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

"The sprint car sky is falling, OMG!!!"

Reading these post (the majority of which are doom and gloom or accusatory ......"this is all about greed, Larson is a bum, lets blame him" has been "enlightening". You all act like like Sweet and Larson are stupid and foolish, and that this is some sort of hostile takeover of the All Stars.

Here's a suggestion - everyone calm down and wait a little while longer for official statements to be made. Then we can all chime in.

"The sprint car sky is falling, OMG!!!"

Reading these post (the majority of which are doom and gloom or accusatory ......"this is all about greed, Larson is a bum, lets blame him" has been "enlightening". You all act like like Sweet and Larson are stupid and foolish, and that this is some sort of hostile takeover of the All Stars.

Here's a suggestion - everyone calm down and wait a little while longer for official statements to be made. Then we can all chime in.

Thank you "larsonfan" for your unbiased analysis on Larson. 

i would hold off on all the analysis until any sale of the series actually happens.  it doesn't seem like many things that are heard during a conversation in the pits turn out to be true.  the sprint car rumor mill isn't very accurate.  everybody was supposed to be bailing on the outlaws last year especially sheldon who was a guarantee.  

i do think the all stars need an overhaul.  that's not to say tony stewart did a bad job with them.  the outlaws are awesome and are going to be tough to beat.  they're smart business people by keeping the race restrictions on their teams.  we'll see if brad and kyle try to take them head on by beefing up the all stars with more money and races or try to live along side them which is more of what the high limit series is doing.

larson should race but not collect points.  it was uncomfortable to see him get the championship ring and then say the ring was his idea.  he basically won his own ring.  

Agree.  National will never happen-----unless they sign a group of 12-15 drivers to contract to guarantee attendance at all events.  Contract would have to be written so those cars/teams/drivers would only attend their events with a limited allowance to run some other events in the country.  Also, the series would take care of their drivers under contract by giving them exclusive rights to merchandising areas at the tracks, all drivers would be given tow/show-up money, and they would be paid point money if they fulfilled their obligations and ran all events as contracted.  

This should sound familiar to everyone.  It's already being done.  This idea that some other series will dethrone the WoO by simply allowing anyone to race anywhere, for a larger check for winning a race, is ridiculous.  The 2 series that are supposedly combining had what?...............2 or 3 cars run the entire schedule for each series? 

If anyone on here wants the WoO replaced, it will have to be by a series that replicates the exact same formula to make it happen.  Otherwise, you just have a free-for-all regional series where some drivers show up, and some drivers don't.   

First the all stars work as a regional series when the woo guys are not racing close by. There top 5 guys can run with the outlaws and get top 10 finishes. The series biggest need is a title sponsor,  lose that and that could be a real problem.  Tony it definitely seems, since marriage, has cut back on his dirt interests. I think the drag racing deal won't last long, unless he tries a fuel car.  High Limit I would say had a impressive showing in its first year. Part of the problem there is kyle larson cannot keep winning all the races. He is the draw, he is one of the best and you have to beat the best. HL was started on the premises of giving more guys a chance of winning good money on mid week shows. The boss and Rico took most of that home. You take kyle out of the picture and how many fans are going to show up on a Tuesday night.  I think it's great that they don't run support classes, get in, get out. 

Ohio speedweeks is not what it was, the rivalry is missing it seems. They rely heavily on the all stars to make it happen, without that support it cannot continue.  Pa speedweeks because of purse money and the lore of racing in posse country gets many all stars for pa speedweeks if there is no conflicting dates. The same cannot be said for ohio speedweeks.

This is all good stuff.  So many rumors out there.  I ignore most.

From my trusted source, the All Star sale is a done deal but cannot be announced until Sweet wins the WoO title.  It is an outright sale, not a merger.  Unfortunately, the All Stars will not exist after this happens.  Most of the equipment is being sold and all of the employees are being released.  That is also unfortunate because they seem to have a good group of people and the new director was doing a good job.  I can't remember his name.  The All Stars were well liked by tracks and fans everywhere they raced and have a long history, so this will be a sad ending for them.

