "alpha male" included getting the best food and females. These contests of territorial domination, like those in the animal kingdom, included physical battles, which left the loser tending to his battered body and crushed ego.

Later, as man domesticated horses and camels to carry him, the natural inclination to prove whose beast was better evolved into racing to settle the matter. The invention and development of the wheel then gave us the chariot races that thrilled spectators in ancient Rome.

A century ago, automobiles had barely been invented before the builders and owners sought to prove the superiority of their machines. Thus was born auto racing, a sport that's a lot more fun to watch-and participate in-than our early forefathers' contests for dominance.

Today there are over 50 types of automobile racing around the globe, ranging from rallies to valleys, from hill climbs to superspeedways, on surfaces of cement, dirt, sand, mud and ice, and over salt flats and jungle and swamp terrain. As long as there are powered vehicles, humans will continue to try to prove the superiority of "man and machine." The next generation of racers is currently training to outdo the last, But where are they?

In football and basketball, young athletes work their way through the competitive leagues of high school and college. Baseball and hockey players also emerge via junior and minor league systems. But few of us know much about the "minor leagues" of auto racing.

It so happens that most every major racing series has a "grass roots" developmental program to tutor, guide and protect youngsters. Racing organizations know that the future of their Moved sport lies in the youth who will be the racing heroes of the next generation. To ensure the survival and quality of their sport, these groups have set up structured programs to help develop these young drivers.

For every big-name driver in one of the major racing series today there are a thousand other youthful racers plying their craft on small regional tracks, working their way up to the Big Time. Today, those young men and women are involved in karting, motocross, motorcycle, boat and drag racing. Eventually, like salmon swimming upstream to spawn, the few that the fates don't sort out will make it to the top and become stars.

So, if you're wondering where the Earnhardts, Andrettis and Unsers of tomorrow will come from, rest assured they're out there. You just have to know where to look.

NASCAR: Dodge Weekly Series

The Dodge Weekly Series is NASCARs (www.nascar.com) championship program for weekly short-track competitors. Drivers compete at their home tracks for local awards, as well as regional and national championships. Eight geographic regions are represented: Atlantic, Heartland, Midwest, New England, Northeast, Northwest, Southeastern Coastal and Sunbelt. The regional champions' racing records are compared using a competition performance index point formula to determine a national champion.

How big is it? Well, in 2003, approximately 8000 drivers in 30 states competed in over 1600 events on 75 asphalt and dirt oval tracks, ranging in size from a quarter-mile to .646-mile in length. They vied for part of $1.7 million in point fund money.

Mark McFarland of Winchester, Virginia, won the 2003 NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series National Championship. The 25-year-old won the series' Atlantic Region championship after recording 16 wins and 18 top-five finishes in 18 starts in the Late Model Stock Car division at Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, Virginia. McFarland's bonus awards pushed his winnings to $213,500, the largest point fund award ever won by a single driver in the 21-year history of the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series.

The series was founded in 1982 and includes eight divisions: Late Model, Asphalt Modified, Sportsman, Pro Stock, Super Late Model, Dirt Late Model, Dirt Modifieds and Super Stock.

The NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series all-star alumni include some huge names-Jeff and Ward Burton, Stacy Compton, Terry Cook, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Ron Hornaday, Bobby Labonte, Jeremy Mayfield, Mike McLaughlin, Sterling Marlin, Jamie McMurray, Steve Park, Robert PressIcy, Elliott Sadler, Dennis Setzer, Jack Sprague and Mike Wallace.

Indy Racing League: Menards Infiniti Pro Series

The Indy Racing League (www.indyracingleague.com) created the Infiniti Pro Series in 2002 to serve as a stepping stone for young drivers with dreams of driving in the IndyCar Series. The series provides an ideal training ground for the rising talent of IRL's open-wheel racing.

The Menards Infiniti Pro Series schedule for 2004 consists of 12 100-mile races to be held at selected IRL venues, and includes the Freedom 100 Mile Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.