Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers?
 

Figured a million to win at Eldora there would be all the USAC regulars there strapping a wing on. Looks like Bacon is the only taker......

Sorry I couldn't resist as every time there a big non-winged show people say how come the Woo drivers are not there, it goes both ways. :44:

It will be a couple of interesting days at the Big E!

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

Wing race? For a Million?

will be watching paint dry!

Go luck to all who participate

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

Spencer Bayston
Kasey Kahne
Bill Ballog
Greg Wilson
Cole Macedo
Brady Bacon
Hunter Schurenberg
Brad Sweet
Kyle Larson
Chris Windom
Tyler Courtney
PPM
Sheldon Haudenschild

Add in the midget racers that went straight to Winged racing and it's way more.
And Brady raced 360 ASCS before taking the wing off.

Just because many ain't running non wing now. Doesn't mean they're not well represented.

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

C.J. Leary and Buddy Kofoid both entered for the Million.

USAC midgets are also doing the mid America tour this week. I’d imagine 3 or 4 of those drivers would throw a wing on if they weren’t running for points.

Most of the names mentioned above are winged drivers who dabbled in midgets and non winged sprints…..

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

8 of them at some point were full time USAC drivers, thats a little more than just "dabbled".

A triple crown, multiple midget titles, national sprint car titles, but yeah just some dabblers. 😂

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

And Danny Smith, I think 1977 Burg champion (Non Wing) who also ran the Mopar Million. Think he may be the only one to do both.

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

Greg Wilson and Brent Matus also attempted the Mopar Million and are racing tonight. I thought Bill Rose would be a 4th driver to do both but I haven’t seen him tonight.

He said regular USAC racers, not guys who have raced non-winged. Try and keep up…

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

The most repeated response is that a [nonwing] car with wings strapped on is not competitive with a winged car. Additionally, it looks like there were some pretty good drivers in the lower half of both features which perhaps indicates how hard it would be to make the main. Who did CJ drive for?

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

The most repeated response is that a [nonwing] car with wings strapped on is not competitive with a winged car without some significant modifications. Additionally, it looks like there were some pretty good drivers in the lower half of both features which perhaps indicates how hard it would be to make the main. Who did CJ drive for?

#55 of Alex Bowman?

CJ was in the Hayward 19 car. Daryn Pittman is in the Bowman 55.

If we’re calling Larson a “non-winged” driver the topic loses all credibility. Others on the list dabbled in midgets to try to climb the ladder but got their starts in winged sprints. Some like Courtney are legitimately non-winged guys who got smart and left to chase the money. :)

Windom is a triple crown winner, sunshine did indeed leave. CJ Leary, Brady bacon is a multi time usac champion. Brad sweet, buddy, bayston, kahne all have won midget races. Larson is absolutely not a “non-wing” driver. He’s said it himself, they scare him.

The real question is….where’s all the wing drivers? Pretty pathetic to only have 85 cars for a million to win. Pretty sure there was more than that for the non-wing million dollar purse that Earl had. You do have two current full time USAC drivers, Bacon and Leary, and a bunch of former full time USAC’rs. Why no Anthony Macri? Why no Kreitz car? Why not more Knoxville regulars? I’d be more concerned with your own than what the USAC owners are doing.

I’m really curious about that whole Macri deal. Kreitz car wasn’t coming to begin with.

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

kreitz car is being re freshened. Macri and dad are not seeing eye to eye. Not sure Macri would be where he is today without him, But I also know that me and my dad get along great as long as we're not working together.

Flo did a Macri and Kreitz shop tour about a year or so ago. Macri had five complete cars and three more in various states of completion.

Throwback, you make the best point. While 83 is good, you would think it would be north of a hundred for what could be a once in a lifetime event. Good to see someone stirring up the ol wing/wingless pot.

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

It’s hard to compare car counts from 2003 to 2023. A lot has changed in 20 years. If the million this year was a non-wing race again, I would be surprised if the car count was near the 138 who showed up for the 2003 edition. If the race was in Indiana, it would draw fewer cars for a million to win than for a $1200 to win race an hour away.

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

There is no such thing as a "non-wing sprint car". There are called sprint cars and we have winged sprint cars.

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

This isn't a race, It's a junkyard

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

Thanks for your opinion, that’s what message boards are for. You’ll find different terminology in different places, none of which are wrong. Is it sprint cars, traditional sprints, or non-wing sprints? Most in Indiana (and USAC followers) will say sprint cars, in Michigan they tend to be called traditional sprints (formerly MTS and now GLTS), and just about everywhere else people refer to them as non-wing sprints. Wisconsin also has the Wisconsin Wingless Sprints.

Another example would be whether you call a race a B-Main/B Feature, a semi-feature, or last chance race. Many local tracks will call it a b-main or b-feature, USAC calls it the semi-feature, and the Outlaws call it the last chance showdown. None are wrong and all refer to the same level of event. Call them sprints if you wish and I’ll stay off your lawn too. ;)

Does anyone know why all the Raceceivers were swapped out? And why can’t the drivers wear smart watches??

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

Making sure there is no electronic communication between the teams and the driver during the race. They did the same at The Dream.

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

For as little as CJ runs wing cars I thought he did a credible job. Not surprised :-) Dude is a Pro!

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

And some people call it a consi or consolation race.

Per Steve Chassey

“Put the trailer ramps down boys, you’re going home”!!!

Suitcase Race

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

They lost a couple to an IRA -NOSA race in Minnesota. There are some of the IRA guys that are know to travel a bit. There were 38 cars at this event.

Re: Million on the line, where are all the nonwinged drivers
 

Larson did show up to Eldora in 2011 having never even been there and won the sprint, midget and silver crown event at the 4 crown. Pretty impressive in my opinion. But he did say non wing cars scare him which I thought was funny. Tells you all you need to know right there about which is harder or more technical to drive. Ron Shuman and others had a huge debate way back in the day about what to call sprint cars. Wingless, non-wing, traditional, etc.. The best line was when someone said how can they be "non-wing" when 'non' would refer to something that existed and sprint cars didn't have wings until the 70's. I like both but if you made me choose I would go to a race with out wings over a winged show. #imissmanzy