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

I believe the Pa. tracks are competing to see who can come up with the worst format for running a race!!!

On Saturday Port ran two 6 lap heats with passing points the first heat had seven evenly matched cars and both were won from the front row with no other passing.

The second group was the same the only passing in the heats was when Zearfoss clearly jumped a whole row which gave him enough points for the pole of the feature and the win.

At Selinsgrove they ran time trials inverted 12 of the 20 cars then lined up the feature heads up from the heats with an inversion of four. With no passing in the heats the fastest cars from time trials ended up starting 8th or worse.r

Passing points with a random draw can unfortunately lead to uneven heats.

Was the feature inversion at Selinsgrove a drawn number like the WoO used to do? Like a 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 invert possible and the four got drawn?

If not, then I agree and it sounds really, really silly to do a double planned invert. 

Agreed and then at Lincoln, the feature was lined up straight up from heat race finish which started Dietrich on the front frow which he went uncontested for the win. I don't know what the best format would be that would be fair to the drivers but also interesting for the fans, but it isn't this. I wasn't sure how they came up with the line up for Selinsgrove since they didn't explain the format at any point during the event. It didn't make much sense but at least it provided a fairly entertaining feature with a few passes at the front. Too bad Buckwalter had misfortune, looked real fast. Glad he was OK, blowing a tire at the end of a straight is pretty scary. I wish the cushion would have been higher but I will say the improvements at Selinsgrove are fantastic. The view is now the best anywhere and the track surface was sure smooth and fast with little dust. Fastest I've seen sprints go in a long time.

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I agree the format at the Grove and Lincoln is also bad on Friday Balog won a heat and almost the feature from the front row and at Lincoln Deitrich won a heat and away he went.

At Selinsgrove like you said they never explained the format but did say that Hodnett pulled a four for the redraw he had fast time but still lined up according to his heat finish. (Which again was an inversion of four with no passing on a track that Hodnett said was to fast for an old man.)

Racing wasnt great or terrible Mark Smith was able to take advantage of restarts and knowing the track to make his winning passes.

TRACK WAS GREAT NO DUST UNTIL FEATURE ONLY bad that their was no Deitrich or Billy Balog and the format. 

At least at Lincoln ,the heats are half way meaningful. They handicap them & line up the A heads up according to the finish. Dietrich started 7 or 8th in the heat I believe & raced his way to the win in the heat. He wasn’t handed a front row start. There really is not a perfect or totally fair format 

Makes sense to me....

Hahahaha. Wait, last night was great racing, a couple grooves, winner started fifth, hmmmm.  That sounds familiar, just like the track and race you knocked recently. One which, by the way, you were not in attendance for, lol. The winner (Dewease) started fifth, if you watch video (I didn't need to, I was there) cars were running all over the track (though bottom was better) and heck the 8th place finisher started 20th. Now if we compare the two, you'd think they were both good races. But not according to the non attending Port basher, Strawser, lol. Dude you are the definition of a hypocrite, lol. Your post shows everyone who didn't already know, which isn't many, that you are an avid Port hater though you don't attend. In my opinion, and others, that makes you and your opinions on Port, irrelevant and useless. Man, did I miss one hell of a Lucas Oil LM show at Port. Oh well, can't see them all.

You can bust his balls all you want but he's right. I was at Selinsgrove too and it was phenomenal. Moving the pits outside was a great idea. You now have a great view of the entire track. The track surface itself was perfect. They were hauling ass all night the way sprint cars were meant to be. The feature was awesome. Port is the same way on the rare occasion (usually when mother nature intervenes) that they use the water truck like they should. The race you referenced at Port was no comparison to Selinsgrove last night. I made up my mind after the race last night that I'll now be heading up in a couple of weeks for the ASCS show.

If this were last season I would have sat home on Sunday night and relaxed, but since they moved the pit area outside the track I decided to make my first trip up there as a fan (and my first time to see Sprints there) and was not disappointed. Decent field of cars, super fast track, great view of the whole place, and even the pro stocks put on a great race. On the way home by 9. 

I'm not a stock car guy at all but I gotta admit, that Pro Stock feature kicked ass

Like I said earlier I think the racing in the feature was ok not great track was very fast and smooth with two grooves but the fastest car did not win Smith was able to make two passes both on restarts for the win Zearfoss might have moved up if he didnt crash.

Buckwalter and Mcintyer were the front row Buckwalter crashed out and Mcintyer really faded late.

The reason the format wasnt good is the fastest cars were penalized for being the fastest.

Plus the time trials need to be run different every car was faster on the second lap because they were not even at full speed when they got the green on the first lap.

Stutts was lucky enough to have problems on his secnd lap which got him the pole of a heat on his first lap time. i

Buckwalter started 3rd and passed TJ for 2nd, was looking like he might be the fastest car on the track before blowing his tire. I think Rahmer was the fastest car but he wasted too many laps following Smith around the cushion. When he started coming low off the corners, he gained on Mark big time. Macri was real fast too, passing some good cars in the last few laps. I like to see them go fast but I think Selinsgrove would have been better if the cushion would have been pushed up closer to the wall. Athough there were 2 grooves(middle and bottom), it was a pretty narrow track. I'll bet if you talk to most drivers, they will tell you they prefer a wider, track. Port and Selinsgrove are similar in most aspects as far as size and speed but it seems at Selinsgrove you can pass a little on the bottom while the track is still tacky and fast while at Port you can't, the track needs to slick off and cushion up against the wall before anyone can keep up on the bottom. 

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...or Zemco. I wish they would have put someone in the car that likes to race at different tracks, instead of a 1 track homer.

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I think when Zemco hired their driver they knew they were not getting someone who could call in sick  at his day job just because there is race somewhere. I am pretty sure Logan will race anywhere Zemco wants to when it fits his work schedule. I am also pretty sure they knew his schedule going in to the deal. He even misses some Saturdays.

From what I understand, Zemco doesn't really want to run other tracks. Their focus is primarily Port. 

Freddie would have won that race if he'd found the bottom a couple of laps earlier. That car was coming off the corners like a missle

I heard you used to race Strawser ,I havent been to the slip and slide lately but have seen hundreds of races over the tears that were better than the feature thats why it was just ok.

I guess next time tje best ting to do is only take one lap like Stutts if they use that format again then you wont have eo quick a time.

I am not bashing Selinsgrove its one of my favorite tracks just hope they get better .

One track homer? Logan won a race at Susky last year and beat the All Stars at Lernerville. You probably should comment on things you don't have all the information about, but go ask John and PeeWee why the car is at Port every Saturday this year. Did you ever think that as owners they want to run for points at Port Royal? The 7W will be at Lernerville this Friday and as many other races as Logan can fit into his schedule around the Zemco car and work. 

Also don't forget that he has been to Knoxville and run all Bedford races that he can and I am pretty he has been to the Grove.

I BELEIVE ZEMCO WANTED TO SCALE BACK AFTER THE STRUGGELS OF THE LAST FEW YEARS that is probably why they hired a Port mostly driver.

For those that say Logan does not run other tracks much ( Probably never at Selinsgrove in a 410 ,like his dad) he was able to make most shows anywhere in a 305 and alot in a 358.