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

With the retirement of the two greatest sprint car drivers in history, how will the WOO survive? I have my doubts about the future of the WOO.

I've been following the WOO for over 30 years and the main draws have been Steve & Sammy. It's often been said that a man's greatness is measured by the competition. Steve IS the WOO! Steve & Sammy were naturals and people at it up like popcorn.

Now that they are retired, who is going to be the face of WOO? Schatz? Pittman? McMahon? Saldana?  While great drivers, they don't really excite me.

Personally, I'm not that excited about seeing a WOO race without Steve or Sammy and I'm sure I'm not alone.

If Steve was that much of the face of the WoO, then the NST would have fared much better. 

Schatz has been better than either one of them for 10 years.

Time marches on. Someone will replace Schatz one day.

The only thing that changes is the cost of the sport and the invention of limited sprints because of it.

Schatz's Dad might have had some money, but the next Kinser or Wolfgang is prob running a 305.

 
 
 
They don't even know how to spell sprint car 
much less chromoly...http://www.ycmco.com

Sammy and Steve are the foundation of the WoO....however they have been fading for the past few years and YET, crowds at WoO have never been bigger.  Series will be more than fine

NONE of the top guys now have any personality. I support a guy that doesn't win much but is nice than someone who wins regularly and thinks he is god's gift to racing.

People were saying NASCAR would see its demise when Dale Sr. died and it's still going on and puttimg fans in the seats.

People have also been predicting the demise of WoO for many years and they are still filling the stands and there will be more than a few drivers step up to try and fill the shoes of the two legends. They left their mark on the WoO series and set the bar very high. Will someone ever fill thier shoes?? IMO very doubtful but you can bet guys like Schatz and many others are not going to leave anything on the table trying.

Plus Kinser and Swindell said they are only retiring from full time racing so I'm sure we haven't seen the last of them slinging clay.........

That is so funny.  And you think that Steve and Sammy HAD personality?  My God man...What are you smoking?  Steve and Sammy were the absolute WORST when it came to engaging with a fan, for whatever reasons.  Bad, just bad.........  I did not go to see them race, and I will go when they are gone.  Life will go on for the WoO

I agree about going to a woo race will be hard cause of the missing foundation

 nascar is struggling without dale sr , you can sit anywhere you want at all most all there races so something is missing for the fan drop off in live attendance,

schatz can't carry a series and we will find out

swindell and kinser sell more merchandise then anyone and yet that don't say nothing?????

im tired of hearing that for ten years Sammy and Steve have been done and the fans are bigger and better  then ever.

  It's because those two guys  were helping fill the stands damn it. You go to these races and see lots of  older people at them and I'm sorry they are not wearing schatz on there back man. They are diehard swindell or kinser, if you don't think the absence of the two I'm speaking of is going to have a impact then your high

Swindell and kinser are not bigger then the sport, but remember who started the sport of woo???

While the loss of Earnhardt certainly impacted NASCAR, I think the reason you could fire a shotgun and not hit anybody in the stands at a NASCAR race has more to do with the product on the track, and with these car, the racing is terrible.  That's the lesson for the WoO for the future too - put a good product on the track at a fair price the fans can afford, and they will be successful - with or without Sammy and Steve.

Steve not have a personality and not be around for the fans,,,really!!!!!!

If Fred Brownfield wouldn't have been killed in an accident, who knows where the NST would have gone.

More weight, more regulation, more similarity in the cars.... that will ensure plenty of thrills for years to come.  Only the most average talent behind the wheel will be needed with such awesome equipment on the track!

Luna's Ford engine style that won 2 WoO titles and 3 
Kings Royals before a weight rule against the best EVER
in their prime and now DOMINATES super dirt late model
racing is no longer allowed/wanted in a WoO sprint
car.... Was Luna a miracle worker?

Really?  Is that what I said?  Or is that what you thought I said?   Read it again.

I think it'll hurt some, but it won't kill the series. The casual fans who only know Steve, Sammy and the NASCAR drivers may not show as much, but it's not like Steve/Sammy have been dominating the series or even running all that well lately.

Yes, Steve and Sammy and Doug really made the Outlaws. But remember, we had Ferkel and Allen and Opperman and Bubby and Kramer and the Black Bandit and Weld, etc. before Steve and Sammy and Doug.

I think that because Steve and Sammy are so revered and have given us so many magical moments over the years, they are always the focus and they steal the limelight, even when they aren't doing so well. 

Is it possible that, some of the other drivers have been doing some magical things as well, but because of Steve and Sammy being around, maybe we have not paid as much attention? I mean, Donny Schatz winning the Nationals like he has....now that is really something!

I suspect, when Steve and Sammy are not on center stage, others will rise. For example, If not for Nascar, don't tell me that Kyle Larson wouldn't have risen to the status of a Wolfgang or Swindell or Kinser....in time. It is possible, and what I have seen Larson do in a sprint car, well, legendary stuff. 

So, I am betting others will rise in time....but yes, we will surely miss Steve and Sammy, no doubt!

You said it,,did I miss something

A series don't have to be dominated for fans to come out and see you.

they have not dominated but damn it they dominate the fan merchandise sales 

proves they don't care if there winning or losing cause they are at the track to support them win or lose

+1. This says it all. I'm the biggest Kinser fan there is but the WoO goes on. I wasn't much of a Swindell fan until the last few years, you had to respect what he did and he did better than Kinser was. Will someone fill there shoes, probably not but the racing will be just as good. The good ones come and go but things still seem to go on. So will the WoO die,he'll no. Will the look of the WoO be differant, yes but they'll be fine.

Um...have you even seen the crowds at most NASCAR events the last couple years. I don't know that the gigantic swathes of empty seats at most NASCAR races these days is proof positive of "putting fans in the seats." I would think the Outlaws hope to do better than to emulate the NASCAR crowd plunge of recent years.

I am not even a NASCAR "hater", but their crowds are just embarrassing when you see huge sections of stands with almost no one in them.

Never said Steve wasn't there for the fans but he sure didn't bring anything to the conversation when he was with them.  That is my opinion on my few encounters with him.  Turned me off, same with Sammy.   I'm not saying the guys in the heirarchy now are any better than them, but those 2 guys sure left theirs at home...JMO