Spread too thin
 

I don't wanna be a Debbie downer but, I just realized there is a TON of 410 non wing sprints racing tonight. Eldora, Tri State, Lawrenceburg, Putnamville and Paragon are all running. This might have been awesome 10-15 years ago...but today, there's just not enough cars to go around. We'll see though...

Re: Spread too thin
 

I'm a nobody, but just looking at results online, seemed like that was the case last night too...gives all the big names a chance to win/finish up front, but as car counts wane in the summer & there are only so many tickets that can be bought; I agree with your concern...

Jason/ You Are Not A
Nobody.
Best Regards,
John

I am glad you posted this. There is a lot to be said but ultimately there should be some concern.

On the plus side, BOSS non-winged and Waynesfield are both off but War has a race at Fayetteville co, Illinois. Tmez tweeted he is going there, btw.

I could not agree with you guys more. To me this is a concern as it ultimately hurts the product. I love sprint car racing in the Hoosier state but sometimes I think we have "too much of a good thing".

I mean, for a racer it's great. You know whatever track is closest to you is probably only going to have enough cars for a feature, no b main. So you're gonna get start money. But...for the fans...you're not getting the best value for your dollar cause you just know some of the best won't be there. They only had 24 cars at Eldora for USAC last night. Almost 40 other cars decided to run locally. Used to be EVERYONE ran Eldora, just cuz. Not anymore. But like I said, for the racers...it's a good thing.

Re: Spread too thin
 

Honestly i was at Eldora last night and wasn't violently upset they didn't have a b-main. just saying.

Re: Spread too thin
 

Bloomington's car count definitely suffered, but the racing was the best I've seen this season, in my opinion. I just checked the Gas City schedule and noticed they have a lot more events this year running against Bloomington which I'm sure will mean shorter fields at both tracks, but I believe Bloomington will suffer more.

With all the construction around Bloomington and the fact so many employers are clamping down on working hours for Friday it's hard for both teams/drivers and fand to even show up. Bloomongton's schedule has also been rather perplexing past couple years too. Even other divisions are suffering for cars.

Still despite the plethora of racing options today, get out there and support the tracks and teams and have a good time!

So let’s just see what car counts the different tracks get tonite. It just may be a good thing though. Consider this, you’re a new team, just getting your feet wet, and you go to your local track. All the big guns are at premium events so it gives you a better chance, thus helps grow the sport for newbies.

Re: Spread too thin
 

At 5:30 pm I drove through the pits at Lincoln Park Speedway and the pits are pretty full. 5 classes tonight. Roughly counted 22 non-wing sprints and 24 winged sprints plus Mods, super stocks and bombers. More haulers at the gate.

13 Sprints at LBurg, ouch!

16 MSCS Sprint cars and 27 MOWA Winged Sprint cars at Haubstadt.

The WAR race is at Fayette County Speedway in Brownstown, IL.

Technically there are 19 MSCS Sprints. Jackson and Malone were planning on swapping wings on and off all night. Given only 17 other cars and if they can not tear their cars up in the MOWA Feature they'll most likely tag the tail of the MSCS Feature since they are entered.

Hope everyone is having a good night wherever you are!

True, but only 16 took hot laps/group qualifying. Two good heats though!

Tri-State Speedway MOWA Sprint cars:

MIke Terry Jr.
Chase Briscoe
Justin Peck (from 16th)

How many years has Bloomington and Gas City been racing non wing sprints weekly? Also, same question for Paragon, Burg, LPS on Saturday nights? Is the issue too many tracks or not enough local car support? BTW USAC took the top shoes on the road almost weekly, so that hasn't changed much but they do stay closer to IN more today than the past

Originally Posted by treecitytornado:
The WAR race is at Fayette County Speedway in Brownstown, IL.

JT, 20 cars at Fayette County. Mario Clouser wins his 1st WAR A main over TMez, Landon Simon amd Colten Cottle.

MSCS race at Haubstadt

Steven Schnap (sp)
Carson Short
Jarrett Andretti

Schnap won from the pole. Carson Short spun unassisted about midrace, kept it going dropped back to about 8th, and clawed back to 2nd or 3rd. Last two laps were kind of chaotic and I’m not sure of the exact finishing order. Good race, but IMO, the MOWA winged feature was a better race tonight.


Both features complete by 9:15 PM.

Re: Spread too thin
 

If I owned a racesaver Id show up to some of these tracks and get more $$ for last than for second. Might even be competitive on a slicky.

