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

...or gets caught with an illegal chassis and is suspended...

(I'm guessing he has the point championship tied up.)

You must mean Fox News.....

Too bad you can't handle the truth

Ok, since you're not afraid or chicken, what's your full name?  I'm sure people would love to see a real picture of you.  Not sure what kind of guy you really are?  But for me, I won't post my name or anything that could connect me to me, not because I'm afraid of what people here might think but I know the world we live in today.  Sometimes I enjoy a few Bud Lights before I check this forum (like tonight) and maybe don't do the best proof reading.  So in 20 years I don't want something I've said to be taken out of context and be labeled as a racist, snowflake or whatever the offensive term is at that time and get cancelled (kind of like a former NFL coach).

one of the things i feel like is missing in central pa is a good points championship.  i think there's a central pa points championship of some sort but it's not something that doesn't get talked about much.  even the track championships seem more like an after thought...probably because some of the best guys don't go to the same track consistently especially on saturdays.

i bring it up because the season kind of ends unceremoniously...at least compared to other forms of racing.  it seems to trail off even though there are still races going on here and there.  the national open seems like the unofficial end to the season and i think port gets hosed with its outlaw date because of that.  

i don't know the solution and it probably doesn't matter to most people.  it adds to the emphasis that's placed on winning.  consistency in these parts doesn't get you much except maybe during pa speedweek where that title seems to have some prestige.  i'm enjoying the nascar playoffs and the f1 points battle so it would be cool to see something like that still going on with the 410s.

Maybe they need a "playoff" to "chase" points?

(Sorry man, the devil made me do it)

I agree.  Track championship in PA is nothing except who shows up the most really.  Speedweek same, there were what 12 guys? who showed to each speedweek show and I think 4 of them were outsiders Peck, Rico, Paulie and Haefertepe?  It really means very little who wins points in PA because of all that IMO. 

At least for Speedweek, the purse is fine (around 35K paid out per race), three things would have to happen IMO for Speedweek to get more notice:

1.  Separate speedweek point fund paying out top 10 or 12 in points who participate in the entire week, with a little something for those that compete in all the races but don't crack the top 10 or 12 at the end of the "week".  I KNOW, I should write a check, maybe use half the 50/50 for that each night and at the end of the week pay it out equally to the folks who showed for each night?   

2.  Cooperation, no other central PA track should run 410s the same night a Speedweek show is goin.  Run Late models non-wing etc... instead if track wants to run. 

3.  Include more tracks.  This has been discussed/beat to death, but a Speedweek at 5 tracks with only 8 of 50 PA guys going to every race isn't cutting it, IMO. 

Just my opinions here, PA speedweek should be a bigger deal but it isn't, it's not close to Ohio speedweek and it's behind Indiana Sprint Week and Indiana Midget Week as well.  That too will be argued, but unless you are a homer, you know it's true. 

I live 3000 miles away so cant speak to any specifics but in general an event needs to change as the lives and needs of the participants change. You may get away with a one day event sticking to the old method for nostalgic reasons and many may support it for the same reason. But racing has changed and the success of long standing events need to adapt, change, morph, bend etc to make todays drivers want to attend.

Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!

1. 2021 speedweek had a payout of $20,700 with $6000 to the champion. I agree it would be nice to see it even higher and every team that runs all events get a nice check, but this is much higher than OH speedweek pays out for points the last I knew. The PA SW purses are generally a little better than OH too. What makes OH arguably better is that it's All-Star sanctioned(more casr) plus it's been around longer so it has a little more history. 

2. All tracks do cooperate for SW. No central PA track runs 410's against a SW race.

3. There's actually 7 tracks - WG, Lincoln, Port, Selinsgrove, Baps, Grandview and Hagerstown. 

I've had gripes,complaints and opinions about speedweek and about the big 3 having 2 races instead of letting more tracks in, but the truth is that car counts - including cars that run all events, purses, crowds and speedweek excitement have been growing the last few years. Sure anything can be made better but PA speedweek is a fun week with good fields, good crowds and a lot of good racing. I hope it keeps growing and the outsiders keep coming as it makes it more interesting than what it used to be when it was just the locals. 

A

Took you a while to respond.  Did your mom help you with that one or did you need permission before you could so bravely put your name out there?

Seems like the big problem is that most teams can't afford to make all the races

So maybe base the Championship points on best finishes out of "X" number of races? I fergit how many they run, but if its 10, say, points are based on best 8 finishes? An incentive for teams that can't afford the whole deal.... then they could give bonuses to teams that did the whole deal, regardless of finish

Just suggestions, I've never put on a race or series & never will ;)

Crown the Cat! I feel Gravel needed to gain more points this weekend to even have a chance. 

I disagree about PA speedweeks. It has attracted more top talent recently than Ohio and the crowds and purses are bigger. I think it's right there, if not ahead of Ohio.

But I do think the purses can be much larger. Speedweeks purses in general are absurdly low given the crowds and car counts they get. Ohio Speedweeks has paid a similar purse for 30 years and PA, while getting alot better could support a $25k to win or larger show, which would get people's attention. 

If Pa. Speedweek was just a week of racing with 1 race at each track like it used to be it would be even that more meaningful & maybe even more bountiful with the point fund.  Last I checked there are only 7 days in a week to begin with, SPEEDWEEK

The way it is now just drains the teams of $$$ more so than needed. Look at car counts for the month of July & I believe that helps to back up what I am suggesting.

The only real point race left is for 3rd. Donny +2 ahead of Carson.

In a long article on the WoO website today, Sweet (Big Cat now I guess) admitted to "point racing" at the end of the year, thus all the bad feature race endings.  Just hang on and get the title and big check and making NAPA happy.  But was it point racing or were they having some kind of trouble.  Some really bad results for the champ in the last 10 or 12  races, though two races with flat tires were part of it, but not all 10 or 12  races.  I thought drivers were always opposed to point racing and "just went for wins" but maybe they fudged on the truth about "point racing".    

Lawlessness + liberalism = HELL -  NYC, Detroit, Chicago, 
Seattle, LA  Who the H runs those cities. 

I don't think they were necessarily having trouble and it was more or less big picture/smart racing. I was at Eldora for the September race and he was running the top 2 down before cutting a tire and probably had a car to win the race. Ran well at Lernerville, Williams Grove is Williams Grove for him (outlier), and was fast at Port but cut a tire again. I think in some of those races and the ones leading up to this weekend it was just all about not putting yourself in a bad position, risk vs reward. If you are running 5th or 6th and the 2car is not one of the cars in front of you then why bother risking the potential of blowing a tire or having something break?  It definately did not look like he was driving the car into the corners like he was at the beginning of the year when they were winning 2-3races out of every 5. When you have won more than any other driver in the series and have earned a 100pt cushion, you can make those decisions. 

The other thing I noticed is when the Outlaws posted the draw sheet, the 49 was typcially towards one of the last handful of cars to qualify in whatever tier each night. The qualifying results definately were lacking the past couple of months vs where they were earlier in the season. A lot of 3rd & 4th place heat race results so there again, is the 2 ahead of me and if so how many positions. I am sure all of the drivers do not really points race until maybe the last 10-15races. At that point you start to look bigger picture. If its a slim margin you go for every point like the 49 & 15 a couple years ago. If its a margin like the past couple years maybe think big picture. If its a Steve Kinser/Donny Schatz 200+ margin you can say F it sometimes and take a risk or two and it won't hurt you.