Forum: Oklahomatidbits.com General Forum (go)
Moderators:  /  David Smith Jr

1) How many Oklahoma natives were better at age 19 than Brady Bacon?

2) We'll have world peace before the wingless 410s race at SFS on the kind of smooth, dry surface that suits them best. Hey, it's dirt track racing. We don't mind a little dust. If we wanted purified air we'd go to a recital. That track was an embarrassment to a legendary facility.

3) The locals hung in there pretty nicely.

4) To watch Dave Darland work traffic is nirvana for a sprint car fan.

5) We should all be grateful that the promoters around here bring this kind of racing to us even if it's only twice per year in Oklahoma.

"I'd pay $15 to watch a sprint car sit still."

Do away with the other class of Modifieds with the narrow tires. They do not help the track surface for an open wheel non-wing event.

Would rather sit through 30 minutes of track prep to see a great battle of the 410s on a smooth surface.

Glad there is no support class at the Chili Bowl, just track prep tractor time!

Perhaps a better support class would have been the Champ Sprints. Nothing against modifieds, though. I don't know jack about track prep, but it looked like it had way too much water to me. The recent rains alone may have been enough moisture. Creek, even with a rain delay and a re-working of the track, had a better show last year and if we get the race in tonight, I would bet they will again.

"I'd pay $15 to watch a sprint car sit still."

It rained like hell the night before and most of the morning as I work on that side of the city.

For those guys it is either tacky smooth throughout or dry slick from top to bottom. Personally, for the wangless, I prefer the tacky as hell. A fourth of the way through the feature the track was really, really good.

Brady Bacon is a beast and this could be the TNT Sizzlin Bacon Tour.

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

I know it rained a lot there. Did they water an already drenched track?

Guessing the guys who were flipping because of the ruts might have preferrred dry.

"I'd pay $15 to watch a sprint car sit still."

I don't think there would have been ruts if it was water from the track being sprayed down compared to the pounding rain on the track. I hadn't been to the track for a month and a half (chasing and doing stories for NCRA every danged weekend) so I don't know if there had been problems in that spot in turn three or not.

That is just my perspective anyhoot.

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

The back half of this video illustrates why I like wingless cars on a dry surface ...

http://www.daronclayton.com/Media_09.html

"I'd pay $15 to watch a sprint car sit still."

Last year was rutted also. I think dry is better. I would rather see a whole night of good racing, not just the A.

Ted Sanderson

1.) Bobby Walker

But it's not a fair comparison. Bud wouldn't let you into the pits until you were 16. At the end of our 1st run (1978?), they lowered it to 14, but driving was a no-no until you were 16 -18, so no one was ever going to be as good as some of these kids that have been driving since birth. Credit Doc Grice, Darrell Cleveland and others for clearing the way for today's mini sprints. If it weren't for Ru-Jo and Black Widow, those "kids" like Bacon, Morgan and Robb would have been under the grandstands pushing their toy cars around in the dirt and dreaming of racing (like us) instead of being on the track and doing it.

2.) Before the day that wings changed (re: ruined) dirt track racing, that track was a decent track. It was rough, but more importantly, tacky. Typical rainy weather track. We experienced the same thing at I-44 on Saturday. You've got to go to Gas City, IN. They have to beat the chainlink catch fence with shovels during intermission to clear the clay so fans can see the feature (which is a wingless 410 show.) It is awesome. That was a track that "separated the men from the boys." Old School guys had the stones to drive through the ruts. There's a famous story about the great Sheldon Kinser and a USAC show at Terre Haute. The rain kept pushing the show back and finally on a Sunday morning, they decided they could get the show in after days of rain. During the driver's meeting, Ol' Shel approached the officials and asked "are you gonna put any water on the track? I'm gonna need some holes to win this one." The track wasn't an embarrassment. It was a challenge. The Tulsa Fairgrounds USAC show a few years ago was an embarrassment.

3.) Congrats to the locals indeed. We've held our own before. USAC vs NCRA in the mid-80s was as good as it got. If I remember correctly, it was 2 - 2. I remember Herb Copeland winning for the NCRA. I don't recall if Shane won the other or not. Somebody will be quick to correct me. I sat near Tom Bigelow's wife. She was keeping lap times. He was racing at Indy but winning this race was a big deal. That's what made the Outlaw deal a success in the early days. The paid guns came into town and took on the locals. The locals knew the track, the Outlaws had to win to eat. Great competition. Now the locals don't even run the same kind of cars and are trying to get start money and the Outlaws have been to the track so many times, they've got as much experience as the locals.

4.) I totally agree about Dave Darland. What a drive. IF he could have cleared that 81M, who drove clean and hard, Darland might have had something at the end. Ballou needed a yellow with 5 to tighten up the field. But then the race would have been called NASCAR.

5.) I whole heartedly agree that we should thank the promoters for bringing wingless 410s to Oklahoma. I miss USAC in Oklahoma. I miss CRA in Oklahoma. I miss wingless racing in Oklahoma. Last night was a great trip down memory lane. Now if they'd just blade off that half mile ...

Good stuff Mr. Mossman. Now, how about that #1 ranked Sooner Race Team? Top ranked in North America FSAE?