Re: Spread too thin
 

Here is last night car counts.....Eldora 21 Lawrenceburg 14 Putnamville 22 Fayette County 20 Haubstadt 17. Not sure on Paragon and Waynesfield was dark. The days of big car counts are over....

Re: Spread too thin
 

I think another thing that contributes is the season is much longer. Not too many years ago no one ran a special show until around this time, and weekly racing was done at labor day. Tracks would run a special show or 2 until then. Trcks worked with each other and didn't schedule against others big shows. I think those days are gone too.Most teams have a certain amount of races that their budget can handle.

I know Atomic is in Ohio, but not much further than Eldora, they had BOSS sprints with 23 racers.

Bloomington has the worst 410 schedule in the entire history of the track!
It does not promote its events and is suffering fan and driver loyalty as a result!
Friday night crowd was dismal and weather was not to blame.
Sad to see Bloomington in decline.

Re: Spread too thin
 

That was the new Boss winged series at the Atomic speedway.

Originally Posted by longtime sprinter:
i know atomic is in ohio, but not much further than eldora, they had boss sprints with 23 racers.

26

Re: Spread too thin
 

Too many races equals oversaturation equals small crowds equals low car counts.You are seeing the death of the weekly show being run at local tracks.Within Five years you will see most tracks have special only shows.Places around the Country that are historic and have weekly shows will still exist,for example Williams Grove and others.Not so sure this isn’t the best thing.Promote every event as something special.15 -18 events per season.Economics will dictate this.

Originally Posted by cowboyhar69:
Here is last night car counts.....Eldora 21 Lawrenceburg 14 Putnamville 22 Fayette County 20 Haubstadt 17. Not sure on Paragon and Waynesfield was dark. The days of big car counts are over....

Paragon had 17 cars. That makes a weekend total of 111 nonwing cars in the area. At the cost of keeping a car on the track I do not think this is a bad car count.

Add 7 to that total, Charleston Il ran last night also.

Re: Spread too thin
 

Originally Posted by david mitchell:
Too many races equals oversaturation equals small crowds equals low car counts.You are seeing the death of the weekly show being run at local tracks.Within Five years you will see most tracks have special only shows.Places around the Country that are historic and have weekly shows will still exist,for example Williams Grove and others.Not so sure this isn’t the best thing.Promote every event as something special.15 -18 events per season.Economics will dictate this.

I couldnt disagree with you more. Just look at LPS they and Gas City are running the most weekly shows with sprint cars in Indiana. Dont know about Gas City but the crowds and the car counts at LPS have been outstanding, the reason, they run sprints every week.

For everyone complaining about car counts there are 43 cars checked into Haubstadt 2hours before hot laps are set to start with some of our non wing guys putting the wing on. Gonna be a great show.

And no I don’t really like wing racing but Haubstadt is an exception for me

Re: Spread too thin
 

Thread isn't about wings and how many other tracks are running tonight? 2 in a four state area?

Originally Posted by racefan20:
I couldnt disagree with you more. Just look at LPS they and Gas City are running the most weekly shows with sprint cars in Indiana. Dont know about Gas City but the crowds and the car counts at LPS have been outstanding, the reason, they run sprints every week.

Can’t speak for LPS, as I haven’t been this year. But Gas City brought a good crowd and great racing opening night. Can’t imagine it being any different since then, with Cottle, the Hazen car, K-rob, and others showing up every Friday that they can

Looks like a total of 118 cars.... wasn’t that long ago when there were 200 cars running on a Saturday night.... the most surprising number to me is the 17 at Paragon..... used to have to run 2 features with their car count. I remember the days when 25 was a huge car count..... and used to be only 14 started s USAC feature..... yeah I am old.

The construction delays don't help Bloomington

I too think is a problem long term. Sprint car racing is suffering from over saturation. In particular non-wing suffers from the that it is regional, a step below wings in money and broad exposure. Any sport needs a major league with a feeder system. USAC should be that except that it is now being absorbed by that very feeder system. Thus when you have numerous tracks feeding from the same pool you have diluted numbers in quality and quantity. Answer? Always comes down to money. USAC has to increase its purse structure and make the critical decision to make the sprinters its premiere division. Otherwise it continue its descent to being a club with no incentive for expansion into the future. 28-32 car fields are more than adequate for one day shows but there must be a way to guarantee the competitors will be there. Money talks!

Each person on here concerned should put up a couple hundred thousand dollars of their own money and start a team....problem solved.

Plenty of teams but not enough incentive or reward to move long term to the next level.