Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

I'm thinking about taking a Labor Day road trip for some sprint car racing. I live 205 miles from Eagle and 170 miles from Eldon, but they both take just over three hours in drive time for me. On one hand, Eagle will have well over 100 cars and it's close to Lincoln and Omaha so there will be plenty to do during the day. On the other hand, Lake Ozark will have the faster cars with a good payout, but I'm concerned about the car count because it seems like Missouri winged sprint car counts have been down a bit this year. And with the ASCS National Tour in Jackson this weekend I doubt many of those guys will make the long haul down to Eldon on Sunday for the finale. I went to Eldon once, but that's probably been 7 or 8 years ago.

Does anyone who's been to the Eagle Racesaver Nationals or attended any of Lake Ozark's shows this year have any input? There's also a small possibility that I get a wild hair and travel to Du Quoin to watch the Silver Crown cars on the mile, but I don't know that I want to make that long of a trip (over 5.5 hours).

Ask Frank

As you said, well over 100 sprints at Eagle for the Racesaver IMCA Sprint Nationals. 3 days of good close racing on the world's fastest 1/3 mile, plus plenty of area sights to see and visit during the day with activities after the races every evening. I know which I would recommend.

I am lucky enough to work at one of the best tracks 
anywhere.

I'm no less biased than ESPG (I also work at Eagle on the Tow Crew), but I'll bet Eagle has the better show hands down.  As you said, Coltan, there's more to do during the daytime (The Speedway Motors Museum in Lincoln, The SAC Museum near Ashland, The Henry Dorly Zoo in Omaha, and literally dozens of microbreweries between Linclon and Omaha may be be some highlights for you), but the draw is the racing....We WILL have over 100 Sprints from all over the country.  They WILL be racing hard for one of 9 starting spots each night before the Big Dance on Sunday (top 9 from the A feature on Friday get the inside spots, top 9 from Satuday's A feature get the out side spots, and the middle is made up of Sunday's top 9 in the B feature after the Alphabet soup is run.)  They WILL be racing on one hell of a racy track (Locked down...follow the leader...never heard of em!) AND maybe the best of all, they'll be having fun doing it.  I've talked to dozens of drivers since we've been doing the Racesaver Nationals at Eagle and all of them say how much fun they're having (and I'm often talking to them after the worst point of their weekend....they wrecked!).  They've made friends with other racers from around the country and look forward to seeing each other every Labor Day weekend.  They help each other out, and root for each other's success.  After the races they're all still hanging out in the pits and looking to interact with fans.  There's live music, and replays of the night's races as well.  It's a Labor Day weekend long party with a whole bunch of racing mixed into it (there's a golf tournament at a local course and a dodgeball tournament in the infield on Sunday morning as well)...... I'm sure that the ASCS show will be alright, but it just can't compare to Eagle's show, not on this weekend certainly.    

PS Unlike most years the weather doesn't look to be a factor.  mid 80's, dry and sunny all weekend long.........  

Check out highlights of Eagle's action from last Saturday night on IMCA TV on FB .......that should convince you.......LOL

Did I hear they were adding more grandstand seating at Eagle a few weeks ago?

I would have to say I think Eagle is the kind of track made for 305 racing.  As this event gets bigger and bigger I wish I was still in Omaha and could go to all 3 nights.  This event has the potential to become one of sprint car racing's biggest events even though its a 305 race.  Kinda like the Chili Bowl.  Labor day, great track, great early September football weather, amazing car counts.  

Is the race format posted anywhere?

http://www.racesaver.com/sprint-nationals/event-schedule/

I am lucky enough to work at one of the best tracks 
anywhere.

Eagle's a great track but 305's bore me to death. I'd take 360's any day.

A

Close 3-wide racing on a high-banked bullring with battles throughout the field bore you?

I am lucky enough to work at one of the best tracks 
anywhere.

