Davey Hamilton Hired By USAC
Some new blood and another guy (along with Andy Hillenburg) who is a racer and knows what racers and owners need and want in the way of a sanctioning body.
It looks like maybe USAC is at least trying to move in the right direction. Sure hope so since Silver Crown racing and top flight wingless 410 sprint car racing, to a large degree, hang in the balance.
All in all Davey should represent a large PLUS to those of us who have seen USAC pull some really dumb stuff in the recent past.
Hamilton Named USAC Executive Director
CONCORD, N.C. — The United States Auto Club has hired 11-time Indianapolis 500 starter Davey Hamilton to serve as USAC Racing Executive Director, effective immediately.
USAC’s business structure will now encompass three main business segments for reporting and management purposes; USAC Racing, USAC Sanctioning, and USAC Properties & Promotions.
“I’ve known of USAC and been involved in it for such a long time, really all of my career,” Hamilton told SPEED SPORT by phone Monday afternoon. “Racing is difficult at its best in all divisions and I think they have done a really good job. Kevin Miller, the CEO of the company, has done a really good job marketing the series and getting sponsorships.
“It just seemed like they were … I shouldn’t even say, behind on the racing side. I just think we have opportunity to take it to the next level by sanctioning some other divisions within USAC and even looking at some race tracks and some different things to put under the USAC shield.”
Hamilton has already begun the process of bringing new divisions under the USAC banner. The King of the Wing Sprint Car Series, which is owned and operated by Hamilton, will now be sanctioned by USAC as will the Michigan-based Auto Value Super Sprints. Both series feature winged sprint cars racing on asphalt.
“We made a good business decision on both sides to do that. Once I started making some calls it just seemed there was a need for that,” Hamilton said about bringing the two series into USAC. “Auto Value Super Sprints has always been a good friend of King of the Wings and Tom Hartsell has been growing that series since he has he owned it. When we laid out the business plan and what advantages it would be to have USAC and what the opportunities it would be for him having the USAC sanction, he really liked it, so we chose to go that way.”
Hamilton will report to USAC President and CEO Kevin Miller, who will step away from the racing side of the business to focus more on sanctioning and sponsorships.
“Kevin is still CEO of the company and that is who I report to,” Hamilton said. “He is going to remove himself from the racing completely. He is going to go do what he feels he needs to do and what he feels he can do best, which is some sanctioning things and sponsorships for the company.”
Hamilton said the first thing he wants to do is look at USAC’s current product and see what improvements can be made. He also said he wants to put extra focus on the midget division in an attempt to revitalize that class of racing.
“We need to find out what our exact strengths and weaknesses are,” Hamilton said. “I think Andy (Hillenburg) has done a really good job of growing the Silver Crown Series. It is coming back to fruition. I think that has been a big challenge but it is getting better. You can tell that by the car count and the facilities we are going to.
“Under Jason (McCord) the sprint car deal runs pretty good, but there are always improvements that can be done. (We need) to continue to work with promoters to try to get more fans in the seats, to try to make it feasible to go to.
“I think the biggest challenge we have at USAC is the midgets and that is not just a USAC issue,” Hamilton continued. “That is every midget (sanctioning) body in the country. There is not a midget series that is strong and I have my ideas of how to fix that and strengthen that back up and to really get midgets going again.”
The goal according to Hamilton is to grow USAC’s racing product while also bringing in additional partners and sponsors to help facilitate the growth and expansion of the sanctioning body.
“My job also here is to make sure that we get some more funding into USAC and sponsorships and start growing things,” Hamilton said. “I’d love to see the Copper (World) Classic come back now. That is a stretch, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that could ever happen again, but it was such a successful event and those sort of things need to happen again.
“I’m working really hard on some ideas within the sprint cars to help everybody be involved in the national championship, not just the Midwest guys. There are a lot of things on my plate. I’m going to crawl before I can walk. I’ve already talked to a lot of owners and manufacturers and we’re just trying to grow where we think it (USAC) can grow.
“We just need to streamline it a little bit and not only make it bigger and better, but make it more sexy and more streamlined.
