[Hamby812]

Well I may be mistaken but I'm pretty sure his words were he wasn't enjoying the race. As far as getting car count up, tire cost, tire cost, tire cost, and probably tire cost. But to be honest you could put 40 cars on the track and if you don't have fans show up its all for not. I would attend a pavement race but not if I have other options. Location of pavement tracks hurts me as Salem is the closest and nearly 3 hours away. If say terre haute had a pavement track and it ran the same weekend as a dirt race(dirt Saturday, pavement Sunday) I'd attend both races. But I can't justify driving 3 hours to watch a pavement race when I have one of the best dirt tracks in the country 5 minutes down the road. I don't feel you can blame this on Kevin Miller. He can't put butts in the seats. And as someone else stated in its time the tires were already paid for. I highly doubt that's an option anymore. My favorite race is the 3 crown. I love the big cars and can see all 3 divisions at one place. Heck if they done all 3 divisions at a pavement track I may go. More bang for my buck but that also isn't likely.

[david mitchell]

To Hamby 812 and everyone else. Don't you think there is a link between the number of entries and the number of people in the stands.People do not want to go to an event where there are only 13 cars. Start having only 13 cars at all of the dirt tracks around here and tell me there would not be an attendance drop off.If you could announce right now that there would be a Silver Crown race at IRP it will always be IRP>in October and there would be 40 cars you would have a very nice crowd turn out.I have no doubt.

[RynoK1999]

Originally Posted by david mitchell To Hamby 812 and everyone else. Don't you think there is a link between the number of entries and the number of people in the stands.People do not want to go to an event where there are only 13 cars. Start having only 13 cars at all of the dirt tracks around here and tell me there would not be an attendance drop off.If you could announce right now that there would be a Silver Crown race at IRP it will always be IRP>in October and there would be 40 cars you would have a very nice crowd turn out.I have no doubt.

Back in July, they had the HOF/Vogler at IRP. Good weather and they even had vintage cars and late models testing while the SC's weren't on track. Ryan Newman was there running and it was a big weekend in Indianapolis for racing. USAC only brought in 17 cars but there are still heavy hitters and it's a good race.

I think the number of sweat bees outnumbered the fans. It was terrible. Those that were watching were....veteran race fans....It's sad to see the lack of attention that the top level of USAC gets from many outlets.

BC was one that made it a point at the national level to pay attention to what we consider "Local guys" because he insisted they had the talent as well to make it to the big time. Hope there is someone that can make that push again, but they'll never be another BC as committed to making racing so much better.

[sjracer26]

I will never say I have the best answers or opinions, but I've always felt that USAC should take a look at a few strategies to help reduce costs all around on pavement and dirt.

Carbon Fiber and Titanium: Outlaw it, there is no real need for these materials. I know in the midgets a steel drive shaft was around $100 or so, while a Ti drive shaft was around $750 or more, then they had the carbon drive shafts for even more. Throw in a carbon body kit and a ti bolt kit and you are looking at a couple of grand extra compared to sheet metal/aluminum bodies and steel bolts.

Shocks: I think this is an area where things have been allowed to get a bit out of hand. Do the cars really need a set of shocks that cost $1000+ per corner? Go to a rule where the shocks are single bodies and can be rebound adjustable but not in car. People will always find ways to build there own and spend more, this is where I don't have the best answer but I am sure some people could come up with a cost effective and good handling shock package.

Tires: As has been mentioned in this post already many times, tires are just a given to be expensive with pavement. The only thing I could see here is to restrict everyone to have to only have 2 sets per race day. Buy them at the track only kind of thing.

General: Have a spine when enforcing rules. I don't just mean engine rules or weight, but the whole rule book. USAC never checked a lot of things after the first race of the year. At the very least enforce the safety rules! Considering recent events, I think now would be a really good time to start enforcing the head clearance rule. I think in the midgets it calls out 4 inches minimum from top of helmet to highest point of the cage. I know for a fact that a lot of drivers are no where near that number.

Testing: We used to test a bunch when running pavement midgets. It helped a lot, but it wasn't totally necessary. It could be argued, but I would say to not allow it.

Beyond that I don't see any major ways of saving costs for the teams. There is a big problem with getting fans to have any interest, I am not a marketing guy so I don' have much to say for how you could improve the fan turn outs, but I agree that without more fans bringing money, it will be difficult to see any purse increase.

