[bloard]

You can have your own opinion, but that doesn't mean you know what your talking about.

Frankly, I think as a sprint car driver who lives within an hour and a half of the track in question, JRacer2m does know what he is talking about. I would assume that for Flora to draw cars, a decent percentage of them would need to come from the Springfield, Il area. I would say that this is a good representation of the location of most sprint car drivers from Illinois.... either wing or non-wing. http://midwestopenwheel.com/our-drivers/

They have options. For some of them the non-MOWA Saturday option is Farmington. For others it's probably an IRA show in Wisconsin. For JRacer2m it's often Knoxville. Some of them will choose midgets if a race is nearby. Regardless, each of them has to evaluate the travel vs. payout... and I think he is saying that the proposed purse wouldn't be among the better options for most of them on a Saturday.

Draw a circle around Flora about 60 miles out and see how many sprints there are within that radius because those are the ones who would tow and race for the convenience of it. Much beyond that radius and it's going to have to pay more to get them there because other options come into play. The best option is to pick up the phone and call them and get commitments at certain purse structures so no one is surprised by low car counts. Racers as a group are pretty good at keeping their word.

As an owner of both sprint cars and a nice Modified, I beg to differ with your belief that the costs are the same. The sprint is more expensive no matter how you cut it. Sure, a piece of crap sprint can be cheaper than a top of the line Modified, but if we are comparing good sprints to good Mods, and junk sprints to junk Mods, the cost to operate the sprint over the course of a season is a fair amount more.

JRacer2m also brings up the safety factor in the payout. A risk vs. reward decision. Guys can get hurt a lot easier in an open wheel car. A week past a pretty serious concussion that set his work back several days, I'd be thinking about that side of things as well in making decisions if I was him.

At the end of the day, a lot of factors have to be evaluated in to making it 'worth it'. As much as I'd like to see it succeed in Flora and having personally offered my help to make it work... at the purse being mentioned, there's not a lot to make it worth it to a large number of drivers given geography and other options. But I think with a few phone calls a happy medium could be reached that could ensure an adequate car count and a sufficient purse to get them there. And JRacer2m as a guy who runs wing or non-wing, sprint or midget and one of the founders of a drivers' sprint car organization in the area would be among the first people I'd call.

[kidrock]

Originally Posted by bloard Frankly, I think as a sprint car driver who lives within an hour and a half of the track in question, JRacer2m does know what he is talking about. I would assume that for Flora to draw cars, a decent percentage of them would need to come from the Springfield, Il area. I would say that this is a good representation of the location of most sprint car drivers from Illinois.... either wing or non-wing. http://midwestopenwheel.com/our-drivers/ They have options. For some of them the non-MOWA Saturday option is Farmington. For others it's probably an IRA show in Wisconsin. For JRacer2m it's often Knoxville. Some of them will choose midgets if a race is nearby. Regardless, each of them has to evaluate the travel vs. payout... and I think he is saying that the proposed purse wouldn't be among the better options for most of them on a Saturday. Draw a circle around Flora about 60 miles out and see how many sprints there are within that radius because those are the ones who would tow and race for the convenience of it. Much beyond that radius and it's going to have to pay more to get them there because other options come into play. The best option is to pick up the phone and call them and get commitments at certain purse structures so no one is surprised by low car counts. Racers as a group are pretty good at keeping their word. As an owner of both sprint cars and a nice Modified, I beg to differ with your belief that the costs are the same. The sprint is more expensive no matter how you cut it. Sure, a piece of crap sprint can be cheaper than a top of the line Modified, but if we are comparing good sprints to good Mods, and junk sprints to junk Mods, the cost to operate the sprint over the course of a season is a fair amount more. JRacer2m also brings up the safety factor in the payout. A risk vs. reward decision. Guys can get hurt a lot easier in an open wheel car. A week past a pretty serious concussion that set his work back several days, I'd be thinking about that side of things as well in making decisions if I was him. At the end of the day, a lot of factors have to be evaluated in to making it 'worth it'. As much as I'd like to see it succeed in Flora and having personally offered my help to make it work... at the purse being mentioned, there's not a lot to make it worth it to a large number of drivers given geography and other options. But I think with a few phone calls a happy medium could be reached that could ensure an adequate car count and a sufficient purse to get them there. And JRacer2m as a guy who runs wing or non-wing, sprint or midget and one of the founders of a drivers' sprint car organization in the area would be among the first people I'd call.

