Question for the arm chair track owners I would like to know why this past Saturday night no one has mentioned that showtime was the only track that ran supers and paid 4,000.00 to win and they had 14 cars,did I miss something you all threw Desoto,Aubandale under the buss two weeks ago and looked what happen this week.I guess your plan doesn’t work does it , see any one can talk a a good line of crap but you will never walk the walk until you own a race track I think I have made my point. Another slap in the face of the track owners,start running 35 lap races 850 to win go back to slab bodies ,200.00 shocks ,750 carb ,6’’ spoiler stop making abc bodies rich and let them build there own motors and than maybe you will see a big change.You will have the little guys come back out and race see ha at the races.
John, it sounds like you want to replace the SLM division with Sportsman cars. Not a bad concept: keep the maintenance time and expenses down so they can run every week. Rebuild the weekly show like it was in the “glory days”; complete with rivalries and an active championship chase.
Question: when was the last time you saw an engine builder under the age of 50? Do you know any kids who can weld and fabricate? Skills like that are getting scarce, and we will soon have a critical shortage IMHO. I learned how to weld in high school, but those classes were replaced long ago with worthless non-sense. Gotta be careful about counting on racers to build their own engines, it is becoming less and less common.
With that attitude it’s easy to see how you and Rex are such good friends. At least Yoho is trying to get it right for the fans.
IMO, you are both “right”.
Yoho has got the jack and he has it going on.
For tracks struggling with car count, Boneman may have a point.
Didn’t say he was not trying, and yes I was always friends with all of the promotors and worked together and you are right Rex is a good friend of mine,see ya at the races.
SLM rules…362 cu in…1 carb…10 in slicks…tread width…no traction control…$200 shock rule (claim)…no carbon fiber
Run what ya brung…
Big John is right…did i just say that???
B I N G O!
I’ve been preaching it for years now! Thank you John…excellent points made, go back to those rules and I’ll build another SLM…but let me reiterate…it’s not just the SLM’s…ALL CAR CLASSES ARE OUT OF CONTROL with costs, period. Have you popped the hood on an OWM lately? HA! no more claimer rules…you have late model engines stuffed in them bad boys! Ridiculous! This whole current engine deal needs to be scrapped, nothing like an $1,800 crankshaft for a SLM…who in the hell can afford that? Oh, the rich guys…go back to THE CHASSIS! AND BTW…ALL CLASSES SHOULD BE PERMITTED to have tube chassis…stock chassis are becoming a joke to find. That will allow the middleclass guys to build cars and compete, therefore …car count increase. Another commenter made a point about today’s kids…yep! Bingo…tracks better do something, I hardly young kids driving anymore…they like the fancy cars, like the SLM’s, they also like the 4-bangers…but wait til they get a load of the price to field one…lmao…and just BTW most kids are at home with parents at least until age 25, and mommy and daddy are still footing the phone bills and paying for their gas and video games…u think they are gonna buy a race car…lmfao!!!
AND, you can check the cost on a Modified MINI as well…I’ve got one of those too…unfreaking believable regarding the cost of the engine…lightweight chevy rods, lightweight pistons, all the machine work, and the cylinder head, lets not talk about that…It costs just as much to build one of those as it does a sportsman…freaking ridiculous, and what you pay $300 to win…lmfao
Honestly, I wouldn’t much bother with Supers as the purses they have been paying lately up in the several thousands simply aren’t justifiable if 10 cars show up. I have been picking and choosing the shows I attend. Showtime has good OWM fields and fields in general, and Fastruck has had good fields at Showtime and Desoto. But I have been avoiding Supers everywhere bc you can’t seem to get more than 14 of them.
It does not help when there are 3 separate tracks running supers on the same night. The big problem is track owners not working together and everyone running on the same night.
Another thing to remember is this is Florida short track racing, not Nascar, tracks should not keep trying to run the supers, mods and trucks every week. The money is not there to keep the shows up. For the supers it is around 8000.00 to 1,000.00 to go to the track and race. How many people have that type of money anymore and that is if you do not tear anything up!
I think the supers had the best success when the Fast series and the Fups series was around, always had good car counts and we ran all of the tracks. It was organized, we ran maybe one or two times a month and the car counts were always good. Until the track owners can learn to work together the low car counts will continue.
I cannot speak to the mods and trucks because I do not know the costs or anything else that is involved with them.
I agree with Mr. Sarppraicone, get rid of ABC bodys. That was the single most important reason I sold my SLM. The engine situation is another. I had a Tesar 9:1 in my car that Mike Tesar told me cost $30,000 when he sold it to the fellow I bought the car from. That is ridiculous. I know there are lower priced alternatives, but they are still too much. Very few people can afford to field these cars, and hence, the car counts reflect that. I would much rather race a late model than and OWM, but I can’t afford a a grand a night.
$30k and it was 9:1.
No offense to you, the original (and broke) purchaser, or Mr Tesar, but that is insane.
[QUOTE=OldSchool+;165851]$30k and it was 9:1.
No offense to you, the original (and broke) purchaser, or Mr Tesar, but that is insane.[/QUOTE]
That sounds about right for a 9:1, Jacko is not kidding on that. But also keep in mind that was before the Spec motors.
For a new Spec motor from Progressive I think is around $18,000.00 right now.
I totally agree the costs are out of control but is it likely to change in the near future?
showtime
Paying high purses is only one part of the equation. You have to market your track to racers, Run an organized show, with good officials and tech people. On top of that you have to make good calls about on track altercations. Showtime needs to work on some of these things…Just my opinion… Vince P.
My opinion remains the same.
They appear to be heading there anyway, let the Sportsman cars run a tube chassis.
Keep the airplane tires. Do away with bumpstops. Keep the “open” bodies. They were cool in the '80s, they still are.
Run the current motor rules ($5k or less).
Call them Late Models or Late Model Sportsman.
Run them every week with a decent purse (read, more than Sportsman, less than late models).
Give it a year. The pits will fill, the grandstands will fill.
Leave the few high dollar cars to the tracks (2) that can support them.
Run a special event once in a while if you like, but make sure your “regulars” know that they are number one.
more cars
And if you want to see car count really go up, go back to single file re-starts. Half the cars are being torn up on re-starts. Last race at Showtime was a prime example.
Turnleft,
You may be right, but fan count would be another story.
At this point, the horse is out of the barn.
It would be analogous to to being served desert, eating half of it, and then having it removed from your table.
And given that interest from the general public could arguably be at an all time low, it seems to me that we cannot afford to make the show more boring.
Further, I would think that as a competitor it would be far more fun than just firing and following the guy in front of you some more.
I would be interested to hear a few racer’s opinions on this one.
2 wide
Having been a racer in my past, I know the cost of a f_ucked up double file re-start to the racer. I can be in the thousands, plus not being able to make the next 3-4 races, and that is a big part of the car count going down. As a kid I can remember going to Desoto for triple crown races, which were all single file re-starts, there were plenty of cars and fans. I know times have changed, but we are loosing two many cars and racers to double file re-starts, period.
If people think the 2 wide re-starts are that important, start a class with 3 wide starts just for the fans??
I get that suspension and body parts–even a clip, are an aggravation and expense, but a $30k engine!?
That’s a second mortgage, and quite possibly there is another 28 years left on the last second mortgage for the previous engine with the now-ventilated oil pan.
The carnage at St Pete has always amazed me, yet they have also always had big fields. To some, it must be worth it.
How competitive would a sportsman be with a crate late model at a 1/4 mile track? At NSS I doubt they would have a shot. Just curious