Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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While being in the pits this weekend at Port Royal and talking to a few others in the sport , Ive come to understand that Ohio Speedweek as weve known it since 1983 will be no more due to the impending HL takeover of the ASCoC . This spits in the face of the Western PA / Ohio racer who cant always run with the WOO when they seldom visit the area , and washes yeas of history away due to a vendetta . Where will the guys who run weekly have the oppurtinity to run with top level talent all while not breaking the bank on travel costs ? This reeks of a CART/IRL split 2.0 . The whole scene will be hurt by this purchase , mark my words. It might seem great on the surface however , why are we really racing on weeknights anyways ? For a the moneymakers at FLO / DV ? Not for AJ Flick , Cole Duncan , Jack Sodeman Jr or Ricky Peterson but for Brian Brown , David Gravel , Brent Marks & Chase Randall. As a wise man once said , You will reap what you sow.

The best racetracks are in the middle of nowhere

So why does it have to be sanctioned?

When I first heard the rumor about High Limit buying the All Stars, Ohio Speedweek was one of the first things I thought about.  If High Limit were to drop Speedweek it would be a massive PR blunder.  That, and Larson's affinity for racing part of Speedweek nearly every year, makes me think they would keep it intact.  But in the case they don't I believe you are correct, longtimefan.  There's no shortage of people in Ohio who could and would get together to keep Speedweek alive either with no sanction or with one (or more) of the regional sanctions.

I'm curious what "vendetta" the OP is referring to.

Signature here.

OP here , here are my thoughts on the vendetta . I do beileve in my opinion this current iteration of the conflict with WoO  / vendetta started when Tony Stewart was up in a fuss over merchandise sales in at Bubba in 2018  . It continued with Cody Sommer / Mansfield Motor Speedway (RIP) in 2018 with the 100K to win SCWC which showed a  big paying show without WoO could be done . And what did WoO do the next year ? Scheduled a race at Nashville Fairgounds on that same weekend IN 2019. Fast forward a few years with the current mess of guys wanting to race with the true outlaw schedule that Brent Marks and Jonathan Davenport on the Late Model side brought into promenance. You didnt need the WoO to be successfull anymore . That took away the prestige and draw of the WoO in sense , not all of it but some. FAST/OVSCA/AFCS could in theory run a version of speedweek but you lose a few things if you do that . Prestige , Tradition , Marketability , Affordability & Availability.

The best racetracks are in the middle of nowhere

Sounds like a lot of hearsay to me. 85% of what we worry about usually never happens so I would hold off on getting too worked up until something is posted/released. 

I bet they still have a speedweek of sorts but maybe without the major sanctioning bodies. To me that would be awesome as I'm a weekly race type of guy more so than WoO or the High Limit (featuring Larson & Abrew) series... Make it high paying still and get some money into throes local hands and not some dudes that don't need it or won't mean anything to them as it's just another race.

Brian Carter was interviewed in the latest Area Auto basically talking like this "merger" or buyout was happening. He also said that if the All Stars disband/merge w HL/go National, there would be a need for a regional series and WRG would consider starting one. Ohio Speedweek is a shell of its former self mostly because the purses have been stagnant for years but if they did do away with the All Star sanction I'm sure someone else would try to fill the void given it gets good crowd support. 

I agree that speedweek is a shell of its former self. Has been that way for a few years now. I use to get excited for that week as I would probably go to 4-5shows that week. This year and last I only went to the Fremont show. For some reason it just has lost its luster. Not a lot of guys outside of the All Star regulars even race the whole week anymore or a majority of them. I think it is just because racing 7 or 9 straight nights takes it toll on equipment and the people. 

To be honest I really would not be all that sad that it would go away. On the surface and to the fan it seems great having that many nights that you can go see a race but to a sensible mind it does not make sense. That is about a month's worth of races on your engine and equipment, a lot of money in tires, extra expenses on travel and food, and to make it worst its 90+ degrees often times and they might get 3hrs of sleep if that. And oh yeah it is right before the month of money which has a couple big races in Ohio as well so a lot of wear and tear and money before the big paying races. 

