TriState
 

I’m willing to take the bashing that will follow but the “track prep” twice a night is pathetic. It hurts the racing and is completely unnecessary. Stop dragging your race out. Run the show and be done. The racing sucks for the first few heats and the first half of the feature. It’s time to park the tractors !!!!!! It’s been a ******* hour since cars were on the track

Your embarrassing crowd shows how tired everyone is of it on a work night.

Re: TriState
 

We're at a time when racing in general is in trouble. On one side You got the fan, who wants a lot of cars and a quick run show.

On the other side, You got racers who dont want to use up three sets of tires in a night. I know one sprinter who is there just because it doesn't use up tires. Said he'd of run Terre Haute if he had a tire sponsor.

Tri state did not hold midget week races until a year or two ago. Half that crowd is campers so it don't hurt them much. But yeah, If your local and have to work, getting home after midnight is BS.

your post is harsh, but understandable. I did not like two hours of track work the times I've gone. . The reply to your own post is just uncalled for.

It’s not uncalled for. No one goes on a work night because they know what they’re gonna get. I would have been if it wasn’t a work night. Now I can’t hardly watch even at home.. I assume you’re talking about critter on tires. I’ve had the same conversation with him. The place is awesome. My complaint is it can be great with half or less of the prep they do thru the night. It used to be 2 re works that last 20 min each. Now much much longer and there really only needs to be 1

Re: TriState
 

not critter but a top five finisher.

I’ve said the same complaints numerous times and couldn’t agree more. Our 10 seats were empty on memorial race because we figured with 3 classes it go half the night and it’s just not that feasible with toddlers. Went alone tonight thinking surely a Sunday night race with just 2 classes would go quick. Man was I wrong on that. The hour long tractor prep before the features kills the vibe. Feel like I’m half asleep and half over it when the cars come out. My other big complaint is you start “hot laps” at 6 pm and give an hour and a half for them then still start late. 730 start time is already later than any track around and doesn’t help the cause at all.

It’s 11:20. I’m on my way home. Not sure what your issues are.

No , no complaining from J.J. about tires.

Nice Midget Week opener.

A lot of bigger issues in this world to complain about. And yes, hopefully all other IMW tracks will have folks on road at 11:15 local time.

What's really funny is Original Poster wasn't even here! LOL!

DirtTrackTherapy16J is a one-year IOW member with 700+ posts and it shows...............His comments are always taken with a grain of salt..........

Congrats to Denny, Kofoid and Cummins!

So not to be dumb here, unfortunately I have never been to Haubstadt bc it's just all but impossible to make the show on time with my work schedule. My loss, hopefully one day I'll make it there as it is on my bucket list.

In general I hear nothing but great things about Haubstadt. As of lately I hear alot of complaints and for the most part focusing on track prep delays.

With that said, I have a question. Yes Sunday night, yes work night, yes ridiculous long break/delay tonight. However, watching on Flo on the boat tonight, my best friend/fishing and hunting partner and I couldn't help but notice the stands just absolutely empty!! Was the whole night this way, or was it just towards the end? We were hammering the Slabs (Crappie) and Channels (Catfish) so much that we couldn't keep up with the fish much less get Flo going on the phone for the first half of the night.

First night of Indiana Midget Week 2023 and the stands was that empty??? One of the biggest weeks of racing in Indiana all season, arguably one of the best support classes we will see all week with MSCS, good weather, why was the bleachers so empty??? Kokomo is the Finale of Indiana Midget Week 2023 next Sunday night and I can guarantee it wont be empty like Haubstadt was tonight. So Sunday night/work night can't be the only reason. Can someone please share their facts or opinions for my curiosity?

To people that are upset with the long delay, you have your right to your opinions and feelings. We had just finished getting our Limit of Slab Crappie, pulled anchors, and headed for the boat ramp. At this time they had already started farming. We loaded the boat, strapped everything down, and drove home from Huntington to Gas City. We pulled in the driveway at home and they was still farming. That is not good for anyone, fans, families, track or at home, drivers, teams, workers, noone. Just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to farm that long with that long of a break/delay. Congratulations to Jacob Denny for winning opening night and KCummins for a podium finish!!

