Larson says add starters, Sweet says no. I recall Willie Davis and Gary B. having a starter on their USAC sprint car back in the day. Speed up the show? Add too much weight? Too much cost? Millennials not sprint fans due to cars not being able to start without a push? Will time sensitive broadcasting demand starters? What other Pros and Cons exist out in online sprint car land?https://www.floracing.com/video/1092...weet-disagrees
Originally Posted by Will Shunk:
Larson says add starters, Sweet says no. I recall Willie Davis and Gary B. having a starter on their USAC sprint car back in the day. Speed up the show? Add too much weight? Too much cost? Millennials not sprint fans due to cars not being able to start without a push? Will time sensitive broadcasting demand starters? What other Pros and Cons exist out in online sprint car land?https://www.floracing.com/video/1092...weet-disagrees
ACTUALLY, Gary Bettenhausen had a starter on the car HE built, owned and drove (#99) not on the car that Willie Davis built and owned and Gary drove(#24,1,2). Gary said he put a starter on the car because USUALLY it was just him working on the car and he could start it and load it on the trailer by himself.
Starters, depends on what you want. Do you want the sport to possibly grow with more television coverage and younger fans? If so, starters are a must. If tradition is more important and keep the sport as it is, a niche sport, then no starters. I am fine with it as is but no way it grows in a big way with all the dead time.
Originally Posted by The55:
Starters, depends on what you want. Do you want the sport to possibly grow with more television coverage and younger fans? If so, starters are a must. If tradition is more important and keep the sport as it is, a niche sport, then no starters. I am fine with it as is but no way it grows in a big way with all the dead time.
This is bunk IMHO, With a good push truck team. You're losing nothing in time.
Sheesh, Go to eldora as soon as the last car is off the track the next heat is pushed off. Lined up within a lap and green the second.
Originally Posted by The55:
I am fine with it as is but no way it grows in a big way with all the dead time.
I think that this is the jist of the thread here. The show will more than likely needed to be sped up to draw more fans in.
Starters being tabled is an option. A good push truck crew is another option. What other options do we have? Throw them out there, IOW fans.
Without taking the thread off into Never-Never Land, I'll put this on the table: Pill draw beforehand for heat starting positions. No qualifying. Use passing points. The key here though is that you have to bring the fans up to speed real quickly and properly to keep them abreast of how passing points work and where every driver stands in points after their heat. Without that it would be like watching a basketball game and not knowing the score as the game progressed.
Me? I am fine the way it is, but I also understand that I have a lot of race watching miles under my belt and know the way it works.
But I also don't carry a phone so that leaves me out of mainstream America.
Chiming in live from the West Coast of Michigan.... Mike
I am old. Push trucks don't bother me, but don't see the downside to not having them. I don't know that the technology is there for starters to be effective. If it makes the show faster, I think that is a good thing. Tuesday's race was a good example of how 2 push classes, can be really slow. That is why I am skipping the Midget week races that add a third class. 2 push classes make for a long enough night. I am sure there were people who thought when sprints went from a pull rope to a push truck, it was the end of the world. Same thing with roll cages.
