New Unfriendly Fan Rule

itsanonwingthing · 4/1/10, 3:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by usac99

a lot of people on here thinks this isn't a big deal. a driver winning the championship would get 40 grand,great . what does the car owner get? buy more race cars ,run more races,sounds like our health care package!

What about Car Owners.

USAC is increasing the overall point’s funds by 35% to accommodate the new Driving Championship. The Owners / Driver split of our points funds has been 50/50, and will maintain that ratio in 2010. This means that there is more money in the fund for all, equally.

For 2010, Owners will continue to earn points funds for the Top 10 overall in each Division. For the Sprint and Midget series only, we will be adding Top 3 points fund money for the points leaders in each Dirt Only and Pavement Only categories, to recognize performance for car owners who may have only a single focus. A car owner could easily (and most likely) earn points money in both the Top 10 and Top 3 pavement / dirt funds. Seperately, an owners point fund for the top 3 has been established for the Sprint Series Eastern Tour and Top 3 for Indiana Sprint Week.

Kirk Spridgeon · 4/1/10, 4:12 PM

I have discussed this with a few people already, but I will hit the major point of this fund and rule from my point of view:
I see this as an effort to bring some value to the program and the driver's names. Now, USAC has the clout to demand more for tracks because they actually have the loyalty of a few name drivers. Knowing that the ante is up to have these drivers show, tracks will have to accommodate to have them.

I see the loyalty rule as a start to ease up on what the World of Outlaws have for their drivers. It is nowhere near as strict. It is a simple matter of economics for each driver to decide whether pursuing this NDC money is worth it to them.

For the car owner, the big picture of rising purses to attract these name drivers is better for them. Once purses go up at the USAC level, other areas seem to follow suit. I also have another theory that as the money goes up in this fund, more limitations could be put on drivers (for example, a pay minimum). If a track has to pay a certain amount to ensure themselves that these name drivers will appear, they will certainly be willing to do that, knowing that the fans follow those names.

For the fan? I see this as a way of paying back these guys for putting on the show. It pains me that these guys are forced to race for such small purses. I, for one, am happy to see that some guys who race their asses off in a BUNCH of events throughout the year are going to be paid off this year by the USAC NDC fund. I go to a lot of World of Outlaws and Late Model races and see guys who are the Dave Darland, Jerry Coons, Tracy Hines, or Levi Jones of their series making much, much more than our Sprint Car / Midget guys do. It's time to start getting those numbers in line.

I still can't see anything negative about it. Look at the big picture...

coondog · 4/1/10, 4:39 PM

First off, this post really pisses me off. Finally after a couple of pages, someone posted the real rule and how it works. Don, if you are going to stir stuff up, post ALL the facts. I am all for this rule. Why should USAC schedule a race in a state, say the PA swing. Another racetrack rides the coat tails of USAC and schedules a race for half the money the days before or after to attract the USAC drivers. Why should USAC not protect themselves? I believe that is the real reason for this rule.

If anyone thinks a driver is making a living driving only non wing cars and not running for one of the USAC Championships, you are wrong. Running for $1500 a night, even if you do run some USAC races, you are not going to make a living. USAC is doing something for the drivers making it possible to make a better living. The few of us that are fortunate enough to make a living at this run over 100 races a year and make a fourth, or even less, than a guy running WoO.

I also went through my schedule to see if there were any races that I couldn’t make because of this rule. Guess what? There aren’t any. I will be at Sun Prairie when I can, run the POWRi races I can and a few others.

How are the fans going to get hurt on this? THEY AREN’T . The top drivers are still going to be at local tracks. I don’t know how else to explain it. Nobody seems to care when a track schedules a race against a USAC race. And that means no USAC drivers there and everyone survives.

Someone brought up Eldora and North Vernon. Yeah, there will be more cars at North Vernon. There are drivers and owners that do not like Eldora or don’t feel they can be competitive with their equipment. Nothing wrong with that. I think it’s a great opportunity for a non USAC team to take home 4K.

Jerry Coons

DonMoore10 · 4/1/10, 5:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coondog

First off, this post really pisses me off. Finally after a couple of pages, someone posted the real rule and how it works. Don, if you are going to stir stuff up, post ALL the facts.

Jerry Coons

Sorry you have to come on a public message board with a comment like that. You know my number, Jerry. If you would have read my first post which I have copied below you wouldn't make a statement like that.

"I wish I knew more particulars about the rule but I can't find anything in that org's rule book that addresses this unfriendly fan rule. Maybe somebody can help out with this."

sprinter25 · 4/1/10, 5:14 PM

"USAC does not run enough races for this kind of rule."....from John Gurley's post above...

Well, if that were the case, most likely a USAC race would not occur on a day that would cause a conflict that would make USAC impose this rule.....kind of arguing against your own points.

Don't like the rule? Don't join USAC, run on Temporary Permits; they can't punish you for breaking a rule IF you're not a member of the club!

Rpracing1 · 4/1/10, 5:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DonMoore10

Sorry you have to come on a public message board with a comment like that. You know my number, Jerry. If you would have read my first post which I have copied below you wouldn't make a statement like that.

"I wish I knew more particulars about the rule but I can't find anything in that org's rule book that addresses this unfriendly fan rule. Maybe somebody can help out with this."

So, DM, do you still think it is an "Unfriendly Fan Rule"?

coondog · 4/1/10, 5:39 PM

And Don, you have my number to where you could of called a driver that is involved with this rule, and gotten the facts and a drivers perspective before calling this an unfriendly fan rule. I also meant that I am more mad about the thread I guess. People are jumping to so many assumptions rather than knowing what the rule is. I may have used the wrong word when I said "post". That was my mistake.

