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

The extra money in the sport is appreciated . I personally would like to see the bottom tier teams get a fair share. Seems  a little to complicated. The top teams usually arent the ones using used tires to be able to keep going.

one opinion to another  Dont need to understand it, simple business process.  money in, money out.  "change the subject from a discussion among interested parties".  whoa! all of a sudden there is finally a new Hosehead rule after the 20 years on this site.  lets face it here.  High Limit fans, WOO fans... the best racing we could ask for...

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

I'm in the same boat as you but according to the smart people that post here our boat is old and sinking. I also notice some of these smart folks are now questioning the next nevel they yearned for so badly. The Next Level is costing the sport car/owner support, plain and simple. The Next Level is the nascar route. Me, I'll just stick to regular local shows and be entertained for 25-30 laps of non gimmick, no hype 410 sprint car racing. I'm sure the smart posters will keep us old dinosaurs in the know on how the next level is working to make the sport better.

I don't have a problem with anyone yearning for the old days as long as I don't hear them complaining about purse sizes, lack of growth for their sport, or asking "how do we get people interested in racing again" questions.  As long as someone is fine with the ship sinking as the times change, I have no issue with their opinion.  

Egras - beezr and highspeed IMHO much like i have discussed miss the days of Run What Ya Brung.   

The World of Outlaws were dominating everywhere when they first started except PA - i can assure you big block cast irons were deemed illegal not because of PA tracks or drivers.....it was a corporate decision than and all decisions/changes within in the WoO and High Limit as we have discussed ad nauseam and as we agree are done only for the benefit of that series and its drivers.

The rule changes of the 80's made cubic inches truly a discussion of cubic DOLLARS.  The traveling series are at a breaking point; whereas local tracks are struggling with purse demands because of the costs of 410 engines and Hoosier tires.  The razors edge is if tracks can no longer operate where are the series going to race/exist?  I don't think either series cares about other tracks outside their schedule as it takes money from their potential pool....people only have so much money for racing attendance etc....less tracks is less demand on the limited resource pool....but if to many track go away where do they race?

I've always believed there is no "next level" for sprint car racing.   It's a niche sport and will always be exactly that.   In the eighties people thought live TV was the answer for sprint car racing's "next level" and wondered why it didn't happen.  It's because sprint car racing isn't cut out for live TV shows.  It sucked with very little racing time and endless driver interviews.    These days it's streaming that represents the "next level".   Streaming is a different animal but has some of the same problems.   HL may succeed in knocking WoO off the top of the hill, but there is no "next level" where HL can take things.   

I'm glad I'm not the only one getting the same feeling about this. This is starting to give me really weird vibes similar to XR. Come race for us now but we will pay you later...

When 410 gets too expensive for the local tracks you get what California has. Now there's a lack of weekly 410 racing entirely due to excessive cost.  Tracks can't pay enough for them. and neither can the regular teams that make up the bulk of racers.  Consequently, groups such as NARC, which has been around for decades struggle to get full fields which was never the case before the $70,000 engines and a truck load of Hoosiers.  Darned few teams have a $ tree in their back yard..HL and WoO are geared for the Pro touring guys and it's rare when a regional team can compete for a win with them.

Our local track that ran late models, mods, sportsmans, and bombers was essentially a "run what ya brung" rules package in every class, with no sanctioning body, and zero big sponsorship dollars coming in.  The drivers in each class with the most money ruled the class, raised the costs for each class in order to compete, and essentially broke dozens of local men, women, and familes.  I'm not really sure what would have changed if they had a national touring series come through once or twice per year.

I don't think cars running at a local level are required to keep up with cars running on a national touring series if they only race against those cars briefly each year.  If one or 2 of the locals has the money to compete with the national guys when they come to town, I don't think that will change the fact that those locals will also spend the money if the national guys don't come to town.  The lower budget racers have always, and will continue to get their asses kicked as long as racing exists.  No one is putting a gun to the local's heads and forcing them to pump money into their cars to keep up with guys with national touring dollars.  They'll move on after a race or 2 and you're back to local competition.  

Just my two cents.  

Wow just listened to Jeremy Elliott's 90 at 9:00 titled "The Slow Death of the Weekly Show".

he said only 14 tracks across the country run a weekly 410 show got his data from sprint car ratings.com 

in Pa he said Lincoln got the most shows in at  22 shows in while Port Royal, Williamsgrove, and Knoxville were the other top 4.

Butler, Lernerville and Husets tied for 5th at 16 shows.

in his opinion the special shows and increased admission cost has forced many on a budget to move their money around meaning instead of regular shows they will roll some of that money into the special or touring shows - as we discussed to see the "stars" of the sport.

another variable streaming and the all in for fans for pa speed weeks which is like special holiday for many in central pa.

it was a good listen....

so are we at the tipping point?  

IMHO the additional weekly shows and Sunday shows have saturated this area and we have passed the tipping point.

It was 12 a few years ago. It's been really low for decades now. 

Slighthly off topic but speaking to what others have said about cost. I have been saying this forever but what do I know? I'm just a fan. 

- No motor rules

- Spec shocks

- 20 sq ft wing pinned at 20 degrees

- 1500 pounds

Won't work at a big half and you won't win the Knoxville Nationals. It would save car owners a bunch of money though and those that don't agree can keep on running 18th against the big shots with their 70k motor and their thousand dollars of burnt up tires. 

Micheal N I like the thoughts you have and I feel that sprint cars lack a good entry level class. The high end of the sport is fine in my opinion. 

Yeah there are entry level dirt track classes but they are stuff like 4 bangers or modifieds. We lack an affordable entry level that a group of friends can get a car together and go have fun on Saturday. You need to feed new fans/racers in the bottom so they can grow the sport. 

I did some checking to see what changed from the charters announced last year, to the Acey-Ducey thing this year.

1) The name of the program. Maybe the word 'charters' makes too many people thing of NASCAR and their cerrent legal woes and bad press?

2)The charters were designed to distribute "50% of the streaming revenues" to charter holders. That has been changed to known dollar figures, as released by H-L.

3) As initially proposed, the charter members would receive money each month during the H-L season. That's changed to receiving money at each race. 

The charters could be sold. I can't tell if you can sell whatever you own in the new system. Anybody know how that shakes out?

What's not clear from last year or this year, is what happens if a team misses a race? All the wordage says the team has to make every H-L race. If one race is missed, is the money gone?

Needs nore gambling verbiage. 

Series regulars are 'players'

Local racers are 'marks'

Officials will be reffered to as 'dealers'. 

The race director is now the 'Pit Boss' 

Series owners are the 'Mafioso' 

Pit lizards will now be known as 'Show Girls' and toterhome lounges will be 'Champaign Rooms' 

All winnings to be paid in poker chips and only redeemable at High Limit events.