Question is if a track had an open tire rule or just a durometer rule would you be more willing and likely to go run that track. Comparing that to the tracks and sanctioning bodies that have a 4 tire rule for one brand. I would like to hear driver and especially owner opinions, as the owner is the one paying the tire bill. As it was stated by someone on this site at one time, tires are one of the biggest expenses a car owner has when operating a race team. My opinion as a car owner/driver is I want to choose where I spend my money and decide which tire manufacturer gets my money based on the bang for the buck. I want the longest lasting best performing tire for my money. I would be more likely to run at tracks that have an open tire or durometer rule as to a track with a 4 tire rule. I want to try and keep this as an informative open discussion about what i think is an important topic in Indiana Dirt Sprint Car Racing and not a manufacture and sanctioning body bashing. I hope that track owners and promoter can tack this and make an informative decision when making and choosing to have a tire rule and listen to some of the car owners/drivers.
Originally Posted by Chris Baue:
" Longest lasting" and "best performing" usually aren't the same no matter what part of the car you talking about.
So Chris you pay for tires on a race car what is you opinion. Would you be more likely to run a track with an open tire or durometer rule over a 4 tire rule? I get what you are saying about Longer lasting and best performing but with an open tire rule I can choose what I want.
I feel that fortunate in that with a tq we can run what we want, wanna burn off a soft tire go for it etc. we're not bound by brand or compound either way. Although I will say most people run about the same thing and for the most part compound. The guys with the 10" wheels seem to lean towards Hoosier whereas 13" is most American racer. Seems to me that at the end of the day what works for your car may not suit anyone else's car, or it may. Granted we don't go through half as many tires as say a Usac team I would want to be able to run what I want to run. I know from a money standpoint that's not the best solution though. Open it up but make em run the same rr start to finish for the night unless it gets punctured.
Good thing we are getting closer to spring, and we can start talking about the racing. Now with this thread, we have officially hit on all of the topics that we always discuss during the off season.
Every track and every sanctioning body is looking for ways to increase their revenue. For the most part, when you have a one brand tire rule, you also have an official tire of the series. The tire company and the track will have some sort of financial agreement that benefits both groups. As long as all of the drivers have the ability to buy all of the same tires, I do not have a problem with the arrangement.
Originally Posted by hairracer44:
Question is if a track had an open tire rule or just a durometer rule would you be more willing and likely to go run that track. Comparing that to the tracks and sanctioning bodies that have a 4 tire rule for one brand. I would like to hear driver and especially owner opinions, as the owner is the one paying the tire bill. As it was stated by someone on this site at one time, tires are one of the biggest expenses a car owner has when operating a race team. My opinion as a car owner/driver is I want to choose where I spend my money and decide which tire manufacturer gets my money based on the bang for the buck. I want the longest lasting best performing tire for my money. I would be more likely to run at tracks that have an open tire or durometer rule as to a track with a 4 tire rule. I want to try and keep this as an informative open discussion about what i think is an important topic in Indiana Dirt Sprint Car Racing and not a manufacture and sanctioning body bashing. I hope that track owners and promoter can tack this and make an informative decision when making and choosing to have a tire rule and listen to some of the car owners/drivers.
As the one who buys the tires (and everything else on the car) there are more important considerations than tires when in comes to deciding where to race. Location, purse, and just generally feeling appreciated for supporting a certain track/organization are prime considerations for us. As far as the rules it is my opinion that if you are going to have a tire rule the easiest way to enforce is to mandate a certain tire. I'm not convinced that the durometer readings can be consistent enough to use as an objective measure. I would rather race under no tire rules than durometer rules.
Originally Posted by hairracer44:
So Chris you pay for tires on a race car what is you opinion. Would you be more likely to run a track with an open tire or durometer rule over a 4 tire rule? I get what you are saying about Longer lasting and best performing but with an open tire rule I can choose what I want.
If I wanted to race at a certain track bad enough I would follow their rules.
I dont like tire rules. Its in the owners decision to go or not go. Ive figured out if guys want race they race no matter cost. If they were racing for bolonga sandwiches wouldnt matter.
I don't have any dog in the fight other than not really wanting to go to shows with less than three heats, hopefully a consi so nobody's safe and a feature of the main class.
That being said, Here is what I don't get. They mandate a brand, Then the hardness. OK, It's a Hoosier Medium. Ok, There is five teams that maybe can afford to slap a new Hoosier Medium on. They'll probably win if the tire last.
There's 25 teams that can't afford a new tire or two every night. In fact, If they could put a hardness on that would last five, six, seven nights, That team would be back next week and the week after just by saving that $$ for fuel for both the hauler and the car.
So why isn't the harder compounds allowed? I could then use my Hoosier Medium to make about 5 heats and transfer and a harder compound to run several features.. That way at least Im getting something back over tow money.
I think WoO and Allstars both have the choice of three hardness's and the LM's do too as I often hear them say, Well such and such choose the sofer and I picked medium and mine didn't come in till about 15 laps.
Im not a fan of the tire rules period. Nowhere do I see em helping the sport.
