You are spot on, Jerry. I’ve also heard from some influential people that New Smyrna is looking to get their Sportsman rules in line with Desoto’s. From the “tire deal”, to rules alignment, the Brighthouse Series and Pro Late Models it is fantastic to have the two best run asphalt tracks in FL working together. Close enough to work together and far enough apart to not step on each other. You’d just have to think the best is yet to come.
Tire testing of the Hoosier 800 begins this weekend at Desoto Speedway. Come out and witness firsthand how Patrick Thomas in the black 25 Sportsman does on this new tire. A big THANK YOU to Critter, Jimmy, Patrick and Phil for helping to make this a reality.
Glad to be a small part of it Scott! Like I said when I got here… My passion for racing is strong, especially for FL racing. I want to see FL oval track continue to grow. I may not always be the most popular person but I will always offer a helping hand without hesitation (even to those who don’t like me) to try and make things better for anyone and everyone.
I regret to have to inform anyone interested that the tire testing with Patrick Thomas’ 25 Sportsman for this weekend at Desoto Speedway has been cancelled. Desoto was unable to acquire a set of Hoosier 800s with suitable stagger for the track. Hoosier Tire South in NC apparently does not stock this tire in great numbers as does the Hoosier distributors in the Midwest and Northeast do.
Hoosier Tire East
56-H Loomis Street
Manchester, CT 06040
Phone (860) 646-9646
Fax (860) 646-2054
E-mail us at: hterace@aol.com
Give them a call, I know for sure they will have the numbers you need. We just ordered 2 new sets.
Hows the tire testing going
They ran them lastweek in HN. The 800 works a lot better then the 750 did. Was fast, and held up nice for the 88 lap race:ernaehrung004:
See Xracer54, I wouldn’t steer ya wrong! 
Very disappointing news that after initially commiting to testing the Hoosier 800, both Desoto and Hoosier have backed out of their commitment to test the 800. They are proposing “a tire with more grip than the 800, but will last as long”. They have provided no other details than that at this time.
In my opinion, I feel it is physically impossible to have a tire that has “more grip” to last as long as a harder tire. Softer=more grip=quicker wear. But I’m not a “tire scientist”. Who knows?
On a positive note, New Smyrna is very interested in getting back to having a tire for the Sportsman and Emods that can be a legitimate take off that can be used for Super Stocks and maybe Strictly Stocks. The Hoosier 800 is THE ONLY TIRE WITH A LIFESPAN THAT WOULD ENABLE THIS. Anything softer, or “with more grip” would not have a usable life span of that length. Kim Brown and Robert Hart have been gracious enough to allow Patrick Thomas to test the Hoosier 800’s in real competition on September 6th in the regular Sportsman event. I will be there with my 07 Sportsman on the current tires pushing Patrick as hard as I can. We are good friends, but as circumstance would dictate, we have never raced one another. I consider him the best Sportsman racer in FL, so maybe the harder tires on his car will enable the rest of us to give him a run for his money. Maybe not! Anyway, we are very grateful to Kim and Robert to give us the opportunity to show what the Hoosier 800 can do. Hoosier Tire South may not like the idea of a tire that will have a long usable life and be usable as a take off for entry level divisions because they will sell less tires, but Kim and Robert care more about building up the car counts in the support divisions than Hoosier’s profit margin. After all, New Smyrna has every right to dictate to Hoosier what tire they mandate, not Hoosier telling New Smyrna what tire to sell. Come on out to NSS on 9/6 and see how it all works out. Thank you to Kim Brown and Robert Hart for being pro active in taking steps to help out the little guys that fill out the show, us support racers.
I don’t even know what to say about this… I am beyond furious and it’s probably better for me to keep my mouth shut right now… 
Nothing to be furious about Phil. Just different philosophies and approaches to getting us on a better tire. Every track will do what they will need to for their individual needs. At least we have the ball rolling now and things are getting done. I just wanted to be truthful and let everyone know what is going on with this deal. Don’t worry Phil, we’re still gonna get to use the tires you sent down!
The folks at Desoto and Hoosier Tire both say they have a better idea than yours, one that will accomplish your goals and even more. Yet you’re still pushing your tire choice. I’m not a tire expert either, but those people sure are.
hoosier aint going to propuse any idea where the tires going to last alot longer thats less money for them
Things at Desoto don’t seem to be broken,so they may be more reluctant to change.On the other hand NSS desperately needs to do something to increase car counts.
Kendo I disagree immensely with every bit of this comment.
You are clearly comparing overall car count when you need to be comparing division by division. Any track can claim higher car counts if they run more divisions of racecars in night. On average, Desoto seems to run 7 and New Smyrna runs 5.
I think the reluctance to change tires stems from something else…
[QUOTE=Phil Jacques;149898]Kendo I disagree immensely with every bit of this comment.
You are clearly comparing overall car count when you need to be comparing division by division. Any track can claim higher car counts if they run more divisions of racecars in night. On average, Desoto seems to run 7 and New Smyrna runs 5.
I think the reluctance to change tires stems from something else…[/QUOTE]
Neither track has an overflowing pit area at the moment. But Desoto has been brought back from the dead very nicely. And it does look like NSS is making ground, they sure seem to be trying. One track that was going under, one track had already died, and both are now alive and kicking.
