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

I see a lot of discussion about sprint car purses being high than they used to be. If the engines are now $70,000 verses $50,000, isn't the sport going backwards? If the sanctioning bodies figured out how to lower the cost of racing, wouldn't that have the same effect as raising the payouts?

What are they doing differently in late model racing that's attracting more cars and bigger crowds to more high-paying shows?

More cars because they go slower and you feel safer in them. My guess.

Very few have what it takes to drive a sprinter. Crowds, ??? Maybe because there are more locals.

Well for one there's more cars and more tracks that run late models. And if you check what the top teams are paying for motors these days it isn't much cheaper than Sprint cars. Late models are just more common than Sprint cars across the country. I will say the tracks running super Lates are dwindling. Only Port Royal and Bedford run them weekly in central Pa anymore.

Back about 10 years ago, I was at Park Jefferson Speedway in South Dakota to watch the USMTS, the elite modified organization and the MSTS 360 sprint cars.  They did an autograph signing before the races and Rodney Sanders and Jack Dover were sitting there signing autographs.  I spoke with them both and asked Jack if Rodney could get some seat time.  Jack was fully supportive and said that if the track would allow it, they could turn laps after the night.  Rodney's wife was right there and said ABSOLUTELY NOT!!.  I then asked Rodney if he ever had raced them and he said no, he was a bit intimidated by the crashes.  Later that night, when the USMTS was on the track, you would only see 3-4 sprint car driver watching.  But when the 360 sprint cars were on the track, every single USMTS driver was up against the fence and glued to the action.

The moral is, it takes a really big set of balls to driver a sprint car, and even the best drivers in other disciplines are intimidated of the violence of a sprint car.

Everytime i look at the left side of a sprint car i say to myself i may be crazy but i "aint" stupid.  the term open cockpit still applies after all these years.....

i'm bias but there is nothing in the world of auto racing more exciting to me than a machine with a minimum weight of 1,425lbs now pushing over 900HP.

I hold my breath and pray everytime a car flips - but when they get hit by another car i'm mortified until they climb out.