The Southern Dirt Racing Association racer and fan expo will take place January 16 and 17 in Perry, Georgia. Not only is the expo geared to sharing knowledge and buying and selling parts, but also as a springboard to a new racing series.
The SDRA Racers-Fan Expo and Auction was started by Joe Lewandoski, who previously worked for the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series. After spending a number of years in that series, Lewandoski looks to bring that experience to dirt racing.
“I’ve been out of racing for about six years,” Lewandoski said. “I was looking to get back in and thought I would try to do something in dirt.”
Lewandoski came up with the idea to start his own crate racing series, the SDRA. The premise is to offer affordable racing.
“As I was looking to get back into racing, I thought I would try something with the 602 motors,” Lewandoski stated. “I really think that’s the next big thing. My idea is for a racer to get a used roller with a 602 and go racing.”
While there are other crate racing series in existance, Lewandoski says his is different because of the rules.
“The 602 motor is a much more afforable option that the 604,” he said. “Once the other series started allowing the 604, racers started looking at other things to go faster. And those things cost more money. My idea is to get a user roller for about five thousand and a 602 motor, race ready, for about seven thousand.”
“Once the low friction parts came into play with the transmissions, rear ends, and other components, that started driving up the cost of crate racing. That was not the intention behind the idea of crate racing. Those parts are more expensive and less reliable. I had a driver tell me for the money he has in his crate program, he might as well be racing a super late model regionally. The SDRA will use more common, standard components that won’t drive up the cost to go racing.”
Lewandoski is using the expo and auction to jump-start his series and provide a gathering place for racers and fans to share ideas.
“This is an opportnity to sell my program,” Lewandoski added. “I want this to be a race-o-rama where people from all areas of racing can get together. I have a lady to do the auction. I have 17 tracks lined up to share in their ideas of promoting. I have 12 tech vendors to talk about their products. And there will be a number of drivers to sign autographs and talk about their experiences and knowledge of racing.”
Some of the drivers scheduled to attend are Scott Bloomquist, Chris Madde, Jason Hiett, William Thomas, and more.
Lewandoski hopes the expo will be a success and a launch to racing series.
“Ideally, in 2016, I’d like to run three fall races to kick things off,” Lewandoski said. “In 2017, I’d like to sanction some tracks like we did with the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series.”
As for the expo, Lewandoski is providing an opportunity for racers and promoters to get help in a number of areas. Area racers can get advice and help from the scheduled drivers and promoters can get ideas from the attending promoters.
“If a racer wants to come talk to a Scott Bloomquist or a Chris Madden, this is the perfect opportunity for that,” Lewandoski said. “We have several promoters that will come share some ideas with other promoters that might be looking for something to help their own program. All of this will be scheduled throughout the day. For ten dollars, there will be information available that will be worth much more than ten dollars.”
There is a web site for the expo and fan auction for those looking for additional information. That web site is www.sdraweekly.com.