As for the tire saga, Scott posted that Hoosier and Desoto both told him that they have a tire that has even more grip than this 800 tire, and it lasts just as long. How is that a problem? Scott, in his opinion, feels Hoosier and Desoto are either lying or incorrect. As i said above, i’ll take the word of Desoto and Hoosier when it comes to tire science.
Let’s see what they come up with.
[QUOTE=Matt Albee;149899]Neither track has an overflowing pit area at the moment. But Desoto has been brought back from the dead very nicely. And it does look like NSS is making ground, they sure seem to be trying. One track that was going under, one track had already died, and both are now alive and kicking.
As for the tire saga, Scott posted that Hoosier and Desoto both told him that they have a tire that has even more grip than this 800 tire, and it lasts just as long. How is that a problem? Scott, in his opinion, feels Hoosier and Desoto are either lying or incorrect. As i said above, i’ll take the word of Desoto and Hoosier when it comes to tire science.
Let’s see what they come up with.[/QUOTE]
Wasn’t knocking Desoto in any way. It’s nice to see tracks that were on the brink coming back. Just pointing out the simple fact that the reason Desoto seems to have more overall cars is because they run more divisions weekly. If you look at the last number of races division by division, it has been pretty equal car count wise.
As for the tire itself… Want a fair comparison… Test both tires. Scott believes we have the right tire in the 800… Desoto/Hoosier believe they have a good tire… Instead of backing out, how about try both. That will tell us for sure who is right and who is wrong about the tires and we can go from there. In my eyes, as well as Scott’s there is no way that a softer tire is going to last as long as the 800. We may be wrong… But gives us a chance to be wrong rather than not giving a chance at all. That’s my take.
[QUOTE=Phil Jacques;149898]Kendo I disagree immensely with every bit of this comment.
You are clearly comparing overall car count when you need to be comparing division by division. Any track can claim higher car counts if they run more divisions of racecars in night. On average, Desoto seems to run 7 and New Smyrna runs 5.
I think the reluctance to change tires stems from something else…[/QUOTE]
So basically you disagree immensely in that you think car counts suck at both tracks ?
Gotcha.
NSS has made alot of improvements and is a top notch facility, but they still struggle to attract more racers and fans for their weekly program for whatever reason.
As the city of New Smyrna continues to move west and the property becomes more valuable,unfortunately I see strip malls at those 4 corners within 10 years.
[QUOTE=kendo;149901]So basically you disagree immensely in that you think car counts suck at both tracks ?
Gotcha.[/QUOTE]
I was reading between the lines because I know what you meant. By saying “Desoto don’t seem to be broken” you sound as if you are saying you are okay with the car counts over there and by saying “On the other hand NSS desperately needs to do something to increase car counts” you are saying that their car count is the only one that sucks… In reality, division by division, both tracks are consistent with each other… Hell if you go look at the Orlando Results page, they even have similar car counts. Car counts at ALL Florida tracks is hurting right now… anything under a 15 car per division average is extremely sad. Once in a while you get a lucky night or big $ show where a division may pull 20-25 cars, but on average I am seeing 7-12 cars and it’s hard to stomach. The fault does not fall on the drivers to me. They only race when and where they can afford to. I would be more than willing to bet if guys could get more for their money and race more for their money, they would. It’s the nature of any racer. We want to race as much as possible but if we can’t afford to, the car sits on jack stands. It’s as simple as that. This whole thread was about saving drivers money on the biggest thing hurting them right now and giving them an opportunity to run more which would bolster car counts at all tracks with time. Affordability is the biggest killer of racing and many people are too blind and greedy to see that anymore. I personally applaud those tracks that are willing to work with us, but the way Desoto and Hoosier have reacted in my opinion is wrong. Like I said above, I hope they have found the holy grail tire and that Scott and I were wrong about the 800 being the better choice for a tire, but I have personal experience with the Hoosier 800, 700, 790 as well as American Racer 704 and 705 and I will take the 800 all day long for grip and durability.
It’s not a knock on you kendo, just pointing out a flaw in your statement.
FL racing has lots of potential. Great tracks, awesome drivers and lots of variety. But to say FL racing is struggling would be an understatement. It definitely IS slowly rebounding though which is great! We just want to help that process. The financial side of the sport is definitely holding some guys back no doubt and a better longer lasting tire no matter what number or maker, will help.
There are many aspects of FL racing that need tweaking to bring it up to par with the rest of the country. I can only compare to what we have here which I know people do not like but truth be told we have plenty of problems much worse than what you guys deal with so consider yourselves lucky. At least you have tracks that are open minded, willing to try things etc. That said, a huge benefit would be for all the tracks to cooperate and sit down with drivers more often to find out what they could do to help them. Remember, it’s hurting them too not having cars in the pits and fans in the stands… not just us.
[QUOTE=Phil Jacques;149904]
It’s not a knock on you kendo, just pointing out a flaw in your statement.
.[/QUOTE]
My statement was based on the fact that it is their 1st year under new management and no doubt appear to be headed in the right direction…Change may,or may not be a good thing for them at this early juncture.
On the other hand,NSS has made many changes and cant seem to break through that 35-45 car ceiling on a consistant basis,for quite a few years now…At this point,they have nothing to loose by making the tire change.