Open Wheel has had quite a ride-209 issues over 22 years in fact. As the bible of sprint car and midget racing for more than two decades, there are no more dedicated readers of any magazine than the readers of Open Wheel.
Open Wheel has gone through many twists and turns in its history ... and it's about to go through another one. On one hand, we are sorry to report that Open Wheel can no longer exist as a stand-alone magazine due to the current economic climate. On the other hand, we're very happy to announce that Open Wheel will continue to live on as a special section within Stock Car Racing, the magazine in which Open Wheel was born.
Open Wheel was first introduced to the racing world back in 1980, as a spin-off of Stock Car Racing. Intended to be a one-shot deal, the magazine's overwhelming popularity caught even its publishers by surprise, and it grew from there. Throughout its time at Lopez Publishing, General Media, Petersen Publishing, emap usa and Primedia, Open Wheel brought the world of non-fendered racing to life month after month.
As magazine publishers and race fans, we understand the importance of Open Wheel to its readers and to the entire open-wheel community. So, we've created what amounts to a fairly good-sized magazine within a magazine here in SCR. You'll also notice that most of our advertisers that have supported this magazine over the years have stayed with us in this new venture. Another positive note is that sprint cars, midgets, Indy cars, and other forms of open-wheel racing will now be exposed to a whole new audience, as part of the racing magazine with the highest circulation in the nation, SCR. As you will see, this section will look and feel like a regular issue of OW.
We will continue to bring you profiles, hard-hitting, issue-oriented pieces, and tech, all centered around what some of us consider to be the fastest, wildest form of auto racing on the planet.
So, what's in this for you stock car fans? Well, you've no doubt heard the buzz as sprint car and midget organizations have been experiencing a growth in popularity. You may have even caught a night or two of the World of Outlaws as they've raced at the new dirt tracks across the street from some of the big NASCAR tracks. There are plenty of Winston Cup drivers out taking in the winged sprints. In addition, you may want to keep an eye on some of the racers you'll see profiled in these pages. Great drivers like Kenny Schrader, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Jason Leffler, the late Kenny Irwin, and so many others have all brought their sprint car and midget talents to the stock car world. And, there's far more to Indy car racing than the Indy 500.
And lastly, remember that this is a free extra section for all of you who were already SCR subscribers. Rest assured that nothing has been removed from SCR to make room for this new section devoted to open-wheel racing. We've added on extra pages for this section, so for you folks it is simply a bonus. We hope you'll enjoy keeping up with how the other half lives.
So, here we are. We hope you continue to come along with us for the ride. And who knows, in six months or a year, Open Wheel may very well be its own magazine again. Once more, back by popular demand.
If you were an Open Wheel subscriber and have questions or concerns regarding your subscription, feel free to e-mail openwheel@palmcoastd.com. As for the editorial content, be sure and drop a line to the address in the front of the magazine and let us know what you think.