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

March 27, 2010

Johnson wins limited modified race

By Cheryl Licklider, Staff Writer
Enid News and Eagle

ENID —



Travis Johnson dominated the competitive field in Enid Speedway Park’s inaugural Limited Modified Nationals and took home the $3,500 purse Friday.

The local veteran ended the 2009 season with 10 “A” feature wins and continued his roll with a perfect victory run aboard his Carrolyn’s Performance Engines powered Big Chief Racing chassis in the 25-lap main event.

“The track was good and the car was great tonight,” said Johnson.

Tim Thomas hurried off the outside pole and showed the way. Shane Hebert set his sights on Thomas and the hunt was on. It was a head-to-head duel until lap eight when Nick Shenberger came to a halt on the back straight and put the track under caution.

A red flag waved on the restart as Ross McCartney went airborne after hitting Dustin Robinson’s stalled car in turn four and catapulted into a violent roll in front of the grandstands. McCartney climbed from the wrecked ride under his own power.

Thomas headed up the field when the race finally went green, but was unable to hold off the hard-charging Hebert. Locked in a heated battle, the duo was oblivious to Johnson, who was steadily marching through the field from the inside of the fourth row.

Johnson made his bid two laps later and seized the point with a gutsy challenge in turn four.

Johnson sailed away from the pack with Hebert in tow. As the laps wound down, Johnson edged away and sported nearly a quarter-of-a-lap advantage when the track went back under caution in lap 16.

Johnson continued his run on the restart and appeared unstoppable when Dustin Spohn’s rear suspension scattered on the back straight and brought out another yellow flag.

In a relentless pursuit of the checkered flag, Johnson put his HRT Services Company ride out front for the final time and took a straight-away lead to the line.

Hebert settled for second, followed by R.J. Stroman, Rodney Sanders and Robert Elliott. Stroman was disqualified in the post race tech inspection for failing to pull vacuum which saw Thomas inherit fifth.

Heat winners were Tim Clonch, Johnny Scott, Brendon Gemmill, Hebert and Stroman. Landon Maddox and Sanders captured the “B” feature wins.

Enid Speedway Park’s first point card of the season will be 7 p.m. Saturday

sounds like it was a heck of a show that met all the expectations...........

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

Are you on crack or are you just an idiot?????

 Randy       

       DIRT TRACKIN
"When it's wet slide it in"

Not withstanding that valid question Randy lol

its both sad and comical that the dude is probably right. I bet if they made it an occasional demo derby track - the venture would be more profitable. Thats kind of sad - but I'm being serious. Just when you think things cant get any worse up there..........they always seem to.

With a demo derby they would probably get more cars and people in the stands.......and actually have a shot to run the facility to a profit lol.

It's not just this show that flopped. But like the 10k to win mod show they had there in august of 2008. SFS had more cars for 1k to win on a WEEKNIGHT than Enid got for a 10k to win show. Of course, the purse for that show wasnt near as sweet as it looked. I remember a few folks explaining the reasons for the low turnout for it. All the money was at the top (among other reasons). I'd venture to say they would have had triple the car count if they would have made it 2k to win and put a huge chunk of the purse on the bottom end. 10k to win sounds nice but there probably aren't a lot of Kelly Shryock types in sport mod racing......it would seem far better idea to have a really good purse on the bottom end - and a lot better shot at drawing a majority of cars from this state and surrounding states. eh - just a thought. i'm sure there are flaws in it, not trying to say its the bright shiny answer.......

but obviously there werent many interested in throwing their hat in the ring for a 10k to win sport mod show.......i dont know the purse structure but would it have been far better to have less dough at the top and much more on the bottom? (serious question).

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

Hell yes it would Cody. You can take a regular weekly purse and throw 10 to 15k through the purse to last place. But the trick is to make the top 10 look good enough to catch the drivers and car owners eye, then spread the rest of it to last place. What most drivers and car owners look at is how strong the total payout of the top 10 is, and what it pays to start the A- feature. I did not look at this purse, but if you got a 10k to when race and if 5th place don't pay at least 2500.00 you are pissing in the wind IMO. Because the car count will not be as much as one would think.

Ask yourself this, why are most tracks having 1k up to 3k races with a good payout to last place and packing the pits with cars and the stands with fans? Because they have been there and done that, and it don't work as good as one would think putting all the money to win...

 Randy       

       DIRT TRACKIN
"When it's wet slide it in"

Also on mulitble day shows you almost have to pay each night you race instead of all on the final night. I don't think if I were a driver I would race the first and/or first two nights for free and then come back on the last day and hope to win $10,000. The days of $10,000 have been tried and have run its course, it is no longer a novelty unless you have a strong payback in the field AND in the last chance qualifiers. This day and age drivers just aren't going to chance it.