No, but locked down severely underpowered sprint cars with a 410 size topwing do. 305's have their place - as a low budget starter class, not a headliner. I suppose they are better on a bullring where HP isn't as important, still not my cup of tea. We need to come up with a way to make sprint cars affordable without downsizing the engine IMO.   

A

OK ColtanW, what did you choose?

I ended up going to Eagle and I certainly wasn't disappointed! I only went to the Saturday and Sunday show, but I was greeted with some tremendous two and three wide action. I only knew about 10 of the drivers in the 100+ car count, but every single one of those drivers seemed to be racing hard every lap on the track. The highlight of the Saturday show was seeing Michael Day and CJ Hulsey out of Texas make their alphabet run from the F main. Day ran all the way up to 9th in the C main and Hulsey crashed in the D main while running in the transfer spot. Doug Lovegrove's run out of the B main to second in the A main was also a lot of fun to watch. The Sunday show also had great racing throughout all of the features and the A main definitely had a big race feel to it. I was pretty amazed that the A main went 24 green flags lap before a caution came out and the top 6 all seemed to be in contention right before that caution came out.

I also really loved the format with racing all the entries on the preliminary night and with with heat winners going to the A, 2nd place going to the B, 3rd place going to the C, etc. It seemed to create an importance on passing for each position and made it so everyone in each feature hadn't raced each other previously in a heat race, which was interesting. The only downside was that I didn't feel there was a need for a support class with that many sprint cars in the field. To their credit though, those support classes did race cleanly for the most part. I'm just not a fan of modifieds and hobby stocks.

So yeah, a solid weekend of racing. I also visited the Museum of American Speed on Saturday, which I would highly recommend to anyone. Lots of racing history with plenty of sprint, midget, champ car, and IndyCar history. 

Ask Frank

Glad you had a great time Coltan!  Should have told you to stop down by the tow trucks after the show and introduce yourself.  We were grilling burgers and drinking (maybe more than) a few beers.  Next time you come out stop by and say hi.  

I LOVE Eagle Raceway... One of the best tracks in the land IMO for Sprint Cars. But I'm with ya, I cant get overly excited about a 305 race. Sounds like they also had two support divisions. Which seems like a lot for that many Sprint Cars already in the pits. I hate to sound like other divisions dont matter, because I certainly understand they are needed to keep tracks open on a weekly basis, but during that big of a show 1 max seems would be more than enough. At some point I'll give em a chance when I'm up in the area. But until then I'm not making a special trip for a night of racing there like I've done in the past to see a night of racing. Glad they had a successful event, and cant wait to get up there again.

Pit Shack, is the Nebraska Cup still a 360 show? That should be coming up yet this year... Maybe this coming weekend?

No, we had only 1 support class each night. You have to have time to let those transferring from previous preliminary events to fill the fuel tank, get more tear-offs, etc. Plus, it's only fair to let the "support classes" have a chance to compete in front of extra large crowds at a special event like the Racesaver IMCA Sprint Nationals since they DO help keep the doors open weekly.

The Nebraska Cup this Friday will include the Racesaver IMCA Sprint Cars, the SLMR Late Models and the Lucas Oil POWRI WAR non-winged sprints.

http://www.eagleraceway.com/EagleRaceway/events/nebraska-cup-2/

I am lucky enough to work at one of the best tracks 
anywhere.

Just sport mods on Saturday and hobby stocks on Sunday. And I totally get letting those classes run during the weekend since as Pit Shack Guy said, they keep the doors open throughout the year. They just aren't my cup of tea personally, but that's because I'm spoiled with Knoxville's weekly show of only sprint cars. I can certainly live with one class of fendered cars per night with the great show the 305 guys put on. Don't knock on those 305 guys til you try this show. I kind of had some doubts when I went because I had the mentality of "it's just 305s," but the show those guys put on was fantastic. If you get a chance I'd suggest trying it out because you'll probably be surprised like I was.

Ask Frank