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

1st off I was born in the 60's -- Saw my first Midget race in 1969 and never looked back.  I built my 1st midget car when I was 14 yrs old for a guy who took it apart and couldnt remember how to put it back together -- It was an old 1963 Curtis midget,  dont sit there and preach about "True Outlaws" to me. 

The whole pourpose of this thread or at least what it turned into is the exorbinant ampunt of mone it takes to run a 410 or 358/360 Sprint Car, and how the BIG BUCK OWNER/SPONSER/s will pay anything to win and the poor backyard mechanic and full time farmer has NO CHANCE WHAT SO EVER to compete with them.  WOO has ruined this sport (SANCTIONING BODIES) Woo was the 1st one so they get all the credit or lack there of.

This sport is going to be a thing of the past if someone doesnt come out with a wasy to control costs and make it affordable for the average Joe to compete.  The way it was ans is supposed to be.  I for the life of me cant understand putting 50 to 70 thousand dollars into Not a Car but an enging maybe get  races out of it and smile because u won 3 out of the 8 races DNF in 1 of them and did no better than a top 12 0r 15 in the rest.  These guys that do this have so much money they could care less how much they lose just as long as their car WINS.

Ask yourself this -- What does that do for Farmer Joe and his son who spent the diaper money for his daughter to buy  a new cam so he maybe can qualify against the Visiting WOO Show on saturday night? 

I have had the same conversation on IOW about national midgets.   There is nothing wrong with running a competive 360 program.  There is nothing wrong with running a competive 305 program.  For that mater, there is nothing wrong with the guys who run a street stock program.   Run what you can afford, and don't complain that Farmer Joe can't run a national program.  

I know that back in the day that Farmer Joe's dad could run the top division, but times have changed.  The sport has changed, and just because you or your favorite driver cannot compete with the WOO does not mean that the WOO should lower its levels.

You have totally missed the point of what I am saying.  #1 I am not bitching -- What I am saying is that the BIG MONEY SPARE NO EXPENSE Spend 250,000 to win 50,000 in a season is actually ruining the sport.  Eventually and it's not even an eventually because it is happening now.  Car Counts are going down.  The very people who are spending all this money are actually setting the pace at which they are spending their way out of this great racing. 

I have seen it happen locally, car counts aren't even a third of what they used to be. What is going to happen when the WOO can only get 5 to 7 cars to race because they priced the little guy out of competition.  What happens when the BIG BUCK SPARE NO EXPENSE Owner is the only one who wins any race in the season, and the same top 5 cars are always in the top 5.  It has destroyed Competition to the point where the other 35 owners say F - IT I cant compete and give up.

Is this what you want for Sprint Car racing?  Because this is where it is heading

"True Outlaws" are a nightmare for promoters wanting to have posters printed about upcoming events.  Can anyone imagine trying to promote a race not knowing for sure who will show up?  True Outlaws as pointed out turn their backs on points funds and tow money.  True Outlaws need sponsors they can represent on a hit and miss basis.  Any sponsor trying to get their product/services into the public eye has to like the increased coverage following a series provides.

Look, I was watching my first races 18 years before the Outlaw sanctioning body appeared on the scene.  This concept of True Outlaws is romantacized today as if we had some kind of utopia back then.  The fondest memories of "True Outlaws" are of those who happened to be sitting in the stands when some traveling gypsy pulled into to a race they attended.  Never mentioned are those of us who used to go to the races expecting to see our favorite driver only to find out they weren't going to show up.  I remember that scenario happening a lot more times than being thrilled because so and so pulled in the back gate unexpectedly.  We won't even get into what happens when tracks all across the country start doing their own thing and creating rules in an attempt to retain their local racers. 

Racing has it's share of issues today but all that aside the rules are pretty consistent and the sanctions have done a good job of drawing the kind of attention that sponsors like.  The helter skelter of days gone by produced more chaos than great memories if anyone were to ask my opinion.  In this day and age of high expenses you're not going to see a bunch of rag tag partiers criss crossing the country sampling the beers in every state from a pickup and open trailer.  Get over it and put that idea out of mind, it ain't happening.  Those racers of legend were a blip in the stream of time.