Re: I can't make it to Haubstadt..
 

Paragon Speedway 35 Sprint cars for the Johnson Memorial

Re: I can't make it to Haubstadt..
 

The midgets alone were worth the $20 admission fee!

Re: I can't make it to Haubstadt..
 

I didn't say it was the best race of the night, only related what Ballou said in his interview. Understand that.

Re: I can't make it to Haubstadt..
 

Originally Posted by Flatrightrear:
I didn't say it was the best race of the night, only related what Ballou said in his interview. Understand that.

You need to get out more. Review your posts and see what I mean. Understand that.

I am a fan, period. I'm glad all tracks had a good night last night, good nights keep the doors open and gives us all choices. I thought the racing at TSS was great. If, however if I was a promoter last night might give me pause. Helfrich posted a $5000 to win $250 to start race for non-wing sprint cars and 17 sprint cars signed into the back gate. Like the impression or not, this is a signal of a lack of support from the sprint car teams. One complaint that seems to be consistent with drivers is that purses need to be higher. This track posts a very good purse and his reward is a weak back gate. Honestly, as a promoter I would be hard pressed to take seriously any complaints focused on purse. Why offer a good purse if the drivers don't support the race? I am disappointed, not in the racing nor the car count (car count did not hurt the quality of the racing), but in the lack of support by race teams for a well paying event. If you want higher purses, support them when they are scheduled.

Re: I can't make it to Haubstadt..
 

Originally Posted by Jerry Shaw:
We definitely saw a great race, last night. But, I guess for some people, seeing a great race isn't enough. They feel like they need to also tear other people's races down. Ones they didn't even see. I've never understood that.

Jerry

I remember one of my old college professors talking about that. He said it was because they had certain 'insecurities'. He explained it a little more, but I can't remember what else he said. I was daydreaming about being at a race.:D

Re: I can't make it to Haubstadt..
 

Originally Posted by SoIllSprinter:
I am a fan, period. I'm glad all tracks had a good night last night, good nights keep the doors open and gives us all choices. I thought the racing at TSS was great. If, however if I was a promoter last night might give me pause. Helfrich posted a $5000 to win $250 to start race for non-wing sprint cars and 17 sprint cars signed into the back gate. Like the impression or not, this is a signal of a lack of support from the sprint car teams. One complaint that seems to be consistent with drivers is that purses need to be higher. This track posts a very good purse and his reward is a weak back gate. Honestly, as a promoter I would be hard pressed to take seriously any complaints focused on purse. Why offer a good purse if the drivers don't support the race? I am disappointed, not in the racing nor the car count (car count did not hurt the quality of the racing), but in the lack of support by race teams for a well paying event. If you want higher purses, support them when they are scheduled.

I sat with a driver who races full time and maintains his own car about a month ago. The field was loaded with talent, and it paid 1400 to win. He told me " people say we need to race for more money, but what is the incentive when more people run the lower paying shows?"

Re: I can't make it to Haubstadt..
 

If you look at what LM racing has become. Two touring series with big purses and a few tracks survive on barely a full car count or less and several that used to be weekly only running a couple specials in a year. Six tracks having over 15 cars is pretty remarkable.

CN, I understand your point, but again how will purses rise if this is the support a high purse attracts? I know this week could have been an anomaly with so many tracks running sprints and Belleville taking others, but teams are setting a poor precedent for higher purses by not supporting any track that puts this type of show together. I believe to maintain teams in this sport we are going to have to see purses rise somewhat on a weekly basis, but I honestly no longer see the incentive to the promoter. I wish this was an isolated incident, but TSS is rarely overwhelmed for their high purse or significant shows with cars in the pits. I have made most big shows at TSS and am always kind of disappointed in the support of the teams. As an example, you would think the $10000 show in the fall would have the pits stuffed, but they will be lucky to draw 30 teams. I am not trying to be critical, I know it is difficult to fund and run a team, I am just bewildered and a little worried. The tin tops drew well (real well) at Haub and the rumor is more shows for them in the future. More dates for late models mean less dates for sprint cars and, selfishly, less enjoyment for me.

Re: I can't make it to Haubstadt..
 

Originally Posted by SoIllSprinter:
CN, I understand your point, but again how will purses rise if this is the support a high purse attracts? I know this week could have been an anomaly with so many tracks running sprints and Belleville taking others, but teams are setting a poor precedent for higher purses by not supporting any track that puts this type of show together. I believe to maintain teams in this sport we are going to have to see purses rise somewhat on a weekly basis, but I honestly no longer see the incentive to the promoter. I wish this was an isolated incident, but TSS is rarely overwhelmed for their high purse or significant shows with cars in the pits. I have made most big shows at TSS and am always kind of disappointed in the support of the teams. As an example, you would think the $10000 show in the fall would have the pits stuffed, but they will be lucky to draw 30 teams. I am not trying to be critical, I know it is difficult to fund and run a team, I am just bewildered and a little worried. The tin tops drew well (real well) at Haub and the rumor is more shows for them in the future. More dates for late models mean less dates for sprint cars and, selfishly, less enjoyment for me.

