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

Its been happening here in Ohio for a lot of years between Attica & Fremont. 2 tracks have a point fund between them (granted the name has changed to AFSC) but gives drivers the opportunity to race at 2 tracks close in location plus have an extra point fund. Granted they race on seperate days but I would say it has helped that region with the 410 & 305 divisions. A few drivers have moved up from the 305 class to 410 in the past decade.

Recently the FAST series which was strictly Fremont & Attica started to travel within the state to Waynesfield, Atomic, etc. Teams that wanted to travel would, teams that wanted to run for points for just Fremont ran for the Fremont point purse. Of course one of the things that helps us in Ohio is our tracks are 1/4, 1/3, or 3/8 miles so a lot of teams do not have to run big half miles on a weekly basis.

Ohio seems to be one area where weekly races are growing. Local point fund is a great idea

I've only been to Attica & Eldora, one time each, but one of these summers I wanna go more....

Yep....you pretty much have your Lincoln Racers and your Port Royal racers with only a handful of teams willing to race at both. I guess it is the sign of the times.

Another viewpoint on it is from the promoters side, can they afford to give up say half of their scheduled races? We are fortunate to have the team at Port and the new management at Lincoln investing in 410 racing, but can they afford to not have revenue on the off weeks? I'm sure they could try racing other classes on the off weeks to recover but the crowds in central PA follow the 410's for the most part. 

Yep, I can confirm 35 out of those 50.

All things considered, Sprint Car racing is still alive and well in central PA. 

That's not saying that you are free to bash those tracks that are likely losing money on some weekly shows - like the favorite bunching bag that runs on Friday nights - or that you don't need to take some young folks with you when you go.

A couple hours of mechanical stuff instead of electronic stuff won't hurt them. 

Just tell them that the track has a 5 bar signal. They'll be OK :)

And, I'm glad it was an April Fools joke - though the WoO could use a little DD. 

I don't think it would be necessary for tracks to alternate weeks, but if they did I think just move the 358s to a 360/358 challenge series type rules (eventually just to 360s) and I think you have a viable second program:

410s at Lincoln ($15GA), 360s and 305s at Port ($9GA)

360s and 305s at Lincoln ($9GA), 410s at Port ($15GA)

and so on... 

But like I said in a previous post, I think it's literally just an issue to start the season. Mid season both tracks for the most part get full fields. 

No need to change anything in central PA.

People obsess over car counts but you don't need big fields to have great racing. 20 cars is enough to put on a good show. I've seen a lot of good features with less cars than that. I actually think the quality from top to bottom is as equal as it has ever been. I mostly just care about the feature anyway and I certainly don't mind getting home before midnight. I don't think this year will be any worse than last. It looks better so far. Wasn't it last year or the year before when Port only had 14 cars for the opener?

A

Port had 27 sprint cars for the 2018 opener.

Try to catch an ASCoC show at Wayne Co. Place can get a little dusty but sitting in turn 4 is awesome there. One of Ohio's most underrated tracks in my opinion.

Both tracks had really good crowds last week. Lincoln my fav track ,but Port is awsome on day shows.  Only thing that keeps me away anymore are time trials and so many 3 div shows. Too old to sit thru div don't wanna see. Seen a pic of PV last week, 126 cars, looked like maybe a 100 fans in stands, I guess back gate racing is the future, SAD!!

I don't think it's the future, the reason for the back gate track situation at Path is obvious. Is there any top tier division they could schedule that wouldn't conflict with 2-3 other tracks? 410s - Port/Lincoln, 360s - Selinsgrove/URC, SLM - Hagerstown, Winchester, Port, Selinsgrove, etc. Anyone who follows racing at PV knows that if they schedule against any other track they won't get the cars. Drivers just don't go to Path over the bigger tracks for whatever reason. Path does the best with what they have got, which is a program headlined by a lower tier class, and then a bunch of micro classes and mini stocks. None of those classes are really going to draw huge crowds no matter if they race at Port Royal, Lincoln or Path Valley. If that had been a 410 show at Path last week the place would be packed. It is what it is.

Guess I'll continue completely off track on the "Danny Dietrich" thread subject but you Posse folks don't realize how good you have it. I think last Saturday Port Royal had 25 410's and 31 super lates for a $15 ticket. Believe me if I lived within 200 miles of the place I would be there in a heartbeat. Looking at a couple of 4m threads about late model specials a couple weeks ago at Senoia, GA and Woodstock GA both those tracks ran NINE classes that night. I wouldn't go to that marathon of crap if I lived 10 miles from those tracks. Interesting about Path Valley, which as someone pointed out is pretty much forced to be a back gate track. But Lincoln, PR and WG don't seem to have embraced the "back gate disease" that is killing off racetracks nationwide. I applaud them for that and I have never been to any of them. The upcoming weekend of All Star sprints Fri-Sat and Lucas Oil lates Sunday sounds killer and I would be making the massive road trip for that if I could swing it.

The worst president of my lifetime:
Ronald Reagan

Grass roots racing is in the unique position of depending on both competitors and fans to come out of the same pool of working people.  When working people's incomes and job security suffer we see the direct results of it at the race tracks.  Up where I live aside from Jackson at 210 miles there aren't any tracks that feature Sprints at their top class but they have some nice special events at those tracks.  That means that in a round about way we Sprint Car fans depend on those Stock Cars and Mortifieds to pay the bills week in and week out and keep the track in the black so they're still there to have those Sprint specials.  That should give anyone in an area with this situation a new found appreciation for the "shit box" classes as some Sprint fans would refer to them.  ;)

Stan Meissner

Good point, wish I knew the solution...

I don't feel obligated to watch 14 car Features no matter how many cries of "support your local track" I'm guilted with.  If there is a tipping point where I'd gravitate towards other forms of entertainment besides racing 14 car Features would probably be it for me.  I've seen 14 car Features, maybe a few were entertaining on a local quarter mile but I wouldn't care for that week in and week out. 

Stan Meissner

I can understand that for fans who live close to the tracks, but i have to drive 4-5 hrs. to see GOOD sprint car races in Pa. I like it when the heats actually mean something, in other words teams have to race their way into the feature. I only go to special events anyway, so perhaps my opinion doesn't really matter

I went to  regular Friday race at WG once, when I happened to arrive there exactly at 7pm after a 3 day drive from Colorado. Perfect break from the grueling trip, but kinda disappointing as far as racing goes....

I could be way off on this, but I feel as though some are hypocritical on this board.  There are those who always say "leave the porch, go out and show your worth"..... but then when a team "threatens" to do this, those same people are saying "man this sucks another team is leaving, local racing is going to be scarce soon" or "I don't think they're ready for this".  From what I've seen, obviously PA teams are leaving for tours (All Star & WoO), but I also see at least 2+ 358 drivers moving to the 410 division weekly at Lincoln, Port, or the Grove every year.  I also feel as though people are overlooking the scarcity of sponsors now compared to years ago.  It seems as though there are less and less sponsors every year, which also kills the car count and races that these teams run. 

On a random note, I think it'd be awesome if tracks like The Grove, Port, Lincoln, and BAPS put together a point system throughout the year on combined points from those tracks, and then run a big race at the end of the year based on those points and pay out say $15-$20k to the winner.  You could rotate the track every year for the "big race".   

Car Counts.  Sprint cars only.   Saturday April 6, 2019

Lincoln 410    22
Lincoln 358    24
Lincoln Wingless Super Sportsman    24
Port - 410    30
Port - 305    43
BAPS Super Sportsman    20     
Selinsgrove 360    15     

Total Sprint Cars,  4 tracks:    178