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

I understand drug testing from the local dirt track will cause financial and legal issues. From what I understand the on sites tests administered have a higher percentage of false positives, than those that are taken at your local medical facility. What happens to the track that bans a driver for the evening, only to find out a subsequent test came up clean? Could a track face legal issues as a result of a false positive? Safety is the main concern, and it especially hits home when Fred spoke of his boys racing.

I am a huge fan of the double file restarts. However if these starts are resulting in more crashes and costing the teams more $, I say do away with them. I'm not a fan of the cone on the frontstretch starts either...go back to letting them start coming off of turn 4 in a designated area.

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The leaders doesn't get the front row to himself and doesn't decide when the race restarts, 2nd place starts right alongside and the flagman/officials decide when they go green. The leader is actually at a disadvantage with the double file restarts the WoO has.

Not even the leaders like the double file restarts, which tells me a lot, the only guy that benefits is the guy running last or the last guy on the lead lap, he can't lose anything, he can only gain (unless he crashes).

schatzie ha cried his entire career about one thing or another imo only.

single finle restart is not racing, it's follow the leader.

i do like the lincoln rule, makes more sense to me. after all, dont we attend to watch racing?

Ascot was the greatest of all time..

West Capital wasn't half bad either..

Life is good...

Better question:

What happens to the track that DOES NOT test a known addict currently charged with possession, only to have that driver involved in an on track incident resulting in injury? And a subsequent investigation determines the driver was POSITIVE? Could a track face legal issues as a result of negligence? Safety is the main concern.

I know we are on the same page here Smitty, just shifting the responsibility. The track needs to provide leadership on this issue. The drivers (Rahmer, Lance, Greg, etc.) need to make it clear they won't race with this guy until HE proves he is clean. I would be surprised if some back channel discussions with track operators are not taking place.

Not saying people don't deserve a second chance, but really, in this case a serial addict is different than a one off failure. This guy has had EPIC FAILS!

I'll bite: Double file restarts should go, it's absolutely "manufactured" excitement, and sprint cars dont' need it, no fenderless racing does (not sure ANY racing does). It's not only unfair to the leader, but also 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, etc. Imagine how it cripples those drivers the nights when the top is the fast lane?

Anyone that was at Susky Sunday night, or saw Video, knows how good a single file restart can be late in the going. Same thing happened at Selinsgrove two years ago with Pittman passing Stevie Smith on a single file restart. It's dirt track racing, as long as their isn't rubber down (and then they do single file anyway), there are a minimum of two lane choices. 1st place is earned, one way or another they deserve to be there on a restart, it's 2nd place's job to make the pass, not take advantage of the gift.

Interesting perspective however, Employer Liability would most likely be the direction of litigation should it come to that...

Opinions may vary...

Kendra - help us out here...do teams still get charged a membership fee to race with the WoO?

Are there published responsibilities tied to that membership?

The reason I am asking, I have witnessed fans being ejected from tracks (private property) for endangering the safety of others in various ways and I suspect this is tied to the track's liability insurance.

At some tracks, it is a violation to light a cig in the grandstand area and you are not permitted to bring "glass" into the facility, and even cameras in some cases.

Some might wonder why a fan in the stands...or local school bus driver is held to a higher standard than a sprint car driver...when we know impaired reaction times cost lives everyday at much lower speeds.

Annual track driver registration fees / published terms and conditions with periodic hair samples might clean things up.

The tracks might learn how to police themselves before an ambulance chaser gets involved...it might well be a litigation waiting to happen.

Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May

Double File restarts - Gone

Said driver... Gone

NASCAR said, "See ya, we don't need ya"

WoO and any other series/promoter should follow suit.

It shouldn't be about putting fans in the stands. It should be about

having/getting your moral compass in order.

I don't really care 1 way or the other about double-file restarts.

But I just wanted to put in a couple things that I think were said wrong about them previously. 1 as far as when they fire on a double file restart, it is not based on the flagman, they set out 2 cones in turn 3and4 and the leader gets to start when he wants between those 2 cones, he can start immediately at the first or hold off till he gets to the 2nd or somewhere in between, and if someone goes before the leader they are penalized I believe a row. Like Donny said though, in a field of 25 cars it can be hard to police if someone jumped when you get back in the field. 2nd when they lineup the double file restart, the 1st place car always gets lane choice, he chooses if he wants top or bottom and the rest line up corresponding, odd numbers behind leader and evens behind the 2nd place guy.

http://gph.is/XMLGff

Speedkills,

Those rules were in place in 2012.

The rule in 2013 is between the 2 cones the FLAGMAN starts the race (not the leader) per drivers interviewed on Winged Nation earlier this year. It has caused penalties already this year for the LEADER of the race by hitting the gas before the flagman threw the green.

Sprint Car Racing does not need "manufactured" excitement on restarts. It's actually hurt the real excitement of racing in lapped traffic IMO as it now takes 2-3 laps longer to reach the tail end of the field following a restart and sometimes those 2-3 laps means it's single file for 6-7 laps to the checkered flag instead of single file for 3 laps and then 3 laps of racing in lapped traffic for the win.

Thanks for the correction Vande, as I typed I actually did question in my head if that rule had changed this year, but I typed it anyways and ended up being wrong. I wonder why they even stayed with the 2 cone deal then, why didn't they just go back to the 1 cone in corner 4 and you can fire when the 1st place guy passes that cone?

http://gph.is/XMLGff

Regarding double file restarts, they should've been abolished effective immediately after the clusterf*ck at I-96 a couple years back. Granted, the 3/8 mile inside the half-mile and shared/narrowed front stretch contributed to part of that... but wow. When Schatz was driving the Blue Beacon Truck Stops machine owned by his dad and complained about something -- it was probably to benefit solely him. When he's driving for TSR (years later) and complains about something, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and guess that he's got a legit beef. He has also done a lot of testing with the Chevy LS7 engine (using his time, not anybody else's) trying to make the sport more affordable. So I think at this phase in his career, his intentions are pretty on point -- and the leaders of the sport should listen up! For the record, I don't like the cone either.... when the leader's car bogs down, it can create a mess. They should be able to come up with some sort of a hybrid rule... building on what they used to do in the 80s/90s (single file... drop the green as the cars went down the backstretch -- you snooze, you lose!). They can put a huge, bright, noticeable cone at the end of the backstretch on the inner apron.... once the leader gets to the cone, they can take off... but if they hesitate, 2nd place can gas it up and sail around 'em. It's really more of a benefit for 2nd and 3rd. But in all honestly, they should be the ones to get to cash in on restarts, not the guy starting 16th.

The Lincoln Rule, in theory, makes the most sense...However, with the WoO's chalk board rule book and rose colored glasses, I could see it causing a local somewhere a race which would be far more controversial...

As far as Donny Bag of Doughnuts goes, I tend to agree with him on this one...

Opinions may vary...

Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May

I know that when Lance Dewease was hurt that there was drug and alcohol test done while he was in the trauma emergency room. Insurance companies required the test results.

I think all drivers should be tested for both.