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

What happened to Balog that he is in another car? With the Outlaws now being what was former All Star type competion this year, I agree now was a great time for him to follow the tour... but if it was equipment related and after 3 nights he had to jump to someone elses stuff, he is off the full-time tour by June/July. He has a legitimate shot at finishing 5-8th for the season if he can stay on. That being said, it will hurt to see the HL guys peel away soon.... Outlaws will be weak outside 4-5 cars this year. Crazy times.

Ridiculous assessment on the strength of the Outlaws. 

As for Balog he came to Florida with 2 motors and hurt them both, so he's using the 16t as a rental for the rest of the weekend. 

Not ridiculous at all. A lot of talent is gone. It's very comparable to what the All Stars was in terms of competition In the past. Mark my words, this will be a record year for non Outlaw tour winners. That alone will prove my point. Bummer on Bill, 2 hurt motors in 2 nights, I will stand by my assesment, he is off tour by June. That sucks. 

Damn, tough crowd here. Guy makes a late decision to join the Woo trail with a family team and in my opinion was impressive in his first 2 nights in Volusia. Imagine all his equipment is not ready and just hit tough luck with motors same as others this week. He gets passed these  Volusia he will be alright. Big � to Kevin Newton for lending him a ride to finish the week.

Not rough at all! Super happy he is on tour and belongs there too! Definately cheerinfor him but you said it yourself, family operation. 2 hurt motors in week one can sink those dreams quick. Hope not, and also hope he has more than 2 motors as well. That wont cut it on that tour.

There was a lot of hurt motors at volusia this week. Not a good way to start the year off that's for sure

"A lot of talent is gone"

Guys that raced all races with the World of Outlaws last year, and are now High Limit commits:

Brad Sweet               11 wins and the championship

James McFadden     9 wins in 3 years over 203 starts   (I think James is great, but can't believe Roth retains him after all of the guys he's cut with much better records)

Spencer Bayston       1 win

Did I miss something?

I remember being at Volusia a number of years ago after hearing about a two car local PA team that had committed to run the full WoO schedule.  One of the two cars could not even get pushed off for hot laps as the car wouldn't start, the second started to smoke almost immediately, and they basically packed it in for the rest of the night, and didn't show any speed when they were actually on the track.   I shook my head, embarassed for them, and wondered what they were thinking trying to take on that schedule, and thought they would be off the tour by the end of March......

They now have a car on each of the National tours, and a win in a Million Dollar race, so what did I know?   Kind of obvious who I'm talking about, but I will never underestimate a team based on their first stab at a national tour race.  Balog and Crowley both showed speed this week,  I'm interested to see how they both do moving forward.

 and McFadden was replaced on the tour with Kofoid who is at least an equal. The WoO lost Sweet (obviously a huge loss) Bayston and Jacob Allen. High Limits roster strength is tied to its ability to get the best of the All Stars and a few of the true Outlaws from 2022-23 to join the series. They actually didn't hurt the WoO that much outside of Sweet leaving. 

I think you'll see guys like Peck and Courtney that will be competing for wins on the HL trail in no time. The racing between the woo and last yrs all stars usually showed the woo drivers still had an edge. Once crews and drivers get comfortable racing with Sweet, Rico and Larson I think you will see a lot of improvement.  Time will tell.

I would say the top 8 drivers for the woo are pretty solid, which if you look in year's past, this wasn't completely uncommon to have 8-10 drivers running full time. 

Keep It Real

People already forgetting Jacob Allen dropped off the Outlaw tour last year.

peck showed larson a wheel several times tonight at the HL opener here in Tampa tonight.  he will be a serious threat real soon I believe, only a matter of time...

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

so if that is the case what is left with the "oldest game in town"

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

David Gravel and Carson Macedo had more Outlaw wins than Jmac had in 2023 and they haven't left yet.

Link - 2023 Outlaw Stats