I always thought, if your going to do a three day show, pay $2500 to win the first two nights and then pay $5000 the final night. Spread it out on the bottom and other non-qualifier positions to pay decent. Keep entry fee $100 or less as anything more than that will scare drivers away as well.

Just one mans opinion on the second rated website with posters who are not intellegent - so I hear.

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

#85 Limited Mod!! THAT JUST HAPPENED!!!

I believe a 10,000 to win show will work just has to be done correctly...

Absolutely need to pay something each nite (like a regular sat. purse) and on the final day race for the money!!! The biggest complaint I have heard was about the tire rule...why would they do that, especially when their rules are copied from IMCA but IMCA doesnt allow the other tires. A large percentage of these cars race at IMCA sanctioned tracks at and just arent going to buy a set or two of tires for one show... You wanna see this show with 200 hundred cars, sanction your track through IMCA, host a national points show with this payout and watch them come in like crazy!!!!

JMO

Jayson Ellis

What was the original pay back on the purse anyway? IMO with a 10k to win race, I do agree with a sanction race but with 10k to win the pay back would need to be pretty strong as well. The days of putting all of the big money to win just won't bring a good car count like it did in the past. And remember we are talking about Enid they have allot of work to do after the past seasons of running cars and fans off. One big show will not bring everybody back. It will take a long time to win everybody's confidence back by running weekly shows and by doing what they publish.

The weather and changing of the tire rules on a special race just put Enid behind the 8 ball once again IMO. Because when you try to get a large car count and let a few drivers talk a promoter into changing a rule to benefit them, you are just back in the same boat and hopefully it won't sink this time.

 Randy       

       DIRT TRACKIN
"When it's wet slide it in"

Why doesn't someone get David Smith Jr. to put one of these shows together? Seriously, that man sounds like he has his sh*t together and could put on a hell of a show. I like all of his ideas!

Can I change my name to ModifiedFanRob?

Doing an IMCA sanctioned sport mod race or regular mod race for that matter won't work, especially sport mods. That division of car is not meant to compete for that kind of money as it is suppose to be for those drivers who can't afford a modified. I am pretty 98% sure IMCA wouldn't go for it.

Some of you need to give it up. You swore up and down that paying $10,000 to win for modifieds was the way to go - it wasn't. You swore you pay $10,000 to win for sport mods they would come from everywhere - they didn't. You put up that kind of money and make it top heavy you will get the heavy hitters but the small guy will know he won't have a chance and won't show up. You need that small guy for not only back gate but general admission people that come to watch them race.

In New Mexico, they have a $10,000 to win show and the best they can mustar up is at least 80 cars tops. But they have a decent pay down, have fuel incentives and other perks for the racers. Plus, USMTS knows not to schedule a race that weekend as all the big boys are there.

There is a reason as to why the Longhorn Roundup, the first event to pay $10,000 to win every February, is no longer. The thrill of that pay is no thrill anymore and the mindset of racers have changed to "I am going to try it" to "I can't afford it."

Just my opinion.

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

Well David, That about sums it up. I feel for the people of Enid, and hope the out come is not like it was in OKC when SFS had it's doors closed by politics.

 Randy       

       DIRT TRACKIN
"When it's wet slide it in"

Most sports mods purses total payout is around $1,400 @ $250-$300 to win. It would take 56 pit passes @ $25.00 to pay for the purse. So you would need 19 cars to show up with a driver and 2 pit crew people to break even just on pit pass money. If a guy paid $500.00 to win and $50.00 to start with a real nice pay down it would take around 35 cars to break even on pit pass money alone. So if a track is getting a full field of cars weekly, then the class is paying fo their own purse.

Well, David. Not to be bashing you or your site, that is not 2nd rate at all. I think you site is great and most of your posts are right on. But your history is only slightly off.

