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

The Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders has released their 2008 Race Schedule

Click here to check it out... http://www.sprintinvaders.com

No Bloomfield date this year?

Fairboard's decision.

Nice schedule again this year. Going to be another great yr.

LETS RACE BOYS

Why in the world was West Liberty scheduled on the Saturday night of Knoxville's Twin Features????

Can't please everyone!

Jesse Wagler

Why not race twin features? Twice the racing for half the money, usually no transfers from the B so if you have a heat race problem you're done. Besides, Kahley Gharst will be busy at K'ville and that's one position you might pick up.

That'd be OK... Long as someone is willing to pay the extra purse.

So Jeff, seriously, was it a fair board decision at WL, or a Simmons decision or an SIA decision?

LOL Larry...I don't think the defending champ will be running the whole series. There are some other first-timers though from what I've heard...

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??? I'm gonna assume it was the Fair Board or Simmons decision?

I've been down south way too long to make assumptions tho.

I'm gonna guess it was a Simmons decision. Saturday night is the normal night of racing in WL, Friday the 4th his employees are busy in Farley and there has never been much luck with midweek shows.

The WL show is only 2 years old so conflicts are enevitable I guess. Isn't Knoxville's twin feature night usually a week later? Why did they move it up to a holiday weekend on top of the WL show?

Twin Features has been the first weekend in July at Knoxville for the past few seasons, if my memory serves me correctly

Just the way it is when holiday's don't always fall on a weekend. I am surprised that Knoxville didn't schedule the twin features special for the following weekend to try and cash in on the holiday with something other than a regular show.

Now Speedbump, the Sprint Invaders show may only be two years old, but sprint cars at WL have a long and stormy history at the track. I'm sure you and I both know the same stories about it. Just seems to me like somebody is trying to kill this show and having it opposite Twin Features at Knoxville will do it. Having lived in WL all my life and knowing all the players, I just wanted to know who was at the root of it this time.

Scribe, the show in this format (The Firecracker 50, Late Models and Sprints) is what I was referring to as only being 2 years old. I understand it was a rough first year with Bud Kile promoting and a mildly successful second year with Simmons. Simmons has no other history of sprints in WL, only a couple of Lancaster WI, one Farley and one Dubuque show and were far less successfull from a $$ standpoint than the WL show. I know he would not even bother to schedule the show if he didn't expect success.

It is the Firecracker 50 after all so having the show very close to the 4th of July does make sense. Factor in the other half of the equation's specials (late models) and it makes much more sense.

Even though West Liberty is a great racing town, I am sure that there are not too many fans in your position of having to choose between the two shows. I think that from a grandstand point of view we are looking at two completely different demographics. How many cars will have to make a decision....do those not running for 360 points in Knoxville like twin feature nights? Are there a lot of Sprint Invaders regulars that also chase points Knoxville Championship Cup points? SI do run quite a few Saturday night shows don't they?

Do you think that the fact that the Knoxville 360's will run two shortened 12 lap features and WL will go 25 rounds make a difference to drivers or fans? With the growing success of Late Models in Knoxville persuade a few to spend a Saturday night at the second greatest dirt track in Iowa? (and single best for LM action)

Those are all good questions and I have no doubt some of your points are right. But the problem I have is that I have spent my life trying to get more WL race fans to Knoxville and trying to get Knoxville fans to WL. So this scheduling really makes me look bad to both groups! More important than that though, I do think the grandstand count will suffer immensely. The show previously brought fans of both groups together, plus a few other curious onlookers. I just don't think they can expect to have any kind of car count when a good number of the SIA drivers are (or at least traditionally have been) Knoxville regulars. And just to give my opinion on something else you mentioned...the rough first year was not in any way Bud Kile's fault. There were other issues at work there. And also, to my knowledge and what I've been told, Simmons was in charge of the sprint shows that were held at the Muscatine County Fair in WL in past years.

Wait...before anyone jumps me about that last statement. I'm talking about Simmons being in charge in the standpoint of supposedly providing insurance during those past sprint shows...which became a point of misunderstanding. This is all from what I understand about what I've been told.

Sprint*Scribe, I use to go to Liberty every weekend before I discovered Knoxville! WL was the bomb back when I was a kid. Don't know how old you are but do any of these names ring a bell, Mel Morris, Pokey West, Wayne French, Dick Kleindolph, Pete Gray, Homer Weise, Tony Stewart, Ronnie Weedon, Boley, Webb, Johnny & Jay Johnson, Kosiskis, Birkhofers, (Dave would drive the wheels off a Late Model). Have not been back since 1989-90 other than for the Sprint car shows that they have had. The place really hasn't changed a lot over all these years accept for the Muscatine Co. fair don't seem near as popular as it use to be. But that could be the difference between lookin at it through a kids eyes. It wasn't sprintcars but they were good times.

Scribe, prior to 2001 Keith Simmons was building NASCAR motors for SABCO, Bill Davis and a few other teams....anything before that time frame would have been the late great Al Frieden.

There were a few sprint races at the Muscatine Co Fair between 2001 and 2003 (as you know, SPI had absolutely nothing to do with WL from 2004-2006) It is probable that Keith's crew prep'd the track and Kieth himself assisted the Muscatine Co Fair Assoc in procuring insurance for the fair races and demo derbies. SPI was responsible for all racing EXCEPT fair-related events, it makes sense that he would put those responsible for the show in touch with the proper insurance company. Whomever the policy was actually written to I do not know, or care.

There is no doubt in my mind that there could have been confusion....as you know confusion and "misunderstanding" surrounded a certain person involved with the fair around that timeframe. That person is no longer involved, which pleases MANY people that offered there opinion to me. Fortunately it looks like the departure of this person happened before the MCF was forced into bankruptcy.

I fully agree that not all of the first year issues were Bud Kile's fault, but the track prep decisions came from someone he hired (the guy prepping the track for weekly shows during 04-06, most say very poorly) so unfortunately Bud has to take the flak. I give Bud kudos for bringing sprints to my second favorite track, but I knew how that movie was going to play out after seeing the track from the road behind the backstretch a half hour before hot laps were scheduled. A diehard sprint and LM fan went home instead of suffering....everything I know about that show came from dozens of sources that were there and involved in various ways, but not from firsthand info.

So how many teams are affected by having to make a decision to run for Knoxville points or SI points? I was under the assumption that the # was fairly low.

BTW, I am in the exact same boat as you from the other end....I am a sprint fan who thinks Knoxville sets the standard for dirt tracks everywhere that happened to work 60-80 late model shows a year. Everyone in the pits knows I would rather be at a sprint car race, especially in Knoxville. Having WL and Knoxville both on Saturday nights has been a problem for me.....I always looked for radar to see what Knoxville was doing if we rained out WL. Unfortunately, I have been unable to witness sprints and LM's at West Liberty so far. If I am able to attend one of the shows this year it will be West Liberty, unforutnately I do not consider 16 lap 410 and 12 lap 360 events to be "features".