Weaver: ASA STARS delivered platinum package; here’s hoping teams do too

I leave the Snowball Derby every year feeling the same way.

‘This is the best product in motorsports, pound-for-pound, and I just wish we could have something similar to it more than once a year.’

Then came the creation of ASA STARS in 2023, the first earnest attempt during my adult life to create something greater than a regional touring series for the Super Late Model platform, a concept that is aspirationally a pavement World of Outlaws.

It’s been a work in progress over the past two seasons and that is to say nothing of the undertaking from Bob Sargent and Track Enterprises just to acquire both the Midwest Tour and Champion Racing Association and then strike a strategic alliance with the Southern Super Series.

That was a lot of work just to even get to 2023.

The inaugural event at Five Flags Speedway that March felt like a big deal, something akin to the Snowball Derby with all the big teams and star drivers. The momentum was short lived, however, with the Bubba Pollard-Casey Roderick fight resulting in a points penalty that immediately impacted any chance at a season long championship.

Stephen Nasse failed to make the next race at Madison, missing the show in qualifying and the last chance race, and just like that, the series was without two of the biggest stars in the discipline. Dan Fredrickson was disqualified from the win in that race, too. Roderick led the standings for much of the first half of the season, going toe-to-toe with eventual champion Ty Majeski, but fell off due to a lack of funding prior to the Redbud 400.

The next season, Majeski fell off the tour despite no tangible Truck Series conflicts and the series lost another star in Cole Butcher for much of the summer when he needed to undergo afib surgery.

With the exception of Butcher, the lack of full-time participation by the biggest names in the discipline came down to the incentive from the series not quite meeting the requirement. If it was more worthwhile to make trips to Wisconsin or Ohio, and to chase a championship, they would.

Sure, there are some technical regulation things to sort out, but at the end of the day, it’s expensive to travel all across the East Coast and Sargent, Marty Melo and ASA STARS are not unaware of those challenges.

And now they’ve responded to the moment.

ASA STARS has unveiled the Platinum Program presented by Rackley Roofing, which will contractually lock teams into the full season, while providing the greatest fiscal incentive to yet. There is a $100,000 points fund, a $655,000 full-time teams package and a million in race purses.

Now it’s up to the teams to meet the moment.

Once again, leaving the Snowball Derby I left Five Flags Speedway dreaming of a season long championship that features some combination of the following drivers

Ty Majeski
Casey Roderick
Bubba Pollard
Stephen Nasse
Cole Butcher
Derek Thorn
Matt Craig
Derek Kraus
Jeremy Doss
Austin Nason
Michael Hinde
Ty Fredrickson
Gabe Sommers

By the way, there’s still no Truck Series date conflicts, Majeski, Kaden Honeycutt and Gio Ruggiero.

READ MORE: The 2025 ASA STARS schedule

This would be, once again the pound-for-pound best show in motorsports, but teams need to support it.

There is considerable effort being put into this platform to give pavement Super Late Model racers the ability to market themselves, create fan bases and grow the brand of all involved. It’s low hanging fruit but dirt racers are the standards for selling t-shirts, social media engagement and generating national fanfare.

ASA STARS represents the best chance this discipline has at producing the same opportunities for pavement racers.

Again, Sargent, Melo and Rackley Roofing have made the investment and I hope it is reciprocated in kind this next spring and summer.