Thank You Kokomo & XRS Late Mo

DirtTrackTherapy16J · 6/13/23, 12:00 AM

I'm sure alot of people on here are not exactly stock car fans. However I seen the best race I've seen all year with my own set of eyes. What a battle at Kokomo tonight between eventual winner Hudson O'Neal, Brandon Sheppard, and Bobby Pierce!!

Thank You Kokomo Speedway for having the race and everything being top notch like always. XRS Late Model Series thank you for coming to Kokomo again this year. One heck of a show for $100K to win that was a cheaper gate price then any shows outside of a regular show at a local track.

The car count was in the upper 50s and the bleachers both front stretch and back stretch were packed with checkered flag flying at 10:49EST!! Racing needs nights like tonight now more then ever!! Also great announcement made tonight that the XRS Late Model Series will be coming back to Kokomo in 2024!!

tdt636 · 6/13/23, 5:52 PM

42 latemodels...every big name was there

flagboy55 · 6/13/23, 6:11 PM

The gate price really struck me. In my opinion, that means the XR series has a big revenue deal behind it.

Grocery Guy · 6/13/23, 7:29 PM

I arrived at 6:10pm and there was no parking left to the north of the track. People finally started parking in the recycling plant parking lot. Feature time only the bottom three rows had empty seats. Show ran as fast as it could with very little down time. End of the feature when the leaders got into lapped traffic was worth the price of admission alone. 5 guys under a blanket. I thought Bobby Pierce was gonna try a Ross Chastain move with 3 laps to go. He hammered that top side!

XR Super Series seems to be the mystery series. As you say, everyone speculates on who is funding this series. Clearly their big paying races are driving big streaming numbers.

They announced a 2024 Kokomo date: July 13th They mentioned last night that date being part of an "all-star" weekend. Didn't mention any other divisions or weekend dates. Time will tell.

DirtTrackTherapy16J · 6/13/23, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdt636

42 latemodels...every big name was there

My bad on the car count, I was told by one of the owners 57, regardless still good car count, thanks for the clarification. Also good to know a full date, back stretch speakers have an issue, all we could hear was they are coming back in 2024.

Jackslash.com · 6/14/23, 1:05 AM

XR paid a $100k to win Late Model feature and nearly sold Kokomo out on a Monday night.

Right in the backyard of Sprint Car country.

XR has its own streaming network, promotional and marketing team, and in house tech and officiating group. All dirt track diehards.

XR loves Nonwing Sprint Cars

✌🏽😎✌🏽

767 · 6/14/23, 7:10 AM

With that type of racing and a big purse, Kokomo could become a crown jewel event.

flagboy55 · 6/14/23, 8:40 AM

Some interesting takeaways here. Jackslash’s comment for one. We could only wish that he gets involved with the XR team and perhaps guides them into a big money wingless Sprint Car race. Some on here I know would probably call to complain about the noise if fenders were racing across the street, but but that race was a dandy. $25 bucks to get into a $100,000 to win dirt track race. Did that help what was a very good crowd? I challenge us to duplicate that crowd at ISW. Did a huge Late Model race at Eldora contribute to the attendance? And during the broadcast, one of the announcers commented about Kokomo being known as a Sprint Car track, and said it looks like a Late Model track to him. Kokomo is a great racetrack! But apparently he’s never seen Sprints there. Just some observations

WinglessLovers · 6/14/23, 8:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flagboy55

The gate price really struck me. In my opinion, that means the XR series has a big revenue deal behind it.

Yes, XR series must have a big revenue deal behind it, either legal or illegal!! Even with that good crowd and good field that needed much more to cover that purse!!

Many fans around me who were late model fans were amazed by the racing at Kokomo. I told them that when you have a good race track you can run anything on it and have a great show. One guy next to my wife said it was the best late model show he had ever seen!!! We thought it was good to very good but we have seen better ourselves here.

Bruce Eckel

hoosier race fan · 6/14/23, 12:06 PM

XR has backed off of their ambitious schedule from 2022 and gone with a more conservative series of races for 2023. Payouts have been very good with a couple of $100K to win races already and another at the end of the year. It sounds like they are planning to have one big race or race weekend a month in 2024 with a $100K to win race early (Bulls Gap), in the summer (Kokomo), and at the end of the season (All Tech). At least one race a month is enough to keep their streaming subscribers happy while also not creating a lot of conflict with the other national late model tours.

That model could possibly work for adding an XR Traditional Sprint Car Series. Similar to what Dirtcar/WRG tried with the Xtreme Series last year. Keep it simple with one race or race weekend per month. Choose the dates carefully and pay well. Just like DirtVision, they can get subscribers from the non-wing fan base and increase their subscription numbers.

Avoiding conflicts with USAC would be important. They could probably attract some good teams and fans would support it if dates are chosen carefully. Finding the right tracks would also be key. That has been important for the late models this year with good races at Bulls Gap and Kokomo.