I was the first to pay modifieds $5000 (1992) then I was the first to pay $10,000(1993) , Then I was the first to pay $20,000(1994) and then I was the first to pay $50,000(1995 210 cars) to win. The Longhorn round-up (Royce City, Tx) started out paying $30,000.00(Feb 1996) to win. Mark Chewning the Royce City promoter was at my race in 1995 and produced a poster and format so identical to mine that several drivers called me to see if I was doing the show. I didn't mine being copied. I started all of that way back in 1993. Then, when too many other copy cats started promoting similar shows, we just wore it out until in the fall of 1996 when there were 8 shows in a 10 week period that had $300 entry fees and the big car counts were no more. This caused every one of the 8 shows including mine to have to reduce the purses. Mine still paid $25 g to win and had the biggest pay-off and the most car count (130)for 1996 but I had to reduce the purse back to the amount that we paid the year before. I knew It was over and I was done cause when a promoter reduces the advertised purse, he's the dirty dog of the year. So, I quit promoting for several years. The sport Mods are a lot different than the modifieds but not so much different than the Street stocks. The Enid SS race drew well for $10 g to win until they started allowing the rules to get out of hand. The sport mods are still growing and will produce a new group of "TOP DOGS" but right now there are not enough of those TD's to make a big show work real well. Keep in mind these special shows are not for everybody. I started my 5g to win sport mod show last year knowing it had to build up. You can not just throw a big special show and expect it to hit big the first year. We drew 35 cars in 09 and it will probably grow to 50 in 2010. These big special shows have to grow and it takes 2 to 3 years to get there. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO FOLLOW THE NATIONAL RULES 100% and police them tighter than a weekly track. Because every one has to know what the deal will be. Enid has a ton of negatives for this last show. Tire, rules, weather big entry fee and poor reputation along with insiders racing at the track (son and son's friend) Some of the drivers that I talked to thought the show was to big to fly and that the money would not be paid. They were right and they stayed home. I think it will make a lot of promoters think twice before trying a big sport mod show and IMCA would not sanction one at all. So for now my show is still on for Sept 26, 2010 $5 g to win and $300 to start with only $100 to enter. The Sport mod weekly racing and the NCRA South will keep growing as long as the costs are kept in line.

Big bucks and heavy hitters have no advantage at my track. The modifieds have way yo many heavy hitters for the weekly racer to be racing with. My sport mod race is for the top dogs from weekly racing. It's even call "HUNT FOR THE BIG DOG"

www.speedbowlvalley.com

Randy (Carthell), I was using the Longhorn as a basis because, to be honest and people who know me know this, before 2004 I didn't care about any other division except sprint cars (before that the old 100 inch champ car). Forgot who it was who introduce me to the Longhorn back in the 90's at Royce City but I had caught the show there for several years as it was special. Even made it to Crandall when it was held there a couple of times.

Anyhoot, that was the basis for my Roundup post as I didn't start "branching out" to other class of cars until after about 2004. And your right, it was around $50,000 to $30,000 to win several times in that range. Interesting that there was shows like that at the old red clay track. I do remember your form of street stock nationals, however, and undertood it was a huge success. At one time you had names of those that made the "A" feature there one year on your website.

And for others, I am not bashing anybody for trying it and hope it wasn't lead that way. It is just, in my opinion, the $10,000 to wins are not as eye catching this day and age.

As far as the "second rate" comment, was told that was what a new racing group here in OKC called this site and "unintellectual posters" that post here. Was just playing off of that.

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

First of all they need to build their reputation back up before they throw a show like 10 to win. They have lost alot of respect and alot of fans from what has happened in the past. The last 2 races they have had James Longpine's car ran first on both night and on another night they was first and second. Not a good sign for the other drivers. Especially when they hire the tech guys to tech their cars. Like they are really going to call the owners car illegal. Not saying they are illegal b/c Johnson is a good decent driver but hell he is out running everyone. Doesnt look good.

Hopefully Mr. Hughes will step up and get things turned around there in Enid so it be a good place to race and change some of the rules so racers can come from other tracks without having to change things. The key is to keep the cost low so EVERYONE can afford it!

here's an idea!! since everyone has such good idea's on how the make a track successful start your own! i don't see anyone making any comments about elk city having 2 modified? its like voting for the president.if you don't vote you cant bitch,.if you didn't go to the track you have nothing to complain about! in my opinion there are only a handful (or less) on this thread the has a legitimate reason to bitch, everyone else look like wannabe promoters with nothing but a keyboard. anyway...

for what its worth i thought it was some great racing front to back. after hot-laps they got the track pretty decent for the wind condition they had against them.i seen alot of passing,and felt like any of the top 5 cars had a shot at the win, track looked good and some sweet looking cars ,will be back Saturday to support the speedway and will probably bring a group of friends

Well thats good, Enid needs more die-hard supporters like you so keep up the good work. Hopefully they will have a good turn out this weekend when the sprint cars show up since the mods were short a few cars. But they still put on a good show according to you, sorry I missed it we went to Devils Bowl they had around 100 cars.

 Randy       

       DIRT TRACKIN
"When it's wet slide it in"

Enid is Travis Johnson's home track. He could race it with his eye's closed.He is fast, but he can be outrun. As far as the tech officials. Burt is firm on what he says. He has his own shop so his credibility is on the line. He checked each car the same after the race. And if there was something illegal he wouldn't let it pass.