I personally would like to thank TSS an MSC for putting on the higher paying shows around Indiana. even tho there may not be an overwhelming number of race cars the payout does reflect the quality of racing for the evening. not all tracks need the back gate to foot the entire purse as the front gate , especially at TSS,:8: is spectacular. you may think that the payout is excessive and high at TSS last night but most of us believe the payout is not enough at the other tracks that we are racing in relation to what is spent to field a team and sprint car.. and on another note most teams go to where " they" feel they can pick up the most cash at the payout window..
again thanks to all of the tracks and all purses are appreciated

I think the payout is more than appropriate, the response by race teams was underwhelming. I wish all races could pay teams their worth. My point is when a race with this level of payout is not supported by the race teams it has to give promoter's a pause. BTW if this is the Short racing team, thank you for your attendance and for your competitive fire. Last night was one heck of a drive and your season has been outstanding.

Maybe MSCS needs to look at how they are doing things to attract more cars to run their series. The first thing is to look at the BOSS series and see how they are doing things. One of their things that they do is they don't run at one track more than twice during the season. So if you don't run good at Haubstadt then why would you follow the series. They also have no tire rules and heat race awards. For me and the people I go with we want to see the heat races mean something and they have to transfer out, so you have to have 25-30 cars to make it a good program. We used to go down to Haubstadt all the time but now we aren't going to travel all that way to see two heats and a feature. MSCS relies to much on the USAC guys to fill their fields. It seemed like when the series started they had more followers and now it's just a secondary USAC series.

MSCS heats mean something, passing points! No one wants to start in the back.

Re: I can't make it to Haubstadt..
 

If the BOSS owners owned a track I bet they'd run there more than twice a year.

Re: I can't make it to Haubstadt..
 

Originally Posted by Flatrightrear:
If the BOSS owners owned a track I bet they'd run there more than twice a year.

Oh but he does. a dirt outlaw kart track :)

I only just started going to sprint car races last summer, but when I do I always get a pit pass so I can talk with the drivers. I can safely say that more than a few drivers don't really like the way MSCS is ran. So much so that some drivers won't show up at a MSCS show unless its co-sanctioned by USAC. That could explain why so low a car count. I know I didn't go because its like a 3 hour drive for me to get there then 3 back, that could be another reason.

Re: I can't make it to Haubstadt..
 

What's funny to me is you have a thread about a race. Mainly it contains posts by people who were there, talking about what a great race they were lucky enough to see. Then, the last half of the thread is polluted by people who weren't even there, trying to tear the event and the people who ran it, down. Those are the type of people who tear this sport apart. The ones who make all this racing possible are the same ones that you see at all these races, whether they're USAC or MSCS or POWRI or KISS or BOSS or whatever. Those are the ones who appreciate just how lucky we are to have all of these great racing organizations, putting on big events within driving distance for most of us to go see. People from the second group are the ones that I seek out to watch these races with and consider my second family, when I'm out there traveling from race to race. The others, I just say hi to and get the hell away from before the racing gets started.

Jerry

Re: I can't make it to Haubstadt..
 

Originally Posted by Andretti18fan:
I only just started going to sprint car races last summer, but when I do I always get a pit pass so I can talk with the drivers. I can safely say that more than a few drivers don't really like the way MSCS is ran. So much so that some drivers won't show up at a MSCS show unless its co-sanctioned by USAC. That could explain why so low a car count. I know I didn't go because its like a 3 hour drive for me to get there then 3 back, that could be another reason.

Dude You're breaking my heart about a 3 hour drive. I can name you at least 6 people from this site that drives 6 hours round trip every weekend to a race unless Haubstadt is racing. I am reading this stuff after just getting home from another 6 hour rounder to Bellville IL for POWRI so don't even use its to far. Seems a lot of drivers scare away from a high purse cuz it brings out the big dogs and they don't think they can run with them Guess they want to be the big fish in the small pond By the way the PowrI show was AWSOME :8:

Originally Posted by Jerry Shaw:
What's funny to me is you have a thread about a race. Mainly it contains posts by people who were there, talking about what a great race they were lucky enough to see. Then, the last half of the thread is polluted by people who weren't even there, trying to tear the event and the people who ran it, down. Those are the type of people who tear this sport apart. The ones who make all this racing possible are the same ones that you see at all these races, whether they're USAC or MSCS or POWRI or KISS or BOSS or whatever. Those are the ones who appreciate just how lucky we are to have all of these great racing organizations, putting on big events within driving distance for most of us to go see. People from the second group are the ones that I seek out to watch these races with and consider my second family, when I'm out there traveling from race to race. The others, I just say hi to and get the hell away from before the racing gets started.

Jerry

I'm sure it was a good race, few people brought up car count concerns they had with event and discussed that.

I have been registered for this site for at least 10 years. I rarely post and now I remember why. I was at Haub, I am almost always. I also support and make at least 1 trip a year to the other tracks in Indiana that run sprints. I think I asked a valid question. If you want to rip me for doing so, that is your perogative.

Does anybody know of any highlights of this race anywhere?

Originally Posted by Andretti18fan:
I only just started going to sprint car races last summer, but when I do I always get a pit pass so I can talk with the drivers. I can safely say that more than a few drivers don't really like the way MSCS is ran. So much so that some drivers won't show up at a MSCS show unless its co-sanctioned by USAC. That could explain why so low a car count. I know I didn't go because its like a 3 hour drive for me to get there then 3 back, that could be another reason.

What do they not like about the way it is ran? Purse structure, format, people who run it?