ASA STARS National Tour
ASA to Sanction STARS National Tour for Pavement Super Late Models
Dec 10, 2022
Don't Know Much About the ASA? Catch Up Here
All you need to know about the sanctioning body's return to racing
The American Speed Association (ASA) is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana, and later in Daytona Beach, Florida. The ASA sanctioned asphalt and dirt tracks in their ASA Member Track program along with racing series in the United States and Canada.
The ASA was most famous for a national touring series which began in 1973 but was discontinued in 2004 due to financial difficulties. In 2005, ASA became primarily a short track sanctioning clearinghouse under the leadership of Dennis Huth.
The cars from the ASA National tour also raced in England in the now-defunct Stock Car Speed Association (formally ASCAR).
On December 10th, 2022, racing promoter Track Enterprises announced that the ASA would make a return to sanction the 2023 ASA STARS National Tour, a super late model racing series, under a licensing agreement with ARCA (The Automobile Racing Club of America).
“What a great opportunity to bring the ASA back to short track pavement racing,” Bob Sargent with Track Enterprises stated. “ASA was the premier short track racing series in its day and we are excited to keep that iconic brand alive.”
The ASA STARS National Tour debuts today, March 11th, as a 10-race series visiting the premier paved short tracks in the United States. A national champion will be crowned in November of 2023 at the All-American 400 at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway (TN). A $100,000 championship point fund (minimum) has been confirmed, which will pay the top ten in the final standings, including $25,000 to the series champion.
Founded in 1968 by Rex and Becky Robbins, ASA held its first national stock car series race at Salem Speedway and crowned its first national champion in 1973. Some of the biggest NASCAR stars got their start with ASA, including Mark Martin, Rusty and Kenny Wallace, Alan Kulwicki, Jimmie Johnson and many more. In addition, short track stars including Mike Eddy, Bob Senneker, Butch Miller, Dick Trickle and Scott Hansen became household names to short track fans.
At its peak, the series enjoyed national television coverage on TNN (The Nashville Network), but in 2001 Gaylord Entertainment, the parent company of TNN, sold its cable TV holdings. New owner MTV and the Nickelodeon Group decided to disband TNN, and drop motorsports from their coverage plans. The move forced Robbins to sell the series in 2003, and just a few short years later, ASA went out of business.
NASCAR acquired the Intellectual Property Rights to the ASA Brand following the series demise, in an effort to protect and preserve the historical relevance of the sanctioning body. The announcement of the STARS National Tour presented an opportunity to further preserve and promote the brand, and the IP Rights were granted to Track Enterprises by way of its licensing agreement with ARCA, a wholly owned NASCAR Property.
Want even more history? Check out the American Speed Reborn series from Racing America:
American Speed Reborn: Star-Studded 1977
American Speed Reborn: Eddy As He Goes
American Speed Reborn: The Year of the Moose
American Speed Reborn: The Polar Bear’s First Championship
ASA STARS NATIONAL TOUR ON RACING AMERICA
