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

I grew up as a dirt Modified fan, and that division is probably still my greatest love in racing. I really do hate the fact that the division has been on a downward slide over the past 10-15 years. I don't know that the bodies are really the only reason for that. One reason IMO is that the division has just fragmented so much rules wise in recent years. At some places in the region, there are tracks within 50 miles of one another with rules that not compatible.

The division also has not had any decent weekly promoters come along since the death of Alex Friesen over a decade ago. Purses have gone nowhere in the division in over 20 years. The point I often make is that the first year I went to Knoxville (1992), I am fairly certain Knoxville was paying $50,000 to win and Syracuse was paying $50,000 in real cash to win. In the two decades since that time, Knoxville now pays $150,000 to win and Syracuse still pays the same $50,000 -- $25,000 when the sanction wants to grab half the winner's share. Even in central PA with the 410 Sprint Cars, there is pretty much a gentleman's agreement to stay off the other tracks' major dates. That sort of cooperation is virtually non-existant in the Modifieds anymore.

It is amazing now to think that up until the early 1990s, dirt Modifieds were right there with Late Models and Sprint Cars in terms of purses. Modified racing now seems to be about a million miles behind the other two divisions. Huge kudos to a long-time Grandview promoter Bruce Rogers stepping up next year and running a $50,000 to win 358-Modified show next year, while pretty much all the tracks in New York State remain stuck in the late 1980s purse wise.

I really don't have an issue with the bodies. Modified racing has it share of problems right now. but I think some of the other problems are a lot worse than the body rules. As someone that has been going to Syracuse every since 1986, last Sunday really was a black day for the division and what Syracuse used to be.

Ineteresting, what happened at Syracuse that you all are talking about?

Tim McCreadie, Tim Fuller, Billy Pauch, Jimmy Horton, (a couple more have slipped my mind), the DIRT modifieds have produced alot of great talent which has seen them excel in other forms of dirt racing as well.

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

Oh, geez, where do I begin? LOL WRG allowed the race to turn into a complete clusterfuck that I think really did some long term damage to the race going forward. Two major problems occurred last Sunday. Winner Stewart Friesen had a big fuel cell (27 gallons instead of 24.5 gallons). WRG allowed him to keep the win and fined him $25,000 of the $50,000 cash first place prize rather than disqualifying him outright and paying out the advertised purse.

Friesen also won the race last year by getting an absolutely insane and ridiculous 132 miles on his last tank of fuel. Seems really hard to believe that he was legal last year with such insane fuel mileage, then decided that he needed a bigger tank this year because 132 miles last year was not good enough. Up until just a few years ago, 100-102 miles used to be the absolute max on a tank of fuel at Syracuse.

The other big debacle occured during pit stops. WRG put in a rule requiring drifvers make a mandatory pit stop after lap 150 to try and stop the race from being such a fuel mileage derby in recent years. Driver Rick Laubach appeared to snooker the field by pitting under green on lap 150, then having the caution come out as he was exiting the pits. Laubach had already fufilled his mandatory pit stop requirment, while the entire field still had to pit. The entire field made its mandatory pit stop, and Laubach appeared to cycle into the lead. Just before the race went back to green, WRG put Laubach to the rear for speeding on pit lane.

Laubach wanted proof after the race that he was speeding, but WRG could not give him any because they monitored pit road speed visually and with a stopwatch (WTF?). The crowd strongly, strongly, strongly did not agree with the pit road speeding penalty, especially when there were cars clearly exceeding the 35 mile per hour pit road speed when the entire field pitted. WRG lost control of pit road penalties when the entire field other than Laubach pitted under caution. Several teams never even came to a complete stop during their mandatory "pit stop."

It also did not help the situation that there has never been a pit road speed rule at Syracuse prior to this year, and the crowd was not informed of the rule until after the fact. The race announcers openly commented to the crowd that they had no idea why :Laubach was being moved from the lead to the rear after his pit stop. The announcers then told the crowd that Laubach pitted a lap too soon, which the entire crowd knew was wrong. Several minutes later, it was finally announced that Laubach was being placed to the rear for excessive speed on pit lane.

