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

I think the Tuscarora 50 is WAY more prestigious than the Dirt Classic. 48 years compared to 1?  I'm guessing even just in PA, more people have heard of the Tuscarora 50 than the Dirt Classic. But we all know how you feel about Port Royal anyhow.

Ps. By the way it's Rico Abreu (A-brew) , not (Ah-brey ooh).

Knoxville nationals

kings royal

world finals

WG natty

gold cup

short track  nationals

360 Knoxville nats

Iron man

 western world

Brad doty classic

There is no replacement for cubic displacement 

 One event that should be in the Top Ten is the USAC Kokomo Smackdown three day show in August. There is more passing in a heat race than in most Outlaw shows all night and I like the Outlaws. If anybody on here has a chance to go then you should. Great track prep and just crazy fun to watch. 

The list didn't include midgets. It was 410 and 360 Sprint Cars.

I've talked to a number of drivers out there, and the Gold Cup still has prestige even if it has fallen off a bit. I also hear the promoters are working towards bringing it back.

No, I don't think you have any idea how I feel about Port Royal.

I'm going to agree with Vande on the Texas Outlaw Nationals.   Devils Bowl is near and dear to my heart, and I've seen a ton of races there since I live 40 minutes from the track.   However, the jury is still out big time on the significance of this race long term.   Yes, it generated a bunch of publicity last year.   You have to keep in mind though that much of that buzz was because of the nostalgia aspect of it, especially given that so many of the original drivers from the first WoO event came back to make appearances.   As this race goes on it will lose that aspect of it.   I expect that in coming years the fan count may go down some.   I personally wasn't even planning on going to both nights of it this year, but now that the Spring Nationals got cancelled I probably will.    I would also add that this big WoO and going back to the Bowl wasn't Lanny Edwards idea.    They wouldn't have ever come back if it was up to him, and I don't see where any other tracks in the North Texas area are racing to get the WoO back in.    We've got another facility on the other side of the metroplex that used to have WoO races and certainly has the potential to have another big one.  I wonder why they haven't brought them back in?  After all, TMS dirt track is a very under utilized facility.

All that said though, I really hope you're right about the Texas Outlaw Nats.   I don't think it's a top 10 race right now, but I really do hope it evolves into one.   I would really like to see real sprint car racing return to our area on a regular basis. 

Don't know how often you went to Eldora, but in my experiences, Earl did very little to upgrade the facility unless it was a "have to".  The first 2 times I attended, the lights in turn 1 and 2 didn't even work, they used pickups with their lights on (and that was 2 different years).

We need PROMOTORS like Earl (to get more butts in the seats), but we also need those promotors to invest the $$ they earn back into the facility (lilke Tony has done at Eldora, like what is currently happening at Port Royal, and what Knoxville has done continually for 50 years).  This hardly ever happens IMO.

As far as Devi's Bowl goes...I've been there, Lanny has no interest in promoting a WoO show (that's why WRG had to do it themselves), time will tell if they are successful (you have to have a track record of being successful, 1 year just doesn't do it for me.

I personally don't know Kasey, but would the Dirt Classic had been as successful as it was without his name attached to it for advertising?  My guess is no.  Again, no track record and until the event has been around a while, it has no business being on a top 10 list (unless you are talking the Top 10 events in PA in 2014), as there are multitudes of races with more prestige and longevity.

I've been going to Eldora since 1987, and I've always had a good experience. Keep in mind, comparing old Eldora against other tracks makes the Big E look pretty good. A lot of goat paths out there.

Also consider, it's a little easier for Tony to put money back into the speedway. Not only does he have money, he has tradeoffs with sponsors that offer up personal service contracts, etc. By no means do I begrudge Stewart that — it's great for the sport — but a lot of promoters don't have those luxuries.

Regardless if Lanny has interest in promoting the WoO show or not, it's still Devil's Bowl. There is a lot of racing history at the place, it pays $20,000 to win and a lot of the drivers out there view it as one of the premier events on the schedule.

The Dirt Classic, I get the pushback on that. I could do that list three times and have three different races in that spot. I love the Tuscarora 50 and think the Trophy Cup is a must-see as well. Those are the two stops that could be No. 10 on my list on any given day.

The solution sounds simple, everyone make their own listing, Jeremy was doing what he likes to do, that's write about sprint car racing. We'll have 50 people with 50 results. Some will even list defunct events.

Or

Increase the list to the top 20, which is not as much fun as narrowing it to the top 10.

