I
f it was possible to turn the clock back 40
years or so, to the time when I first
became hooked on Stock Car Racing, a
few die-hard BriSCA F1 fans would
probably be in their element. Or would
they?
I pose this question: “If we went back to a
time when we had F1 ‘stand-alone’
meetings, fielding a minimum of 60 cars –
running both Saturdays and Sundays (with
an odd Monday & Friday thrown in for good
measure) AND If there were short journeys
to the tracks because we could choose
between meetings in the North or South
what the hell would the small minority have
to moan about?”
I’m a totally committed BriSCA F1 supporter,
who for over four decades have lived and
breathed BriSCA F1. I’ve driven (Ex 31),
been a mechanic, financed, sponsored and
promoted F1s, but I’m still able to have an
open mind as far as all forms of oval motor
racing goes, in particular ‘contact’ racing.
I remember seeing the big old American
cars left for scrap when the Yankee soldiers
returned home. They were racing in a field
at Staines, Middlesex, during the 1950s.
Yes, I really am that old! It wasn’t until the
70s that I began to take a real interest in the
formula. It was after I’d been to see a
meeting at Rochdale, featuring drivers such
as Stu Smith, Frankie Wainman Snr.,
Gordon Smith, Willie Harrison, Doug
Cronshaw and Bobby Burns to name just a
few.
At that time, petrol was creeping up towards
the 50p per gallon mark. A relatively
competitive F1 car, ready to race, cost less
than a rear axle now costs for a modern
Photo by: Anthony Jenkins
tarmac F1 stock-car. At the same time, an
F1 driver towing his car on a trailer behind
his car/van, could race, have fish, chips and
a beer on the way home and still have
change left over from his £25 start money.
Also, the promoters were on a roll. The fanbase was such that if you were a short-arse
like me, and you weren’t standing in the
queue for the turnstiles at Odsal Stadium in
Bradford by 5pm on a Friday night, you’d be
hard pressed to find a place to stand where
you could see all the action clearly - and the
turnstiles didn’t even open until 6pm.
Compare that with today. Petrol costs £1.40
per litre and transport regulations demand
that a large vehicle is now needed to get an
F1 to and from the stadium. To make
matters worse, drivers travel further afield as
stadiums become fewer and fewer. Start
money is roughly the same, but prize money
is a pittance, even when compared with
other minority sports.
Promoters too are suffering. The cost of
running stadiums and promoting events has
increased - just like everything else.
Stadiums only make money when they are
being fully utilized and filled with paying
spectators. The reality is that stadiums have
closed down, that there are now far fewer
meetings, that car numbers are down and
spectators are leaking away meeting by
meeting. It’s a catch 22 situation. Rising
costs and lack of cars, means fewer fans
and, inevitably, a loss of venues at which to
race. It is an ever decreasing circle. The
loss و