For High Limit, Kyle has almost nothing to do with operations.  He is just the star power to draw people and sponsors.  Everything is being done by Sweet and Flo.  I'm hearing they plan to run a nationwide schedule and compete head to head with the Outlaws.  Somewhere around 60-70 races.  Some weekdays but mostly weekends.

Remember when High Limit was announced as a mid-week series for the teams to race for more money?  It was to help racing right?  What happened to that plan?  Now they are eliminating a 50-year old regional series and trying to eliminate with the top series in the country?  Why?

GREED, that's why.

I fear that both cannot exist using the same business model and this move is harmful to sprint car racing, starting with the elimination of the All Stars.

At $1500 to start I think a lot of guys benefited other than Larson

Great insight.

So you're saying it is not a done deal yet?

What I got from that is Flo is forcing Tony to sell the All Stars?  Because Flo is the main sponsor of the All Stars and own a majority of High Limit, so selling the All Stars to Flo would basically save Flo money in the long run.  Wow that's interesting.  Why doesn't Tony make Flo buy out the remaining sponsor contract and then go to DirtVision for All Star broadcasting?  That may keep the series intact.

You said that the All Star people are making an attempt to stop the sale?  Do you mean the employees themselves?  What are they doing if you don't mind me asking?  That's very noble of them actually.  It's hard to find loyal employees who actually care about something.

Also, you said that the All Star people found out about the sale from the tracks?  I heard that Sweet was calling tracks trying to get dates scheduled for 2024.  I'm assuming that he was calling the All Star tracks before the sale was close to being done?  If so, that's shady as can be.

Man, there is so much going on here.  Unbelievable.

Correct- the deal as of last weekend is not done yet. Though All Star employees form top to bottom are proceeding with the belief it will be completed. As stated their is a letter of intent and Tony has yet to sign or even review it. The whole deal, while Brad and Kyle are invovled, is really a majority FloRacing deal to allow them to focus on one series and not multiple.

Tony had been open for a buyer for the past year, as he;s spread thin and frankly feels a little chewed up by the sprint car world the past few years. He clearly has new interests and a direction. Though I don't believe this is what he intended on when he planned to sell and more so it's just the best offer on the table money wise.

Yes- many of the employees have sent letters and made their position and stance very clear to Tony that they do not want him to sell and have made their pitches to him as to why they should continue on and why they believe it's not in his best interest to sell. Afterall, these guys are looking at the unemployment line with this deal and many of them have invested many years into this business model and plan with the belief they were secure for a long time. While change is always on the horizon, they were very blindsinded by the whole thing and feel very bitter about it all.

Yes- The All Star employees found out about the impending plans/sale when Brad started calling around to tracks currently on their schedule under the guise that he was inquiring about events and dates for 2024 for the High Limit/All Star merger. They also already have several of the larger shows already essentially listed on their schedule as events for next year without yet duscussing those plans with the tracks invovled. 

The backdoor politics in this whole deal is kind of crazy when you see really who is all involved and how they have gone about it. While a few minor tidbits above can be altered or maybe just a tad off....for the most part all of this is about %98 accurate. And I can speak very truthfully about it.

This is the same shit happening in college football causing all the teams to go to new leagues. ESPN, Fox, CBS etc are all in a dick swinging competition with no care for anything else. It is obvious Flo is behind it and I'm sure they want a national series to go up against the outlaws/Dirtvision. I think we all may look back to 2023 and think of how great sprint car racing was this year with the WoO being top notch, the All Stars still being what they've been, and a great mid-week series for serious cash. 

Correct- the deal as of last weekend is not done yet. Though All Star employees form top to bottom are proceeding with the belief it will be completed. As stated their is a letter of intent and Tony has yet to sign or even review it. The whole deal, while Brad and Kyle are invovled, is really a majority FloRacing deal to allow them to focus on one series and not multiple.

