The California Racing Association (CRA) was a racing governing body which set rules and hosted Sprint car

racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

events in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. The association was formed in the garage of Babe Ouse in 1945. Originally it was called the California Roadster Association. Ouse, a

dry lake A dry lake bed, also known as a playa (), is a basin or depression that formerly contained a standing surface water body, which disappears when evaporation processes exceed recharge. If the floor of a dry lake is covered by deposits of alkalin ...

s record holder in a Marmon, was tired of racing against the clock and, with the help of Bill Dehler and Emmett Malloy built a race track blocks away from the dirt lot that would become Ascot Park."scrfan.com"
Retrieved March 23, 2010. That first track was known as Carrell Speedway and Judge Carrell & Christopher J.C. Agajanian were the driving forces behind both tracks and the CRA itself. Sprint cars were introduced in 1953 and the name was changed in 1957 to the California Racing Association, or CRA. In 1978, Gary Sokola became president and instituted several new safety measures, including the national 410 limit, the tire rule and padded roll cages. Sokola left the CRA to join the USAC and Frank Lewis took over. He would be the last president, as things declined for the sport shortly thereafter. Ascot raceway closed in 1990 and the CRA was left without a home track. Lewis tried expanding the sport across the state and various parts of the country, increasing the purse and spending thousands on advertising out of his pocket to keep the show going. In 1993, a scheduled race was cancelled at the Ventura Raceway. A majority of members formed the SCRA and honored the date. The CRA was suspended indefinitely in 1994 after just four races, with Bobby Michnowicz leading the point standings by one point over Leland McSpadden. No Champion was crowned.

Legends

Many sprint car legends have come from the ranks of CRA. Stars include Bob Hogle, Billy Wilkerson, Jimmy Oskie, Bobby Olivero, Rick Goudy, Buster Venard, Dean Thompson, Bubby Jones, Brad Noffsinger, Eddie Wirth, Rip Williams, John Redican, Ron Shuman, Lealand McSpadden, Richard Griffin, Billy Boat, Mike Kirby, Mike Sweeney, Stan McElrath and many more."scrfan.com main"
Retrieved March 24, 2010. The CRA became a natural stepping stone to more sophisticated racing, including the Indy 500, as 19 winners of the Indy 500 got their starts from track roadster racing."Autoweek.com"
Retrieved March 30, 2010.

Presidents

CRA Champion drivers

{, class="wikitable" ! Year !! Champion
Retrieved March 29, 2010. , - , , 1946 , , Jack McGrath , - , , 1947 , , Troy Ruttman , - , , 1948 , , Troy Ruttman , - , , 1949 , , George Seeger , - , , 1950 , , Bob Denny , - , , 1951 , , Bob Denny , - , , 1952 , , Harry Stockman , - , , 1953 , , Nick Valenta , - , , 1954 , , Jack Gardner , - , , 1955 , , Nick Valenta , - , , 1956 , , Art Bisch , - , , 1957 , , Nick Valenta , - , , 1958 , , Roy Prosser , - , , 1959 , , Chuck Hulse , - , , 1960 , , Don Davis , - , , 1961 , , Jack Brunner , - , , 1962 , , Colby Scroggins , - , , 1963 , , Bob Hogle , - , , 1964 , , Hal Minyard , - , , 1965 , , Hal Minyard , - , , 1966 , , Don Thomas , - , , 1967 , , Billy Wilkerson , - , , 1968 , , Bob Hogle , - , , 1969 , , Jimmy Oskie , - , , 1970 , , Billy Wilkerson , - , , 1971 , , Dick Zimmerman , - , , 1972 , , Stan McElrath , - , , 1973 , , Don Hamilton , - , , 1974 , , Jimmy Oskie , - , , 1975 , , Bobby Olivero , - , , 1976 , , Jimmy Oskie , - , , 1977 , , Jimmy Oskie , - , , 1978 , , Rick Goudy , - , , 1979 , , Jimmy Oskie , - , , 1980 , , Dean Thompson , - , , 1981 , , Dean Thompson , - , , 1982 , , Dean Thompson , - , , 1983 , , Bubby Jones , - , , 1984 , , Bubby Jones , - , , 1985 , , Eddie Wirth , - , , 1986 , , Brad Noffsinger , - , , 1987 , , Brad Noffsinger , - , , 1988 , , Ron Shuman , - , , 1989 , , Ron Shuman , - , , 1990 , , Ron Shuman , - , , 1991 , , Ron Shuman , - , , 1992 , , Lealand McSpadden , - , , 1993 , , Mike Kirby , - , , 1994 , , Bobby Michnowicz

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110716105640/http://www.racingwest.com/news/articles/19667-california-roadster-association-15th-annual.html

References

Sports governing bodies in the United States