The pit road penalty is at least debatable, although WRG did not have any way of proving that the penalty was legit. That being said, letting a blatantly illegal car keep the win and only paying out half the advertised winner's share of the purse is really the indefensible part of last Sunday and why so many people left Syracuse with such a sour taste in their mouth last Sunday.

I dunno, how could they pay Friesen's team $25,000 when he was blatantly illegal? I am generally of the opinion that illegal is illegal, but IMO there is a huge difference between someone coming up 5-10 pounds light at the end of a 200-lapper and blatantly running a big fuel cell. There is nothing accidental about running a big fuel cell.

Give him the win and pay 1st place money to 2nd and 2nd place money to the 3rd finisher etc and pay Friesen last place money.

That is very interesting and a shame because Syracuse is "THE" race up in the Northeast. Thank you for the information.

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

One of the other factors that may or may not have had some impact in the decision is that runner-up Billy Decker's car is owned by businessman John Wight. Wight also owns central New York's Brewerton and Fulton Speedways and has been feuding with WRG all season long. Wight dropped the weekly WRG/DIRT sanction from Brewerton and Fulton this year. One of the responses by WRG/DIRT was to move its traditional Friday night Super DIRT Week race at Rolling Wheels (that race had run Friday night of DIRT Week for over 25 years) to Thursday night to go head to head with Wight's traditional Brewerton date on Thursday night of DIRT week. Wight then increased the purse at his Breweron show from $4,000 to win to $7,500.

Even before any of the stuff happened at Syracuse last weekend, WRG moving its Rolling Wheels date to Thursday night was jokingly referred to on mesage boards in the weeks leading up to DIRT Week as the "F*** John Wight 75" LOL. So last Thursday night at DIRT Week had WRG going to head to with Wight's Brewerton show. One interesting entry at Wight's Brewerton race last Thursday was track regular and WRG series regular Matt Sheppard showing up with a notable sponsor on his machine for the evening -- World Racing Group.

So among the points most often discussed following last Sunday's Modified race at Syracuse is the notion that WRG would sooner light the "other" $25,000 from Sunday's purse on fire than give it to John Wight, especially after Wight's team absolutely dominated the entire week at Syracuse leading up to last Sunday. Heading into last Sunday's Modified feature, Wight's driver Billy Decker had won the pole for both the Modified race and the 358-Modified race, a heat race for both the Modified and the 358-Modified race, and the $20,000 to win 358-Modified race.

Maybe the John Wight/WRG feud was a factor in last Sunday's decision and maybe it wasn't, but there certainly is not any love lost between the man owns the car that finished second last Sunday and WRG.

Syracuse is "The" event for modifieds, I compete in the 358 modifieds and its the event I mark on my calender every year it brings the best racers in a modified and all forms of racing together to compete, not to mention national exposure and fourtune 500 companies like nationwide insure to the sport, and the way things were handled IMO were embarrasing, I couldn't believe I was apart of that weekend for a divison thats dieing every year in the syracuse area it is just hard to watch something keep falling apart in front of you

Once again, a very interesting read. Thank you.

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

No problem, David. I am enjoying the thread -- an actual discussion on here without any trolling or chest pounding. LOL

Here is a very interesting article detailing the post-race inspection at Syracuse last Sunday. The author of the article runs a website that is heavily associated with/sponsored by WRG and Super DIRT Week. The article puts the WRG spin on everything that happened last Sunday. I don't know that the author really captured just how pissed off fans and teams were about everything that happened last Sunday but it is still an awesome read regarding what went on after the race was over. In the days immediately following Super DIRT Week, I would say that the percentage breakdown of posts and threads on Northeast Modified boards critical of the happenings from last Sunday outpaced supportive threads and posts somewhere along the line of 90-10.

http://www.dirttrackdigest.com/SDWLIVE/?p=502

Grimlins, Coupes were what dirt track modifieds were all about when I was growing up. The odd pinto bodies too like Kenny Brightbill used to drive. I love modified racing, however the cars don't look like any cars I know now a days. So yes I agree, its time for a change and bring back cars that look like cars.

No matter how hard you try.........you can't polish a 
terd!!!