Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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 The only answer for IRA will be to charge 20 bucks and have the non winged cars with them at every show to justify the 20 bucks or the 360's. Show got over to late for a 3:30 start for hot laps and for a 4:30 start time for racing  neither of which happened.

I hate to post in a thread StrangeWings started but I was there so if anybody cares to read them, here are my observations.

The forecast for the mid-day was excellent, mild with lots of sunshine. WIth the promise of an early start time on a Sunday show, the stands were packed. I assume that a lot of people, like me, were also drawn to the 3 divisions of open wheel dirt racing. Its very rare that you can see winged and traditional sprint cars along with midgets in one night. EXTREMELY rare in WI. Saw a big variety of shirts and hoodies that affirm this observation.

I arrived at 3:30, the scheduled start time for hot laps. Briought my 5 year old daughter as she was hungry to get to the race track with dad after a long and cold winter/spring. Upon first glance I thought the track looked pretty decent. VERY smooth, maybe not as wet as it tends to be for sprint car shows at BDR. It was quickly pointed out to me by Stealth87 that the surface would dry out very quickly (lots of sun) and he was right. I realized that after the previous nights weekly racing season opener, it appeared they never tilled/opened up the track. It looked pretty tightly packed. Not the end of the world. Sometimes I think people get too stuck on a track not being dry/slick ever. Being dry/slick isn't the worst thing in the world, as long as the dust is manageable. A track being too tacky tends to result in not much passing. 

I don't know exactly what time motor heat and hot laps got started. It was at least an hour, some people have mentioned 2. Not the start we were hoping for. As noted above there were 29 wingLESS, and 27 wing cars. Not sure how many Badger Midgets, but I believe I counted 19 starting the A. I know 1 car blew a motor in hot laps, wich was unfortunate cause they looked fast. Watched about 5 cars qualify and then went to my car to let my daughter run around and have some snacks and grab coats. The track didn't have much cushion yet and it dried out pretty quickly. Sat out tailgating and enjoying the sun, listening for signs of heats to begin.

At this point it became obvious they were doing something that is VERY popular in WI. FUCKING AROUND making the night drag on forever. I love when I go to PA or Indiana and they keep the racing going or make the intermissions brief. Tracks in WI seem to never have any regard for this. I'm glad they worked the track because the surface was definitely better and the racing was good but why not get this shit done earlier? Like the scheduled start of hot laps? I often travel to races with Stealth87 and we always laugh when we arrive at say, Port Royal or Bloomington and the track prep is DONE. What an amazing concept! The show was already behind and now you're doing shit that should have been accomplished 6 hours earlier. So basically they dumped water on it, not sure what else, for what felt like at least 45 minutes. It did look a LOT better, low side had moisture all night and the cushion stayed in great shape the rest of the night. Was sitting in turn 1 and there was a big curb, enjoyed watching guys bang off of it. At BDR towards the end of the evening the high side is always the fast line and I love the place for it.

Heats were decent. Scotty Thiel set quick time, Balog qualified poorly (for him) in 14th. Matt Vandervere deserves BIG PROPS IMO for running an injured driver's wingless car and putting on a clinic on how to drive the cushion in that type of car. This series is young and rapidly growing and the one thing they are missing is people that are willing to throw the car in to the turns and stand on it, and that's what Matt did, and he blew everyone away in the A. Was 5.5 seconds ahead of 2nd. I'm not trying to be overly critical, it's just an observation, and I certainly could do no better.

Balog was similarly exciting in the midget A, running up high, bouncing off the cushion in 1/2 and unfortunately his biggest competion (Scot Hatton) had mechanical problems and dropped out. Badger also seems to be picking up steam with solid car counts as some predicted with their budget friendly motor rules.

The wing car A main was good, surly old dude Steve Meyer won by running hard and not making any mistakes. Justin Henderson threw everything he could at him but lapped traffic proved difficult to negotiate. At one point Henderson had passed Meyer but Steve didn't let up and found a way to get back past him quickly. I believe the checkered flag saw them separated by .2 as Justin did all he could in 3/4 to steal the win at the last second. Balog characteristically charged from mid pack up to 3rd and was close to competing with the top 2 but couldn't quite keep up the last 8 or so laps and Jake Blackhurst got back by him to take 3rd. A part of me wonders if maybe Bill  was just exhausted at that point from racing in PA Friday and Saturday night (rain out?) and then (I assume) flying back to WI, running double duty for what was supposedly a Sunday twilight show.

