Sprints at Montpelier Speedway

6/23/08, 9:33 PM

The Montpelier Speedway is thinking about runing sprints weekly. $500 to win $100 to start the feature everyone starts the feature. If there is any Sprints cars that would come just call the track promoter Tim tygart @ 1-765-419-4444 Is there any input on this good or bad

Dwight Clock · 6/23/08, 9:42 PM

I would love to see an Indiana track north of Indianapolis run sprints weekly. And I am happy that Montpelier is considering it. I am not sure, however, that a Paragon type deal would work there. First, they would be in competition with Waynesfield for cars on a Saturday night. Waynesfield pays a better purse, is not too far from Indiana, but only runs non wing sprints bi-weekly. Secondly, area sprint racers can run twice weekly for a higher purse at Gas City and Kokomo without travelling to Ohio or running at Montpelier for less money. I wish them luck and I would support it as a fan. I am just not sure that there would be enough support to keep it going. JMO.

BrianBSU23 · 6/23/08, 11:31 PM

As a fan, I will support about anything the track wants to try at this point because they are working so hard and because it is so improved.

I know it is tough to turn a profit in this day and age at the track and being scared of the larger purse may be a concern, but sprint cars are going to bring a much larger fan base and crowd so they should help revenues (even the mini sprints brought a large crowd). Maybe at this time schedule a few select sprint shows on smart nights where there is not much competition for cars across the state would be more productive overall financially and car count wise? I think Gas City and Kokomo's focus on sprint cars have been large part of their success.

Overall, everyone involved with track have done a great job!

hoosier race fan · 6/24/08, 10:18 AM

It might be a good idea to run sprints for a few specials this year and try to get some feedback about running them next year on a regular basis. Pick out a couple good dates for this year and see what kind of response you get. I don't think using a purse like Paragon has will work in this area, mainly because the number of sprint car teams around here is far less than what there is around Paragon. And like Dwight said, most people won't bother to come to Montpelier for half as much money when they can just run Gas City and Kokomo. Some good dates for this season to give it a shot might be August 23, when there are no sprints at Waynesfield or Lawrenceburg and no USAC race, and September 6th, which is the night of the World 100 when most of your regular stock car fans will go to Eldora. To make up for the loss of fans going there, bring in the sprint car fans. Tim probably doesn't read any of these message boards, but I hope he knows a lot of people think he is making a great effort and really improving things at Montpelier.

The late model show this weekend should be a good one. It would be great if they got a good turnout and start thinking about running late models more in the future.

6/23/08, 9:33 PM	#1 Sprints at Montpelier Speedway
dvan Posts: n/a	The Montpelier Speedway is thinking about runing sprints weekly. $500 to win $100 to start the feature everyone starts the feature. If there is any Sprints cars that would come just call the track promoter Tim tygart @ 1-765-419-4444 Is there any input on this good or bad

6/23/08, 9:42 PM	#2 Re: Sprints at Montpelier Speedway
Dwight Clock Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 1,233	I would love to see an Indiana track north of Indianapolis run sprints weekly. And I am happy that Montpelier is considering it. I am not sure, however, that a Paragon type deal would work there. First, they would be in competition with Waynesfield for cars on a Saturday night. Waynesfield pays a better purse, is not too far from Indiana, but only runs non wing sprints bi-weekly. Secondly, area sprint racers can run twice weekly for a higher purse at Gas City and Kokomo without travelling to Ohio or running at Montpelier for less money. I wish them luck and I would support it as a fan. I am just not sure that there would be enough support to keep it going. JMO.

6/23/08, 11:31 PM	#3 Re: Sprints at Montpelier Speedway
BrianBSU23 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 618	As a fan, I will support about anything the track wants to try at this point because they are working so hard and because it is so improved. I know it is tough to turn a profit in this day and age at the track and being scared of the larger purse may be a concern, but sprint cars are going to bring a much larger fan base and crowd so they should help revenues (even the mini sprints brought a large crowd). Maybe at this time schedule a few select sprint shows on smart nights where there is not much competition for cars across the state would be more productive overall financially and car count wise? I think Gas City and Kokomo's focus on sprint cars have been large part of their success. Overall, everyone involved with track have done a great job!

6/24/08, 10:18 AM	#4 Re: Sprints at Montpelier Speedway
hoosier race fan Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 628	It might be a good idea to run sprints for a few specials this year and try to get some feedback about running them next year on a regular basis. Pick out a couple good dates for this year and see what kind of response you get. I don't think using a purse like Paragon has will work in this area, mainly because the number of sprint car teams around here is far less than what there is around Paragon. And like Dwight said, most people won't bother to come to Montpelier for half as much money when they can just run Gas City and Kokomo. Some good dates for this season to give it a shot might be August 23, when there are no sprints at Waynesfield or Lawrenceburg and no USAC race, and September 6th, which is the night of the World 100 when most of your regular stock car fans will go to Eldora. To make up for the loss of fans going there, bring in the sprint car fans. Tim probably doesn't read any of these message boards, but I hope he knows a lot of people think he is making a great effort and really improving things at Montpelier. The late model show this weekend should be a good one. It would be great if they got a good turnout and start thinking about running late models more in the future.