I am wondering what everyone's thoughts are on having 18 cars at the race in Houston. I will admit that it was more than I thought they would have. However, a lot of people thought I was crazy when I set the over/under line at 14.

I can tell you that quite a few folks at HRP were concerned about the car count, but I can tell you that would not be fair to they guys that made the trip. The racing was stellar, and by the time the night was over, no one really thought that it was an issue. Lots of new non wing fans down here. It is one thing when local guys have me bending their ears about this kind of racing, and another to have a show like we did last Saturday. Good luck to the guys heading up to Devil's Bowl this coming weekend. Wish I could break away for the show.

From another post.....

"It was a great race considering the low car count. It took Bacon 23 laps to get around Rilat. The track was in awesome condition. Bacon used the extreme low line to get into the lead, then Ballou used the cushion to get around him. Hockett dove between both Bacon and Ballou going into 3 going for the checkered and came up a little short.

Ballou was a little P.O.ed after his heat race incident, but channeled that emotion to a great win coming from the back - just as Hockett did.

I'm hoping the low car count doesn't hurt the chances of the non wing cars to return here in the South. I really think the forecast turned some people away. All week showed scattered thunderstorms with Friday being low overcast and drizzly all day in Houston. I never saw rain on the weather channel for Beaumont, but the chance of rain probably scared away some cars as well as the fans - so they called Friday's race. Also, there were only five, maybe six 360 cars that I came out. There should have been more. I don't know why more of the Gulf South cars did not come out and support the show - they should have and shame on those that could have. An extra five hundred was the determining factor for a couple of the cars that did come out. Maybe a couple extra hundred would have helped bring more "little" cars.?? As far as more 410 non wing cars, I think the purse has to be better to get more cars to travel this far (and no competing races, see below). Or maybe have some local sponsorship bump up the winner's take to attract more competitors. $5000 sounds a whole lot better than $3000. Hopefully this can be worked on for future events and not let this first low car count show be the last. And, here's a not so new idea. Don't schedule conflicting races, USAC, and also don't have any moronic rules about no-compete contracts. Let's advance and grow the sport, not limit and harness it. A lot of these guys race for a living - any compete clause takes money out of these guys' pockets. Let 'em race whenever and wherever they wish. Everyone should work together for the betterment of the sport."

Just my $.02

anyone that was there had to of left with a smile on their face and a non wing fan if they werent one already.. huge crowd and un their feet the last lap.. the car count was low but weather had alot to do with it.. there was 6 to 8 cars from the texas/oklahoma area commited to run TNT this weekend but after the rainout and iffy forecast they bailed to run closer to home. so the count realistically should have been mid 20s.. i think you will see a bigger turnout this weekend at the bowl and I30.. even a top usac guy is talking about heading to little rock after bloomington..
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I would be impressed with 18 cars. The weather in late April/early May is always shaky. Also I know up here (Canada) most fans have never seen non wing sprints, and wouldn't travel to see them, some wouldn't go to their local track if they were scheduled. People like winged cars "cuz they shiney", "and they flip".

We also suffer from the need for a passport (and therefore a clean record), to enter Canada (or for us to enter the USA). Last year the AVSS raced at Delaware, ON (as they have for several years), a week after the passport rule was enabled. 11 cars showed up. Not impressive to anyone involved. This year they are not returning. Regardless if you don't like Canadians, pavement and wings, that still sucks.

I've been planning to make this race at the Devils Bowl since I found out about it, but car count is important to me. Additionally, my budget is stressed and for the next two weekends, I'd like to go both nights for both weekends. I skipped going to races this week to help that cause. And from what I've heard about the races I didn't go to, I missed some good ones. Well as they say "_hit happens."
This weekend, I'm looking at TNT at DB, 60 miles one way ($15 for gas) and Sprint Series of Texas at Paris TX (125 miles one way, $25 in gas). Next weekend, USMTS an awesome traveling modified series is coming to Grand Prairie Speedway and Cowtown Speedway, both about 20 miles away. I don't want to miss any of these and probably won't but it's not going to be easy either.
I don't usually go to WoO sprint races because of the car count problem, but ASCS puts on much better races, often much closer to me, so I don't miss them. But non wing is something we don't get much of. The SST does 4-5 non winged races a year, but they are 305s. So I am glad to hear the small car count at Houston still put on a good race. But if it was strictly up to me, I'd rather see 30 360 non winged sprints than 18 410s.

I know there is alot of buzz around the midsouth area awaiting the return of real racecars to the 1/4 mile at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock.

If you believe in weather forecasts, this weekend looks to be a great one for racing in Mesquite and Little Rock. So with that outlook, the car counts should rebound. There won't be any excuses for the racers or fans this weekend. Hopefully both will show up 'en mass.

On a side note, here's to hoping Devil's Bowl doesn't claim as many cars as HRP did last weekend. There were 3, maybe 4 cars that had rearranged frames after Saturday's show (even though one of them ended up winning). One was completely junk. There are no small crashes at DB, so keep 'em wheels down guys!

That's what I'm hoping for this weekend. Yesterday I got tired of looking at my dirty car and had it washed. It rained just enough to get it dirty again yesterday afternoon. The car wash where I went offers a rain check but only on full service washes and naturally I only got the exterior washed.