This has to been one of the smartest post I have seen on a racing board. This guy is exactly right. Make some calls and find out what these guys are thinking before you make any final decisions. Just makes smart business sense to me. Good post bloard.

[mscs20]

Phone calls have been made. 29 drivers/owners have called me and were polled. Ky, In, and IL checking in. There are only 3 that prefer to run for something like $1000 to win where as 26 say they prefer to run for the more to start and thicker theu the middle. Its Kevin Bayers track to run. He only asked me to gather data. His number and email has been posted in many places. Call him direct if you choose. He doesn't know any of us who race sprint cars.

Posted via Mobile Device

[bloard]

I talked to Kevin and sincerely wish he and you the best. My point was that the purse makes it too easy for guys to pass it up and choose another option. It's good to know that you have 29 commitments. That will be an amazing field of cars for the money.

[SamSr32]

Our sport is in a hard time. People that love the sport need to be positive. You people that claim to like Sprint Car Racing, but get on here with strong negitive comments should leave well enough alone. Running a race track successfully or a Sprint Car operation is a tough deal. Tracks and cars keep falling off the map, so guys support what you like and leave the rest alone! Thanks, Sam Stockon Sr.

[bloard]

For the 10th time Sam. Nothing I said was negative, or meant to be negative. I fully support what they are doing in trying to establish a place for sprints to race. I will gladly encourage the drivers I know to race there, although I doubt my cars go because it's a long tow for the money.

All I was suggesting was that they talk to drivers so they know who will show up for what purse so that they avoid what happened last year and there are no surprises for the fans or drivers. It sounds like that has been done with 29 drivers, so it should be successful. End of story.

Perhaps when a kid that drives a race car for me gets attacked for stating his opinion as if he has no clue - when in fact he is one of the good guys in the sport, I should bite my tongue. But unfortunately that's not going to happen.

Anything we can do from up north to help this deal along we will gladly do. You are reading between lines where there is nothing to read.

[17B]

Hey all thanks for all the good and bad comments, I only can gain from, the info that people call and send to me. With saying that I want to say thanks to all that have chimed in and supported, and those who may have different thoughts, thats ok, but my goal was to give this area a chance to see sprint cars in action and not have to pay the big tickets prices every week. I would love to get 20 sprinters a week and maybe once a month or once every 6-8 weeks make a bigger show of $1000 to $1500 or even hgher to win.
I have gotten several phone calls and I always ask their opinion about the payout, and several of them says that, the purse is not a concern, it is nice to just have a track allowing us to run our sprint car. I love sprint car racing and I vow to have them here and vow to have bigger shows but I must first make this track come alive once again. We need to forget the past and move on with the future........So with that lets race and have fun at track that can handle these cars.
Thanks again for all comments,
Kevin Bayer
always available at 812-630-3989

[Wallsracing]

Originally Posted by 17b hey all thanks for all the good and bad comments, i only can gain from, the info that people call and send to me. With saying that i want to say thanks to all that have chimed in and supported, and those who may have different thoughts, thats ok, but my goal was to give this area a chance to see sprint cars in action and not have to pay the big tickets prices every week. I would love to get 20 sprinters a week and maybe once a month or once every 6-8 weeks make a bigger show of $1000 to $1500 or even hgher to win. I have gotten several phone calls and i always ask their opinion about the payout, and several of them says that, the purse is not a concern, it is nice to just have a track allowing us to run our sprint car. I love sprint car racing and i vow to have them here and vow to have bigger shows but i must first make this track come alive once again. We need to forget the past and move on with the future........so with that lets race and have fun at track that can handle these cars. Thanks again for all comments, kevin bayer always available at 812-630-3989

hey kevin did you use to race a 17b bomber at redhill...if so i raced against you ...seen the screen name and your name also remember car #

[17B]

and Haubstaut

[Wallsracing]

Originally Posted by 17b and haubstaut

i had the purple 87 from terre haute....everybody hated..lol