This is just my opinion and am not on here to throw promoters under the bus, but I am getting tired of going to racetracks in Illinois and running on dryslick tracks with no cushion that take rubber in the feature and do nothing but bore the crowds to feel cheated out of 5 hours of their life and the money they spent watching what they could have watched on tv at home for free like nascar. I guess the older I get the more opionated i get but isn't DIRT track racing supposed to be a little rough or at least have a nice thick wet cusion around the rim of the track to seperate the MEN from the boys and girls and some soft and tacky spots going in and coming off the bottom for the guys that are a little down on power and short on budget to keep the safe route in the mix for racing. I not a expert at track prep or dirt work, but I don't think it would take a rocket scientist to figure out how to prep a track to be slick in certain spots and break up the spots you would want to have more moisture in the dirt to give us guys some place to get some speed instead of just burning up the tires and your dirt.
As a fan do you feel cheated when you go to a dirt track and it looks like asphalt all night long and by the end of the night you look like you just worked a 12 hour shift at a coal mines. Seems like we call it dirt racing for a reason?
As a racer I feel cheated by the promoter as he has not held up to his end of the bargain to provide me as a entertainer the proper environment to entertain the spectators in the stands. The fans say well there is no excitement here and stay home because they don't feel like spending 60-80 bucks on taking a crew of people to come watch dirt race cars slide around and then get in single file line to imitate asphalt racing.
My challenge to the promoters is take a little initiative in preping the track and you may not have to work as hard to promote the racing. Word of mouth is the best advertiser and if you have a people around the area that is are not satisfied with their entertainment dollar chances are they will find a way to spend it and get what they want not what we want.
My challenge to the racers is give me some feedback on what you feel is a appropriatly prepared track. I don't want tacky from top to bottom/ slick from top to bottom. I want a nice thick cushion, wet and big right around the rim of the track next to the wall. Slick up to that rim, with a few soft spots going in and coming off of the bottom for the racers that can't afford or have the money to bang it off of the cushion. Give me a track I can pass on without pushing the person in front of me off of the tires and dragracing to the next corner. What do you thing DIRT TRACK Racing OR SMOOTH SLICK ASPALT Racing. I know i am going to have to start taking adrenaline shots with me to tracks in Illinois or go back to indiana where I know you can go places and get a track that makes for good racing
Please Don't bash the promoters. They have a job that anyone with a sane mind would not want to do and they all feel that they are in a valley between racers and spectators and we all know which way @#$% runs, downhill one way.
Now that I have got that off of my chest anyone with comments they want to share can send them to me at
shanks39@vzw.blackberry.net
Please let promoters in illinois know hopefully we are tired of rubberdown slick racetracks. Please put the WATERTRUCKS to good use and start giving us some racetracks we are proud to call dirt tracks.
Thanks,
Alex Shanks