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

Anyone hitting this show from here? Big 5/8 mile, will be extremely fast. Only the second event back for WVMS. I've seen the Wild Child and Danny D are coming, should be good.

Add Anthony Macri to the list of expected drivers at WVMS

Lincoln, Port Royal, Sharon WoO, All Stars in Indiana, and West Virginia all running 410 sprints Saturday, yea, this outta work. 

Hope the track is better than it was for LM's a few weeks ago. Super wet, rough and 1 1/2 lanes wide is not good for a 1/2, 5/8 or whatever size track that is. 

A

I just don't understand the  thinking behind this date. Going head to head with central pa rarely pulls cars away from there usual schedule. Fast sprints ? Good luck with this one. 

I don't think the Central Pa part is what is going to hurt them or if they were expecting to pull cars from that area. What will hurt them is that it is mostly an Ohio series and as someone previously mentioned cars will be getting pulled from All Stars, Outlaws at Sharon, Fremont weekly which are areas that have contributed to the car counts for that series. I saw Jac confirmed he was going but it will probably be mostly the teams that compete at places like Atomic speedway with a few stragglers. Overall I don't think it will necessarily be the turnout that they hope for car wise for the purse they are paying.

It's weird that sprint car fans have this notion that there can only be so many big paying shows in a given weekend. Late model fans don't seem to care, and maybe that's why they seem to have more of them. Seems to be Sharon will get their fair share of cars, WVMS will get the FAST cars plus a few invaders and the All Stars will have a bunch of cars to pick from as well. 

Boy, you guys make it sound like these  tracks are all across the street from each other. Google Maps thinks differently:

Lincoln or Port Royal > Mineral Wells: 5+ hours, 300+ miles
Or to Sharon > 3/1/2 hours, 200+ miles
Or to Indy > 9+ hours, 550+ miles

Mineral Wells to Sharon > 3+ hours, 200+ miles
Mineral Wells to Indy > 5 hours. 350+ miles

How often  do the Central PA racers wander to Sharon, or Mineral Wells?
How often do All-Star racers wander from All-Star races?
How often do WoO racers stray? (Answer: never)

Wouldn't this suggest that the guys going to race at Mineral Wells are the racers running "Ye Olde, True Outlaw Schedule"? Might be a good place for Jac to be.



 

Apparently no one has figured out why there are so many more late models in America than sprint cars.  Well, purses and the fact that no one ever scared themselves out of a late model.

Since we ate in the topic, is the late model engine and the sprint engine basically the same, similar power, similar cost, could you swap a long block engine from a late model to a sprint?

I would agree the late model must feel 1000 times safer.

Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!

Depends on how you look at it. In a way yes, it is good that many places in 1 region have well paying purses and all should get what most people would consider a solid car count.

On the other hand, while I do not think Cental PA will be effected 1 way or another I think it hurts the Outlaw race a little more than others. In this area many All Star teams and drivers probably would race at Sharon if the All Stars were not racing so right away you eliminate Courtney, Ian Madsen, Cory Eliason, Peck (won all star race at Sharon), Wise, Henry, plus Kerry Madsen is racing with them this weekend as well and Rico. From the FAST side I believe Cale Conley is racing at WV, Jac, and I believe Cole Duncan who has won a few races at Sharon and finished second at the All Star show. Right there are 10 solid cars that would normally be at Sharon that will not be there and while it will still be a good show no matter where you go, it does make me feel that you could have had 1 great event versus having what will likely be 2 good and 1 decent event. 

I'll be heading to Sharon regardless as I do not get the chance to get there too often since it is about 3hrs from my house. 

Is this an old 1 mile track cut back to 5/8?

If WG is hard on engines and Bristol is dangerous for speed, why is this track not both?

I see a $20,000 410 sprint payout later in the year. Is that not extremely rare offering for non sanctioned non jewel events? Seems to me like real good money for a true outlaw event. Seems like a good thing for everyone but the Ascoc and WoO cause they cant attend. Likely someone with a reasonable small budget will take home a bigger than WoO style cheque.

Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!

No, it's never been a mile track. It was built 5/8 mile. They shortened it for a season to 4/10 but theyve since put it back to its origional length. 

    If you want to see something that's both scary and funny, look at the racetrack on Google Maps. From the comments, it seems they've upped their game a bit since the photo was taken.

It's a beautiful facility now. Take a look at their facebook page for pictures.

The 20,000 event is somewhat rare but it still is technically sanctioned by the FAST series. Some promoters through the past years have tried to do events like this around Ohio or just outside of Ohio but they do not end up being sustainable. Seems like they end up being one off events that end up getting forgotten about. The series is doing another 20,000 to win event at Atomic next Thursday as well which has tried an event like this before as well. While yes someone with a small budget or smaller compared to an Outlaw or All Star team can win a nice check, who knows if the event makes enough money to become an annual thing. I am not sure how many fans they have in that region that will attend  but a purse of that size, they will need to have a few more than regular to break even. Especially since they will be spread thin for cars because of all of the previously mentioned races in the region so there goes the backgate money unless they are banking on a lot of modifieds. As someone who is basically equal distance between Sharon and WV, it would be hard for me to justify not going to Sharon and seeing that race based on who is going to be there but all of that is just personal preference and not a dig at who would race WV. I am sure there are people in the area that have that burning hate for The Outlaws and even the All Stars that have no problem with going to another track or just like supporting the smaller teams that will go to WV which is fine too. 

As far as hard on engines, I do know one team that competes in mostly the southern Ohio area that said they will not be attending that race because it would be too hard on their engine and basically confirmed it is a 5/8 track.

Yeah but how many sprint car drivers and teams are from WV? I can probably count all of them on 1 hand and not use all fingers. Not a whole lot of true outlaw types anymore either. If Atomic's not running and no western PA tracks, they may get some cars from there plus a few random cherry pickers for 10G, teams that don't care about the long tow or cost on equipment of a 5/8 mile. I know FAST was a sanction created to give a season point fund payout to the local OH guys but I don't know if that payout is enough to entice them to tow to WV when there's 3 options closer. It's tough to fit an extra 410 race into the schedule in the PA/OH region and probably anywhere else. It's a case of supply and demand.The demand for winged 410 shows now is pretty high, but the supply of 410 teams to compete in this ever-growing schedule of races is running thin. If the track was smaller and racier, they'd probably have a better chance of pulling some cars away from their normal stomping grounds.

A

I do think Sharon is getting the "squeeze" this weekend. I'd be shocked if they have more than 35 cars, expecting around 30. A deceont chunk of local cars wont run with the outlaws and then with the other events pulling regional cars it'll be tough. Brent Marks is about the only non-outlaw/non local car I've seen coming. Hafertepe, Rico, Gio, Kerry, Duncan etc will be elsewhere.

It's really a shame sight home much progress that track has made in the last 5 or so years. They got a good surface now (albeit always extremely slick) and pay good purses. A weekly night they usually get about 100 cars for 4 divisions. Wasn't long ago they were struggling to get people in the stands and cars in the pits. Goes to show if you invest in your track good things will come.