Rolling Thunder Raceway in conjunction with RACER Australia have introduced a new 360 Sprintcar series to run under the guise of the Australian Sprint Car Series (ASCS) during the final rounds of the 2005-06 race season at the organisations Bacchus Marsh complex.

The opening round will be Saturday, February 18, an event that will feature the John Brown Memorial for Speedcars, with a hefty $3000 going to the winner. Joining the Speedcars and 360 Sprinters on the program will be the Marsh Modified Sedans, whose burgeoning numbers and professional teams are sure to make the class well worth watching.

Ray Solomon the promoter at Rolling Thunder Raceway (RTR) and long time 360 advocate said, "...the ASCS will raise the profile of 360 Sprintcars in Victoria, who in my view, have not received the opportunities and recognition they deserve in recent years".

“The feature of this series is to allow a broader range of 360 engines such as the USA type 360s (ASCS/USCS specifications) and some standard Chevrolet engines to compete. 

“This is not designed to start a new class, which is why entries to the events are restricted to currently registered SCCA Sprintcars only. The series will also allow for SCCA registered cars that have 360cc engines with 23 degree heads and 2 3/16” injection to run together,” he said.

Since the last event at Bacchus Marsh where the extreme heat in the leadup to the event caused the racing surface at RTR to not be up to scratch, significant changes to the track preparation have been undertaken, whilst in the long term, the track surface material is also being evaluated.

“Our last event provided us with more valuable data on preparation,” Solomon said, “so we’ve taken that on board in the best interests of the teams and spectators. Unfortunately last time we were also facing strong winds from the south which blew a lot of the dust thrown up by the cars into the crowd. With that and the speed with which the track dried out, we’ve taken measures to endeavour to curb the problem, which will ultimately provide a better spectacle all round.”

The opening round of the RACER Australia Magazine ASCS 360 Series will be on February 18, round two will be on March 4, with the final date yet to be confirmed.

For further information and nomination forms, visit the ASCS site at www.ascsracing.com.au