The 2013 AARO Lockout Continues

It's August 2013, and no news has still yet to come out of the AARO camp about the current AARO lockout. For those new to this subject, the AARO is suffering from its 3rd lockout in 15 years due to teams and owners trying to come to an agreement with the AARO to establish a wide variety of new rules, cars and schedule/driver restrictions.

The teams and owners have been proposing a new deal which would give the AERS two weeks between each race, with AYG and ANTS going the off weeks. This would give much more flexibility and time for the teams and the organization itself to work things out and improve the overall product. The deal they've proposed also includes upgrades to the original car, while not moving to another COT model. The AYG and ANTS would both keep their current bodies as well, and they would be restricted on speed.

The AARO however, is convinced the product put out on the racetrack needs to be safer, complete with a brand new car, and various track upgrades and restrictions. They've also proposed a new schedule which would have the AERS racing every 3 weeks, while AYG and ANTS would alternate the off weeks. The organization is also pushing hard to nerf driver contracts with a "salary cap" idea for each team, which some guys are not happy with.

Either way, the 2013 season has been cancelled completely out of all of this, and hopefully the two sides can agree on something for future seasons.

I'm surprised that you put effort into making a news topic for a dead league that you clearly aren't reviving.

(08/04/13) SASKATOON -- News on the 2013 AARO lockout has come out, as we've heard from several sources that part of the issue has been agreed upon.

The AARO and the teams came to an agreement on salaries, which will remain mostly unchanged from the current system. There will be no salary "cap", but there are new rules on contracts and contract lengths, which will soon release to the public.

Also resolved was driver restrictions. On this new agreement, AERS drivers can participate in 5 AYG or ANTS races. ANTS drivers can participate part time with an AYG team and an AYG driver can participate part time with an AERS team, all of this pending on license points. The schedule will consist of AERS racing every other week, with ANTS and AYG running in their off-weeks.

All that is left to be decided is the car bodies and restrictions for each series, however nothing has surfaced thus far.

Tim Averell "very pleased" with the progress made between AARO and drivers.
Driver Tim Averell, slated to run for R&R Racing Technologies, spoke with the media late yesterday after being questioned about the 2013 AARO Lockout. "I came in today expecting nothing but I was pleasantly surprised as it wasn't the case. We made progress and that hasn't happened in the longest time." When asked if he thought there was a chance for a 2014 season he smiled. "I can't say I know anything for sure, but there might be a season earlier than you'd think. Whether it happens late this year or early next, I am very pleased with what's occured." The winner at McKinley in a one-off in a self-owned team in 2012, Averell created a lot of buzz for himself and earned two year contract for 2013 and 2014 until the lockout slashed the first year.

Lester agrees with teams' system

Casey Lester got a chance that not many other drivers get; to drive for the illustrious Renesse Racing, the same team that has won numerous AARO championships. After finishing in the Top 5 driving for Tanner Clason's team as a one-off, he was injured in a heavy crash in the 3rd race of the 2011-2012 Aflac Yung Guns season in just his 2nd series start after winning the pole at Berlin. He sat out for about 3 or 4 months and only 4 races passed by because of disputes that extended the 2011 season into 2012, but he was able to make his second AERS start at Saskatchewan with Renesse, running towards the back for most of the race. For the first time since the Saskatchewan post-race show, he spoke to the AARO media Monday morning.

"Good to hear that the league still exists." Lester joked and laughed with reporters. "As far as the 2014 layout goes, I agree with the teams and owners' idea. They race a lot more often to keep fan support up. However, I don't think new cars are needed. I've always embraced the danger in auto racing and it seems a lot less exciting if you took it away. Of course people will disagree with me, but in my eyes, if racing exists, so does danger. I say keep the cars that we use now."

SASKATOON -- There will be 2014 AARO Racing.

David Stone has reported that a deal has been made and everything is set to go for the 2014 AARO season.

"A deal has been reached and the business side of this whole thing is overwith, let's get to some racing."

A schedule has been released to teams however is undisclosed. Also, the Aflac Yung Guns will be using the same bodies as they had been, and the trucks have been tweaked a bit. Everything else is in place and ready to go for the 2014 season with the AAA Shootout planned for tommorow. Teams have been the go for testing around the continent as well.

Ladies and gentlemen, the AARO is back.

Tellez happy to hear the AARO Lockout in over


LT Motorsports Driver/Owner Louis Tellez, who's been out and about to various different places during this AARO Lockout, is very pleased to hear that a deal had happened and very excited about getting back behind the wheel of a race car. Tellez took some time to express his thoughts on this matter. "It's about damn time! (laughs) I'm pleased to hear that we can head back to the shop and get our crews back together with the other AARO teams and drivers. Business is not my strong suit and personally thought this lockout was ridiculous, and makes us look bad. I can honestly say that I don't want to be in this spot again for a long time."

Now that racing is back, what's next?

Well Tellez still needs to find a driver for his 2nd team, plus he doesn't even know if he'll have 2 cars or go at it alone for the upcoming year, plus the status of his AYG team if they'll run or not. Tellez: "We've lost a lot of valuable time and now we've got to make some big decisions for all of our AARO teams. We'll let you know in due time."