I would like to start a bring Rusty back fund and pass it around the pits and stands. Opening night was a flop if you ask me. All of the drivers that I talked to are not happy with not having heats, gives them no time/laps to make adjustments just hope they get it right the first time. Two track personal “kinda high ranked” that i talked to just had a “we dont care what you think lets just get this night over with” attitude. I have been a diehard OSW fan since i can remember but sad as it looks I see the track being run dry. I hope something will help this a little before drivers get to disgusted with it and start not showing up.
I was always an advocate for running heats but I will have to say that I really liked the way things went. No cars got torn up in the heats so they could all race in the feature. Less heats, more practice and home earlier. We would have had plenty of practice if we didn’t have to replace the master cylinders. I think the show moved along pretty good, better then the past. We watched all the races, loaded up, collected our pay, BS’d for a while and still left the track by 11:15. That really helps for those that have to work early Saturday mornings.
Thanks for the good time Orlando.
I have seen this a lot here in Florida, features only racing. I can see where it would up-set people because I hate it myself. In my 60 years I have wore many hats, from Fan, crew member, driver owner to owner and have always enjoyed fast dashes, heats and pursuit races each evening before feature time. I just can’t see any advantage to anyone for running feature only. There is always some good racing for the fan to watch, the driver gets more practice and seat time, the owner and crew have a chance to try different things and set-ups on the car, and the promoter gets to run a race with a low cash pay-out to him. If you can tell me any avantage to features only racing please fill me in, cuz I just don’t see it. I would like to hear your opinion please…Chassisdude (Rick)
Hired hand, I completely disagree. I thought opening night was very successful. They had a surprising crowd that was 4 or 5 times what they used to get. Most classes had a good field, especially the Strictly Stocks who put on a good race.
At last years rules meeting, almost all the drivers in my class wanted to drop the heats and run features only. We had a long discussion about it; they claimed the heats “meant nothing” and “tore up cars”. Personally, I like to run heats, the more track time the better, but that was the change that the drivers widely supported. Clearly the track had to try something to present a different show. The fans were not happy with what they were seeing.
I didn’t notice any bad attitude from the officials. That track has been a very friendly place to race for several years, and last night was no exception. “A flop”? I don’t think so.
#1 Tearing the car up in a heat and not even racing the feature. When car counts are already down we cant really afford to take that chance.
#2 More individual practice to dial the car in, which makes for better competition in the features.
#3 3 and 4 car heats are usually boring to watch.
#4 Too many races in one night drag on. Limited races leave the fans wanting more and in my case return more often.
#5 I liked running heats as a driver because it gave me more seat time under green, BUT 25 green flag laps in a feature does the same thing.
I am sure there are many ways to look at it but this is how I feel.
Edm I think you chose the wrong sport. If you are afraid of tearing up your car you should go drag racing. You must not of known circle track racing is a contact sport. You are right though everyone has his or her opinion, like I said I never worried about tearing up my Howe or Lefthander cars and enjoyed doing a lot of racing. I guess to each there own. Thanks for your input…Rick
You obviously dont know me very well, trust me, I know all about contact sports. Some of us dont have a budget, time or the tools to rebuild a car and we like to save them for the feature race because we can only afford to race once a month.
From the sound of it, maybe you should give up racing and join Crash a Rama. Maybe save the rest of us some money.
right on
All tracks sure go to features only, start the fast cars up front and become little nascar shows. That will bring the nascar only fans to the short tracks. Lets see, you gain a very few, but lose a lot. Hey what the heck that is how our leaders our running our country and we are making progress.
We are in need of a translator.
EDM is absolutely correct . The reasons to drop the Heat races are obvious .We’ve always run heat races , but maybe its time to look at better ways of putting on a show . Short track racing has to change to survive . And Features only racing is a logical step in the right direction . It also gives the fans a better show .
Speaking of which , the real question is , do the fans like the Features only racing ? Hopefully the tracks will ask the fans .
By the way , i heard this idea was discussed at lenghth in the meetings that Robert Hart had with the racers , and the majority liked the idea , or at least thought it was worth trying .
no heats
run races 20 laps or 25 min. all classes or 25 laps or 30 mins. which ever comes first. run heats for best car setup.
