The first question asked was “why don’t I unload the Late Model and just go have fun”. The truth is for me it’s not so much the cost. For me it’s the amount of time it now requires to run up front. I’ve got three boys who all play sports pretty much year round. I don’t have time to go rent the track on Wednesday, show up to practice on Friday, be there when the gates open on Saturday to get through tech for more practice, Then race last and hope to get home by 2 in the morning… For me at least, if a track went to just one day shows without all the extra days and nights away from work and family I’d be right back in it. Yeah I could just show up on race day now, but I’d also be showing up knowing I’m hoping for a top 10 instead of a top 3. I’m not wired that way. I hate losing more than I like winning.
There are far more family and working people like me with cars parked than there are super teams with the resources and full time employees it takes to keep up with that pace.
Scott I was having a blast… But the new Sportsman series was starting and I knew it was going to all but kill the class, and it did. At least at Citrus. They went from having 20-25 cars weekly to 8-10… So at that time I had the opportunity to buy my Super back that I built back in 2006 and decided that was best… and more challenging.
I’d still be racing at Citrus if it were under better management but that’s a whole other topic. lol
I ran the Sportsman Series for a while (until Rex Guy ruined it) and there weren’t any Citrus regulars in the field. There were a lot of the Sportsman guys that were “travelers” that often went to Citrus in the Series though. That deal barely lasted a little over a year so there were other factors in play that killed the Citrus car count. They are booming at NSS right now and doing well most other places. Citrus may be near you, but I find traveling to a track with mgmt. that you like is worth the drive. The racing is good and doesn’t break the bank. I think if you raced regularly against guys like Patrick Thomas, Aaron Williamson, and Brandon Morris, you would find it very challenging.
This photo exemplifies just one more reason why circle track racing is in the state it is in today.Independent service stations,the gear heads that worked in them,and the race cars that came out of them are just about gone from the landscape.