I loved racing pavement, I prefer dirt, but pavement had it's own very unique challenges. My opinion, dirt racing is more driver and less car whereas pavement racing is more car and less driver. On the dirt it was easier to take a 10th place car and get 5th, on the pavement it was a real challenge to take a 10th place car and get 9th...

Also, I think getting all three series (midget, sprint, crown) together at more events is a better way to get cars and fans to show up. Why they got away from triple header events is beyond me.

Just food for thought

[ckerflg]

Silver Crown racing has had a tough last decade, I don't think anyone can disagree with that. Andy Hillenburg and his staff have done a great job of reviving the series and getting cars back out there to these racetracks, pavement and dirt alike. One of his staff members is Kevin Miller, while we may not agree with every choice he has made (me included), he has done a good job of allowing both Andy and Levi do their jobs and increase both fan and racer attendance across the board for USAC.

When I began reading this thread I didn't want to comment, but the further I read the more I notice one thing in common. Everybody is counted down and out before they even tried, and not many are looking at the good over the bad.

1. Testing - Everyone says that there needs to be testing to be competitive with these large powerhouse teams - I have never tested for the Bowman Racing team since we began racing together three years ago and I only tested twice in my 3 years with 6R, neither of those coming before my first SC win in my third start.

2. One car - What started the struggling times of the SC series? When they decided to make a lot of racecars that already support their series obsolete by implementing the "Next Gen" racecars. There are teams that own both cars currently, yet still only run the dirt races.

3. Low car counts- People are always going to miss races, there are tracks that they don't desire to run for various reasons; size, distance from home, speed, etc. Personally we missed Salem because we only had the resources, time and labor (not money), to prepare for 3 races. We decided to run Gateway and both IRP's because we felt those were our best chances to be competitive and win, which is our goal.

I guess my point is that while it is easy to be critical it is not always the best option. There are a lot of people putting a lot of time and effort into this series to try and bring it back to it's former glory, none with the intention of running the series into the ground. But to bring a series back they need support from car owners, sponsors, fans, drivers, promoters, etc. While today's SC series may not be the same as it has been in the past it doesn't mean that it is bad. You still have a great rivalry between two young racers at the top of their game battling for a championship while competing against a number of dirt or pavement "specialists."

--Tanner Swanson

[david mitchell]

Thank you Tanner for a voice of reason.You do it,we don't. My question would be how do we get these car owners out that currently have pavement cars.Again, I imagine that is not an easy answer either.As an aside, I think what your Brother did over the Memorial Day Weekend ranked as one of the most incredible achievements in recent memory.It does not get nearly enough credit or PR.I hope he sees this.

[Jonr]

Has anyone ever wondered why there are so many different Winged 410 series/ local tracks? How about the number of non wing series/ local tracks. Midget racing also has many different series, and a growing number of local tracks. How many groups sanction Silver Crown cars? When was the last time a promoter held an "Outlaw" Silver Crown race?

It comes down to basic economics. Supply equals Demand. There is a lot of demand for winged 410, non-wing, and midget racing, and there is a good supply of those races. There is very low demand for Silver Crown cars and hence there is a small supply. If you were a promoter and could choose to promote one race a year and that race had to be a money maker, what class are your picking?

[Backitin]

Nonwing sprints and midgets in general are going the dinosaur route, less of them around over time and most that are still around are on three legs. The extinction started on the east coast and is heading west. I don't care if you have 12 cars racing, it's 12 more then we have here and I'd support it while you can.

[Backitin]

"someone please post a well thought out response"
I'm pretty sure everyone is thinking as well as they can, some struggle at it more then others.

[Nate]

Originally Posted by Jonr Has anyone ever wondered why there are so many different Winged 410 series/ local tracks? How about the number of non wing series/ local tracks. Midget racing also has many different series, and a growing number of local tracks. How many groups sanction Silver Crown cars? When was the last time a promoter held an "Outlaw" Silver Crown race? It comes down to basic economics. Supply equals Demand. There is a lot of demand for winged 410, non-wing, and midget racing, and there is a good supply of those races. There is very low demand for Silver Crown cars and hence there is a small supply. If you were a promoter and could choose to promote one race a year and that race had to be a money maker, what class are your picking?

That was just always what I thought. Why spend the money to build, maintain, race a car and/or cars that you're only going to use a handful of times a year? There were only 5 SC races on pavement scheduled this year and 1 rained out.