Re: TriState
 

7 or 730 seemed to be carved in stone for whatever reason. I wouldnt be opposed to a hour, maybe hour and a half early start on a Sunday night. Week nights I understand with fans getting off work and trying to make the race. Not a problem for most on Sunday

The track design itself lends to great racing, yet 1/2 the night is spent with the track showing off all the equipment they have. It’s been a joke for years, and completely unnecessary.
An hour of track redo for a 8 minute feature (if it runs green to checker), but racing only starts when the track blows off with 10 to go??? Heat races are usually single groove affairs.

It’s a joke, it always has been, and again, usually unnecessary.
Everytime I’ve brought this up in the past, locals from the area start to bash. No problem, I’ll survive.
It’s just nice to see others finally speaking up about it.
Put away your tractor toys and let em’ race…. You might be surprised how good it actually is.

Was texting back and forth with a car owner about this tonight. That much downtime is rough for the crowd to sit through.

They started a little late and had some extra prep time. Not sure what the problem is. I went to Knoxville last night and Haubstadt tonight and all I can say is I saw two kick ass shows!
The disturbing part of the weekend was watching Wang fans last night get excited about a one pass dirt storm of a feature that they called good.

Careful now, you’re criticizing the “class track”. Some people on here don’t take kindly to that. John Deere parade is the ultimate winner every race. Tommy can prep a track great, just takes awhile to get it.

Re: TriState
 

I just got home. I lose an hour going east and so I crashed in the truck for a few hours. This was also my first live (non-Flo) race of the year. Overall, it as a bit of a frustrating evening due to the show pacing. The crowd also seemed down. I also noticed some leaving after the sprint feature. IDK if that is because of the time or the lack of interest in the midgets.

All in all it was an ok evening for me. Not horrible but not great either

Re: TriState
 

At least run the Midget feature first. I did not go but stayed up and watched it on TV. I am already one hour late for work. So I spent the admission without going! Saved Gas!

Tri State is a great track and I actually love the drive from Indy down there. Not on a Sunday (until I retire)

Plan on going the rest of the week with the possible exception of Gas City

Re: TriState
 

The way Tom and his team prep a race track is the main reason I go to the track and look forward to doing so, every time I do. Does it take a while to get the track to his liking, sometimes? Absolutely. But, the end result is almost always some great racing. And it was again last night.

Was the second track prep warranted, last night? In my opinion it was. By the time the B-Mains had rolled around, the track had turned into a serious cowboy (and cowgirl, in this case) track. Especially on the turns one and two end. So, I think most of us fans of the track knew we were going to see a serious rework before the features rolled out. No way Tom was going to let it be like that for the A-Mains.

As a result, we got to see an impressive display of ability by Carson Garrett. Who has stepped up big time, is for real and area race fans have to happy that the new, improved version of him will be added to this year's mix. Daison Pursley also put on a show and demonstrated that his learning curve in picking up this sprint car thing is an accelerated one. He had no where to go, while filing through the lapped cars, in chasing down Garrett. I think he was the only one who had anything for Carson and his exit probably robbed us is seeing a more thrilling finish.

In the midgets, right after the first track prep, we were treated to the best set of heats I've seen all year. Especially the first two. They were green flag insanity. In the first heat, that battle between Wiedeman, Denney and McIntosh for the last transfer spot was wild. How they were pretty much all over one another, for the entire heat, to that extent, without anyone ending up in the fence, I still don't believe.

And Denney's dominating drive in the feature was something to behold. Especially some of the daring moves he made on groups of lappers through heavy traffic, while he was being pursued by a hard charging Buddy Kofoid. And how he survived the Hail Mary Buddy threw at him, after the last yellow. And McIntosh, McDermand, Andriotti, Daum and Gavin Miller all passed a ton of cars through all this chaos.

So, did I get home late? Sure, I did. It's an hour and a half drive and I go forward one time zone along the way. But am I sitting here mad that I didn't get enough sleep last night or that I didn't get my money's worth? No way. My voice is hoarse and the heels of both hands are a little raw from leaning while sitting on those wooden benches. I always know it was a good night there if that's the case.

If you had a bad night after last night's racing, I feel bad for you.

