I just wanted to thank the 14 sportsman drivers that showed up on such short notice. I got a lot of feed back in the last couple of days of how good our race was. And if your not racing on 8-11-12 Robert has us back on the schedule. So i hope to see you there thanks Roger Welch #98 sportsman.
race
Yes I was their u guys put on a great show…
Kudos to all of the Sportsman drivers, it was one of the best races of the night.
Roger… there’s a bunch of people that should be thanking YOU. You did a great job being the liason between the track that originally didn’t have Sportsman on their schedule, and the racers that didn’t know if they’d get the chance to run there. 14 is a very acceptable number given the short notice that anyone had… and a great race besides!!!
Hope you guys are on the schedule when I can make it back down there.
OK so Showtime has a 35 Lapper for the Sportsman on Saturday night. Last week Robert Yoho posted an increased payout for Trucks and Modifieds. The money was improved greatly from 2nd on back. This is a great move and will help to increase car counts since we all can’t win every night and this helps with expenses. Now it is Wednesday before this weekends Sportsman race. Being a 35 lapper, this is an extra distance race from the Sportsman opening night race of 25 laps so it should have a larger purse. So where is the payout? Nothing is listed on the website except that EVERY division will get $60 to start. I have heard some grumblings from other drivers (I was not there) that although the opening night race paid $400 to win (common), second paid only $250 and it dropped off from there. This is what Desoto pays with 6 or 7 Sportsman cars running and a nearly empty grandstand. Yoho had a capacity crowd and 14 Sportsman that showed up and put on one hell of a show with only 5 days notice. I am aware that since it was the first time that Sportsman ran there he probably set the purse low, not knowing the car count or crowd he was going to get. But now that he knows what the division is capable of he should post an increased purse to entice those who came to return and lure more that didn’t come the first time. For anyone who doesn’t know, a set of Sportsman tires are around $500 and you get about 2 features max out of a set (if you want to be fast). Also Yoho won’t take the time to post rules for the division and prefers to level the field by using transponders. Everyone knows this and the fast cars will sandbag to avoid weight penalties. This is no way to ensure parity. This just says "if I cheat and stay with the pack I won’t get caught, “if I’m legal and very fast I may get penalized”. Unfortunately without a descent payout and some real rules (What’s wrong with Citrus rules?) you will probably not see as good a showing on Saturday night for the Sportsman class. So Robert, if your reading this (and you know all the track operators read KARNAC even thought they deny it) how about posting a descent Sportsman purse A.S.A.P. and start working on some rules (copy and paste from citruscountyspeedway.com is pretty easy to do) and you will have a big field of Sportsman on Saturday night, otherwise don’t be surprised if there is a dropoff.
Sportsman
Scott maybe someone should get in touch with roger welch and see what he can find out for you guys, Maybe you guys need a spokesperson. I agree they should follow citrus rules, if it ain’t broke it don’t need fixing, I sure hope it works out for ya’ll, they put on a great show last time they were there
I’ll get a hold of Roger and let him know. He seems to be able to get answers and responses from Robert (I haven’t been so lucky LOL!). I just think that the Sportsman deserve the same respect that the OWM’s and Trucks are getting at Showtime with a concrete set of rules and descent posted payouts. I don’t think it’s too much to ask. I’d also like to see him go a different route than the other tracks by putting the Sportsman on a different tire (like he did with the mods). The Hoosier 650’s and 450’s just wear out way too quick. I myself would prefer to be on the Modified tire. The Hoosier F53 is a slick, but it is a harder compound than the 650’s and 450’s and would last longer. Any Modified guys have any input on how many competitive races you are getting out of the F53’s?
ok so i talked to yoho briefly he said that he would make us happy with the payouts with at least 75.00 to start. He might even pay the top three in heats like he did the mods. Robert also said to bring him your payouts from anywhere you race and he would match it or do better. As far as rules go we will use your track rules until he settles them out. Maybe when he slows down a little we can get a meeting set up and hash out the rules. I think Yoho is doing the best he can with so much on his mind and if you have any other concerns just call me and i will let him know if this helps. P.S. Scott is it true that Orlando and New Smyrna only pays 200.00 for the win. wow whats that pay through the field? Ok sportsman lets show him a bigger field this time.
If you want to be up front in the mods at least 2 rear tires every night… Thats what we’re doing, I know some are bolting on 4 every night
Thanks OWM 94 for the info. Maybe the slick would wear just as quick as the “airplane tires” then. I wish they would just run all of us on a rock hard slick comparable to the old Good Year slick. We could get descent grip AND tires that last. Hoosier has got to make something similar. And yes Roger, NSS and OSW pay only $200 to win with less than 11 Sportsman. 2nd pays $100 and 3rd $75 and a paltry $25 to start. This is probably why the car counts at these tracks are so low. If I didn’t put the word out in the pits at OSW that there was a 30 lapper at NSS the next night and tried to get people to come race, then there would have only been four Sportsman at NSS on that Saturday night (we were the biggest field of any division that night with 9 cars). I still think that without a posted purse and lack of rules that the car count will suffer at Showtime on Saturday night (but I hope I’m wrong). I don’t know how far “make us happy with the payout” will go for some people. I (obviously) don’t let the purse decide where and when I will race, but for many it does matter. The rules (or lack thereof) is a problem for some (me included, even though my car is still broken). “Home Track” rules is a BIG problem for me since Desoto rules are basically no rules. For those who don’t know, the rules at Desoto are 1350 lbs. RSWT, 8" Hoosier 650s and 450s, 2BBL carb on open motors, 4BBL on crates AND THAT’S IT!. Everything else is legal in the motor, driveline and chassis. You name it. The possibilities are endless. Anyway, I’ll be there Saturday to watch, so we’ll see what happens. Hopefully everyone comes back and puts on an amazing show again.
