Forum: Minnesota Dirt Track Racing Forum (go)
Moderators: StanM

Just for fun (since it is quiet on this forum) - what tracks would you like to see 410 / 360 events at next year?

maybe a return of the IRA to Jackson? or ASCS National at Charter?? HOSS at Slinger??? 360NP in Ashland??

IRA at Fox Ridge (Arcadia, WI), Princeton and a second stop at Rice Lake. Maybe an IRA speedweek through nothern Wisconsin and Minnesota???

IRA anywhere there is a dirt track in western Wisc and eastern Minn.

Same with the 360 sprints ASCS or open headed.

resprinter - IRA at rice lake for the last two years has been fantastic.

chuckp - agree also, IRA anywhere in Wisconsin/E. Minnesota.

StanM - by mentioning Jackson, there was no further implication, as I only mentioned it (being a MN forum) as the one 410 race I saw there was quite entertaining. no negativity/pot stirring implied!!

Arcadia. 410 or 360.

Funny I was loggin on to post something similar:

What track would you most like to see offer a weekly sprint show?
and
What class of sprint would you pay to see there each and every week?

While this is a Minnesota board, anything in MN, northern IA, eastern SD-ND or western WI is close enough to count.

USAC Sprints and/or Midgets anywhere.

Return of the MSS 360's.

We need a NEW TRACK within 100 miles of the TC's with weekly 360's.

Rice Lake, WI  was the most fun for the IRA stop this year! Would like to see the 360's make a welcome stop there sometime.

A new track would be nice, but I doubt there is anyone with a large enough bankroll to build a new facility and weather the storms for the first few years of operation. Deer Creek took awhile to establish itself and went through several changes in getting there. Fox Ridge is still fighting the battle.

Maybe there is a track not currently operating (and not dozed over for houses or mini-marts) that could be restarted...

Here is a list of current tracks near the Twin Cities metro:
Princeton, MN
Sauk Rapids, MN (Golden Spike)
Arlington, MN *** Already offers a weekly sprint show
Owatonna, MN (Steele County)
Kasson, MN (Dodge County)
Fountain City, WI (Tri-oval)
Arcadia, WI (Fox Ridge)
Menomonie, WI (Red Cedar)
New Richmond, WI (Cedar Lake)
Rice Lake, WI
Centuria, WI (Kopellah)

There's quite a few more if you widen the circle a bit.

It's hard to have a weekly show within 100 miles of the Twin Cities. Because we have sprint cars coming from all over the 5 state area, that would make it hard on some teams.

Plus weekly shows usally get stale, traveling shows are fun because those people (fans) don't always get to see the sprints at there home track . And they get so excited to see the sprint cars.

The teams didn't support the MSS back then, Why would they now?

3 good points.

The only way to offset the need to pull cars from the 5 states and beyond is to grow more teams in a localized area. Having a stable, established show MIGHT encourage the formation of more teams. That did happen in the early in the CLS 360 program, but it did not sustain. That model isn't working very well for most existing weekly show tracks around here except Knoxville.

Travel is fun. Per show the fan count is better for the reason Chuck says. The only problem with travel is the cost to the teams for gas, food, lodging and time. That is the model of ASCS and the IRA.

MSS fought with WISSOTA for cars, tracks and fans. The same would happen now with ASCS.

So, the origianl post was on the right track. What are the best places for Sprint Specials?

Is there a way to get more media coverage and fan excitment for those specials? If so, that would help teams get more sponsorship so they could travel more.

Arcadia shuttered their gates half way through the season. You probably already know about that. The place is sitting idle. Tri-Oval reopened and Fox Ridge eventually lost so many cars and fans that they couldn't make a go of it anymore. Too bad because it's a nice track and one of the newer ones in the area.

Stan Meissner

I like Jackson and have seen some great racing there. My gripe about it in another post was that somebody chastised me for removing some negative posts. The management at Jackson has always treated me great but it's a long ways for me to drive so I can't get down there very often. I've been to IRA and Outlaw races at Jackson and enjoyed them. Remember the night that Travis was leading and his wing mount broke? I was there that night.

Stan Meissner

I have gone to all of the these tracks for their weekly racing that a lot of the Sprint fans might not be familiar with so I'll add my two cents worth. I'm not disagreeing but just adding some observations about their weekly programs and the prospect of ever seeing weekly Sprints.

Fox Ridge: Closed, we'll see if they are able to open the gates again next year. They couldn't make it with Mods as their top class so I can't see them paying enough to attract Sprints. It's a tough place to get to on a Friday afternoon if a guy works full time. It took me about three hours from my office in downtown St. Paul and I was on the eastern end of the metro. Minneapolis or points west, add an hour or more on a Friday.

