Indiana Open Wheel - Terre Haute Action Track Racing Sunday May 3rd

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I for one am just glad the gates are open @ THAT this Racing Season.

And Bloomington had 19 305's

There certainly were some head scratcher moments last night. Seemed to be complete lack of organization. Most appalling though was no 🇺🇸 on the grounds. I’ve never been anywhere and stood for the National Anthem with no flag on premises. Bizarre.

Re: Terre Haute Action Track Racing Sunday May 3rd

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJlives (Post 573807)

And Bloomington had 19 305's

Which kinda proves my point. All your doing is diluting the Headliner class.

A sprint car is a sprint car. Run what you brung and improve your ability and equipment as you go.

There was an American flag behind the grandstand. It wasn’t that big and was easily missed from where I was in the infield. It would have been impossible to see from the grandstands, but was present at least.

Re: Terre Haute Action Track Racing Sunday May 3rd

Quote:

Originally Posted by RACrappieman (Post 573811)

Oh. Do you mean the one right outside the restrooms behind the grandstands? I didn’t notice (because I didn’t look) but yes there is one there. There used to be one on one of the flagpoles in the infield. Again. A head scratcher for sure.

On a positive note, the ice cream was outstanding…even with all the dust in it. 😳

Re: Terre Haute Action Track Racing Sunday May 3rd

The Flag Pole in the infield had a rigging issue, and it was not something we found until the day off. We used the flag pole behind the grandstands. The rigging is being repaired but just wasn't something that was a quick fix. We apologize for the lack of the infield flag, and assure you it will be there for the next race.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mud Packer (Post 573801)

If they plan on running Sunday evenings, then they'll have to make changes in order to correct the low attendance and car count. Like a number of tracks that we attend, there was never a sense of urgency to move the program along. They certainly didn't take too long for any track prep. A touch up was fine but I'm sure some fans weren't happy with the dust blowing into the grandstands.

We attended this event and also the Amati 68 on Saturday night at Paragon. We came away asking ourselves what exactly happened at both tracks with how the events were officiated. Strange events took place and the announcers were absolutely clueless in explaining anything. When the track announcer tells you what just happened and how they are going to "fix" it, then somehow that doesn't happen, is it any wonder why fans don't come back since it seems someone got the shaft with how it was handled?

It didn't matter to me since I wasn't there supporting just one driver. However, it would have been interesting to hear the explanation back in the pits afterwards. But with a long distance trip ahead and the frustration of starting late, plus more races to follow, we packed up and headed for the exits.

More concerning to me seems to be the numbers. Friday night 9 sprint cars at Bloomington with no other competition other than USAC at Eldora. Saturday night only 16 cars for the biggest show as well as decent paying at Paragon and Sunday night only 21 cars with no competition close by. Interesting times ahead.

Racing history tells us how midget racing nearly died from oversaturation of the product. Sadly I think we are seeing the same with sprint cars. This also leads to the diminished prestige of special events and premier series.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dirtfan (Post 573821)

Thank You.

God bless America 🇺🇸

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charles Nungester (Post 573810)

Which kinda proves my point. All your doing is diluting the Headliner class.

Not necessarily in all cases. Anyone who's raced for any length of time knows there are two price levels: the price to show up and take part, and the price to be competitive. These two price points are VASTLY different. We race a 305 because the price to be competitive is substantially lower than it is with a 410, wing or non-wing. I can somewhat afford to put a competitive 305 on track (equipment-wise anyway, our driver's skill level is another story...), but have zero chance to do so currently with a 410. Showing up to ride around in the back of a 410 race with old tires and 150 hp down on the front-runners holds no interest whatsoever for me. If the 305 series didn't exist, our team wouldn't be running a 410. We probably would have already quit altogether and moved on to other projects away from dirt racing.

Re: Terre Haute Action Track Racing Sunday May 3rd

Quote:

Originally Posted by JWolfarth60 (Post 573835)

I totally get that.

What I don't get is why there are 305 Racesaver. 305 unlimited. 360 ASCS. 360 unlimited. Steel Block Sprints. Throw back sprintsfx 602 and 604 crates.

One thing for sure, There isn't enough each year entering 410's to replace those we're losing and I'm quite aware that's it's moved beyond most families ability to Run regularly.

I don't know what the answer is. But if tracks made a Hard RR Mandatory. some of these 360s and crates wouldn't be two second slower.