Tony had been open for a buyer for the past year, as he;s spread thin and frankly feels a little chewed up by the sprint car world the past few years. He clearly has new interests and a direction. Though I don't believe this is what he intended on when he planned to sell and more so it's just the best offer on the table money wise.

Yes- many of the employees have sent letters and made their position and stance very clear to Tony that they do not want him to sell and have made their pitches to him as to why they should continue on and why they believe it's not in his best interest to sell. Afterall, these guys are looking at the unemployment line with this deal and many of them have invested many years into this business model and plan with the belief they were secure for a long time. While change is always on the horizon, they were very blindsinded by the whole thing and feel very bitter about it all.

Yes- The All Star employees found out about the impending plans/sale when Brad started calling around to tracks currently on their schedule under the guise that he was inquiring about events and dates for 2024 for the High Limit/All Star merger. They also already have several of the larger shows already essentially listed on their schedule as events for next year without yet duscussing those plans with the tracks invovled. 

The backdoor politics in this whole deal is kind of crazy when you see really who is all involved and how they have gone about it. While a few minor tidbits above can be altered or maybe just a tad off....for the most part all of this is about %98 accurate. And I can speak very truthfully about it.

Maybe this ruffles somebody's feathers, but oh well. I gotta admit, to me this sounds like pure fictional writing. Anybody that would "know" the "facts" as you have them laid out would have to be so deep in the AllStars organization that they would know better than to go blabbing. I know, you must have some "secret inside information" from sources that can't be named.

Well, my "sources" who can't be named (because they don't exist either) suggest that you're making this up as you go along. If all you say turns out to be true in the end, feel free to come back and say you told me so. 

I'm not making this up. I have a role that allows me to work very closely with the All Stars throughout the year and I consider the entire group to be good friends.

I can speak to what's going on for the most part and the items above that I've told you are %100 fact. What I can't speak to is what's happening after the conversation or what's happening with said deal at this point. Hell, the deal may have been signed since last weekend as we're pretty much a week past my last update in terms of progress or feelings.

Nothing I've stated above is "news" based on the fact this has been the worst kept secret in the pits for damn near a year. What I am telling you is a little more insight on how it's going down and why it isn't exactly a done deal yet. You don't need to believe me and that's ok. But the above is truth

Correct- the deal as of last weekend is not done yet. Though All Star employees form top to bottom are proceeding with the belief it will be completed. As stated their is a letter of intent and Tony has yet to sign or even review it. The whole deal, while Brad and Kyle are invovled, is really a majority FloRacing deal to allow them to focus on one series and not multiple.

Tony had been open for a buyer for the past year, as he;s spread thin and frankly feels a little chewed up by the sprint car world the past few years. He clearly has new interests and a direction. Though I don't believe this is what he intended on when he planned to sell and more so it's just the best offer on the table money wise.

Yes- many of the employees have sent letters and made their position and stance very clear to Tony that they do not want him to sell and have made their pitches to him as to why they should continue on and why they believe it's not in his best interest to sell. Afterall, these guys are looking at the unemployment line with this deal and many of them have invested many years into this business model and plan with the belief they were secure for a long time. While change is always on the horizon, they were very blindsinded by the whole thing and feel very bitter about it all.

Yes- The All Star employees found out about the impending plans/sale when Brad started calling around to tracks currently on their schedule under the guise that he was inquiring about events and dates for 2024 for the High Limit/All Star merger. They also already have several of the larger shows already essentially listed on their schedule as events for next year without yet duscussing those plans with the tracks invovled. 

The backdoor politics in this whole deal is kind of crazy when you see really who is all involved and how they have gone about it. While a few minor tidbits above can be altered or maybe just a tad off....for the most part all of this is about %98 accurate. And I can speak very truthfully about it.

I could see someone making a series and just hiring the whole ASCoC staff. Keep and eye on John Stehman owner of the SSR 23 driven by Devon Borden. He has lots of money to play with president of Treyco Manufacturing and recently bought Hesston Speedway.