If a sprint car driver, especially a wingless sprint car driver, is really good he almost always moves up the racing totem pole to where the money and fame is. Just take inventory of the how many really great drivers that have left sprint car racing the past 25 years or so because they earned the opportunity to make the big bucks and be on live national TV well over 30 weekends a year.

If all or most of those drivers had stayed in open wheel short track racing the racing landscape in regards to drivers and the popularity of sprint car racing would be vastly different. Kinser, Sammy, Darland and Hewitt among others, are good examples of guys who stayed racing sprint cars and how popular they were in the sprint car ranks.

Very few dirt late model drivers have made the transition up the racing totem pole over the same 25 year time period. I remember well when Billy Moyer and Scott Bloomquist, arguably the biggest 2 names in dirt late model racing were the youngsters and here we are 30 years later and they are still the 2 biggest marque names. Neither ever really had a shot at the big time.

Dirt track open wheel racing has been a feeder system for NASCAR for a long time and still is to a certain extent. Dirt late model racing, not nearly so much. It's been fun over the years to watch guys like Kenny Schrader, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, JJ Yeley, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson go to NASCAR and win a bunch of races and championships. Christopher Bell and Rico are beginning to make their move towards the money and fame, as well. The vacuum those guys left opened the door for youngsters to move into sprint car racing but it took time for the name recognition to become reality.

Again, how different would the open wheel racing landscape be if all those guys had not got the chance to move up the ladder and spent their entire driving careers in short track open wheel cars? Quite a bit, I reckon.

Most of the big name dirt late model drivers have, or will, end their career's in dirt late models which has bred decades of familiarity and rivalries which probably has had an impact on popularity.

Somehow that does not surprise me one bit. You 'MIGHT' have had a better chance if it was still Winston Cup vice Sprint Cup, fish. They hear "Sprint" and the ears tune out.

But yes..... try explaining sprint cars or late models to a non-race fan and they tend to look at you like a deer looking at headlights. Not only are we fans these days, we have to be promoters of the sport.

A lot of interesting posts. Ultimately, for me, there is no problem with spin the car racing. It's the fans that like late models more. I grew up in one of 2 spots in Indiana where late model were king. I have been to a ton of lm races, and I love them. But all things equal, travel, cost, etc, anyone that would go to a late model race before a sprint car race, needs to reevaluate why you go to the races at all.

"But all things equal, travel, cost, etc, anyone that would go to a late model race before a sprint car race, needs to reevaluate why you go to the races at all."

That really is an unfair statement to make. Ive seen hundreds of amazing and great Late Model races. Ive seen hundreds of great Sprint Car races. Hell, ive seen hundreds of great Modified, and Street Stock races. Not sure that anyone has the right to tell me to reevaluate my fandom...

If its three wide racing, passing everywhere, and cars coming from the back to win, im going to love the hell out of it. Thats what makes this sport great.

Chris, I always appreciate your opinion. I was stirring the pot a little. But seriously in my opinion, a sprint car is the ultimate dirt track machine. Nothing takes you closer to the edge. And isn't racing a balance on the edge?
That said, your comments are always done tastefully even when in disagreement

I am above all a sprint car fan. Nothing against late models, but I spend enough money on sprint cars. I will agree that there are more late models nation wide, it seems to me like that number is slowly shrinking. Not too long ago big late model races like the World 100 would get over 200 cars. Some nights of the Hell Tour didn't have full fields. Still good racing and I can understand why people enjoy them.

As a crew guy, I hate working on Late Models. There is so much body work in the way it takes twice as long to do even the simplest tasks as it does on a Sprint Car or even a Modified. Cost and time of dealing with the body work alone is off-putting for me.

As a fan I've seen great races with about every possible variant of car out there and I consistently get a better experience from non-wing sprint cars than I do any other racecar, but both will put on a great show when they are in their element.

as a fan of both and been to over a thousand sprint and a thousand lm event's I look at it this way....I get to see a lot more racetracks.

Being from the area of The Land O' Lincoln & crooked politicians where if it isn't a dirt late model it doesn't really exist the choices are very limited.

We grew up going to stock car/dirt late model races because that is all there was in regards to weekly shows after 1970 when Fairbury American Legion Speedway in Fairbury, IL dropped sprint cars/super modifieds on a weekly basis. For that reason stock cars/dirt late models were our first love.

However, when our discretionary income finally reached a point that we could afford to expand our racing horizon's beyond Fairbury, Kankakee, La Salle, et al, and the dirt lates they run/ran exclusively we found out there was something faster and much more exciting. No disrespect intended toward the dirt lates, their drivers and fans and we still go to a couple of the bigger DLM shows every season.

But, after we saw the light what really gets our heart pumpin, is watching midgets, wingless 410 sprinters and Silver Crown cars back 'em in on a dirt track!

I love late models, always have and always will. They will always be a favorite of mine having grown up going to Montpelier, which ran them weekly until the mid-90's. But living in northern Indiana, I rarely ever get to see them locally any more. I also really enjoy sprints, both winged and traditional. I loved watching them as I got older at Gas City and Kokomo. I am a huge fan of Modifieds, Super Stock, Street Stock, Bomber, and just about any class that runs at my local dirt track. I'll watch NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, and just about anything I can find on tv that is in that wheelhouse. Honestly, I just freakin' love racing, period.

In my opinion, great racing is influenced a lot more by the track itself. This year, I went to Fairbury for a late model show. It was outstanding. One of the best tracks I've ever been to. I also went to a sprint show at Kokomo, and it was also outstanding. Those two tracks are very similar, and both put on an incredible show. What really helped me see how similar they were was the late model feature at the Kokomo Klash. It was almost exactly the same, tremendous race as what I saw at Fairbury. The only difference was Weaver held on for the win at Fairbury. Great racing in all classes is possible at a great track, and there are many of them right before our eyes.

The only problem is, some people can't see over the end of their nose to know that there are some really good races in classes other than the one they are primarily there to see. Our society has become so specialized and opinionated that we often don't even see the greatness of many things around us. That's ok though, I'll be the guy there to enjoy all of it.