Sunday, September 24, 2000
Auto Racing Insider
Allen wants own ASA team
Cincinnati native Glenn Allen Jr. hoped to be a NASCAR Winston Cup driver by now. Instead, he is returning to his roots.
Allen, the 1996 NASCAR Busch rookie of the year, plans to start his own American Speed Association race team in 2001. After losing his Busch ride, Allen returned to ASA in 2000. ASA is one of the feeder series for Busch and Winston drivers.
Allen, 29, a Lockland High School graduate, plans to move back to Cincinnati with wife, Katherine. He has been living in North Carolina, where most major NASCAR teams are based.
Allen wants to be a driver/owner and is seeking corporate sponsors for his new team. He was a top ASA driver in the early 1990s, when he first made a national reputation.
“ASA is the best value in racing for today's corporations,” Allen said. “The sponsorship is very affordable.”
Sponsor and money problems knocked Allen out of the Busch series, NASCAR's No.2 circuit. After three years as one of the top 15 Busch drivers, Allen's fortunes soured in 1999. His two-car team had some financial problems, and Allen caught the short end of it. He lost his ride late in the season.
He ran nine Busch races this year as an unattached driver, then returned to the ASA series in July. He has run 10 ASA races this year, with nine top-10 finishes. The ASA stock series races mostly in the Midwest and Southeast.
Allen has become the most visible Cincinnati driver on the stock circuits and had hoped to become the first Tristate driver to race a full Winston Cup season in the modern era.
Darrell Lanigan (Union, Ky.) and Jeff Fultz (Blue Ash) are among locals with a chance for Busch and/or limited Winston rides. Fultz stands second in the NASCAR Slim Jim All-Pro season points race.
SOPHOMORE SEASON: Kentucky Speedway announced its 2001 schedule last week, featuring a Busch race (June 16), Craftsman Truck race (Ju ly 14) and IRL race (Aug.12).
The speedway sold 14,000 season tickets for 2000, and that should grow with Busch coming.
“We'd like between 25,000 and 30,000 season tickets next year,” said Mark Cassis, speedway general manager.
Cassis said the track's priority for 2001 is better traffic flow.
“One of our biggest things will be getting people in and out of this venue,” Cassis said. “The interstate (71) needs to be widened, and our proposed interchange needs to be completed.”
The speedway is lobbying for a new interchange about 2 miles south of the Sparta exit No.57, which would connect to Markland Dam and over to the new Belterra Resort in Indiana.
“The state is working on land acquisition,” Cassis said. “We're trying to get that started.”
There are no plans to expand the grandstands from the 66,000 capacity, although more luxury suites might be added.
And, start thinking about those hotel reservations, especially for the Busch weekend.
“The closest thing available is Florence, and it's already 90 percent filled,” Cassis said. “We could be spilling over into downtown Cincinnati, which would be a first.”
MTV CLIMBS ABOARD: MTV has started working on a documentary of NASCAR. It kicked off its first weekend at New Hampshire last week, sending two TV camera personnel to spend the day in the pit stall of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
MTV is staffing all the remaining 2000 Winston Cup races and will air its documentary at the end of the season.
F1 VISITS: Today's Formula One race in Indianapolis is sold out, but its television appeal could be small. The race will be carried live by 16 of Fox Sports Net's 21 regional cable affiliates but will be competing with the Olympics and the NFL.
The 14 previous F1 races on Fox this year have scored an average U.S. rating of 0.33. By contrast, the Indy 500 this year drew a 5.4 rating and the Brickyard 400 drew a 3.6 in major markets.
E-mail: tgroeschen@enquirer.com
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