Carl Culp (#16) and Jimmy McKinley (#12) pace the USA Late Model Stockcars
for the First Annual All-American 100
by Jimmy McKinley

Mike Gromley loops it in turn three during the All-American 100 in October.
For a full report on the AA100 - Click Here!
by Jimmy McKinley

Eddie Popwell (#13) and Kevin Morgan (#4) lead the Outlaws on the pace lap
into turn one at Nashville.
by Jimmy McKinley

The N1 Outlaws power out of turn two and head down the backstretch.
Mark Olender's #17x is in the middle of the pack.
by Jimmy McKinley

The History of the All American 400
by Jimmy McKinley, USA Series Director

The 1998 USA Series All-American 100 is patterned after one of the
biggest short track Late Model events in the country:  the All-American 400
at Nashville Speedway in Nashville, TN.  The All-American 400 began life in
1981 as an unsanctioned race, attracting names like Dick Trickle, Mike
Eddy, Butch Miller, Jody Ridley, and Mark Martin among many other big
names.  North Carolina short track legend and 1978 NASCAR Sportsman (now
Busch Grand National) champion Butch Lindley won the first running of the
All-American 400.

  Over the years, guys like Mark Martin, Jody Ridley, Mike Eddy, Mike
Miller, Dick Trickle, Don Gregory, and Junior Hanley all tried and failed
to win the biggest asphalt Late Model race in the country.  But there have
been some surprises:  in 1989, Jody Ridley and Bobby Dotter were racing for
the lead with two laps to go.  They touched in turn three, creating a
pile-up of the top five cars at the time.  Butch Miller motored through the
carnage and around the yellow to win the race for the second straight year.

  The race remained unsanctioned until 1984, when it was added to the
All-Pro Super Series schedule.  Then, in 1987, the American Speed
Association, the All-Pro Series, and the American-Canadian Tour, the "Big
Three" of short track Late Model racing, joined forces to create the Stock
Car Connection.  This only lasted for one year, as the ACT had financial
problems and couldn't commit to anything solid for 1988.  Since then, the
race has been sanctioned by All-Pro.  In 1991, NASCAR bought out Bob Harmon
and took control of the All-Pro Series and renamed it to its current name:
the NASCAR Slim-Jim All-Pro Series.

  Names that have won over the years:  Rusty Wallace (1985), Darrell
Waltrip (1987), Gary Balough (1984 and 1986), the legendary "Bluebird", Bob
Senneker (1982),  Jeff Purvis, a three-time winner, Wayne Anderson, Freddy
Query, who made it two in a row in 1998, and Gary St. Amant.  This is just
a partial list of winners.

  When I was making up the United Shorttrack Alliance schedule, I knew that
the BGN Track Pack would be coming out for NASCAR Racing 2, and I knew
Nashville was there.  I thought, wouldn't it be great to simulate one of
the biggest short track races of the year?"  The problem was, we didn't
have a Nashville for NASCAR 1 at the time.   I knew that last year, we used
a North Wilkesboro converted to Nashville in the IDR with their pavement
division.   Then, I found someone who could convert the N2 Nashville over to
N1.  It worked great; it quickly became my favorite track.  I absolutely
love the place in both N1 and N2.  I have to thank Jeff Napier for
converting the track for us.  I had to make some changes to the track text,
but it worked out great. 

  The reason for the 100-lap length was simple; 400 laps was way too long
for the casual sim racer to sit there based on the "normal" lengths we run
in the USA Series.  so we settled on 100 laps as being "reasonable", making
it the longest race on our schedule as well, compared to it being the
longest on the NASCAR Slim Jim All-Pro Series.   This way, the USA drivers
aren't racing for hours and it doesn't take away from the "short format" of
the United Shorttrack Alliance.

Well there you have it.. the history of the AA400 and how the race was simulated by the United Shorttrack Alliance. Thanks Jimmy for the insite and thanks for one of the best offline series on the net.

Signups are now open for the 'World Series of Internet Short Track Racing'. Don't miss out - the 'Curator'