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

Sorta sad

Your right it is sad ,it is a growing trend at alot of tracks , of course Knoxville is coming up , Port Royal today , then on to  Knoxville , or teams are saving there money and cars for other upcoming races. Also I think some drivers are not happy with the way things are going at the Grove . Most teams can't afford to race more then once a weekend anymore.

Your last sentence is what sucks about racing these days.  Back in the day the guys who were consistent show makers and regular top 10 finishers could make more money by racing MORE. Any decent car with a decent driver could support itself and possibly put a couple dollars back in the owners pocket. Thats why so many small business owners were also car owners. Nowadays the only way a racecar makes financial sense is to leave it in the garage all year long or be able to win 9 out of every 10 races and never crash.

Loose is when you hit the wall with the rear of the
car, tight is when you hit the wall with the front of
the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and
torque is how far you move the wall.

Bigger restrictions, bigger rule book etc mandating even more identicle cars and engines is desparately needed.  Its getting critical.  I'm thinking even making them all run the same number may be needed.

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?

8/7 19  7/31 22  7/25 39  7/24 39  7/17 26  7/10 25  7/3 34  6/24 33  6/19 26  6/5 28  5/29 19  5/22 26  5/15 40    Like they say.  Don't let the facts get in the way. 

There was 22 last week at I 80 with close to $100,000 for them over 2 days. I also heard people that was upset because of the price of admission. Until they get the cost on the motors down or make them last longer before they need refreshed then its probably not going to get better. 

It's not like there aren't enough 410 teams in the area...typically 30+ at Lincoln and mid to high 20's at Port Royal on a weekly basis. That's in the neighborhood of 55 410's. Why they don't show up at the Grove? Don't know for sure but could be; not enough $$$ to run more than 1 time a week, owner/driver has an issue of some type with the Grove mgnt/track, or perhaps just don't think they are competitive there. Plus the drop in car owners over the past few years has been well documented on here. Then you have Shuchart, Allen, and R. Smith running full time off the porch, Marks was out west , and Kreitz is still on injured reserve. Pancho's 93 hasn't been at the Grove for the past 3 weeks..guess there saving $$$ for Knoxville next week. Regardless, car count has been a real concern at the Grove this year. Hopefully some of the 358 teams will move up next year. 

Motor claim, motor claim, motor claim, motor claim.  I know many of you say it won't work.  It works.  I have seen it work many times in other divisions.  Example:  Any driver in the top 10 or 15 can claim the motor of the top 2 finishers for $...... (set your price--?)

You surrender your motor or surrender your points and money for the night.  Pisses a driver off here and there for a week or two at a time, but they don't show up again with powerplants worth 10 times what the claim cost is.  Just saying. 

Attica only had 19 also!

Tonight I went to a local paved track.  Like to go once a year mainly to say I was there.  It's close.  44 miles.  The most in any division was 14.  The next closest count was 12.  One division had 6 and another 9.  The division with 12 were the super late models and they went for 100 laps.  Senior admission was $9.00.  Come on down.  Only 425 miles from the Grove.  We'll call it your Grove Appreciation Tour.   Something tells me your therapy  might only require one session.

On a regular Saturday night in Central Pennsylvania there's consistently 50+ 410's between Port Royal and Lincoln. Strong field of 35 tonight at Port Royal. Greg Hodnett from 8th picked up the 10,000 check. 

So how is a claim rule going to make Ott sell motors for less? If you have to pay $50000 for a new motor (very, very few build their own) and someone can claim it for less than $50000 you will just run a bunch of owners out of the sport. Nobody in 410 sprint car racing is going to buy a new motor, run it one night & win, then sell it to someone who claims it for less than the owner paid for it. If the claim is $50000 then just buy a new one rather than claim a used one!

Claim rules work for the junk classes that build thier own motors, not for pro classes that 99% buy motors from places like Ott, Garrett, Rider, etc.

Cheaper unlimited motors, smaller harder tires and a wing angle rule would bring all the kids to the yard.

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

a claim rule won't work in 410 sprint car racing.  Period.  Save it for karts and crate classes! It has it place...just not in a division where folks spend 50k+ on motors.

I was at the grove..it was a good race...it was a quality field.  It is what it is...weekly racing is starting to slow down...time to promote!!only the strong will survive!

Guys every freaking year we go through this and the powers in this sport FAIL to ample changes needed for the common team to compete and contend based on money. NOBODY makes the seriously needed changes to help costs.  Its always minimal and slight and few if any changes considered then implaced.  Its time to make major changes for our sport or its going away for go I'm afraid.  DO you hear me Outlaws? Knoxville? Eldora? Associations? Owners? Drivers? 

CAJ

To many Winged Divisions in Pa. 410 / 360 / 358 / 305 / Super Sportsman. Just my opinion.

I'm not even sure it makes financial sense in the last scenario.  

I agree with two of the three....but u cant put cheaper and unlimited in the same sentence when it comes to motors

Motor claims are never good for anything.  They worked for IMCA at one time, but that just drove some guys out of IMCA.  Down here the mods are in one of two camps.  You have some IMCA loyalists who will drive two hours to an IMCA track because the track in their back yard isn't sanctioned.   You have "outlaw" mod drivers who don't want anything to do with IMCA tracks or claims.   All it does is create division and knock the car counts down at many tracks.   It definetly won't work in sprint car racing.