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

New Flatout Mag. has an editorial questing value of friday show since nat, car count is down to 100 cars. I think friday has several thousand fans that show up to watch it. The track makes money which allows them to pay the large purse. A friday nite at a sprint car race is better than anything I can think of. The friday show allows cars to make more money. I know that the friday show might interfer with some of your booze time. The profit from nationals also make it possible to run weekly show.

Leave Knoxville alone, if Friday goes, your purse will have to be cut, because Friday is a huge profit for the track. If teams stay home because they have to be there an extra day, boo hoo. It's the biggest paying race by a ridiculous margin, and still had 99 cars show up this year.

As one of the "old-timers" the only time I really enjoyed Friday night was when the Race of the States and Mystery Feature were around. Partly that's because of the pageantry that went with it. I did enjoy the revenge draw this year, but only because in the pressbox I have access to the closed-circuit camera so I could actually see the looks on the drivers' faces, which was the most entertaining part. My thought is this: Friday night has sort of been a built-in rain date for the Nationals for many years. If one of the qualifiers rained out on Wednesday or Thursday, that race went to Friday night. If you don't like the Friday night format, don't buy a ticket for that night. You can always get one later if the weather is spectacular, as it was in 2011. Or use it as a night of rest. Time trials again on Friday would totally kill the show in my opinion. Not many people want to sit through that for another night.

Outside of Saturday night, Friday night has the largest purse of the 10 days of Speedweek.

I personally have liked the new format over the last couple of years much, much better then the scramble days. (I loved the Race of States and Mystery Feature days).

I realize that there are "only" 5 races on Friday night now, but they are all FEATURES (just like Saturday night). The semi-features pay $$ to the non-qualifier teams (and without those guys at least breaking even for the week, you can count on car counts going WAYYYYYY down), the non qualifier feature pays $5000 to win, the World Challenge pays $10,000 to win, and the Race of Champions pays $10,000 to win with $1000 to start.

I wish they'd go back to the old Race of States and Mystery feature, but the races with the current format are WAY better than the old 5 heat race, b and a main format from the old days (straight up heat races by points). Hardly ever did anyone win that didn't start on the front row (and that includes the features). Now, everyone races hard during the semi-feature and the feature and the RoC and World Challenge are fully inverted according to points from Wed/Thurs, what's not to like about that.

Outside of qualifying nights with the fully inverted heat races of days of yore, Friday night has consistently offered some of the best racing over the last 5-6 years IMO.

Last year was perfect and what is questing?

Gotta laugh when a Knoxville "insider" defends the track and brags about her access to closed circuit tv at the track.

Buy a ticket...at least you'd be useful, Stacy...err, your money would, anyway.

The Friday night program is a joke. With crowds being down for the four days over the past decade, there isn't much need to buy a four day pass.

Yes this. I enjoyed the Non-Quali heats and features. I'm actually fine with no Scrambles.

Thanks for that Mr Positive.

I do not under stand how track would be better off with just a 3 day show. Track needs money to pay purse. You can just buy 3 days of tickets if you want , alot of fans do like the show, they come. maybe friday night you could go to a stock car race in DesMoines

Fridays crowd was very good this year! The racing was great, What the hell is the problem!!!!!

If you don't want to come on Friday then keep your miserable self in your camper, hotel room, tavern or where ever else you would rather be.

I think this topic would have been more relevant a year ago. I think Knoxville improved the Friday night format this year. In my opinion, the program was better than it has been in a number of years.

I only got tickets for Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday this year. I don't have anything against Friday's show. I had other family members going to a concert at the state fair Friday. I didn't really want to go to the fair so I took my wife out for dinner (she's not a huge race fan. I think she only went to one race this year). I kind of enjoyed the night off and was well rested for Saturday.

I liked the Friday format this year. If you don't want to go, stay home. There was some great racing this year on Friday. Like somebody already said, it is also a great backup plan if mother nature spoils the qualifying nights. I don't know about you guys, but give me 50+ 410 sprints on the big half mile that is Knoxville and I am already there, how do you not go??? I could care less who is racing, it's sprint cars at Knoxville, you are in Knoxville, how do you not go?!?!?!?!

Not sure that I actually "defended" the track or needed to. I said what made the revenge draw entertaining was that I could see the drivers' faces on TV. The fans in the stands could not and therefore, probably did not find it so enjoyable. I was not "bragging" and apparently you don't know me as well as you think you do. And believe me I have bought many tickets at that place since 1976 and before I started working there. Not to mention all the money I still spend in the community when I am there since I don't live there.

Ignore him sprintscribe, he gets dumber with every post. He thinks he's controversial when he is basically just ignorant, c'est la vie.....

How many of you actually read my column on this subject? I never said to do away with a fourth night or to get rid of the Friday show. I was throwing out a few ideas to tweak the program and make it more meaningful, because all I hear are complaints year in and year out about how the Friday show isn't worth the price of admission. And yes, I buy my ticket for the Nationals so I can sit with my friends and family, although I do have a press pass. I have had those seats for the last 20 years and I'm forced to renew my 4 night tickets 10 months in advance to keep them, which is fine. Please buy a Flat Out Magazine (or subscribe) and read my column before taking this discussion down the wrong path.

Eric Arnold
Social Media Manager & Track Historian
Knoxville Raceway