ROSSBURG, OHIO: You can tell it’s a big-race week at Eldora Speedway. There are high-profile events, fat paychecks, and plenty of news.
It didn’t take long for the latter to take place. Before the teams rolled into the pit area, news hit social media that Kyle Larson and Brad Sweet were teaming up and partnering with FloRacing to create the “High Limit Sprint Car Series.”
A video promoting the new venture hit Twitter a little after 1 p.m. Wednesday. There were few details about the new series, which led to plenty of speculation within the dirt-track, and especially the Sprint Car, community.
Larson and Sweet stopped by the Eldora Speedway Media Center before Wednesday’s Joker’s Wild clear up the questions. A variety of topics were addressed, including how this affects the platinum teams running with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.
“I think we want to be good neighbors and work with the World of Outlaws,” Sweet said. “Those conversations haven’t happened yet, so we really can’t speak on how it’s going to go, but our goal is to not affect the World of Outlaws tour.
“As a series, we plan to not run against any World of Outlaws race at all, so we hope that we can work together. The main goal is to make the teams and drivers more money, make this more sustainable, and this is the best opportunity to inject money in. So, we are taking it.”
The series will consist of 12 mid-week races in 2023. Ten of the events will feature a winner’s share of $23,000, with two more events paying $50,000. The total A-Main purse for 10 of the shows will be $80,000, with two of the purses topping out at $140,000. There will also be a point fund for a total injection of $1.2 million into the sport.
While the 12-race schedule is slated to start next year, the first event will take place Aug. 16 at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind. The winner will receive $22,022. No other dates have been announced.
Sweet, the three-time defending World of Outlaws champion and current point leader, will not compete in the event at Putnamville due to his platinum commitment with the Outlaws.
“We just have the Putnamville date, for sure,” Sweet said. “We’ve had a lot of talks with a lot of different promoters to make sure that we are on track with our business model and that the tracks are going to like what we are presenting them.
“Nothing is set in stone, because we do want to work with the World of Outlaws and the All Stars and everybody out there. We don’t want to come in and make a divide or anything like that. So, obviously, we are going to try and work with those series moving forward and put out a nice workable schedule.”
A MONETARY BUMP
Kyle Larson’s regular job consists of Sunday afternoon — and some Saturday nights — asphalt racing with America’s premier series, the NASCAR Cup Series.
But when Larson gets the chance, he will compete in various dirt-track events, specifically Late Model, Sprint Car, and Midget races. His time running a Late Model and what is going on with purses in the division have left a lasting impression.
Now, Larson gets a chance to bring bigger paydays to Sprint Car racing. That was his motivation for bringing the idea to his brother-in-law Brad Sweet, who has promoted races in the past at California’s Placerville Speedway.
“On my behalf, I’ve gotten the chance to compete in a lot of mid-week races, different series, and forms of racing, and I’ve gotten to see the health of those sports,” Larson said. “Sprint Car racing is something I’m very passionate about, and I want these drivers, Brad and a lot of my friends, to be racing for what they deserve.
“It’s exciting news, exciting to be a part of it, and I’m really looking forward to getting it started with the Putnamville event in August and with the series next year.”
Larson’s inspiration wasn’t just sitting in a Late Model and seeing the bigger purses. He also promoted a successful Late Model event earlier this year at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls, Gap, Tenn.
It was an event that got Sprint Car fans talking. Larson noticed that a mid-week series was missing in Sprint Car racing, and this was a way to provide more money while filling that that void.
“When I promoted that race at Bulls Gap, there was a lot of chatter within the Sprint Car community like, ‘Man, we need something like this, whether it’s a one-off event or a series,’” Larson said. “So, really, from then on is when I tried to see what I could do to come up with something, and with Brad and I’s relationship at Silver Dollar Speedway, I felt for sure that I wanted to include him.
“There is also someone who puts out a tweet every month or so of the top-12 earners in Late Models, and it’s not even close to Sprint Cars. I want to get Sprint Car racers up to what that is. That’s kind of a goal of mine.”
Continued Larson, “When I originally talked to Brad about this, it was like, ‘You could make a lot of money.’ I was like, ‘Brad, it’s not about me making money. I want guys in the pit area to be able to go race for a million dollars in earnings throughout the year.’ I think this is a good start to that, and I hope we see other events, and other series start to raise their purses, as well.”
BUILDING AN INFRASTRUCTURE
Sweet admitted that this week was about getting the initial announcement out to take advantage of the media blitz surrounding the Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway.
Now, it’s time to get to work. Sweet indicated that he will not compete at Putnamville in August, but he will be in attendance to oversee the event and see what needs to be worked on moving forward.
“For Putnamville, we have a contract with a group to run the program,” Sweet said. “I won’t race the Putnamville race, so it’s a chance for me to evaluate and be on that side of the fence.
“We will utilize a lot of what Putnamville has as far as staffing for the first event and then we are going to kind of work through some things. We got this announcement out, and we haven’t necessarily gotten into a ton of details of how each stop is going to be staffed.”
As for the tracks and dates for 2023, those are yet to be determined. But there is no region that is off the list of hosting an event.
Rumors have already surfaced about tracks in central Pennsylvania, the Midwest, and on the West Coast. According to Larson and Sweet, the dates and facilities have to make sense to maximize attendance and participation.
“I think everything is on the table,” Sweet said. “It’s just like anything, we want to make sure we are capitalizing on places that have good weather, and we know can have fans. We, definitely, want to have a lot of fans in the stands and go to venues where we can put on a good show. We will stay in the range of whatever is workable weather wise.”
Said Larson, “We have time, too. From the time of the August event and the first race of next year, we will have time to evaluate how many people we will need, how we want to go about that, and go about the proper structure of people and what we need to put out a nice event that Flo’s going to stream.
“June and July, there is already a lot of racing throughout the country with Ohio Speedweek, Pennsylvania Speedweek, and weekends like this. So, I could see those being slower months for what we have going on, but I would say the other months, everything is up for grabs depending on weather.”
Regardless of the schedule, Sweet indicated that the plan was to keep the “High Limit Sprint Car Series” to 12 races next season and for the foreseeable future.
“We would like to run 12 events, because we feel like 12 mid-week events, especially for Kyle’s schedule, allows him to run his Cup stuff, run other stuff, and 12 events doesn’t over-dilute things too much,” Sweet said. “I think in the middle of the week, there is enough that we can work around everything that is going on.
“We are focused on next year, for one, and 12 races in the middle of the week fits into everything and makes sense for everybody. Obviously, we want something that is really cool and keeps making teams more money. Whatever that leads to, we will kind of follow along with it.”