Add a 360 listing, which will also easily hit 10 events and will need to list 20 to encompass the events.

Then add a traditional sprints top 20 list.

This should cover 90% of the "PRESTIGIOUS" events in the USofA

Then we go make a listing for Oz, New Zealand, South Africa and England, if they still run sprints and anywehre else I may have missed.

And GO!

 Better add a 305 listing, while working the lists

The Silver Cup race really has lost a lot of it's luster from a national standpoint, but it sure hasn't hurt the crowds that pile into Lernerville for that race.  People parked everywhere, hard to find seats.  It is still a huge attraction from a fan standpoint, even though the drivers and fans outside the area don't see it as much more than a regular program anymore.

Couldn't agree more. That was one of the best events of the season, and now, it's a novelty act. Run 40 laps at the joint and pay $35,000. Stop with the parlor trick of twin features. The people will still come. 

They started the twin features for a reason, running a 40 laps race for $35k 3 days after the Kings Royal leaves it in the shadows anyway. It's the only major dirt race run on a weekday, which makes it tough.

That makes no sense. So now, they run 60 laps of feature action for less winner's share. Besides, the stands were always full when it was $35K to the winner. Weather permitting, of course.

HDsmoke20 is correct and IF the Gold Cup (it's become more of a polished bronze really) can be brought back to what it was they have their work more than cut out for them. Both the Trophy Cup and The Vermeil surpassed the Gold Cup several years ago. Not to mention that the Tulare Thunderbowl (thanks to the hard work of Steve Faria) and Calistoga Speedway (thanks to Dave Abreu and countless volunteers) have facilities that make Silver Dollar Speedway look prehistoric at best.

I was talking to Rico's uncle about that very subject in Yuma. Over the years its been Anglicized to "Abroo", but original Potugese is "A-bray-oo", just like baseball player Bobby Abreu pronounced it....

Agreed (although list was for winged)

I went to my 1st Smackdown last summer & it was great despite mucho rain. Track crew did an amazing job, Sat. nite the infield was a lake but they raced Sunday & it was OK. Trying to figure out how to work Indiana Sprint Week (or part of it) into my schedule....

  Earl did do upgrades at Eldora as I've seen them since 1972. No concrete wall when I first went  but done gradually over the years till complete. A restroom that held about six people until Earl expanded the whole concession area and added the bar. No concrete sidewalks going out turn 1 as it was just a hill and sleeping bags worked best for seating. New lighting for tv did wonders. Some things were done on the cheap with wires lying on top of the ground for instance but I never saw anybody electrocuted. Two things that were cool at the Kings Royal but gone now were the firing of the cannon before the heat races which usually shocked me 'bout every year even though I knew it was coming and I miss having someone ride out on the hill way off of turn 2 on a horse and holding a big American flag during the National Anthem. It's the pageantry of a race sometimes that makes it special and not the size of the purse. These upgrades, except for the wall, were done in the mid to late 1980's once Earl saw that the Kings Royal was gonna be  huge every year, the World 100 kept growing and Earl had plans for bigger shows in the future such as the Historical Big One - lousy name - and The Dream. Tony is totally hooked into corporate America so that really helps him to do newer and better upgrades plus he's not personally poor. I hope the new clay works well this year.

I am sure this comment will piss off many, but as a big picture I believe the long life of the World of Outlaws has contributed to the decline of weekend Sprint Car racing.  Too many so called fans now have the attitude that they save up and attend the races only when the Outlaws come to town.  This is very sad as if you go back in time weekly Sprint Car shows drew great attendance because people loved the sport.  I think they still love the sport in a pretty big way, but the extra cost of taking in the Outlaws has people passing on the weekly shows and saving for the big shows.

Racing of any kind is about the competition.  I think back to my early days of attending the races (hardtops) before Sprint Cars hit it big, and the racing was close and there were lots of local racers and great crowds of fans.  As the racing progressed the fans were still there and the drivers were still coming up.  I have always loved the competition and that is what racing is all about.

So what I am really saying is that we need to get back to the track on Friday and Saturday nights and support our local drivers and tracks.  If we loose the weekly shows, there will be no place to ever enjoy the likes of the World of Outlaws.

Just my 2 cents for today!  Hopefully our sport will be around for a long time to come, but we all have a job to do, and that is to get out there and take in some good ole local racing!

Thanks. I just always see it as disrespectful for a "professional" to constantly pronounce a persons name incorrectly.