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

How many teams can afford to drive around the country and not consistently be in the top 5? At $4.45 or higher for diesel I can't imagine too many teams will survive the schedule. Are there solutions to the schedule? Do they cut the west coast out? Look at the end of the schedule Princeton to NM to Tulare then all the way back east. Thats a few grand just in fuel. It will be interesting once things get rolling. Weather permitting.

"Do they cut the West Coast out?" Not going to happen. WoO get great car counts when they come out here to California no matter what time a year it is, heck over 40 cars minimum at Tulare and we all know Chico's car count of over 100 cars, plus weather. In the Fall out here in California it's beautiful and so we rarely see rain and definitely don't see snow. That makes it much easier for WoO to schedule here in Calif. Plus with DIRT getting involved in racing in California now they definitely want to keep there product involved in Calif. and another thing is SOLD-OUT race tracks when they race here as well. I just don't see it happening IMO.

Trophy Cup......Best race of the year hands down!

No need to cut out trips out west. They just need to be smart about how they make the schedule. Don't criss-cross 4-5 states (or more) from race to race, put the races closer together. Easier said than done, I know, but as economic times stay difficult and energy costs stay high this is something that all racing venues and traveling series should look into IMO.

Signature here.

Welcome to Chico, California

Their schedule is built around many of the same traditional dates that Ted negotiated 30 years ago. The national average for a gallon of gas in 1978 was .65 cents per gallon. I don't think that the three decades old tradition of back tracking all summer makes good business sense anymore. In railroading we refer to that as a circuitous route and truckers schedule back hauls to maximize their productivity. Unfortunately in Sprint Car racing these tracks are all locked into traditional dates and fans plan their vacations around them.

And as far as the WoO goes they're stuck with that old standard of 100 nights of racing. You can't raise the purse and pass it on because fans are already strapped and won't show if the ticket goes up much more. Racers can't make a living on 25 or 50 races, it's got to be 80 or 100 with plenty of sponsor help along the way. Businesses are cutting back advertising so their budgets are tight.

Our local tracks lost the first four weekends to rain/cold/snow and the forecast tonight and all day tomorrow is for heavy rain tapering off on Saturday with temps diving down to the low 30's. I'm about 99% certain we're going to lose another weekend here in the upper Midwest.

Meanwhile I've been spending time with the non-race-fan wife and grandkids so I found out how the other half lives. No wonder they think I'm crazy all summer. I'm enjoying the time off and I think my hearing might actually be improving.

When the racing finally does get going I think these regional series are going to pickup some cars and drivers. Maybe before long there will be a half dozen cars on the WoO all owned by Nascar drivers.

Stan Meissner

Most teams traveling in racing series around this country or other countries have owners or sponsors with deep pockets. I don't think the price of gas today has much to do with them staying on the road. They've been competing for small purses forever. Even the racers who compete in the more expensive forms of racing at our local tracks (late models, 360 sprints, etc) mostly have family money to support their race habit. The future might be bleak though, what with the two most populated countries in the world (India and China) modernizing at a frightening rate, demand for oil is gonna grow and grow. Ain't nothing we can do about it, and this goofy Ethanol thing will only cause more problems.

Adding $6 trillion of debt in his 1st term and now if 
elected again he wouldn't have to worry about an 
electorate in 2016 so the sky is the limit.And his EPA 
would continue to put the screws to oil drilling and 
mining for coal.Can you say bankruptcy.

Those car counts will be there regardless of WoO. Trophy Cup, Mini Gold Cup draw plenty of cars without the help of WoO. I liked it better when the whole month of september was booked up in California. There's a T-shirt hanging in the Sprint Car Hall of Fame. I think it says "The Western Challenge" Doesn't matter but it list all the tracks for that swing. From Chico to Ascot.

i think with fuel being what it is and will be for a long time they need to schedule more shows on the west coast not cut any out,,,i remember as a kid going to a different track every weekend from skagit to SO-cal to see the outlaws run and they ran alot of multi nights gosh darn i miss what it used to be,,

get balls and run the top!!!

The LAST thing that will ever happen is they cut west coast races. It's a big deal for California, Washington and Oregon (and Canada) fans who only get to see the WoO teams once a year. The teams that are traveling are doing so because they can. Last I figured, they are currently nineteen teams on the WoO tour fulltime. Not to be rude...but how many of those teams are recognized as premium talents that generate ticket sales? That's not to denagrate any of them because the are all telented, but perception sells, rightly or not. Bottom line is that I'm not concerned with the number of teams traveling the entire series.

Regionalization is the future of the sport. That's how sprint car racing is going to grow. I don't know if that's something World Racing Group wants to do...I know it's something the All Stars series would like to build...but I think it would revitalize sprint car racing and develope new stars in the sport.

As far as the comment about scheduling more races and eliminating the 48hr/250mi. rule, I say no on both counts. They have about as many races as they can have now ( save for March, which was traditionally Texas, OK. month...guess why they don't get to race there anymore?). The non-compete rule is in place to protect the series, raceteams and tracks' financial interest. When you can see a WoO team race for the price of a local show at your track, and the racer performs for a fraction of what a WoO race pays, the value of that racer is now set. Why should a promoter book a show which pays 10Gs to win when a team will race for $3?

On that note, racing for 10Gs sounds a lot better than $3... costs $3 just for a cold hot dog! lol. I understand the 48 hour rule before a WoO race I just don't understand the 48 hour period AFTER a WoO race when they don't have another race scheduled for a week... Just saying that drivers should be able to race at their home tracks when they are in the area if the WoO doesn't race for a few days. Case in point is if Knoxville gets their show in on Sat. night, the racers will get penalized for going to Husets on Sun. night when the WoO doesn't have another scheduled race until the 9th in IL?

Fenders are like vacuums... they both suck.

What is the penalty for an outlaw driver when he races the night before an outlaw show? This has happened a couple times already this year.

Back in the "glory days", some years the WoO had 6-8 teams following them full time. And back then, there were basicially 3 guys that won 80% of the races. It seems alot more competitive now, and with 19 or so teams following them, it's about as healthy as it's been (save for early last year when it swelled to 22-24). Not saying the schedule couldn't be modified some, but you still have to go to the West Coast, it's one of the hot beds of sprint car racing.

racinrebel,

Of course i meant $3,000, just figured you'd understand the shorthand version. LOL

On the 48hr/250mi rule...Husets has two WoO events scheduled for this season and other midwest tracks have events as well, so I would be hesitant to set a precedent of lowering the value of the WoO talent. It's a business decision and, I think, a sound one. The raceteams join WoO to race for higher purses and compete night in and night out against what most consider to be the best in winged sprint car racing. They agree to the terms when they accept tow money and are able to collect point fund money at year end, as well as an opportunity to be marketed as part of a name brand perceived as the top group in the sport. It's a business consideration on both sides that benefits all parties concerned.

There are plenty of car owners and sponsors with deep pockets but there's also a lot of broke fans.

Stan Meissner