At this point I was very excited to get to the warmth of my car for my hour+ drive home to Milwaukee. A LOT of people left early including 2 guys that sat in front of me that appeared to be Slinger regulars. I thought about imploring them to stay for the last 2 A mains but honestly, I couldn't fault them. It was fucking cold and late for a Sunday night. Glad no one was injured as there were some nasty flips. Looking forward to the All Stars/IRA shows in 2 weeks at Plymouth and Sun Prairie!

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I kept an eye on my clock throughout the night. At 4:30pm there were still cars rolling around the track for motor heat. I would guess hot laps actually started around 4:40pm. You could tell that water had been applied, but they just packed the track way too tight. Mix that with low clouds as well as a steady breeze and it was the perfect conditions to see black and dry slick by the 4th hot lap session (which is exactly what happened).

I didnt even stay for the end of the feature. There was a caution with 11 laps left and I saw that as my opportunity to beat traffic out of the facility and get warmed up. I exited the facility at 10:02pm and stopped at the stop sign down the street to see on Race Monitor what the final result was. When the checkered flag flew it was 10:06pm. That is what time a normal IRA show SHOULD be ending at on a normal Saturday night (if not earlier). Defiinitely not for an advertised 3:30pm start time show. We saw a few people leave before the B mains even started last night. 

Unfortunately this series has become accustomed to dragging shows out until 11pm or midnight over the summer. Before anyone says anything, I know the track last night was the reason it went long. But you will see at least 5 IRA shows that won't conclude until 11pm or later this summer. Mark my words. I hope this is something they address as its limiting the amount of younger children that are able to head to the pits and see their favorite drivers face to face. The series isnt perfect, but its all WI has for 410 winged racing. I have become less interesting in going to shows and currenlty only have about 5 of their shows marked to go to this year. The past 5 years or so I have gone to 75% or more of their shows. I dont want to spend all the downtime at the tracks. It gets tiring and it seems to have gotten worse over the past 3 years or so. This is meant to be more of a constructive critisism post, and not a bashing post. I hope these are things they can get cleaned up and keep interest high.

Real race cars don't have fenders...

$25 for that?   Bad track and dragged on show.   No wonder they didn’t want you to know what you were gonna pay for.   

Go figure, Larry had a blast.    Quit swearing Larry.  

    Honest question- have you ever gone to an IRA show?

Yeah, I’d much rather be in  Beaver Dam for $7 less.   

     OK, so you haven't been to an IRA race. Have you ever been to a WoO race?

What? 

I won a Big Wheel race at Leo’s Speedway in Oshkosh in 1976.   I’m a doer. What’s WoO?

Yep. I didn't think you'd be man enough to answer.

B-U-T-C-H

WoO is World of Outlaw!

I also won a Leo's Speedway that same night on my Big Wheel too!

Of course he has been to PLENTY of races! I was at MANY of them with him... and not just in Wisconsin.

The Crowd Pleaser IS THE BEST ever!

Thanks John.  I had no idea WoO meant  World of Outlaws.  Thanks 

Murphy,

You have been on here for a long time. Thought you would know how strange strange really is. Yes he is a troll but he has been to a "few" races over the years. He was on his meds last season and tame. Click on his name and see how funny the guy is by viewing past posts.

I tell it like I see it.

Hey man.   No just been really sick.  Hope you are good.   Hopefully meet up some day.  Take care. 

$7 is important.  I usually base my decision to drive long distances and watch my favorite sport in the world on $7.  

I know you did... its amazing how many "dumbasses" there are on here! They cant take a joke or critisism! They must of voted for Killary...

The Crowd Pleaser IS THE BEST ever!

How do you know about Meds or no Meds? You know he just busts everyones balls on here, right? He has been to MANY races, probably going to WoO shows before you even know what they were...

I dont know how/why you guys(if your actually guys and not just some bratty 12 year old kids) get so worked up all the time. This is about opinions! Quit being such a DUMBocrat... and realize this is just for fun and not get so worked up!

The Crowd Pleaser IS THE BEST ever!

Come to think of it, have you ever been to a WoO race anywhere than where you are from?

The Crowd Pleaser IS THE BEST ever!

    I'm not sure if you're asking me or Strange....

     The 50 or so WoO races I've been to have all been within about 400 miles from home. Does that answer the question?