Jerry

Come for a weekend of racing at Attica, Fremont or Lima and you guys would appreciate what you got at Tri-State. Still cleaning dust out of my eyes from last weekend

Re: TriState
 

Helfrich's didn't get to where they are by being stupid. He is not burning all that fuel for fun.

Re: TriState
 

you know pretty well what you are getting everytime you go to Tri State.whatever it is for you, good or bad you know what it is before you leave home.if you are a nonwing fan and lived in Oklahoma you would love Tri State

Re: TriState
 

Ive adjusted my POV. Its not track prep, its a third class. Run what you brung :deadhorse:

It’s a tough situation because you want your race track to be good, but your also dealing with a bad night to have a big show (Sunday) and if you’re going to run on a Sunday you have to get people out by 9:30-10pm.
I also think it might be time to move midget week to later in the summer and away from a big trip to the Midwest which must have tired out the drivers and race officials who tried to do both Knoxville and Haubstadt.

Interesting that noone has tried answering my question about the crowd/attendance numbers yet and the people who love the track haven't mentioned one word about such a low attendance in the bleachers...maybe it was the camera angle on Flo that was showing low attendance numbers in the bleachers lmfao.

It doesn't take over an hour to make a great racing surface and farming the track for over an hour to make a great race. Watch Reece and Rowdy, they will show how to make drivers, teams, and fans happy without wasting over an hour to do it, Also doesn't take "green" equipment to do it either. Anyone who knows anything about tractors and farming or mowing for that matter knows when you buy green your buying the name not necessarily the best equipment for the job.

This was the first USAC Midget race of the 2023 season in Indiana this year. It should have been packed. Since some are claiming long tiring weekend for fans to show up to the race on a Sunday night and work night, is that what will happen next Sunday night for the Finale at Kokomo lmfao? Last time I checked Indiana was in the Midwest and Iowa was only 2 states away.

People are tired of seeing that crap of farming the track for over an hour at a time. I guarantee Circle City has a better attendance tonight then TriState did last night. I know 10 people that are going tonight that didnt go last night bc of the farming issue. It's sad when people won't open their eyes and see there is a problem. Run er down bc of pride before admitting there is a problem. Sad part is still no rest, still a work night, still a grind, support class being Crown Vics instead of MSCS Sprint Cars tonight, but guarantee better attendance. Kokomo is on a Sunday night, work night and is at the very end of a long hard tiring week but you can count on 3 things. Outside of a rainout, #1 great attendance numbers even after a long hard grueling grinding tiring week with a $100K late model show the very next day. #2 no farming for an hour at a time much less over an hour at a time. #3 an outstanding racing surface without using "green" equipment.

Re: TriState
 

These non-wing tracks need to take notes from a track like Attica (who runs wings and 2 other classes every week) Done by 9:30 every time

Re: TriState
 

Personally, I wasn't avoiding your question. I just didn't take it seriously enough to think it deserved an answer. If you're trying to imply that all a sudden, fans in mass have stopped going to Tri-State Speedway because Tommy does a lot of track prep, it means you're just uneducated. In fact, just last week, for a regular MSCS show, there was a much bigger crowd. And attendance this year, overall, has been good. And my post, like most of my posts, was just one sharing the racing experience I had on this particular night.

For one, midgets have traditionally drawn less at this track. I don't know why, but it seems to just be reality. Except the one at the end of the year. And people know they're running out of races because it's late in the season and also, it's USAC Midgets, paired with a $5K to win MSCS show and fans know the higher purse will draw a few extra sprint hot shots. And secondly. last night's event was on a Sunday night and maybe that had some effect on it.

Jerry

Okay first thing, I never said anyone avoided it or didn't take it seriously. Who cares it's a question, there's more to life then taking my question so seriously, oh my gosh, oh no. I said it was interesting. Real simple. And I'm glad you dont think it deserves an answer. Of course when a person is in denial they dont think a question needs answered, that's all of life, not just racing. I also dont really care if it gets answered. I dont own the property or track, I just find it odd that for so long so many said so many great things about it and wouldnt miss it for nothing, yet one of the worse attendance numbers I've ever seen for a Midget Week race, if not officially the worst ever.

