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

I'll give NSL this; they try very hard to put on a great show so thats why l went to l-80 Friday night. I think that any team that runs Knoxville every week with limited money dont want risk hurting their car (motor). The real problem is these $50,000 motors that last 8 races. Yeah Knoxville had 6 more cars but they were not front runners.

Actually didn't make your point....was pointing out that the #2 car had a lot of lucky draws....I don't think that will happen again.....secondly with Tod having sponsored cars for a long time I don't think anybody really has a negative opinion about his owning the car that won the Championship....at least not in the racing community.....maybe gossipers in the grandstands, but you'll have that crap about most anything whether it really matters or not.

$50,000 motors aside this sport is difficult for the average working person to follow.  I saw my first race in 1960 at a track located in one of our north suburbs ten miles from home.  Every August they would run Sprints, Midgets and Stock Cars at the Minnesota State Fair three blocks from where I grew up.  For years Sprint Car racing was popular at our local tracks but was slowly edged out by Late Models and Modifieds to the point where it was specials only.

Now we have a few nearby 360 and 410 shows nearby each season and a weekly non-wing series.  I'd have been all over those weekly shows a few years ago when I was on the media list but now I can only afford to get out about once a month.  Back in the mid 80's through Speedvision's demise I could follow Sprints on television.  Today the only station broadcasting them is MAV which isn't available on my local cable system and I stick with them for the bundle of TV and high speed internet. 

Even though there is weekly non-wing racing 32 miles from the end of my driveway every Saturday night and some WoO and IRA specials I'll only get out about once a month at the increased cost.  I'm not a grandstand person so if I'm not standing in the infield with a camera I prefer to find other things to do.  Yeah, it would be great to get out more as attending live events keeps up my enthusiasm level.  Without getting out to the races I'm limited to reading results, watching YouTube clips and an occasional PPV though I'm trying to pay down credit cards for retirement so I try to limit the Knoxville PPV to some of the bigger nights.

The ironic thing is that I can watch just about every game of the Wild, the Twins and the Vikings and all of the NASCAR races cheaper than I can follow the happenings at tracks a half hour from home.  If NSL came to our local tracks and the car counts looked good I would run out to see them.

I'm just putting my thoughts out there as a life long racing fan since 1960.  One of my cousins was a car owner and had a couple of HOF drivers in the seat from time to time.  I spent the last couple summers doing some big home projects that made going to races difficult.  Now the projects are done and I've got more time on my hands but the cost and logistics of following this sport are pricing me out.  My hat goes off to those of you who can drop $100+ every weekend but that ain't me.  That's why I did the media work for fifteen seasons, to make it possible to attend a bunch more races.  Now that I'm rapidly approaching 65 later this summer I can no longer do the media work which makes it very difficult to attend more than a few times per season.  Sprint Car racing can't afford to lose any fans and I think that a lot of us who used to go two nights or more per week are falling by the wayside.

Most of what I mentioned wasn't caused by the NSL but I think the emergence of NSL and Badlands five hours down the road may have an effect of watering down fields futher at other nearby events.  Before anyone blasts me for bitching I wouldn't be on this board posting if I didn't still love Sprint Car racing.  That's what makes it difficult is not being able to follow it after being totally absorbed in the sport for years. 

Stan Meissner

People bring up the "expense of racing" like its a brand new problem. Dirt track racing has been too expensive for decades, this isnt changing or going away. I went to 1500 to win 360 shows at Rock Rapids just 3 or 4 years ago, and racing was expensive in 2012 & 2013, and Rocky had over 30 sprints.

For the people that think Badlands peed in their Bacardi Coke by changing 410's to Saturday nights...... ummm if central Iowa 410 drivers wont go to Greenwood on Friday nights for a 10,000 to win show, news flash, they werent gonna go to Brandon for a Sunday night 5000 to win show.

I think the poster who brought up "politics" was onto somthing. Tons of Sioux Falls based 360's havent been at either NSL race at Rock Rapids. These increases in purses and yearend points payoffs SHOULD HAVE BEEN car count increasers. Unfortunately if it all boils down to Badlands vs NSL and splits the cars the vastly improved payoffs aren't gonna lead to improved fields of cars.

And if 410 teams were gonna trade in their racing operations for a boat they would have probably done that in past years when the purses had stagnated. I wouldnt think they would want to do that now.

The worst president of my lifetime:
Ronald Reagan

Not sure how the NSL vs Badlands works......wasn't long ago Huset's was going to drop 360's all together......

I see that Chuck sponser's TMAC via Dollar Loan Center (top Wing), what happens when TMAC wins the track championship?  I guessing the difference owning a team Vs sponsoring a team?  

I wonder if the Huset fans are happy knowing they are giving their money to a man who was arrested in a prostitution sting..

Voice don't take my original post wrong. I am not bitching out Quiring, Kosiski, Durst or anyone else that put their heads and their bank accounts on the chiopping block to give the racers a 10,000 to win 700 to start show. And I agree I fopund it curious that more 410's were at Knoxville the next night. Just wondering why racers won't go to these deals any more....

The worst president of my lifetime:
Ronald Reagan

I believe the outlaws weekend in vegas was sponsored by the dollar loan center. Therefore I wouldn't read much into TMAC having that on his top wing Because that is the weekend that he ran that Name.