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

I've been around sprint car racing practically my whole life, 40 plus years.  And I have a question.  It pertains to lapped traffic.  In your opinion what should lappers do?  Ive heard people say they should get out of the way.  I always thought they should hold their line.  In watching the Outlaws it seems that some of em actually race harder when about to be lapped than they do usually.  Jason Sides, whom I am a fan of, always seems to race leaders hard when being lapped.  Or maybe it just appears that way. 

2nd part of post...moved to TN a while back and since then have been to Knoxville and Haubstadt.  What other tracks should I hit up?  Was thinking of  Williams Grove or Eldora?  Opinions?

Thanks

There is no Lucky dog in sprint car racing, so I think they  should race hard to stay on the lead lap.  They won’t get it back for free when a caution comes out. If you want to see a race in central Pennsylvania, go to Lincoln or Port Royal on a Saturday night. You will most likely get a better car count and see better racing. Williams Grove is very hit or miss on their track prep. And I’m not trying to start an argument about who has the best track LOL

Most drivers (not all, but the majority) want you to hold your line.  Trying to "get out of the way" invariably fouls up your plans and others.  If you hold your line a guy knows how, where and when to get around you.  Also most do not want you to "race the leaders hard."  Not saying slow up or give them a free pass but don't trade sliders with the leaders when they are lapping you.  If you finish 20th and are 2 laps down you get paid the same if you're 20th and on the lead lap.  At short tracks and bullrings there's a lot of lapped cars in the field so the "lead lap" isn't as imperative. 

Nothing I dislike more than a whining front runner "that damn lapped car thought he had to race me and that held me up......."  I say "too damn bad....shut the crying F--K up and race him then" The track belongs to everybody on it!

Ding, DIng, we have a winner. HOLD YOUR LINE. IF NOT.

Wheeler into turn 3 and got up over a RR.  40,000 pc of JUNK got dragged back into the trailer. YEPPIE, 

This.

A

you beat me to it blazer.  Listen to Donny's post race from the Nationals last year.  (Not to single him out, but a good example----many of them do it)   He seemed appauled by the fact that cars were racing each other around him.  ?????    On your average night of racing, the best racing isn't even for the lead.  

It is a good topic that should probably be addressed.  Too much whining is right.  

    Our currently shuttered local track used to display the yellow & blue flag which meant "Hold your line. You are about to be lapped by the front runners". That's a safety issue. 

      At that point the front runners are already 12-15 seconds ahead of the lapped cars. It's not a matter of *if* they will get lapped; it's a matter of *when* they will get lapped. At that point it's not really racing. It's blocking. Who wants to see equipment thrashed  for no reason?

There was similar whining at Wilmot saturday night.  Same story.  I agree, get better and win or shut your pie hole.  The leader had to pass these same lappers......Congrats to Matt V. for the better job at lapper passing

Another thing to consider is this.....let's say a car about to be lapped is sponsored by "Bob's Tap" and he's racing another car about to be lapped which is sponsored by "Red's Barber Shop"......Funny, huh? Not really though, their sponsors are just as important to them as any sponsor the big teams represent. Maybe even more important. Why should they be asked to quit racing each other because the rich guy wants by? They shouldn't! And chances are, their sponsors are probably sitting in the stands.

Good point; however, who is to say the "rich guy" is the one who wants to get by?  I know the point you're making but that's not always the case.  The challenge with the sponsor thing is I (as a major sponsor of a local/regional team) want to see our driver represent our brand and partnership as best as possible on the track, off the track, on social media, in the community, etc.  We've done our due diligence and developed a fantastic partnership because we aligned ourselves with a respected driver on the track, in the pits and in the community.  All of that said of course I want to see our driver race as hard as possible, but myself personally being a die hard sprint car fan understand that certain things on he track dictate position and action.  I am not saying (some others may be saying this, but I am not) simply give in, quit and let the guy by, but I do see the drivers' point of "hold your line, but don't trade sliders with the leader" point.  You don't necessarily have to let up and let a guy by, just simply hold your line and go all out.  If they want and can get by you, good.  But just don't trade sliders with the leader(s) when you're getting lapped.  That usually doesn't end well for anyone.  And as a sponsor I don't want to see torn up equipment, jabs on social media, or fights in the pits involving my driver (IF an on track incident occurred because he/she "took out the leader while getting lapped," not that it occurs like that all the time, just using hyperbole).   

My "rich guy" refrence was only that......I should have used "leaders" or "front runners"....however, it's usually someone that has a pretty full hauler that does the whining. Not sure I've heard a "working class" driver running up front complain about lapped traffic. At an Outlaw show, it's not uncommon for nearly half the field to become lapped traffic. Often times touring Outlaws are themselves being lapped. I've seen them race hard more than once when it comes to racing the leaders as they come around to lap them. And of course what's fair for one should be fair for all.

Yep I no doubt see that and when we're talking bullrings and small tracks most of the field becomes lapped traffic.  I think it's more of an "optics" thing where it's pretty easy to tell racing the leaders hard vs maybe going overboard a bit.  It's a fine line and I think racing hard is fine, but sometimes (and I think we've all seen it) drivers that are being lapped/have been lapped maybe take it overboard.  Not saying it happens often but we've all seen it.  I guess the question remains what is "overboard" to one probably isn't the same to another.  

JMO... If you are in the back and are not racing anyone within 10 or so car lengths then hold your line. If you are racing someone for position then I don't care who is around, you race for the position and don't worry about the leader. It his problem to get around you and whoever you are racing.

DA

Yes, this. I didn't elaborate but above what I presented (holding your line) was under the assumption the lapped/to be lapped car is not actively racing anyone. 

 its a race for position and passing points, hard charger etc no matter where you are on the track, it ain't nasnap, so just enjoy it while you can ya' ole fart, lol!

been racing since 58' so i guess that makes me one too eh???  60 years going racin', geezuzzz, how did that happen??

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

As to the 2nd part of your post, you should go to Eldora at least once just to see it.  It along with Knoxville are the 2 must see dirt tracks IMO.  

That is a valid point, but.....with sprint car racing, being back of the next guy by ten car lengths or so will disapear in a heartbeat if the guy a driver is trying to catch slips up even just a little bit. That is what validates hold your line and stay in the gas as you have been.....doing that a driver can still let the front runners go by withpout any pain. But if the front runners should come up on two or three guys racing for position then it's a free for all. Wolfgang and many others have said that when it comes to lapped traffic many times he preferred to be running second for that very reason. If the leader chooses the wrong way to get by the lappers, he could choose another line. I think we are all on pretty much the same page. It's just not as simple as one rule fits all scenerios. So probably no rule remains the best. Let 'em bitch

Agree 100%.

Let's go Sprint Car Racing!

Knoxville - Best Track In the USA!
Eldora - 2nd Best Track in the USA!

If I was a driver and they held me up in traffic or worse yet got into me and I spun out they'd be bums and hacks that had no business being on a race track.  On the other hand, if they held up my competition in lapped traffic or better yet got into them and spun them out it would just be a hard racing deal and nobody's fault.  In all my years being around this sport hanging in the pits and overhearing the chatter that is pretty much the way it usually goes. 

Stan Meissner