Went to Showtime last night to check out the Sportsman division. Race drew a decent 12 car field even though Yoho continues to refuse to post a purse or rules for the division. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I guess the 12 car showing wasn’t good enough for him because he cut the race from 35 to 30 laps. Not sure what the purse was. Maybe Roger can tell us. A few things that I noticed (and I realize that the place is a work in progress): The crowd was GREAT! People were everywhere and were enjoying themselves. Backstretch parking was a PAAAARTY. Can’t wait to have a night of grillin’, chillin’ and swillin’ back there! On the other hand, the track is real one groove. Not really much passing all night. When the 56 passed the 77 for the lead late in the Sportsman race they just about had to wreck each other to complete the swap. 3rd and 4th were 8 car lengths back and closed to 1 when the deal was done. The 13 was clearly faster than the 79 but just could not pass him because of the one groove racing. When he tried to go to the outside he lost a lot of ground. He was kind not to root him out of the way. The 73 was very fast, but when the 13 got inside of him shortly after the start he got freight trained all the way to the rear of the field by slower cars because the outside groove was that bad. There is a traction enhancing compound that they are now using at Citrus in the outside groove that has made the racing a lot more 2 groove up there. Yoho needs to get some of this stuff and lay it down to create better racing if he wants to keep that giant crowd coming back and get more cars in the pits. Concessions seem a little overpriced but that may be to keep the demand up for the awesome backstretch parking. Larger grandstands are needed from the flagstand to turn four also. The ones there are too small. A scoreboard would be a nice addition also. It was hard to tell what was going on at times. The announcer could talk a little less too. What is really needed is a wireless mike with a guy in the infield so that the top 3 can get to talk after the race about what happened and plug their sponsors. Money drives the sport and you’ve got to take care of the sponsors. Would give the fans a little more insight as to what they saw also. All in all it was just awesome to see so many fans at a racetrack in Florida. Recent trips I have made to Desoto, Orlando and New Smyrna had made me wonder about the state of racing here. Just shows that when excitement is generated that people will come out in droves, lets just hope that he creates a “racer friendly” environment that improves car counts and continues to make improvements to the facility to keep that huge crowd coming back. (Also was VERY disappointed that our man “Boneman” didn’t have a better night. Was looking forward to seeing him put on a show but there seemed to be problems with his car all night. Better luck next time Rex.)
I live 3 miles from NSS but will make the 2+ hour trip to check out Showtime for the 1st time next saturday.I agree with you,with the low car counts at NSS the place looks like it is on life support 
Also made the trip to BRP about a month ago,big car counts,exciting racing,and great atmosphere.
disappointed that our man “Boneman” didn’t have a better night.
At least I finally got running right at feature time. We found the main problem that has plagued my car since I bought it a few months ago, and now I expect it to run right all the time.
The only laps I had at speed were in the feature, so I raced without the opportunity to practice or adjust. No problem, its still in one piece and I had a really good time driving. Showtime gets pretty busy with 20 sprints!
What was it Rex?
Strange but true: the fuel filter element was getting sucked closed by the fuel pump. The element is 4 inches long and made of stainless steel. Although it is perfectly clean, it wasn’t rigid enough to withstand the vacuum on the pump side.
Know what I really admire about Showtime? They are doing something that myself and many others have wondered about for years. They have the payoffs ready very quickly after the class races. Almost anywhere you go, it takes hours to get paid. Last night they announced that if your class has run, then your pay is ready. Their entire show is so fast paced, I have not been able to watch a lap in my two nights there.
Love it!!
Hey Scott, the pay was pretty good from what I seen. I think it went something like this . . . 1st-400 2nd-350 3rd-325 4th-300 5th-250 . . . I ran 5th and did get $250.00. I have not seen a top 5 payout like that in a while. Also the heat races are going be worth some money soon also. I know Citrus was paying $50.00 for a heat win. Yoho wants to pay more then the other tracks.
You are right about fast paced Rex. I was hoping to get down there and talk to you some but we never even had a chance. But hey what was it 11 heats and 5 features in 3 hours. Can’t complain about that.
I parked near Aaron Williamson, and I’d like to thank him for pushing my car all night. I don’t have a 4 wheeler (not yet anyway), so Aaron helped me out a great deal by pushing me to staging with his golf cart. Thanks!
If that purse would have been posted somewhere, or anywhere for that matter, I would have pulled the 2 hours and 20 minutes from my house on the north east side of Orlando. I felt the drop off was far too great for the grand opening weekend, so I made the decision, with the car that won the grand opening sportsman race, to stay home. If this is going to be the purse hopefully next time it will get posted, like the Modifieds.
Congrats Brandon Morris, on your win.
I hope to see all the Sportsman car’s in the state at the Auburndale 50 lapper on August the 25th. $1000 to win come and get it.
Patrick Thomas 25
I just wanted to post i made 50 dollars for 2nd in heat and 100 dollars for 9th in feature. We didn’t expect that so thanks to Yoho for making the drivers happy like you said you would. I think that some other front runners should post on here and give credit where credit is due. Rome wasn’t built in a day so we shouldn’t expect it from showtime but if Yoho keeps taking care of all the demands and complaints he will have the best track in the state by far. So keep it up Robert Yoho your doing a good job. P.S. Patrick Thomas you said you would be there. I think you didn’t want to break your winning streak. LOL. Was that 4 or 5 in a row anyway like you say if you want it then come and get it. See ya next time.