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

Good move on the two changes.

50 lapper should stay forever. The feature has been more exciting since the change.

* Fans get more for their money

* Every racer has a better oppurtunity to move up through the field

* The excitement is much more evident in the stands

As for the heat races:

What about adding in passing points like ASCS does.

That would increase the chances of the top qualifiers gaining a few more points as they move up...

Just my lousy two cents...

Love this decision. Friday night was always the latest night and this will help a lot. The Friday feature is much more exciting and drama filled than the challenge was and usally had better racing.

As for the 50 laps, i guess i dont see the argument for reducing it. Been nothing but great racing since it's gone to 50. Fuel stop runs smooth and adds to the anticiipation. I think the way things are set now is near perfect. 

As far as the fifty lap A Main goes, by the responce to that on this thread it looks like you've been talking to the wrong people. Most everybody I talk to are absolutely in favor of the A main just as it is.....including the automatic red. I've been in favor of it from the beginning. As was already in a coiple posts, it most definitely adds to the excitement. And it can be heard in the crowd (don't know if you attend or not).  Previously, with the thirty lap A Main, if you had four good Features out of 10 that was about it......five tops. There has not been a bad fifty lapper. That part of the Nationals can be left alone. Like I said before, Knoxville nearly always gets it right. If I were to change one more thing it woud be to increase the C main on qualifying nights to at least twelve laps (15 actually) and the B on those nights to eighteen laps. They are too short for todays competition imho.

I totally agree with you dsc.  I have yet to talk to anyone that does not like the 50 lapper.  But Johnny Gibson seems to have different thoughts:

From his twitter account just yesterday:

Johnny Gibson‏ @Gibvoice 16h16 hours ago

The inverted heats is what makes Wednesday & Thursday so exciting.

If anything go back to a full invert and add 2 laps to the heats..

The Knoxville Nationals are not broke!

So lets not go changing a bunch of stuff.

Bingo, add two laps to the heats. Less water on Wednesday so the track can widen out just a bit for the heats might be a good idea. I am expecting a reduced ticket price on Friday now that they took 45K out of the purse? Yeah, right. 

Actually, if the A-main would've been 30 laps this year, we would've had a last lap pass for the win.  Kyle Larson led laps 28-29. 

When the Friday format was improved they added roughly $59,000 to the purse. Did you see an increased ticket price

then? I'll save you some time, you did not.

-Austin Rankin

Reduce the price? They didnt raise the price when the increased the Friday night purse and spiced up the format?

Correct!

Actually your statement is a far stretch. Sweet had a hell of a nice lead built up before the planned open red, at which time Larson was running third behind Schatz. So no open red, no contest Sweet wins going away. On the restart after the open red Larson did get up to second and was closing on Sweet, when Sweet missed the bottom in turn one which allowed Larson to make the pass and lead for a couple laps. But by your call of the race, Sweet did lead lap thirty. The best race all along was of course the race between Schatz and Larson. That one was a great one! Fact is it doesn't matter a bit anymore what the hell does or doesn't happen on lap thirty of the Nationals regarding the outcome at fifty laps, unless of course lap thity holds the last lead change. Which this year it did, because of the fifty lap format. How ironic! Personally, I enjoyed the hell out of the last twenty laps. I'm glad they happened!

Agreed on all accounts. I don't know why anyone would want the biggest sprint car race on the planet to be fewer laps? Makes no sense.

A

Only if there had been a caution or red flag for a crash on lap 26.    Larson led those laps because Sweet's huge lead was erased with the caution at lap 25.   

After the pit stop Johnny. You can’t have it both ways. 

I like the changes, but a little sad to see the speed sport challenge go. Oh well though.

Also I love the 50lap main event. I know that it blasphemy to all the traditionalist but oh well. Since it has been 50 the features have been way more intense and it makes it to where someone in the back can come up through the field and win. I don't feel it takes momentum away and actually think it does the opposite. This year right after Larson & Schatz battled immediately, .then you had Larson and Sweet. Couple years ago you had Johnson & Schatz battling after the 30lap mark.

Qualifying & heat race distance is fine. Schatz didn't transfer this year but was able to race up and gain enough spots to start 4th. You need qualifying I'm sorry to all of you who think it's boring. Purpose of the Knoxville Nationals is to get the best drivers starting in the best spot so they can battle each other. Past few years have been proof of that. 

I like that idea too....

If not for the 50 laps a few years ago, we wouldn't have seen Schatz' incredible win from what, 21st?

Tough crowd. Subtle humor is difficult to project on a message board and I seem to have failed. I will take your word though that ticket prices didn't change the year the Friday format changed.

And we should never forget that the excitement of having a fifty lap A Main started with the battle between Sammy and Schatz with the first one in 2010. That one set the tone and was one for the ages (no pun intended re: Sammy's age). That damn left rear tire still pisses me off to this day! I can still hear that crowd chanting "SA-MMY" as he walked back to the pit area, and took his bow. 

Or the 2016 race which was probably the best race I’ve ever seen. If not for the break, Schatz wins that one by 4 seconds.