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

I'm gonna be fairly close Saturday morning for a motorcycle function(www.moonshine-run.com).  Since atomic has postponed the ASCOC show till Sunday I'm thinking of going to 34. What kind of car count could be expected? 

In my opinion car count will be good.  This is a joint IRA and MOWA event and several cars from Knoxville should be there.  Weather seems to look OK for sat.

Joint IRA / MOWA shows in the past draw usually in the low 30s and that is in Illinois. Even with this being just barely in Iowa I would expect some Knoxville guys to show but definately not all. Looks like Brown is in Arizona for the weekend and Terry is running at I-80 I believe. Middle 30s should be expected with maybe a potential of 40 if Knoxville Regulars come out. Its a great track for racing and the weather should be in the 70s to start and middle 50s by the finish. Pretty well the same setup as last week where they got a ton of rain early in the week and dried out late. Hopefully with the higher temps, more sun, and stronger winds than last week the track and pits will both be drier!

I attended last year's opener in La Salle with my good buddy Maddog.  I can't remember the exact count---but it was pretty good and the show was good as well.  PPM won the show if I remember correctly.   ??????  

If I had to guess, 30-40 cars?  Maddog confirm?

Will there be any IRA guys travelling to Jacksonville on Friday night for the MOWA show?  Last year I was at Granite City the night before the co sanctioned MOWA IRA at LaSalle & some IRA guys came down there to run the MOWA show.  

PPM did win the show.  Yes, it was a good show, and the tailgate afterwards was pretty good too.   I would assume you are near correct with your estimate, add in any Knoxville stragglers and it could go higher.  That is, depending on how many guys have their cars ready to go. I believe there were 33, 34 cars last year

I'm not going to make it.  You?  Shaun is heading down I believe

No, not going.  My first night is Wilmots regular season opener, the 29th.  First IRA show is the IRA/All Star show May 20th at Wilmot, preceding the IRA/All Star show at Angell Park the next night

29 cars.  Got word that the show WAS to be an IRA/MOWA tilt but it ended up being just an IRA event with some MOWA cars showing.  I don't know how that happens, but I am glad I didn't go.  Too damn far for 29 cars

I certainly expected more cars but the quality of the cars there was still good. The track was an odd one to say the least. It seemed like little passing up front to in the main but watching TK go to he pits under red due to brake issues and come back out shotgun on the field and get 3rd..... impressive. It was still worth my drive. Was this a co-sanctioned with no points given to the MOWA Or something? So really not a co-sanction? I never heard this. The IRA guys all showed in full though. I-80 360 took some of the Knoxville guys which is fine. 

On another note.. where is Kerry Madsen? I really expected them to be there.

IRA race.   Top finisher was 7th and one top 10.   Series used to be way more competitive.  Balog wouldn't have dominated 10 years ago. 

Quality over quantity. I drove down to Burlington and would do it again in a hearbeat. Especially with the quality of cars there. It was my first visit, and that place is BADASS! If IRA has their opener there every year, count me in. I'll make the trip every single year.

Real race cars don't have fenders...

Bill won his first IRA Championship in 2008, so he technically started his dominance 9 years ago...

Not the point I was trying to convey, but glad you had a great time....

What's wrong with 29 cars? 

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Okay. My point is that when I first read about this race, it was to be an IRA/MOWA show.  I figured that with the IRA AND MOWA, and with Knoxville not running until this coming Saturday, 29 cars was a bad show of cars until I found out that MOWA wasn't even involved except for a few of their guys.  I guess I was WRONG in assuming more cars because of what I read a couple of weeks ago on schedules.  It ended up being a real good show of cars, considering the early opening date, the distance traveled AND MOWA not sanctioning the race. Okay?

Yeah you are right about MOWA not following through on the sanctioning again. Just like Sun Prairie. If someone reading this has a clue as to why this happens, please let us know. I went back and made sure of what you said MD, the origin schedule release for the IRA specifically states that it's a full on cosanctioned race. I'm all for IRA/MOWA shows, they are good fields all together. 

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Was a good show for the most part... Track was very wet and soft early which led to an early rework after sprint car hotlaps. Running three classes of small tired cars didn't help as it led to a lot of ruts up on the higher half of the track that really hurt the sprint car action. 34 could be a top-shelf facility but they seem to find a way to drag the show out on a regular basis. Two-class season opener went until after 11 p.m. and this past Saturday went until about quarter til 12. Just disappointing that they seem to have little clue to how the track will respond to the different methods of preparation and there's always an attempt at reworking the track that seems unsuccesful more than not. 

Nienhiser had em waxed in the feature. Don't think TK would have had a chance to pass him even if he didn't have brake line problems. Was in a league of his own.

Yeah, that is all my point was.  If I thoughtit was originally an IRA only show, 29 cars is a great turnout, considering opening night some guys aren't ready.  The Angell Park show was a terrible show for MOWA.  4, 5 guys?  Yes, it was a non points show but if your name is on the ad, maybe you should have more guys show, even at a non points race.  That was on MOWA.  This time?  I have no idea what happened from when the schedules came out, to opening night.

I questioned that too. I think in the open track Nienhiser was faster but in traffic I think TK could have made it interesting. Not to mention we never got to see TK in an open track at all. Hats off to Nienhiser though as that car was moving!

As for how fast they run the show.... ya it could certainly be faster. Track prep and double sessions of hot laps didn't help anything for timing but they needed to do something to get the mud off the track. I love the shape of the track though and the racing it can provide. I would say overall the racing last Saturday was below average for the track but still not bad.

On to Knoxville where track prep and speed of show will be second to none. Really hope we can avoid rain here.