Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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Listening to Open Red Episode #29 with Johnny Gibson he illuded to the possibility of 1-3 drivers challenging Brent Marks for the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award. Johnny stated that some of these drivers may turn up in Florida, run the early part of the schedule and see how it goes before committing to run the entire WoO series.

Question is which drivers were being referred to? Does anyone have any information?

Lots and lots of rumors for a while that Little Haud has contemplated running WoO.  I believe even Ryan Smith alluded to this possibility in his recent press release announcing his (meaning Ryan's) move back to All Stars.  So I think you can probably count Sheldon as 1 of those.  I read that PPM was going to Volusia, so perhaps that's another (I have no idea, just a guess).  His family has some deep pockets and he's a good young talent. I don't think he made the trip last year. 

I wouldn't be suprised to see Ian Madsen be one of those 3. 

Keep It Real

Had heard Andrew Palker was considering it awhile back.

Maybe Clyde Knipp is still eligabe given his partial schedule last year. Not sure how many races her ran last year.

I have him running 62 of the 80 World of Outlaw races last year

Greg Wilson won in 2016, but per WoO Release, Clyde was hte runner-up so shouldn't be eligible.

http://woosprint.com/news/latest-news/4136-schatz-takes-the-crown

All Awards:
Ted Johnson Award: The Edwards Family
KSE Hard Charger: Donny Schatz
VP Racing Fuel Award to Series Champion: Donny Schatz
Engine Builder of the Year: Shaver Specialties Engines
Chassis Builder of the Year: J&J Auto
Crew Chief of the Year: Philip Dietz from the Jason Johnson Racing Team
Rookie of the Year: Greg Wilson
Runner-up Rookie of the Year: Clyde Knipp

Thanks for the info.

Thank you.

Ian did announce he'd run I think 50 - 60ish WoO shows.  Not sure if maybe they got more funding and he's considering running the whole schedule, but they did say in the off season they'd run 50-60 shows where it made sense geographically (plus the big shows). 

Dominic Scelzi...

do it in the dirt

McCarl was a "WoO Points" chaser last year up until things got rolling in the midwest, wouldnt suprise me to see a few teams do so this year as well. Ian Madsen would probally qualify for the ROY... What about Brown? Did he run enough races in the 6 car to not qualify? I dont remember Brian going to Florida in years past though. Maybe pick em up in Texas and follow out west for him?

You won't see brown chase WoO points, doesn't make sense for his marketing partners. Brian has said that himself  

Heard from a very credible source(we all heard that statement before)... that yes Clyde Knipp will be eligble for the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award in 2017 along with Pa.Posse member Brent Marks.One other possible contender will be Sheldon Haudenschild who will run the WoO races in Flordia and headwest with them before possibly commiting to the Full WoO tour in 2017.Just please don't shoot the messenger....

If he is, good for him, but IMO it may mean the end of the KCP racing team sooner rather than later. 

ALL of their sponsors are based in the DesMoines Metro.  It makes zero sense to travel coast to coast to give those sponsors a "bang for their buck".  It's very similar to Brian Brown.  What would Casey's gain from him running in CA or PA?  absolutely nothing.  What does Aspen Aire or Logan Contractors Supply gain by running in CA or PA?  absolutely nothing.  Running in the midwest where the sponors (and those sponsors customers and potential customers) are located makes more sense.

Now, if those partners are hoping to expand their own business into another area (like lets say in OH or IN), it makes sense for them to hit WoO shows in that area for his sponsors. 

As a driver, I'm sure Ian wants to race as much as he can and mostly WoO shows.  Unfortunately, we've seen car owners expand too fast and disappear from the sport completely due to running through funds by making that jump too early. 

Making a big jump from running the midwest (or CA or PA) and some WoO shows to the full tour seems crazy to me for any team without unlimited money and a 5 year budget.  Now, going from the midwest or PA or CA to running a partial tour (where it makes geographic sense for sponsors and the team) for a few years and then maybe full-time (with more sponsorship) seems more doable and much more strategic.

Saw a Casey General Store being built near Lima, OH

I think it’s a matter of time until we see Aaron Reutzel make a run at the WoO and the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year. No doubt he has the talent and I hate to see it go to waste running with the ASCS. But we all know it takes some serious funding to play with the big boys. So it will be interesting to see what young Reutzel has put together in the off season in properness for 2017.

Yep, I believe they are expanding into IN and OH and if I recall correctly, they built a distribution center in that area of the country a year or so ago, so I'd look for even more stores popping up out there.

Strategic positioning is what I'd call it.  Base in Iowa with stores in IA, MN, ND, SD, MO, NE, KS, IL, AR, IN, OH, WI, TN and KY.  Slowly but surely expanding and remodeling existing stores at the same time.  Great business model.

What's Rico doing next year?

Good question!