I think what Tony did with the All Stars is great, it was a dying brand prior, and I think what High Limit has done is great.  However to me, they do not need to go National or head to head with the Outlaws if a merger does happen. If they want to rebrand and do a mix of mid week shows with regional shows then fine, national would be an uphill battle even with Larson's name. And I am sure there would be someone to fill the void if the sanction went away. There definately is not a shortage of sanctioning bodies here in Ohio. 1 weekend I think there were about 4-5 sanctioned races in the state. 

That's definitely what we need, another sprint car series to furrther muddy the water. Bring on the Gumout Series Part 2. 

What's Danny Wood doing these days? 

Agree.  National will never happen-----unless they sign a group of 12-15 drivers to contract to guarantee attendance at all events.  Contract would have to be written so those cars/teams/drivers would only attend their events with a limited allowance to run some other events in the country.  Also, the series would take care of their drivers under contract by giving them exclusive rights to merchandising areas at the tracks, all drivers would be given tow/show-up money, and they would be paid point money if they fulfilled their obligations and ran all events as contracted.  

This should sound familiar to everyone.  It's already being done.  This idea that some other series will dethrone the WoO by simply allowing anyone to race anywhere, for a larger check for winning a race, is ridiculous.  The 2 series that are supposedly combining had what?...............2 or 3 cars run the entire schedule for each series? 

If anyone on here wants the WoO replaced, it will have to be by a series that replicates the exact same formula to make it happen.  Otherwise, you just have a free-for-all regional series where some drivers show up, and some drivers don't.   

How ironic.  Flo starts a series for mid week racing, then buys a series to expand.  What's the first thing we hear?  Let's kill Speedweek which offers you an entire week of racing.

Dumb

Egras, THE POST OF THE YEAR. I respect Kyle and Brad, but this potential merger goes against everyhing they stated that High Limits was intended to be, a high paying mid week mini series. There are not enough teams with the resourses to run two national series. I can not understand why fans want to see the demise of the Outlaws. They might not have the most exciting races, but their races are an event with great atmosphere with the best drivers in attendence, This is coming down to greed with FLO trying to take on Dirtvision. Brian Carter was right when he was very skeptical of the formation of High Limits last year.

Look no futher than the beginning of the year when there were over 30 teams committed to following the entire High Limits series. As of last night there were only a handful of teams that ran every race......

No matter what you think of Larson I said from the beginning if he takes most of the money car count would drop.

Exactly...Plus he is definetly the draw for High Limits. The line waiting to buy his merchandise at Bridgeport was a mile long. Other than Rico and maybe Brent Marks, the other drivers, not so much. I love watching Kyle race, especially sprint cars. When he drops out on Sunday, I turn off the TV. My question is if High Limits expands the amount of races next year, who will be the draw when Kyle is not racing????

Indeed. A 12 race midweek deal that paid good money was needed in sprint car racing. A full time National tour that takes drivers, officials, tracks and fans away from the WoO is not needed. I'll reserve final judgment until we hear a schedule. But you're likely not going to be able to sustain a 60 race National schedule without going after the WoO establishment and eventually the same rules that apply to the WoO will apply to this series. 

Did you all buy your Jump to Conclusions Mat from Tom Smykowski? What some of you are laying out may very well happen, but I'm gonna wait and see until all the announcements are made and go from there.

Atta boy, Sap.

Rico won more of the races than Larson

There is some people already trying to get Ohio Speedweek. Maybe a few! What I hope is, all this All Star stuff gets released soon, it's a done deal,  we don't have 5 people think they should be the one doing Speedweek and it turns to a mess. Speedweek can be an awesome week with or without a series if some time and effort is put into it properly and you don't have a bunch of different people trying it, thinking they have one up on the other. 

Life's short, race hard!!!