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Topic: Who / What got you into Sprint Car Racing ? Email this topic to a friend | Subscribe to this TopicReport this Topic to Moderator
Page 1 of 2   of  23 replies
Nickules
July 07, 2017 at 02:30:47 PM
Joined: 08/05/2015
Posts: 1133
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Started a similar thread a year or two ago and thought it was a good discussion, so figured I'd give it another go around.

Who/what got you into Sprint Car Racing? 

For me, it was my father.  Mechanic by trade, "car guy" his whole life.  Took me and my bro to dirt track as kids, went every Friday night and fell in love with Sprint Cars.  Really loved seeing the WoO come through twice a year.  Still look forward to WoO at my local track when they come through (twice).  Sports and school made it harder for Friday nights as a teenager but we never missed a WoO show each and every summer.   




vande77
July 07, 2017 at 02:41:28 PM
Joined: 01/20/2005
Posts: 2079
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Parents started taking us as kids (5 of us) in the early 1980's (we lived in Knoxville, so we went there every week). 

Parents took us on racing "trips" when we were pre-teens and early teenage years in the mid to late 80's (King's Royal, I-70, Lakeside, WoO swing in the midwest).

Got hooked as a kid, went through a period (later teenage years / early 20's) where I could care less about the races, but mid 20's on after getting married (and then kids), started going again. 

Now take my teenage son with me weekly to Knoxville and we are planning on hitting the BDC and King's Royal in 2018.  



Nickules
July 07, 2017 at 02:45:40 PM
Joined: 08/05/2015
Posts: 1133
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Reply to:
Posted By: vande77 on July 07 2017 at 02:41:28 PM

Parents started taking us as kids (5 of us) in the early 1980's (we lived in Knoxville, so we went there every week). 

Parents took us on racing "trips" when we were pre-teens and early teenage years in the mid to late 80's (King's Royal, I-70, Lakeside, WoO swing in the midwest).

Got hooked as a kid, went through a period (later teenage years / early 20's) where I could care less about the races, but mid 20's on after getting married (and then kids), started going again. 

Now take my teenage son with me weekly to Knoxville and we are planning on hitting the BDC and King's Royal in 2018.  



My dad used to take us camping to the Sharon Nationals for a few years too.  Good times. 

Might as well make that a BDC to King's Royal and then swing over for Silver Cup at Lernerville Tuesday after KR (and you can continue East and hit Summer Nats at WG).




vande77
July 07, 2017 at 02:56:04 PM
Joined: 01/20/2005
Posts: 2079
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Reply to:
Posted By: Nickules on July 07 2017 at 02:45:40 PM

My dad used to take us camping to the Sharon Nationals for a few years too.  Good times. 

Might as well make that a BDC to King's Royal and then swing over for Silver Cup at Lernerville Tuesday after KR (and you can continue East and hit Summer Nats at WG).



wish we could, but only so much vacation time to go around and not sure my wife would appreciate me using all my vacation time to go on "racing vacations".

Hopefully get out to PA in the next year or two.



Nickules
July 07, 2017 at 03:00:44 PM
Joined: 08/05/2015
Posts: 1133
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Reply to:
Posted By: vande77 on July 07 2017 at 02:56:04 PM

wish we could, but only so much vacation time to go around and not sure my wife would appreciate me using all my vacation time to go on "racing vacations".

Hopefully get out to PA in the next year or two.



Sounds good Vande...you could also sell your wife that you're headed to Pittsburgh for a vacation (Google Visit Pittsburgh or Pittsburgh best place to live / visit) as it's been ranked one of the best places to visit the last few years and welp I mean I guess Lernerville is right up the road so you might as well head there too...That way it's a Pittsburgh vacation with a race thrown in...haha wink



champphotos
MyWebsite
July 07, 2017 at 03:16:03 PM
Joined: 05/21/2011
Posts: 188
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I would guess it goes back to my Grandpa. He got into racing in Denver just after WW2 while stationed in Colorado Springs. Then he moved home to Southern Ohio and started a garage & Ford dealership. Then my Dad got introduced to a guy that raced at KC in the early '70's and started working on the motors and the car. In the mid-80's dad got into tracker pulling and then in 1990 bought a sprint car. I grooved my first tire in 1990 and loved it. I got just good enough to make a little money doing it.

