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

The 2016 Trophy Cup dates will be October 20-22, keeping with the tradition of being the 3rd weekend of October.  Feedback from people regarding the initally chosen dates led to the change.

The next Hoseheads front page update will have an article on the format changes for next year.

Wrong. The "new weekend" is the 4th weekend of the month because its a 5 week month so i call BS

I'm pretty sure the week ends the same day of the week in California as it does the rest of the country. 

October 22nd is the 4th weekend of the month - and the STN is that weekend, Oct. 19-22, 2016. 

In this day and age, tracks hosting major events have got to work together and the 2016 Trophy Cup dates  were announced prior to this year's STN and all the fans/teams at the STN were informed then how the schedules coincided (as the 2016 Trophy Cup dates announced were Oct. 13-15, 2016). 

Neither of these events are regional in nature (so please spare me that conversation from the last time this happened), and fans expect - and demand - the top teams to be at them in order to justify the cost of travel. 

There are so few truly major sprint car events, it's just not good for the health of the sport when this happens.

Hopefully the Trophy Cup will go back to their 3rd weekend in October date and the schedules will synch back up again...3 weekends in a row of spectacular sprint car racing from coast to coast.

WTG... 

Lets see just how much more we can split up the cars/drivers. I can't help but believe there is more to this. Why would you change your already announced date (which is the 3rd weekend) to the 4th weekend with an already scheduled national event? 

305's are the herpes of sprint cars

Its not like these two races are next door to each other. Arkansas is a long ways away from California and only a handful of teams will have to choose where to race. Hell 90% of the fans are locals for each race as well so I don't see much difference there. Considering how pissed some teams were at the last minute changes to the STN I bet they wouldn't get those cars back anyhow.

Some Trophy Cup dates over the past few years:

2008- Oct 23-25

2009- Oct 23-24

2010- Oct 22-23

2011- Oct 21-22

2012- Oct 19-20

2013- Oct 18-19

2014- Oct 16-18

2015- Oct 15-17

2016- Oct 20-22

Cheers!

"Its not like these two races are next door to each other. Arkansas is a long ways away from California and only a handful of teams will have to choose where to race. Hell 90% of the fans are locals for each race as well so I don't see much difference there. Considering how pissed some teams were at the last minute changes to the STN I bet they wouldn't get those cars back anyhow."

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Henry -

If your statement was based on fact, not on opinion, you would be correct.

But the facts are if you take just this 'handful' from the Trophy Cup this year...TMAC, both Hauds and Rilat; they added a lot to the event. And every year at both events there are invaders that make each year and each event special.

There are an amazing amount of traveling fans at these events. Just in my section alone at the STN were people from TX, NE, IA, IL and Australia. You had to go down about 10 seats and 4 rows just to find Sprint Fan Kevin (from AR). The last time I was at Tulare the couple immediately behind me was from NZ and we chatted all weekend, and my brother came in from Phoenix.

Regarding the 'last minute changes', I find it interesting you'd mention one event and not the other, as both had weather problems in 2015 - just as the National Open, Knoxville Nationals, World Finals...to name a few.

Seems I had heard a few years back that they were trying to keep this a "locals" race.  (Which really sucks as we would like to run both.... ) 

With the fact that the Trophy Cup is all about making money for the Make A Wish Foundation seems as though they would want to DEFINATELY try to keep it on a weekend when more cars (entry fees/pit passes, etc) and more fans could attend instead of splitting the pot. 

Also, not sure why each year they are going to keep changing the format.  I don't know what this next one is going to be but hopefully its not to benefit a few "whiner's" that couldn't make it out of the C Main.

That rain you speak of was indeed at both STN and TC events. One chose to get the whole event in and the other didn't. What is difficult to understand about that? Also my comment on STN drivers complaints was from reading their own words, not mine. Yes there are a lot of out of area fans that attend both events but don't overstate that amount. Trophy Cup grandstands are full of local fans. Now I am not in disagreement that it would be better to have these events on different weekends but if thats not possible for one reason or another it wont make or break them.

Cheers!

Thay aren't next door to each other, you are correct. But the PPV viewer sure gets the shaft!

 We are a local race team for the Trophy Cup.  I don't know of anybody wanting this to be locals only and I have personally driven, owned or wrenched on a car in it since back at San Jose in the 90's.  Tulare eats cars true, but we crashed our car at San Jose the last year there and saved only the power steering reservoir out of it. 

Many of the out of towners run local cars.  Dave Pusateri along with BK and a lot of others make the Trophy Cup happen and they brag and advertise the fact that it has a huge national and internationl draw.  I didn't notice anybody whine from not making it out of the C except about the SOB that finished in front of them!  Serious racers show up for the Trophy Cup and thrive on the added competition there.

It's even worse for the photographers now having to choose which event to go to now lol

How many photographers other than you go to both though?

The Mermaid

Wait...re you worried about the same STN that was grilled for turning itself into a 2 day show and screwing traveling teams out of money before they even signed in to race?

if I was in CA...I would be apt to ignore the hillbillies in Arkansas..

Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May