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

Schatz was the only other platinum driver in the race. Brad Sweet did compete in the event, but is not a platinum member. The team's status, however, is unknown to me.

I SUPPORT JASON SIDES FROM DOWN UNDER

Yawn...

Seems to me a man in Brian Carter's position would have at least 36 cell phone numbers with names listed as favorites in his cell phone!. Those being 1 driver, 1 car owner, and 1 crew chief of the top 12 in points. With that being said, (to me) it doesnt seem to hard for a person of this stature to make a 2 minute phone call even if its at 9pm to say "yes or no"!!!! What a joke! I can appreciate the Outlaws protecting their brand but, why wouldn't you at least respond to one of your own?.... If I had the money, wouldnt take me long to start a new sanctioning group. Oh well, I guess I'll just follow just like every other keyboard racer! Good luck to whoever wins!

^^^^^^^^ Ya, kinda what he said. And with that said............

Brian Carter seems to have a very good grasp and attitude towards making/keeping the WoO's a success. Some of his answers/statements in that interview answered some of the questions, or gave a good insight to his side of the story......but you had to listen close. To be honest, I think most people already have a very good understanding of the series needs to protect their promoters, tracks, drivers, etc etc by imposing the rule in question. I just think some people don't believe it to be as important as the WoO's make it out to be. For the record, I am not one of those people. I am reminded of a quote from a series director not so long ago - "I can't tell them where they can and cannot race, but I can book all the $1500 to win shows they want."

But to be blunt, Brian Carter and Winged Nation avoided the very issues that has so many sprintcar fans up in arms. If the dispute is strictly over the fact that Jason Sides ran a race without permission, and he believes he has been treated unfairly, isn't one of his options to have that dispute settled in a court of law - without being (in essence) black-balled the moment the announcement of his intentions are made?

I can't say whether Jason Sides did the right thing by running that race in Fargo. However vague, to me Carter made it clear in that interview that the WoO's personnel had already told Jason no, and Carter wasn't going to get in the middle of it. Jason has his position and his justifications as well, and I can see his point of view. And the very fact that one, or some, of the WoO's teams are granted exemptions based on who they are, what they do, or the WRG's future endeavors........well Mr Carter - you answered that one yourself. It bit you in the ass on a different occasion. Seems to me if the rules were the same for everyone, this entire fiasco would be a non-issue.

But I just don't get why where someone parks would be an issue, or the fact that Jason Sides kept his head down and finished out the season and was black-balled from being able to celebrate his season with the rest of his competitors, his sponsors, his team, and yes - his sanctioning body.

Must be more to the story that wasn't being told today. Next time maybe Steve Post can be a little more clear when he comes in to a M/B and asks to take questions on an already inflammatory subject. Maybe we should have asked something like - why was someone who is only a mouthpiece for a one weekend sponsor at the end of the year allowed to share in the season long celebration, when the guy who logged 30,000+ miles up and down the road all year for the past 12 years was turned away.

JMO. Still love ya Kendra. :)

The greatest knowledge is to know that you know nothing
at all.

Yep, that was some hard-hitting-get-the-facts journalism right there....NOT.

For all of you would-be lawyers out there...it doesn't matter who is right or wrong in this case. It's not going to trial and, if by some stupid reason this continues, it's going to make both sides look like idiots. Which is where we were before this thing started.

Here's what matters. It's a PR debacle for WRG. Frankly, Carter and Deery didn't learn from the NST thing a few years ago. WRG continues to drop the ball...it's SLS' fault, Sides didn't try hard enough to contact us, ect. By trying to "lay down the law", all they got was more bad PR.

WRG's business model is outdated and failing. All of their tracks are for sale, they are getting fewer and fewer race dates and tracks that book them are struggling to stay open and have a smaller margin for error in making a profit from a WoO event. It's not sustainable.

It all comes down to this...if WRG can get enough tracks to book shows and run a decent number of events, they'll survive. If not, a leaner version of a racing series will be in waiting. The model is already there. As for race teams, if competitors think their best option is to follow WoO, they will and they'll have to follow whatever rules are imposed. WRG is not run by the Corleone family. You don't have to sign a non-compete contract to run with them. If you do sign up, follow the rules or take your medicine. Sides put out a press release to pick a PR battle, not a court fight. Nobody owes him a thing and he knows it. This is just about fighting the PR battle and making WRG look like idiots, which doesn't take a lot of work.

Fans make their decisions about where to spend their entertainment dollars. Tracks have to decide whether they can sell the event they book. Drivers/teams have to decide which series or schedule best fits their individual needs. It's the free market system at work.

When the tracks no longer find WRG beneficial to their bottom line, things will change. Until then nothing really changes.

One issue that I don't get is that it was okay for Schatz because his dad owns the track? So what, it should have been equal, Sides isn't from Fargo, ND, so his dad can't own a track in the area they were near. If Schatz was allowed, then Sides should have been too.

This court case will last all of 1 day. WRG approved and let two other drivers run without punishment and the driver sought approval before the event and repeated attempts (regardless of nature) went unreturned. Nothing else matters in this case. Sides will get his $40k and WRG will lose another driver.

How do you know that they did not give him permission and who was the second car that ran.

Brad Sweet does not run all the races anyway

Are you sure they would lose $40k? If I were Sides,I would be going for compensation as well,not being allowed to take a provisional for a $10k race? That would be worth something,wouldn't it?

What about being told by WRG when you rock up to the banquet,you are not welcome & sorry you dont have a table here for you,your team & your sponsors? Surely thats gotta be worth some compensation?

IF

Their contracts were EXACTLY the same, you might have a point. BUT, if the contracts weren't exactly the same, or if some sort of supplement to a contract was signed to let Schatz race in N.D., then your theory is simply wishful thinking.

'Not saying what WoO did was *fair*, (Life isn't fair) just saying that the devil is always in the details.

Brian made sense to me. Fargo on the WoO schedule too. After listening to that, I will support the WRG. They were right. Jason was wrong.