Quote:
Originally Posted by Seadog
...that any WoO cars come from the Kings Royal and go topless at the 'burg Sunday night? Just curious more than anything.
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Just a guess mind you : Slim to none. Jac Haudenschild occasionally takes the crutch off. Back in the day the WoO ran with and without the port-o-john bolted on top. Before the WoO even existed I saw Steve Kinser run at Bloomington in the mid 70's non-wing,.. fast as usual. Also watched him come from the back to the front wingless at Eldora at the USAC 4 Crowns on Oct. 11, 1981. Steve kicked tail in the Silver Crowns as well. I was at Eldora when Steve won the wingless CRA show on May 5, 1990.... The Wild Child's always exciting in whatever he drives. Saw Haud sit on the pole at a USAC Silver Crown show at Tampa in the 80's and win the Mopar Million at Eldora. Watched Jac win in USAC sprints at Eldora on Mar.27, 1988 in the Kodiak # 18 car...These 2 guys stand out in my memory as being wicked fast with or without a wing and they've won a lot more non-wing races than I've mentioned. How could I let Jack Hewitt slip by, he could run hell out of them both ways too!
It seems like you're more likely to see a non-wing guy put on a wing and give it a shot than the other way around. I'd love to see the WoO go back to running both ways again and see the best of both worlds,...won't hold my breath on that happening... I hate hearing them called Non-Wing sprints like they're generic. There are sprint cars and then there are sprint cars 'with' wings. Sprint cars were around long before wings were, a hell of a lot longer. I don't know the timeline of exactly when sprint car racing began, but I have a Wallen's classic video that shows a 500 mile sprint show held out west on a mile dirt track in 1932. WoO started I'm thinking in 1978, and they didn't run a strictly winged format when they started. To me there will always be sprint cars and winged sprint cars.
Safety bashers save your breath...I believe it was Jack Hewitt that once said sprint cars are dangerous with or without a wing. I think he might of also once said if it was easy and safe everybody would be driving one...Sadly we've lost drivers with and without wings...But if you've never watched sprint cars race in the 50's and 60's you can't even begin to appreciate how safe racing is "today" compared to "then" .