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

Just wondering if any Knoxville drivers might be heading to Darlington, WI on Sunday for the IRA race?

was wondering that myself.

More likely to Britt on Fri--- Alley, Dobmeier, Zomer run husets and I doubt Logan or Skip will travel that far and brown doesnt run his 410 anywhere else

Most Knoxville drivers are known for not traveling very far from the "porch". Just the facts!

Most Knoxville drivers are also known to have "regular" jobs like most people. They are not professionals (or semi-professionals), most do it as a hobby and for fun.

If the feature at Britt is half as good as it was last year, it's going to be a good one...

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Thats because Iowa has never had the foresight to build more sprint car tracks like the lucky folks of central PA we may have a lot of racetracks but they are all running $50 to win 2 man cruiser races--- I guess when 99.6% of the population in a state are farmers the good land goes for corn and pigs instead of high banks and happiness

Maybe Tatnell or Dion at Britt?

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Sprint car racing is a relatively expensive form of motorsports for both raceteams and promoters/tracks. While Iowa has more tracks in operation per capita than anywhere in the country, the population base is quite small and this would make it difficult to make profitable for the racetracks. Even Knoxville has struggled the last several years with declining attendance. In order for local sprint car racing to survive and flouish in the Great Midwest, there will have to be a regional series that can incorporate several tracks in several states under a reconizable and marketable brand name. That series will need to pay a reasonable purse and have unified rules. Perhaps these regional series can be tied into a national sanctioning body for regional and national point funds.

Just a thought...if local track operators can somehow have a financial stake in such a series, this would get those guys working on the same page regarding scheduling, rules, marketing, ect. Maybe the time has come to look into this and see if it's a viable option.

Car counts are down for local competition in both 410s and 360s at many tracks in the region. Much of that has to do with not having enough places to race that can/will pay a reasonable purse. That is something that must be addressed.

I just dont know about this Regional idea. I love the thought, but how many guys can get away on a Wed. or Thurs. night druing the week any more??

Look at a race during the week, and I think you'll see you true state of racing. Sprint Invaders have had great numbers all year, but it gets a little tough for them when they have races during the week, or right in a row. Its like that for all classes.

A lot of the guys I talk to, only have the funding to run one night a week at the track that's closest to home. Why not run at the biggest sprint car track on earth if its 30 mins away?

Okay, raise the purse, well operating expenses have skyrocketed, insurance rates have went up, sponsors are closing the doors. Its tough, the racers end up being the ones that pay for the purse with 25-30 pit passes and bogus entry fee money etc. There are always exceptions, and that is great, but I would not want to promote anything in this market right now (except demo derbys).

Too bad there are too many egos in the sport. It would be awesome to have a summit and get guys from all over talking. John your radio show is great for that reason, but an hour is just not enough!! lol.

I dont think low car counts are due to not enough tracks racing sprint cars!

IMHO

Well, now that we are on DIRTVision we'll be doing two hours most every week. There was a summit meeting amongst the leading sanctionig bodies and track promoters/operators of 410 sprint car racing last week at Lernerville. Based on what I've heard, there was some really good and frank discussion on the good things in the sport and the challenging issues as well. There will be more information out about that meeting soon. More has been accomplished in two years regarding the issues facing the sport than had been done in the previous ten. I do know that there was much emphasis on how to grow local racing through a variety of ways. We should have some good shows in a couple of weeks and during Nationals involving those discussions.