Wow I guess I must have been racing with a lot of better drivers than you have been racing with. Oh we have replaced a few front clips, and replaced a few noses and fenders but crash -a- rama I don’t think so. But it is good for me to know that here in Florida I’m the odd man out, so have it your way, lets have features only , fast guy on the pole, no bumping or rubbing ( black flag if you do) and save our money and get home early. I will still enjoy real racing when I get to go to some shows up north…Rick
The only one saying the fast cars should start up front is Darren and I believe he is being sarcastic. I love seeing drivers actually drive their cars and pass on the outside instead of wrecking someone.
Like I said before, the way car counts are now and the economy I want to keep my car together for as little $$$ as possible for as long as I can. Its racing with brains and not just ball out. I have done both and balls out gets very expensive, especially if you are already on a tight budget.
I was always an advocate for running heats but I will have to say that I really liked the way things went.
the major problem with no heats at a Friday night track is the lack of practice time. especially for guys who have to travel any distance after getting off work.
but it is what it is, the same for everybody. it can work.
fast guy on the pole,
FASCAR is putting the previous weeks feature winner to the back of the field.
still aren’t sure if they’re going to go with random draw for the rest of the field or some form of points inversion.
Most classes had a good field, especially the Strictly Stocks who put on a good race.
~5 of those cars were brought by Jim Erb to shake down before the long haul up to Lake City for the Crash-a-Rama.
they are not ‘legal’ ( any v8 Camaro or Mustang ) for Strictly and they won’t be here most weeks. got no idea how many cars Erb will be bringing on a normal week but i doubt it’s going to be anywhere near that many.
i suggested a big red sticker in the upper right corner of the windshield so everybody can see that a particular car isn’t “legal” for the class. that way you don’t have to deal with people crying about how they let so-and-so run such-and-such when it was just a shake-down run in the first place.
requiring real Strictly Stocks to put the engine type ( v8, v6, 4cyl ) in the upper right corner wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
or they could start enforcing their “displacement written on the hood” rule. :huh: although there’s really too many different small engine displacements for that to really mean much to most people.
Wow I guess I must have been racing with a lot of better drivers than you have been racing with.
not going to argue that.
I love seeing drivers actually drive their cars and pass on the outside instead of wrecking someone.
we’ve still got mid-pack cars sweeping the whole track, acting like they aren’t holding up the rest of the field. there are ways to fix that but it’s up to the drivers ( in the faster cars ) to get the job done.
If you are afraid of tearing up your car you should go drag racing. You must not of known circle track racing is a contact sport.
Drag Racing is probably harder on equipment per time on track than circle track by far; but circle track racing is not by nature a contact sport. It has been portrayed that way “rubbing is racing…” and some are forced to race that way because of lack of talent on their part or those they are trying to pass. The best racing I think you’ll ever see is from those who respect each other enough to NOT rub.
…like I said I never worried about tearing up my Howe or Lefthander cars and enjoyed doing a lot of racing. I guess to each there own.
Most racers I know don’t plan on junking cars on a regular basis for any reason, can’t afford it. Shouldn’t have to worry about some idiot running over you for no reason, but in today’s racing you do (see above). Running a heat race would be great IF:
–It counted for points, set the field for feature or paid more than $25
–The others you are racing with understand that a heat is a heat, and not worth destroying equipment
My opinion as a fan is I like watching the heat races.Friday shows are harder to get any practice for most teams(as mentioned previously).As long as drivers in the heats don’t act like idiots with their cars,alot of incidents don’t happen.There is always exceptions when you deal with mechanicals.Some tracks that have 5 plus classes a night racing it will take a while to run everything,granted with the way things are nowadays with car counts lower than they were years ago the time frame would be about the same.
I prefer features only for the majority of the reasons shown above.
My favorite reason is that heats are worth NOTHING and put your equipment at risk just as much as a feature.
Some of you rich guys may like buying car parts (or maybe you are SELLING them?) but I need the money thank you.
My favorite reason is that heats are worth NOTHING
shrugs
some tracks actually do payout for finishing position in the heat.
As long as drivers in the heats don’t act like idiots with their cars,alot of incidents don’t happen.
why the conditional? :grinser010:
Heat races are fine if you have 4 divisions with 20 cars each. When you have 10 divisions with 8 cars each, heat races are confusing to the fans, drag out the program and mean little to the starting lineup of the features.