Forum: SCRAFAN.COM Forum (go)
Moderators: ljennings

Living in Vegas I am happy to see that CRA is coming back to Vegas. But I sure don't know why after the fiasco the Speedway put on last fall. Does someone need their head examined. I would rather drive to Perris to see a 2 day show than get to sleep in my own bed to see them here. Are they going to do anything different to the track or are the teams bring their asphalt setups? And please CRA bring an announcer that actually knows the drivers and appreciates that there are fans in the stands that keep stats. And speaking of stats, how about a flippin program!!! I know the speedway is short on funds,lol, at least a single page driver line up. After the fall race last year, you'll probably only need a half a sheet of paper.I have been to sprint car races all over the country and seen many different surfaces and offered my imput to the dirt track. I don't know where they found dirt soft enough but their heads are burried in it.

Frank Lewis

USAC, are you listening to this? Not only are the drivers and car owners pissed, but the fans are too! Maybe this time arrange for some pushtrucks...... Something needs to be done. I'm sure the only cars that do show up are the ones who need points. If your relying on points to keep em' coming, then you also have your heads buried in soft sand. USAC, you are the ones that are suppose to represent teams, drivers and crews, you're the sanctioning body for heavens sakes. When it comes to comments like this (and I'm sure there are other ones) then do something to address the needs to have a successful race for the fans, drivers, team owners and crews.

you are anything but a dummy

The sad part about it is all the people at the Speedway and USAC will see is the ticket sales. Running on NASCAR weekend I am sure you will sell a few thousand tickets to NASCAR dummies who don't know any better and think tires blowing after 10 laps, cars flipping when they hit tires left on the track are cool. Not true sprint car fans who very few will waste their time and money to drive up here and see sprints on asphalt.

Hey Dummy

You are barking up the wrong tree. USAC has nothing to do with your complaints. The track and the push trucks are the race tracks responsibility.

I agree somewhat with this reply. Then again, I have been to several "National" series races where USAC would delay a program until the track was perpared better. Do they not take a similar interest in "Regional" races?

FWIW, here's an excerpt of an email I sent to the track manager and all the SMI brass I could find. Never did hear back from them.

Mr Blair,

It's my understanding that you are the person responsible for taking care of the dirt track at LVMS. I've participated in races at LVMS as they have hosted sprint cars sporadically over the last 15 years or so with the last 10 being primarily at the dirt track. Rarely has the LVMS dirt track surface been in what I would consider decent condition but last weekend's race surface was plain horrible.

As an active participant in USAC, I appreciate the promoters that bring Sprints and Midgets to their facility to display these wonderful cars in action. I understand the idea of trying to cross-promote and bring drag racing fans to the dirt track to watch. Last weekend's event could have been a fantastic use of the facility with the NHRA in town. However, this past weekend you did a grave disservice to the sport with poor track preparation. In this business I'm sure you are painfully aware how fickle the racing fan can be. After last Saturday's debacle, I doubt any of those fans will ever return to your dirt track for any kind of racing. The car owners have little if any incentive to return either. While this really isn't a money making venture for the car owners they do hold out the hope that if they win the race they normally at least break even. When a track takes rubber that hope goes out the window. When the track takes rubber in qualifying, it becomes a financial disaster because the track destroys a minimum of $800 worth of tires every time it rolls out on the track. Normally a multi-car team brings economies of scale but when the track takes rubber, the car owner's losses multiply by the number of cars they bring to the racetrack. So if you were wondering why some cars never came out for the semi-main or main event, each one of those car owners just put at least $1000 back into their pockets by doing so because they knew that they would need multiple tires just to complete that one event.

If you wish to attract fans and participants back to your racetrack anytime in the near future, you might consider apologizing to them. I realize that the LVMS dirt track is not used on a regular basis and probably has no full time staff. You might consider bringing in someone on a temporary basis who is familiar with dirt track preparation just prior to these events. They only need to be there 3-4 days prior to the event. By no means are these highly paid consultants. Without some sort of public outreach by the track that contains some sort of assurance that the track will be properly prepared, I just don't see any reason to return to the facility. At a time when development is overtaking and closing racetracks, it's sad to see what could be a good one wasted needlessly.

Rich Chesavage

Mr Lewis, could You e mail me at

[email protected]

Thank You Sir!

I went to the very first WoO events at the LVMS dirt oval. The track announcer repeatedly mentioned how the dirt for the racing surface was brought in from somewhere else, (duh!, it's pretty tough to find anything other than sand, rock and stone in the LV area), and kept referring to it as gumbo or 'magic mud'. I'm no soils expert but it didn't take an expert to see that the racing surface was in no way related to any dirt, mud or gumbo I'd ever seen. As the night's racing program unfolded the deteriorating track conditions and resulting tire wear confirmed my suspicions. Like a dummy I went back again for another WoO show thinking that maybe the folks at LVMS would have rectified the shortcomings but it soon became apparent that nothing had changed for the better. I MIGHT attend another race there one day but only if I happen to already be in LV for some other reason. So sad since it's an otherwise decent facility.

I have written all too many letters to LVMS about the dirt track surface and how horrible it is. Even though I live here I must say that people here have been in the desert sun for far too long. Their brains are fried.All the speedway says is how much water it takes to wet the track to get it ready for a sprint car race. DUH, it does take water and lots of it if that is what it takes.I am asking all who read this to speak up to the speedway. And email them and tell them how you feel. I believe the guy you should email is Chris Blair. His name is on their list of contacts. I still can't believe CRA iis coming back After the fall race here ask Bud Keading if he'll ever come back here.

It's a shame they got things started off on the wrong foot there. Perhaps if they had some real clay on that racing surface it would actually retain some water. I think whoever sold them those truck loads of soil pulled the wool over their eyes or maybe they decided that the 'good stuff' was too expensive. Or, just maybe, they figured it would all dry up and blow away in between events so why bother.
It would probably take more money and effort to create a good racing surface in LV, as opposed to someplace in a less arid climate, (apparently other arid region tracks have similar problems, Reno/Fernley, Hollywood Hills, Tucson, etc.), but I get the impression that those in charge at LVMS have decided that their limited event schedule can't justify the additional expense. It's very dry for most of the year in Phoenix but I don't seem to hear that many complaints about Manzy.
Is Manzy's soil superior or is it better track prep? Perhaps there are some folks lurking on this board who are involved in track preparation and can shed some light on this matter.

What you have at LVMS is a serious lack of commitment. I have asked too many times why they won't spend the money on real clay. And if you've never been to manzy, you are missing out. I have been there in the middle of summer and the track holds up 100 times better than the piece of crap they call a dirt track here in Vegas. If you have never been here, when you first walk up to the gate, you think, this is a nice facility. I think they spent more money on the bathrooms than they did on the racing surface.Look at the rest of the facility and see how much money was spent. How much would real caly have set them back? If this is getting started off on the wrong foot, I don't think they'll ever find the right one. Hell it took them too many years to get rid of the hole in three and four. They do race there on a semi regular basis with dirt mods, some late mods, and on occasion , a local circle jerk. There is a track in Pahrump that gets a pretty good dirt mod car count on a weekly basis.And they have a decent surface. I don't understand why they can't run on the other night of the weekend.