Got out of working on cars in the late '90's. Now I fiddle around and help out when I can, but that dadgum day job gets in the way.

I take my daughter who is 16, she loves it and gets mad when I go without her. My brother also works on a modified in Southern Ohio. I guess it is a family thing.

DA




m_cox22
July 07, 2017 at 03:59:52 PM
Joined: 08/19/2011
Posts: 193
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Started going with my dad at a young age (8 or 9). First he had a friend invite him to Winchester Speedway (IN) and then a few years later had a friend invite him to Eldora Speedway. Little did we know we lived 20 minutes in away some of the greatest short tracks in America. We've been hooked every since!

 

Side note-It's sad to see Winchester go downhill. Those Thursday Night Thunder shows on ESPN were amazing!



zeakemedia
MyWebsite
July 07, 2017 at 04:25:36 PM
Joined: 01/27/2006
Posts: 110
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ESPN introduced me to sprint cars. Nobody in my family cared about racing. I loved cars and when I was about ten saw the Indy 500. Shortly after that I saw Thursday Thunder. 

Blake



alum.427
July 07, 2017 at 04:59:09 PM
Joined: 03/16/2017
Posts: 1599
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Been going to dirt tracks for 50+ years. WOW, getting old s*cks. Went from a father that owned cars, to a driver that mostly ran top 10. Every now and then we would get lucky but for every time we got lucky we also got into trouble. 1 day you think I got this all figured out and you just have to grind your bolts and say WTF just happened. Planned to have my son sit in a car but that's another story in itself. Still enjoy a good dirt race, asphalt only gets you there. Crate racing is horrible to have to sit threw. In today's racing sprint cars cost stupid money to go fast and I love it. Never lifting and banging off the cushion, you better believe it's better than sex. 




hurricanefan
July 07, 2017 at 05:32:53 PM
Joined: 12/02/2004
Posts: 120
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This message was edited on July 07, 2017 at 05:36:00 PM by hurricanefan

Family....sunday afternoons would mean the extended family meeting at Grandma and Grandpas house for lunch..then gma, gpa, half a dozen aunts and uncles, a dozen or so cousins, my dad, my brother, and myself would all sit at the race track together.........once i had kids, there were 4 generations sitting together on Sunday nights at Husets

all started for me....4th of july race 1974....the first time my dad ever took me to see the fireworks

 



NWFAN
July 07, 2017 at 07:21:45 PM
Joined: 12/07/2006
Posts: 2347
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Reply to:
Posted By: Nickules on July 07 2017 at 02:30:47 PM

Started a similar thread a year or two ago and thought it was a good discussion, so figured I'd give it another go around.

Who/what got you into Sprint Car Racing? 

For me, it was my father.  Mechanic by trade, "car guy" his whole life.  Took me and my bro to dirt track as kids, went every Friday night and fell in love with Sprint Cars.  Really loved seeing the WoO come through twice a year.  Still look forward to WoO at my local track when they come through (twice).  Sports and school made it harder for Friday nights as a teenager but we never missed a WoO show each and every summer.   



1958 dad started taking me to balboa stadium in san diego.  funny, he always had me sneak in alongside any other man walking in the track, worked three jobs to support us.he crewed after the war in an offy midget out of the seattle area.  he also crewed for alan heath (the hook) who had lost his arm in a sprint car crash.  the likes of parnelli, roger ward, aj foyt, don henry (dance with me henry) were some of the many, back in the day...


Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

revjimk
July 07, 2017 at 08:42:01 PM
Joined: 09/14/2010
Posts: 7595
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In 1960 (I was 10) my family moved from NYC to Staunton, Va., rural Shandoah Valley. I bugged my late father to take me to dirt track races at Eastside Speedway, Waynesboro, Va. We started going regularly, "Jalopies, sportsmen & modifieds" which at that time were old hotrod coupes. The dominant driver was Smokey Stover, who was a machinist , worked for my old man. In 1966 we moved back up North, I went to 2 pavement races & lost all interest.

Fast forward 40 years. I was in upstate NY & a friend gave me a Circle Track mag, which mentioned that Central Pa. had the best sprint car scene. I knew about sprint cars, was always curious, & was heading to Southern Pa. the next day. so I got on the Net & found a race, at little Clinton County raceway. When those cars accelerated out of the first turn, I was hooked. After the race a guy told me about Williams Grove & Outlaws vs. Posse. My next race was WG National Open, the year that Sammy won. Since then I've been to races all over the good ole USA.