HM

i like tacky myself...i dont get why everybody cries about heavy tracks, i thought we want to go fast? you can either load up and leave, or race on it unless its too fast for ya....thats my opinion

As far as I'm concerned, last night was perfect! I been waiting on this race all year! The track was PERFECT!

Lets see; not one single race was won by half a lap, there was side by side racing, the race for 12th was just as exciting as the race for 2nd. Compared to the locked down follow the leader BS the wings provide, this was great.

A tacky track with a few ruts? So what. This is the kind of racing we fell in love with 40 years ago. Bet last night was the biggest crowd we'll see all year, that ought to say something!

Oh yeah, 30 laps of balls out racing & NO BLOWN ENGINES!

Who else can remember when they used to put calcium chloride pellets on the track to try to hold the moisture in? Gotta love a tacky track unless you're the tire guy!

Just some observations from an old fart. See ya at the track!

Yea, we know you like it tacky.....We have seen some of those girls you run with. LOL

Helper Monkey and Jim Messmer are 100% on the money. The track was remarkable considering the rains of the previous evenings. That was the kind of racing that we grew up with. I said early in the evening that the track would be close to perfect come feature time and I was almost on the money. Yeah, there were some ruts but they sure didn't seem to slow down too many of the competitors. Dave Darland has become one of my favorites over the past couple of years. For a long time, I didn't care for him but met a couple of times and he is one really nice guy. His skills in a sprinter, champ car or midget are amazing.

Good post, Kenny. It's all good stuff, tho. I think with the wingless cars, the track doesn't matter as much, (except for the ruts, of course.) Those guys can't just floor it all the way around anyhow, tacky or dry. That's what attracts most of us to them in the first place. It takes skill and finesse to drive one of those things, not just horsepower and a heavy foot. Put a wing on 'em, get a tacky track, and most of the time you only get one groove and follow the leader. You can't pass because no one has to lift and even the guys we ALL know can't drive start and stay up front, ( for the most part.) Obviously, there's a lot of vaying degrees from sloppy to dry slick, but in general, I prefer it a little on the dry side, as long as it even and multi-groovy (ha!), because not every one can drive on it. It brings the cream to the top, which brings us back to the wingless dudes. Those guys rock!! Man, I miss the old non-wing modifieds.

jmo.

Let's Go Racin'!!

whoa! damn!

Allen - we really need to give your alter ego a name when you come with the incredibly colorful - yet hilarious - remarks like that.

How much would could a wouldchuck chuck if a 
wouldchuck could chuck would

I thought the show was great - the mods were kind of a joke tho. One woulda thought it was a 10k to win race the way they were beatin' into each other the whole time.

I'm still sore that creek called it - and so late at that. That was going to be a better show than SFS - much in part because instead of 25 stock cars bangin' around - which then again, had its advantages to the enthusiastic fan - but Creek was probably gonna have 20+ midgets and 25+ non wing micro's. It was going to be a hellacious non wing sprint night just like last years - and we don't ever get those here.

But the SFS will have to suffice until Port City saturday night. no prob lol. What I fear about those extremely tacky + rough tracks is many of the drivers on it won't want to come back because of it. Yeah - we were all entertained - it was an albows up affair for sure - but it was destructive too. I don't know what the majority of drivers take on it was though - I would be especially interested to know what the Indiana guys thought of it - because their tracks up there in Hoosier-land are that rough much of the time - they are just bullrings instead. it would be interesting.

As long as this race continues to be a success - I'm happy. I fear Creek took a hit - cancelling a race the way they did so late could rub many the wrong way - of course it chaps this fans ass - bit come next year I'll be back hands down - again - I wander what the drivers thought. Many midget/micro drivers had to be well on their way or damn near there - many from a decent distance - and to cancel a race at 3pm for what by all rights would/should have been obvious in the morning....not good. The fact they said it was a GO at noon makes me wander if that was when they first got to the track.....I really hope that wasn't the case.

ramblin' lol. I hope our SFS show tomorrow is good. Should be nice weather. I hope we get a good turnout in ASCS and champ.

How much would could a wouldchuck chuck if a 
wouldchuck could chuck would

My deal on dry tracks for those wingless cars is the way it promotes the slide jobs. We all like the fact that the absence of the wing promotes more driver and less engine. To me, the dry track just takes that whole notion to another level. I don't mind a little moisture on the track, but I don't mind a little dust either.

And I agree on the correction above -- the track wasn't an embarrassment, but at least from my viewpoint, it was a lot less than ideal (that Tulsa deal was ridiculous). We can thump our chests and talk about rut racing and the good ol' days all we want, but smooth beats rough any day. When we're losing lead cars to nasty rut flips, we're not seeing anything close to the best show we could be seeing. So calling the track perfect is a reach for me. Yes, it was better in the feature, but it was pretty bad up to that point. And, yes, the rain had a role.

"I'd pay $15 to watch a sprint car sit still."

Last Saturday night I went to the non wing Jack Hewitt classic in Ohio. 45 non wing sprints and I was drurling just like okcfan12. LOL. The track was not dry slick nor was it tacky and it was the best show I had seen all year. I was hopein to see the show at Creek. Damn rain

yeah, they all say you get mad when they leave....huh, kinda crazy! lol