Arlington: Already has IMCA Sprints. Most hard core Sprint fans don't care for the limited deal or having to sit through five other classes. I have gone there and had a good time but it's an hour and a half so it's not the closest track.

Owatonna: Ask Brian and Johnny. Things didn't end on a positive note there this season and I don't know what to expect going forward.

Golden Spike: Only been there once and it was a crash fest. Don't know what it's like now but it's a Sunday track and don't know if their fan base would support a Sprint purse. As with most tracks around this area, you've got three generations that think Mods, Midwest Mods, Supers, Streets and Pures are better racing than Sprint Cars. How do you reason with people who think like that?

Princeton: Their Friday night show typically draws 130 cars, Mods, MWM, Supers, Streets and Pures. None of them are more than $750 to win and they're making money at the back gate. On the 20/20 board the Mods appear to be boycotting the Princeton National and going to the Fall Classic instead. Should be interesting to see how many Mods show up with Alex and Proctor both running Wissota Specials that weekend. I know people who have connections to the track and don't see weekly Sprint racing ever being there again.

Kasson: Modified country and the same classes as all these other tracks. Their top class is Mods at probably around $750 to win. Their back gate promoters, the more entry type cars in the back gate the better they do. The other expensive class, the Late Models, didn't make it at Kasson or Fox Ridge.

Fountain City: Never been there but it features a typical Wissota Lineup so you've got the same situation. Top class is Mods, they can't afford Late Models and they'd take those over Sprints. It's just the mentality up here.

Red Cedar: Same sitaution, an established fendered track that already runs Late Models as their premium class.

Cedar Lake: Along with North Central this is one of the two most Sprint friendly tracks in the area. I'm not convinced we'll ever see weekly Sprints again but a shout goes out to both of these tracks for providing plenty of Sprint racing each season. Cedar's $1,000 to win class is always going to be Late Models and in the kind of economy we've got now tracks aren't going to run more than one top class.

Kopellah: Money is tight up there. I'd look for the track to be sold to the gravel company before we ever see weekly Sprint racing. The do the back gate promoting and if you go there for a weekly show the stands are almost completely empty. They're good people and it's a fun place to watch a Sprint special or two each season but they'd need a lot of sponsor help to run Sprints.

I don't claim to be right or wrong but am simply offering some observations made from my trips to these tracks for their weekly shows when they weren't running Sprints. Would it be possible for any of them to add Sprint Cars to their weekly schedule? Anything is possible and I don't have a crystal ball so I don't know what's going on behind the scenes. I am very familiar with the mentality of the majority of fans up here and the situation a lot of the promoters are in. They're not thinking about adding a class with a big purse, they're thinking about how they're going to stay in the black and keep the gates open. To sell a track on Sprints someone would have to come in with guaranteed sponsorship and gain the cooperation of enough Sprint teams to make it possible. Neither of those things are easy, most dirt track sponsors go with the proven classes in the area because they've got guaranteed exposure. To add weekly Sprints would be a tough sell and would take some sponsor backing to make it work with most of these tracks.

Stan Meissner

I think you pretty much nailed the lay of the land.

I'm by no means an expert but I'm probably one of the few participating in this discussion who has been to a lot of these tracks when they weren't running Sprints. Matter of fact, I'm listening to the Knoxville Late Model Nationals as I type this reply. Sprints will always be #1 but if it comes down to having to drive the old Ranger to Knoxville without A/C or cruise or go to Cedar Lake for their weekly show I'll opt for the easy way out

Stan Meissner

You removed ALL the posts about Jackson, not just negitive posts.

Because most of you guys only want to hit a home run you don't even recognize Redwood Falls. Whatever big wings big time big show but I have watched IMCA for years and some of the guys who race another series come back to race IMCA on occasion and have their hands full. Of course they do pretty good but it appears they respect the competitiion the "lower classs sprint class" has to offer.  JAK

I don't think anyone was intentionally ignoring Redwood Falls. The IMCA Sprinters put on a great show at Arlington & I'm sure that the same is true at Redwood, but any track 2 hours away from the Metro that runs on a SUNDAY night is a hard sell for most of us.

We raced Arlington in 2004 & 2005 and there is not a nicer bunch to race with or a more courtious group of drivers to race against.

Generally, the teams that didn't support the MSS acted out of loyalty to WISSOTA. Obviously, WISSOTA is no longer a player on the Sprint scene.

Has the ASCS earned any such loyalty?

What more do you want me to say about it? I had a bad day at work, got home and had to deal with some email about the situation so I got frustrated and zapped the whole thread. I went ballistic, lost my temper, said to h*ll with it, threw sh*t against the wall, kicked the computer, threw the cat out the door and zapped all the Jackson posts. So what's your point?

Stan Meissner