Plymouth Speedway (Indiana)
For got to post this last night after the Plymouth Speedway 2014 banquet.
This was announced during the banquet:
Track is looking at possibly starting a spec engine sprint car division. From what I under stand they cut a deal with GM on an engine that cost $5,200 max. Their going to have a few cars built for demonstration at the track. When I talk to them they reiterated this will not be a CRATE engine period. The cost is getting to high. Wolfgang made an interesting comment saying years ago the payout was the same as today but the cost was 1/10th of what it is now and you actually had a great chance at making a bit of money and he liked their idea and the thought that was put into this. Was said they would like to give people the chance to race a sprint car with out the outrageous cost of one and the insane engine prices of today.
What are your thoughts on this idea?
-
Hope this works out for them. They had some very good things to say at the banquet and the no quit effort is there. The animated pictures they showed at the banquet of what Ed Kennedy would like the track to look like when new grandstands are done along with the rest of the construction projects it kind of looked like a 1/4 mile Knoxville except with a bit more banking. The new clay is super tacky (I've seen it) and absolutely NOT like the surface was last year. You could throw the new clay and it would stick like glue. As a fan and UMP Modified pit crew guy I appreciate the effort Ed and his staff at Plymouth Speedway have put into the track and hope he is there for a long time to come.
2024 Season: Race 1 - April 20th Brownstown (Crate LM). Unlike many I don't discriminate on what racing I choose to watch.
Originally Posted by 69racer:
That is just the cost of the engine. That doesn't include converting over to being sprint car ready. What is that cost?
Don't know the exact cost but when asked about this it was said they would like it to be cheaper then the new Racesaver 305 Wing class at Bloomington and it's the same class as the one racing at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario, Canada. They didn't say if the new division would be Wing or Non-Wing.
2024 Season: Race 1 - April 20th Brownstown (Crate LM). Unlike many I don't discriminate on what racing I choose to watch.
From what I've seen and heard, Ohsweken IS a crate motor, and they are way more $$$ than that to be race ready.
That been said, I was quite impressed with just how well the show 'looked'. It would have been spectacular if they had gone non-wing.
My two biggest expenses its diesel fuel for the truck and tires for the car. Too many people are convinced that engines and shocks are what's wrong with racing. The price of everything has went up and the pay out hasn't changed. The answer is not cheap under horse powered engines racing for $500 to win and $100 to start. I spent the same amount to race every night running my 360 as it did my 410.
Donny Schatz and Ron Shaver has been pushing this for years and have yet to gain traction with it. If I remember correctly, he ran it in an All Star race and was competitive with it. How much do the fans want to hear a screaming 410 or a crate engine? There are so many different ways you can go with this argument. Hell, get rid of the single tire provider rule and see what happens to tire prices. Just have a durameter hardness rule. Bet the tracks and some sanctioning bodies would screen bloody murder. Would love to see American Racer back on sprint cars. Back in the day we had three choices and that was great. Sorry, went a bit off topic.
The WOW series in Oklahoma has been gaining traction. Their rules are pretty simple. No wings. 360 ci max, 2 barrel carb (not a 15-2000 injection), spec IMCA heads, no cockipit adjustable stuff, Guys are winning with supposedly 7-8000 under the hood.
