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Racing on the Cheap

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The cost of racing these days is keeping many racecars across the country in the garage.

And it is leaving many tracks with short fields. But there is one former Sprint Car driver who is facing the problem head-on.

Meet Aaron Fry, a former winged and non-winged sprint car driver in the mid-west. He ran on both dirt and pavement. And even today, he still competes in the open wheel machines.

But there is one series that he DOES NOT compete with. That is the BOSS group, and the reason he doesn’t is because he and his daughter Elizabeth formed the series in 2011.

Furious BOSS Series action at Lawrenceburg Speedway in southern Indiana.
Mike Fischesser(4) leads a trio of non-winged sprinters

The Midwest group’s vehicle is the non-wing dirt Sprint Car. Notice that we didn’t call them 360 or 410 sprints since there is no engine rule. Heck, run what you brung. And Aaron explains that he’s see just about everything sitting in the engine compartment. He added, “We run mostly dirt short tracks and there is really no need for that added horsepower because it overpowers the track.

“I have considered running these dirt cars on the pavement with only minor changes, and might be trying it sometime in the future,” he indicated. That single-car technique was tried successfully by the USAC Sprints in earlier days. But then a pavement car design was allowed, it required the teams to have two cars to be competitive. It resulted in depleted fields as the smaller teams couldn’t afford both cars.

Another interesting economy rule with this group is that there is no tire rule. Run any brand tire that you like. That’s one of the big reasons why BOSS is attracting almost a 40-car average in its races which the promoters obviously love! Surprisingly, not all of the BOSS drivers are local. When there is an opening, it’s not surprising to find winged drivers taking off that aluminum sun shield along with national drivers from USAC. You just never know who is going to show up.

Kent Wolters, a longtime veteran, stays in the driver’s seat with the BOSS group.
Wheel-to-wheel action.

But there is one more of the longstanding rules, the weight rule, which is also not observed here. Fry added, “But we won’t allow them to make the cars too light to the point of being unsafe.”
And looking at it from the BOSS billfold point-of-view, there are no membership or entry costs. Also, there are a number of cash bonus awards for Hard Charger, Hard Luck, Perseverance, Sweet Move of the Race, Lucky Pill and the Highest-Finishing car with a steel block. Hoosier and American Racer provide a free tire to the highest finisher carrying four of that manufacturer’s brand. Finally, there is cash paid for heat race wins.

Cody Swanson in the BOSS winner’s circle at Atomic Speedway in Ohio.
The number 14 car of BOSS regular Chad Wilson finds himself surrounded by two other cars.

The smart changes just seem to keep rolling out from the fertile Fry mind. Try these on! The organization was the first in the US to implement random drug testing at every event starting in 2015, along with bringing back the driver age of 16 to compete.

Aaron also has a great love for auto racing’s past and carries a ‘Turnback Tuesday’ on the series Facebook. He also explained, “We are also building a sprint car with a vocational school which exposes hundreds of new kids to our sport. The Collins Career Center in Lawrence County Ohio is where this activity is carried out.

And how many small traveling series’ like BOSS have all their races televised? BOSS does!!

Dustin Ingle (2) finds himself ahead of a mob of cars at the Waynesfield Raceway Park in Ohio.
The 2016 BOSS Banquet. That’s the BOSS boss Aaron Fry on his knees on the floor. Last year’s Champion Shawn Westerfeld is behind Aaron with the biggest trophy.
Best to be running up front with that much dust being raised up.
2016 Champion Shawn Westerfeld.
USAC driver Jarret Andretti runs BOSS races whenever his schedule allows.
That’s Mike Miller, the 2014 BOSS Champion, in the lead car.
A fierce battle for the lead.
Not only does Aaron Fry love sprint car racing as a series director, but still as a driver when there is an open date for his BOSS director duties.
Nifty logo.
Kirk Jeffries, Westerville, Ohio
Lawenceburg (Indiana) Speedway pits with BOSS cars in 2017.
Cooley Cabinets is a sponsor for the BOSS Series.

The post Racing on the Cheap appeared first on Hot Rod Network.


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