Right now I'm in Kokomo for Indiana Sprint Week. Gas City just rained out.... hoping for the best tomorrow!




RodinCanada
MyWebsite
July 08, 2017 at 12:03:03 AM
Joined: 07/24/2016
Posts: 1720
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Vacation became staycation so lets do a race-cation/ Lets trend it!


Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!

kossuth
July 08, 2017 at 01:29:39 AM
Joined: 11/02/2013
Posts: 529
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Not sure when I got hooked but as a kid I went with my family to Eriez speedway quite a bit growing up. While they run mostly E-mods and Late Models there the Dirt racing bug was implanted. When I reassigned (military) to Washington DC in 2002 and found out about the Central PA Sprint Scene I was pretty much hooked the first time I went to Lincoln. Used to go to Hagerstown quite a bit, but rarely get there anymore.

minthess
MyWebsite
July 08, 2017 at 07:28:07 AM
Joined: 12/09/2008
Posts: 2403
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My dad's love for Bud Grimm's Ford powered 88 lead to my dad's own Ford powered 88 lead to me being stuck here with a bunch of small block chevy worshipersSmile


Luna's Ford engine style that won 2 WoO titles and 3 
Kings Royals before a weight rule against the best EVER
in their prime and now DOMINATES super dirt late model
racing is no longer allowed/wanted in a WoO sprint
car.... Was Luna a miracle worker?


Johnny Utah
July 08, 2017 at 07:36:19 AM
Joined: 07/15/2014
Posts: 1221
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Reply to:
Posted By: Nickules on July 07 2017 at 03:00:44 PM

Sounds good Vande...you could also sell your wife that you're headed to Pittsburgh for a vacation (Google Visit Pittsburgh or Pittsburgh best place to live / visit) as it's been ranked one of the best places to visit the last few years and welp I mean I guess Lernerville is right up the road so you might as well head there too...That way it's a Pittsburgh vacation with a race thrown in...haha wink



Pittsburgh was a blast when I visited. Southside was definitely a fun time as there are plenty of bars and places to get yourself in trouble. Spent waaay too much time at Cheerleaders hahaha. Theres also a bunch of great places to eat, I particularly liked Fatheads. Huge sammiches. 

During the day when we needed to walk off our hangovers, and kind of melliw out, we walked around the city and did a lot of historical stuff. There's a decent amount of that in the city.



blazer00
July 08, 2017 at 12:07:32 PM
Joined: 06/10/2015
Posts: 2420
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Mid 1950's, I was 5 or 6 years old. Milford, IA had a drive-in theatre and adjacent to that was a little old dumpy dirt track, running jalopies at the time (they were referred to as modifieds). Off the family would go for a night of entertainment. My mother and younger siblings would settle in for a movie and popcorn (usually popped at home and brought with a jug of kool-aid and ice), and my dad and I would walk over to the track as soon as the car was situated and take in a night of racing. I'll never forget, my favorite car was the "6-pak."...blue in color. By the time I was 10 or 11, the track closed down because of the noise disturbing the movie goers. So then it was tracks like Jackson, MN or Fairmont, MN and a few other tracks I've long forgotten. But for a long time.....the remnants of that old track in Milford were visible from the highway. Would go by that old place on every trip to Jackson. Always looked at what remained and a smile would come to my face. My passion for dirt track racing was born at that joint. Finally, all overgrown with weeds and such, a developer came in and all indications that a track once was located there are gone. A trailer park and a couple business' occupy the space, now. But.....my minds eye still sees the joint every time I go by.



revjimk
July 08, 2017 at 12:46:54 PM
Joined: 09/14/2010
Posts: 7595
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Reply to:
Posted By: minthess on July 08 2017 at 07:28:07 AM

My dad's love for Bud Grimm's Ford powered 88 lead to my dad's own Ford powered 88 lead to me being stuck here with a bunch of small block chevy worshipersSmile



Pretty funny! wink

 Maybe we don't "worship" them,  we just accept them & like to watch races?

If there was a competitive Ford, I'd root for it...

