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

P.S.  Not saying that it can't work but there are a lot of intangibles whenever someone attempts to start something new from scratch.  Most Sprint Car people wear Sprint Car blinders and can't see beyond their nose wings when it comes to what happens on a weekly basis at these tracks that occasionally run Sprint specials.  I get around and see some weekly Stock Car and Modified racing and have gotten to know some of the promoters that are not enamoured by Sprint Car racing.  I wish them success if this deal gets some traction. 

Stan Meissner

Hey dirtraceorbust...care to recant this intelligent post now that it is fact and is going to happen?  BTW, recant means "take back".  LOL.

www.ibracn.com
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GO SAMMY!

Can't think that Tod Quiring (sp) would fall into the "wide eyed dreamer" catagory. He must know something about business and I doubt he will jump into something like this without doing some research first.

not sure exactly what tracks or how far into states they are wanting to run. but honestly i could see tracks like Knoxville, Jackson, Husets, Rock Rapids, Clay County fair speedway, Park Jefferson, Burlington, I-90...etc those tracks are all tracks i've attended for various sprint car shows and as well have alot of other people. in my opinion Clay County is one of the most under used tracks in the midwest, and they could use 2-3 more sprint car races a year. Like Field of Dreams "if you build it they will come" and people in the upper midwest are thirsty for more 410 races at tracks other then Knoxville and Husets.

I would think I-80 would have some shows....not sure if Eagle would take a chance unless somebody rented the track.

Eagle only promotes 305 shows to death.

I think this is a great concept and has significant potential.  It will be positive for sprint car racing in the Midwest.

i dont even hunt and i bought i treestand

Butler County Speedway in Rising City would be a nice track for this series.

So for the series' Knoxville shows, does the series bump Knoxvilles weekly purse? And if so, during those weeks would they try to run a Friday night show to the east to try to lure a few extra cars from the east? Maybe a Co santioned race with the series based in Illinois? So many questions.... I cant wait to hear more as its released.

I'd think running Lakeside on Nascar weekends would be a no brainer... I know TBJ had a Sprint show scheduled there for the Spring Race but got rained out. As far as I know, plan is to try again next year. And in the Fall is a big Late Model race..... on 2nd thought most Sprint fans wouldnt wanna deal with that cluster in the fall. But could the ASCS National tour and this series Co Exist enough to have a duel show? I'd bet a lot of guys could and POSSIBLY would run both classes....

YEP! Call me a dreamer.

I think Lakeside (or even us36) is going to be the true test of this series.   both of these tracks are speed factories that would put on a great show.  However, car counts for the last 410 shows in the area has been low.

I am not sure the NASCAR weekends are as good as you think.  The spring race is a night race, and TBJ was racing on Thursday night.     USRA is trying to use Lakeside and the fall NASCAR weekend as a starting point for their national event.   They are trying to grow their event to match Boone Supernationals.

If the series races at either venue I will definitely attend.      

The closest of the tracks you mention to where I live is Jackson which is about four hours.  A mid week show would require a half day vacation the day of the race and the day after to recover (I'm too old for red eyes and working without sleep anymore).  If that is the case the series would be a non factor for most fans in the Twin Cities and points north.  If I were to hear reports of this new series drawing 50+ cars and putting on fantastic races I might check one out while on vacation.  I don't think the kind of numbers big enough to lure me into doing that are going to happen because no other series has accomplished that to date.

Aside from that possibility I'll continue my pattern of waiting for 410 races to take place 32 miles from the end of my driveway on a Saturday night or Sunday in the case of the WoO.  We have three of those (2 IRA, 1 WoO) each season along with a half dozen winged 360 races and weekly non-wing racing at another track an equal distance.  True I'm not always seeing the "big names" at every show but the big names don't pay my gas and motel bills. 

That's my point of view and I think most average fans that aren't located in the area the series is operating would agree.  There are always going to be that core group of rabid fans with deep pockets who don't miss anything in the region but that ain't me.  I used to chase these things up and down the highway 15 years ago but I realized a couple years back that all that travel was doing in most cases was burning up my racing budget to add a B Main.  Why would I want to spend a couple hundred bucks and burn vacation to see a few Knoxville cars and a B Main on a week night when I could go to Knoxville for the same cost on a Saturday night without burning vacation? 

Unless they were to race somewhere nearby I'll probably never see them.  Essentially it sounds like a traveling Knoxville/Husets show.  Someone mentioned Sprints up in the Dakota's but that's five hours in the other direction.  Dobmeieir runs a shop during the week so I wouldn't look for him at many of the mid-week shows.  Not many others from NOSA do any traveling and what little they do would be mostly on weekends. 

It all boils down to the same thing as real estate, location, location, location. 

Stan Meissner

Just stopped by the iBRACIN site and read the latest post.  It mentions races at Knoxville and Husets.  For all intents and purposes this series looks like it will be a non-factor.  If they were to book a mid week race at my home track Cedar Lake they'd be in an area where they'd get minimal local support, same deal the WoO faces when they run here.  Knoxville cars are six hours down the road, Husets five hours, NOSA five hours and most of the IRA teams are around 6-8 hours.  Without that dozen or so cars the WoO has commited to the series that would leave pretty slim pickin's for anything north of I90.  A lot of Knoxville racers work M-F so only a handful race during the week.