DonMoore10 · 4/1/10, 6:01 PM

Here's my final word on this, Jerry. I cited the page in sprint Car mag, a article by Mike O'Leary who writes pretty good stuff IMO. It's on page 16. I would assume that he talked to several people including Brad Kuhn who is also cited in the article. He certainly did more research than I did. I went to the USAC web site to find the rule. It's not published.

From Mr. O"Leary's words: "However, opinions vary when discussing this new program." So obviuosly not everybody agrees with you and I'm sure many do.

My opening post had a disclaimer that I didn't know a lot about the new rule and I asked for clarification. I have no dog is this fight. Several people have calmly published on this thrread the clarifications. some resorted to the usual mud throwing and personal attacks.

I think the issue has been resolved. How the rule plays out will be monitored I'm sure.

AlkyMadness · 4/1/10, 6:18 PM

Since USAC is trying so hard to emulate the WoO, does that mean they will become a publicly traded entity soon?

All joking aside, the ultimate goal is to increase sanction fee and (hopefully) driver payout. It's a marketing illusion to make the shows appear more meaningful and rare. As a fan, the end result that I see will be ticket prices increasing to match WoO. A few weeks ago I attended a WoO show and the tickets were $35.

Will everyone be up for paying this much? I don't know. The Outlaws can get away with it because they travel the entire country and only come to some areas 2-3 times a year. People can justify that. But, if you live in the Indiana area and USAC runs dozens of races there annually, can you afford it? This may be a boon to the local tracks. I know if I lived there, I'd take in the occasional USAC show but I spend most of my time at the weekly shows. For me, it's not about individual names, but about the type of racing. I'll go to a 410 non-wing show at Kokomo, Bloomington, Paragon, Waynesfield, etc, even if I didn't know any of the drivers.

Then again, maybe USAC is planning on running fewer races in their backyard and branching out? If so, good luck. While we know who the players are, most of the country does not know who they are. Could be a hard sell.

Reading Jerry's comments above, I'm guessing most of the drivers are for this. It's their Club and if they are happy with it, then they should do it. Who cares what anyone else thinks. Time will tell if it was a good move or another toe blown off.

Onlydirt · 4/1/10, 6:20 PM

DM: Since this issue is now resolved now you can go back to your other complaints....

4/1/10, 6:20 PM	#70 Re: New Unfriendly Fan Rule
Onlydirt Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 912	DM: Since this issue is now resolved now you can go back to your other complaints.... _________________________________________________ Last edited by Onlydirt; 4/1/10 at 6:21 PM.

4/1/10, 5:14 PM	#65 Re: New Unfriendly Fan Rule
sprinter25 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 547	"USAC does not run enough races for this kind of rule."....from John Gurley's post above... Well, if that were the case, most likely a USAC race would not occur on a day that would cause a conflict that would make USAC impose this rule.....kind of arguing against your own points. Don't like the rule? Don't join USAC, run on Temporary Permits; they can't punish you for breaking a rule IF you're not a member of the club!

4/1/10, 5:39 PM	#67 Re: New Unfriendly Fan Rule
coondog Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 109	And Don, you have my number to where you could of called a driver that is involved with this rule, and gotten the facts and a drivers perspective before calling this an unfriendly fan rule. I also meant that I am more mad about the thread I guess. People are jumping to so many assumptions rather than knowing what the rule is. I may have used the wrong word when I said "post". That was my mistake.

4/1/10, 6:01 PM	#68 Re: New Unfriendly Fan Rule
DonMoore10 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 1,474	Here's my final word on this, Jerry. I cited the page in sprint Car mag, a article by Mike O'Leary who writes pretty good stuff IMO. It's on page 16. I would assume that he talked to several people including Brad Kuhn who is also cited in the article. He certainly did more research than I did. I went to the USAC web site to find the rule. It's not published. From Mr. O"Leary's words: "However, opinions vary when discussing this new program." So obviuosly not everybody agrees with you and I'm sure many do. My opening post had a disclaimer that I didn't know a lot about the new rule and I asked for clarification. I have no dog is this fight. Several people have calmly published on this thrread the clarifications. some resorted to the usual mud throwing and personal attacks. I think the issue has been resolved. How the rule plays out will be monitored I'm sure.

4/1/10, 6:18 PM	#69 Re: New Unfriendly Fan Rule
AlkyMadness Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 233	Since USAC is trying so hard to emulate the WoO, does that mean they will become a publicly traded entity soon? All joking aside, the ultimate goal is to increase sanction fee and (hopefully) driver payout. It's a marketing illusion to make the shows appear more meaningful and rare. As a fan, the end result that I see will be ticket prices increasing to match WoO. A few weeks ago I attended a WoO show and the tickets were $35. Will everyone be up for paying this much? I don't know. The Outlaws can get away with it because they travel the entire country and only come to some areas 2-3 times a year. People can justify that. But, if you live in the Indiana area and USAC runs dozens of races there annually, can you afford it? This may be a boon to the local tracks. I know if I lived there, I'd take in the occasional USAC show but I spend most of my time at the weekly shows. For me, it's not about individual names, but about the type of racing. I'll go to a 410 non-wing show at Kokomo, Bloomington, Paragon, Waynesfield, etc, even if I didn't know any of the drivers. Then again, maybe USAC is planning on running fewer races in their backyard and branching out? If so, good luck. While we know who the players are, most of the country does not know who they are. Could be a hard sell. Reading Jerry's comments above, I'm guessing most of the drivers are for this. It's their Club and if they are happy with it, then they should do it. Who cares what anyone else thinks. Time will tell if it was a good move or another toe blown off.