Look in the mirror for a "worshipper"???




egras
July 08, 2017 at 06:37:17 PM
Joined: 08/16/2009
Posts: 3914
Reply

Was a huge fan of dirt late models and had a local track 14 miles away that ran late models every saturday night.  Also loved going to Michigan for Nascar race through the 90's and early 2000's.

Then, late one Friday night in 2002, a buddy of mine (who is a mechanic) calls me and says "got free passes from Quaker State for tomorrow night's race in Knoxville.  Food tent with Steve Kinser, etc."   I had watched the WOO on TNT (or TBS whichever it what) and really wanted to see these guys in person.  (had seen 2 IRA events at my local track but the show was not good so didn't get me hooked)

Got to Knoxville that Saturday night and have been hooked ever since!  Have not been back to a Nascar race since!!!  (What's the point?)



Nick14
July 08, 2017 at 11:37:33 PM
Joined: 06/04/2012
Posts: 1734
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My best friend who does not like racing at all actually got me into sprint car racing oddly enough. I have always been a race fan ever since I can remember as my dad got me into it since he was a fan. We started going to Nascar races when I was 12 after they had finally saved up enough money. We went to Michigan for about 9 straight years and I went to Daytona for the July race a couple times as well. When I was 23, my wife now (fiance at the time) worked Friday and Monday nights a resturant so I would go to Kil Kare Raceway on Friday nights and Columbus Motor Speedway on Saturday nights here in Columbus OH. One Friday night my best friend calls me and asked what I was doing? I told him heading to a race track in Xenia and to my surprise he asked if he would be able to tag along for something to do.

While we were there he told me that his dad called him on his way over to my place and sarcastically yelled at him, "Oh you'll go to the race track with your friends but you won't go when I go, I see how it is!" So he told me he would probably have to go to a race with his dad the next time he went back home to Lima. Few days later I got a phone call from my friend, "hey I'm heading to Lima on Wednesday and my dad wanted me to ask you since your a race fan, if you would like to go to a race with us that night?"

"Lima?" I asked. "I never heard of a race track in Lima. Is it a dirt track?"

"Yes, it is a dirt track," he chuckled.

I had never been to a dirt track before or had a desire to go to one. I agreed however as I figured it would be a good time either way. When we got to Lima I noticed a souviner trailer that said World of Oulaws on it and I was fimilar with that term. Being a race fan growing up I had seen them on TNN in the late 90's and early 2000s but I had never thought of looking up where they raced. We get to our seats before hot laps and out comes this green, #11, Quaker State sponsored car. I was familar with that car as well and knew of Steve Kinser from the IROC series, as well as Danny Lososki, and a few other drivers from TV. As they circled that track and then hit the throttle for that first session of hot laps, I felt the ground shake, heard the engines roar to life, saw the cars slide through the corners, and smelled the methonal in the air I was instantly hooked. That was the 2009 Brad Doty Classic

That night when I got home, I went to the computer and looked up the World of Outlaws schedule and saw they were racing at this place called Eldora Speeday that Friday and Saturday in a place called Rossburg Ohio. I jumped up out of my chair and woke up my loving caring fiance who is just a peach when woken up at 2am and asked her like a little kid on Christmas morning, "are we doing anything this weekend because the cars I saw race tonight are really cool and really fast and are going to be racing at this track called Eldora in Rossburg and its only 2hrs away and a really want to go so can we go can we can we can we???" Yes she still married me after that so I guess I have a keeper.

We ended up going that weekend and I have been going to probably at least 15 races every year and I am probably under estimating that number. This past April I took my 21 month (18month at the time) son to his first sprint car race at Attica Raceway Park for the All Star race. The whole time he was pointing at the cars, clapping, smiling, and giggling. We have been to 5 races since that one this year and he has a blast at each one. This upcoming week, we will be attending the same races that I attended for the first time 8 years ago, for my son's first time.

So, to Mr. Brad Doty, I would like to say Thank You Very Much for promoting that race at Limaland 8 years ago, and all the years before and after. It has probably cost me thousands of dollars of my hard earned money that I have been more than happy to seperate myself from for what I feel is the best form of racing, entertainment, and experiences in life. You have given me a hobby that I can share with my son for many years to come and I am looking forward to the upcoming Tuesday at Attica Raceway Park.





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