410 drivers I can think of off the top of my head around here.  Brooke Tatnell lives five minutes up the road but his car owner is in Iowa so they only run a select few local 410 races.  Travis Whitney runs a shop during the week and runs a limited schedule in a car based in southern Minnesota.  Davey Heskin would most likely be the only one I would count on for sure.  John Sernett still has a car and made it out for a few races this season.  It's hard to even come up with a handful of local cars and this series would need more local support than the WoO.  Craig's plans are still up in the air for next year but if he runs locally again then we'd have two for sures up here.

A few things I am not saying so I don't get blased for stating my opinion.  Nothing against the people running this deal, they have the resources and they have good intentions for the sport.  I'm not saying that it can't be a success in areas where there are cars and fans to support it.  I'm just looking at the prospects of any races happening anywhere near my location.  It could be big a few hundred miles down the road but I don't see it happening up here unless a bunch of drivers were to quit their day jobs and follow this thing.  It could be pretty big central to it's base of operation but I don't see it being so big that a couple down drivers could make a living doing it and support every show.

Stan Meissner

Last sentence meant to say a couple dozen, not a couple down.  Editing is a hassle on this board. 

Stan Meissner

Think about this, these guys that don't do a lot of traveling, where have they had to travel to? MOSS does not need a whole lot or full time followers. Just about 15. Some of those that do not travel much may go to races that are some what close to home. Bronson Machen is a farmer but has shown up in Florida in Feb before and at Burlington. Full times from Knoxville could easily be

McCarl

Brown

Lasoaki

Madsen

Wayne Johnson

Dollansky

Lynton Jeffery

Cole Wood

Plus Jason Johnson has been wanting to run more 410 shows as has Brad Loyet.

There could be 10 full timers.

And you never know who else may try to run as much of the series as possible.

I'm not going to let speculation worry me, I'll wait & see how it goes. But if they have a show close enough for me to get to I most likely will be there.

in the elliot article on PennLive they mention up to $50,000 for a race, this leads me to believe they are discussing it with someone somewhere.  

I would believe it would be Knoxville, since the idea is to add car count within a 9 hour radius of Knoxville, why run a 50 g race on any other night than saturday night? and if they arent going to run Saturdays unless its at Knoxville.  Just something that I picked up on, wasn't sure if anyone else caught that.

50 gs at Knoxville is going to be attractive to any one not running the WoO tour

Same here but I think location is going to be the determining factor with this deal.  There are a ton of mid week Late Model and Modified specials up in our area but nothing for Sprints in that repect.  USMTS Modifieds have been the big deal up here lately, seems like every track around me is booking them.  I could take a week of vacation when they come up this way and watch them every night without driving more than a couple hours.  Seems like USMTS has kind of taken over as the fan favorite the past couple years and surpassed the Late Models as the darlings of the upper Midwest.  Sprints have always been like the red headed stepchild up here.  We get a few specials each year and we have the UMSS deal but none of it comes close to the success that Mods and Lates have enjoyed. 

Stan Meissner

I think we will all be suprised by the amount of followers this series will recieve. depending on how the schedule lines up possiblites could be endless. the point fund is the kicker. the reason alot of the Outlaw shows dont get the local support is becaue they have no chance to get point money and only a few drivers here in the midwest have a chance of cracking the top 5. What does the F.A.S.T series point fund pay? what are the possibilites of guys like Abreu, Trey Starks, Bill Rose, Bill Balog and some ASCS guys follow this series. the way it sounds they wont be competing against them. and with the chance to win 75,000 in point fund money. i think alot of us will be shocked buy the quanity and quality of cars that will show up to these races.

You could probably add Dobmeier, Zomer, Henderson to your list as to running a majority of the races.

Many people have pointed out his love of this sport and giving back.  It's no secret the weekly TV deal at Knoxville is the primary reason he had a car running there for points.  I have a feeling you'll see some of these MOSS shows with similar TV coverage if he is involved.  I read the article from Penn Live and caught the comment about the possibility of a $50k race.  I could see a a non-outlaw big paying race with a TV deal being sponsored by BGTS.  Talk about great visibility for his product.  

What I know about Mr. Quiring, BGTS and his other business ventures, he's a good businessman.  And the truth is, most good businessmen look for ways to "spend" in a way which reduces the amount they give to uncle Sam.  In today's politically charged climate, I personally know a hell of a lot of business owners that would rather burn a hundred dollar bill than give it to the bunch of bozos in DC.  I would bet my reputation (which isn't saying much really ) this series is a way for him to spend his money doing something he really enjoys and at the end of the day...reduce his tax liability.  Believe me, there's so many tax loopholes, he's a fool if he doesn't take advantage of them.  And if anyone thinks I'm exagerrating, you don't know what it feels like to own your own business, to be a job creator, and have corrupt politicians trying to take more and more of the earnings your company makes.

My great granpda made a lot of money before he retired in the 70's and he had a saying I still remember - "You don't get a lot of money by giving it away for no good reason or by giving it to the government."  Translated - smart people with money find ways to spend it to their advantage - i.e. tax write-offs.  Mr. Quiring isn't looking to make a dime off this series....he doesn't need to and he's already stated it publicly.  If he "sponsors" the series, it's a tax write-off.  If the series takes a loss, it's a tax write-off.  And...it appears he gets enjoyment doing it.  This can be a win-win for him and the racing community.