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

1.) Guy Webb sells the series

2.) be willing to take the wing off and schedule non wing shows in Indiana and Illinois

3.) get rid of the regional points system

4.) base the series out of central ohio

5.) travel only to OH, IN, PA, MI, IL, IA, WI, NY, ONT

6.) create a reasonable 50 race schedule that has shorter travel on Fridays and longer travel on Saturdays 

just my opinion and I'm sure it's easier said than done

#1 will cure all

Hasn't happened yet. Likely won't.

Phil Taylor

home-theater-systems-advice.com

Taking the wings off is going to eliminate most that run it now.  Most wing guys just aren't interested in running non wing.  If they were more would run the non wing races that aready exist in those areas.  A few cross over but not that many.  I agree that #1 on your list is probably the biggest problem.  

Probably doing it for 8-10 races might help get a few extra shows in each year while being mindful of travel.  I prefer wings myself, but I just think they need to fill the schedule and stick to one geographic area.  

Where is the demand for 50 races in that region? If there was demand, I'm sure they wouldn't be going to Minnesota, or South Dakota or whatever.

The key is getting someone in there who can pay his bills. The regional format has actually breathed new life into the series but if you're not going to pay the point fund, it's a bit moot.

As for the non-winged aspect, I don't really see how that would improve things.

The all stars have traditionally raced about a 50 race schedule.  The non wing suggestion allows them to replace the MN and SD shows with ones in IN and IL.  

i completely agree that most if not all of the blame falls on Webb For the point fund.

50 races

4 Attica, 6 Fremont, 3 Wayne County, 3 Atomic, 3 Lernerville, 3 Mercer, 2 Sharon 1 Lima, 3 Waynesfield, 4 Eldora. 

That's 33 races there that I really don't think would be a problem. Feel free to add to get to 50 or tell me I am an idiot.

If the ASCoC could work to co-sanction some shows with MOWA, I think that might help book additional shows in IL and IN without having to go wingless.

Signature here.

I think that would help even if its 2 to 5 races.  Probable pull a few cars over to OH for some races.  I think it could help more then hurt. 

Thats my $.02

The problem with a co-sanction with mowa is getting the tracks to pay the ASCOC sanctioning fees. I have been to mowa shows at Bloomington and they have very little to no fees charged to the track.(to my understanding) The mowa payout is about as cheap a 410 payout as there is. I don't know how many mowa shows there would be if they paid the ASCOC purse.

Along those lines, I was told by a track owner who has been on the All Star Speedweek schedule now for several years that he has to write a check to the All Stars for 50 thousand to get a show. I don't know this for sure, but isn't a Speedweek purse identical to a normal All Star show? Don't know how much a MOWA show is.

I think in these economic times, tracks have to work together, especially for a traveling group.  What I mean is a multi-show weekeend.....i.e. Lima Friday, Eldora Saturday, Waynesfield Sunday.  Promote it hard, give a neat name "Battle of the Buckeye" or something, give some extra money for someone who can win 2 or 3 or all 3.

I just keep thinking of the awesome car counts for Speedweek this year......62 cars at Atomic!  That will only be topped (410 car counts now) by Knoxville in a few weeks.

One final thought and I'll shut up.  Ohio already has the BOSS non-wing group.  I don't think the All Stars would work non-wing.  Plus the winged guys seem like they rather walk on broken glass than take the wings off!!

Non wing probably wouldn't work. As for the co-sanction shows, a mowa payout is less than what a weekly show here in Ohio pays, so I don't think that would work. I don't really know if the ASCOC needs "saving" as they seem to do quite well with car counts in and around Ohio. Maybe just need to do away with the Plains deal and concentrate more on paying points funds and taking care of their drivers.

the South dakota, Minnesota shows make sense for the time of year they do them. the only porblem is if only 3-4 guys actually do the racing for a living then it's hard for them to come to the midwest for 2-3 weeks. it's to bad they couldnt pay a nice size payout/travel money and get the guys that are coming out for nationals to race the midwest for 2-3 weeks prior have a midwest "speed month" and have a poing fund to payout prior to nationals. that being said i need to win the lottery and get something like this going. i think if the money was right you could get Hodnett, Smith, dietrich, etc. do you think if the promoters would work together it would make it worth while for more guys to pull to the midwest?

The All-stars haven't had a significant pay increase in probably 20 years. It's been 5G to win as long as I can remember. The cost of fielding a car and the cost of travel have at least doubled since then. I think that is the problem. I still enjoy the all-star shows when they come to PA though. They might not bring a whole lot of cars with them but it's worth the extra cost to see Blaney, Shaffer and Haud race. 

A

I'm located in Forest Lake, Minnesota, about 25 miles north of St. Paul.  UMSS 360's(w) and UMSS Traditional Sprint Cars (non-wing with restricted motor and alky carbs) are popular up here.  As far as traveling series the IRA typically draws in the 25 to 30 range when they come this way.  The closest weekly Sprint Car track is the Saint Croix Valley Raceway (weekly UMSS Traditional Sprints) and the biggest special events (besides the WoO) are the Cedar Lake Triple and Jerry Richert Senior Memorial.  I live in Minnesota but I'm 11 miles from the western border of Wisconsin and, CLS/SCVR are ironically both 32 miles from the end of my driveway and closer than any Minnesota tracks.  I can't recall the All Stars ever coming to Cedar Lake and SCVR isn't currently running any 410 shows. 

The IRA does a great job in this region and my personal opinion based on what I'm reading in this thread is that the All Starts might be over extending their drivers by trying to bring them into this market.  I don't know about the All Stars but the IRA drivers are basically a working man's series.  Travel is expensive and some aparently don't have the flexibility in their work schedules to make this long of a trip and Steve Sinclair of the IRA schedules accordingly with that in mind.  When a series gets involved in a deal like this and only two cars make the tow it indicates to me that they're booking without giving their drivers some input into the schedule.  If I was running a deal like that and asked for a show of hands for those in favor of making a long haul out west and only two hands went up I would not make the booking.  Either one of two things happened, a lot of race teams said yes and didn't show or the series made the bookings without getting any input. 

Stan Meissner

Williams Grove, Lincoln, and Port Royal for multiple dates too.  Florida Speed WeeI, if kept is another 5 shows.

Stan, this portion of the ASCoC schedule is what used to be called the "Thunder Through the Plains Tour" that was put together back in the early to mid 90s or thereabouts.  Bert put this together back then and for quite a while it was co-sanctioned by the NCRA.  At that time it was run after the Nationals for a week or so, but has since migrated on the calendar to before the Nationals.  The loss of the NCRA sanctioning 410s hurt this set of races, and the change to regional titles for the ASCoC a few years ago was a shot at trying to get car counts up for all of their "away from home" races because there is now a point fund for the "Plains region" races.  So I'm sure the series didn't really ask the teams because this set of races has a legacy to it, but I think we're seeing more and more signs of how teams feel about the state of the ASCoC.

Signature here.

All I know Is it's 2:00 am, I have half a jag on, and Frankie Kerr in the McBride & Shoff 23s ain't walkin' thru that door. 

Have them sanction and add to the purse of PA Speedweek as well as just Ohio Speedweek.