As for the uneducated lmfao...maybe I am uneducated about Haubstadt bc I've never been there. Maybe that's why I'm trying to figure what went wrong with the attendance numbers. However I'm educated enough to read all the displeasure of people who have gone there this whole season about the track prep. Maybe your the one who is uneducated or maybe just in denial...I'll let you choose for yourself. Sunday has nothing to do with it, Kokomo will have more people just in the backstretch then there was the entire bleachers put together at TriState last night. You and others need to quit using a Sunday night as an excuse. Guess the rest of the tracks will have poor attendance this week bc its during the week huh? Indy tonight bc of Monday? GC Wednesday bc of a Wednesday? Putnamville Thursday bc of a Thursday? Kokomo Sunday bc of a Sunday? Looks like Bloomington and The Burg has the only chance of good attendance bc of a Friday and Saturday night? Lmfao wow

I would think they would have had a better crowd last week considering most everyone had Monday off.
The track surface at Haubstadt has always been something special, and I’m sure Tommy will always stick to his process. However, in a world where attention spans are decreased and there is easy access to streaming for USAC races, I can’t see people sticking by his process for much longer. Maybe the retired folks or those who have a flexible work schedule, but for the people in EST who have a job to go to early Monday morning it’s not viable anymore. It’s time to prep the surface for the entire evening or find a faster solution for mid-event track prep.

Re: TriState
 

The Sunday date was a head scratcher to me.....In the world of bad track prep, I will always give TSS a pass on how they prep a track. I have always believed Indiana Midget Week is just that, Midgets.....running sprint cars during IMW is a problem in my opinion. Drags out the show and contributes to track issues. If the argument is they need Sprint cars to bring fans out to the track, then maybe we don't need a midget week.

Kokomo is the Finale and its always been on a Saturday night but yet this year on a Sunday. I scratched my head on that too. Arguably the best 2 tracks in the state and both their Midget Week dates was/are Sunday's this year? At the same time, the attendance wont be a problem at Kokomo. As for support classes, I'd much rather see MSCS Sprints then what I'm gonna see tonight...Crown Vics. I will always say and most I think would as well that track prep is needed and is better then no track prep at all. However, over an hour long? I think that's a lil absurd in my opinion and I truly feel that is 90%+ the reason attendance is getting lower and lower at TriState. There's not one single race there that people haven't complained about the long farming delays this year.

Re: TriState
 

That's a good point. When you talk to open wheel fans, many of them think the perfect thing would be to have sprints and midgets on every show. A lot of people fail to consider how hard that is on the track. IMO, unless you're a Tommy Helfrich, a Reece O'Connor, a Joe Spiker @ Putnamville, etc. and are willing to do intra-show track reworks, both on the bill just doesn't usually work out that well. Very often, the sprints are ran last and they end up running look like they're running on ice. Midgets handle deteriorated track conditions a little better, but it's not perfect for them, either. The way some of these Midget Week sprint features have turned out is kind of like the elephant in the room, that nobody wants to acknowledge.

Jerry

Re: TriState
 

I'm not sure which are longer, your posts or track prep at Tri-State.

You dont like it, then dont read it!! Pretty simple huh? I could give 10 ***** less what you think!! Pretty simple huh?

Re: TriState
 

:5:

Re: TriState
 

Again, you're making a blanket statement that just isn't true. Attendance isn't getting ""lower and lower" at TSS. Crowds have been strong since after the COVID lockdown. I sit on the front stretch and usually, if I'm not there sometime around an hour before hot laps, my ass is parking in the field, back behind the backstretch and I'm hoofing back around to where I sit.

Last night's crowd sucked. It was shockingly low. But, if you actually had ever been there, you would know last night is not indicative of any major trend. The only thing that's had a major effect on the number of people watching races at TSS in the last few years has been the "R" word, rain.

Jerry

Re: TriState
 

Your point has been made ad nauseam. Especially since you have not been there.

Well I guess with what your saying, facts must be lies? Camera views from Flo showing less and less attendance must be camera magic? Several several people on here that goes to TriState regularly and talk about it on here how the attendance is down must also be liars? Now were gonna bring up Covid? Really digging deep for excuses except the obvious that people are over and some done with the hour plus farming show.

Oh the rain? Interesting that now comes into play. Indiana had its worst drought in 2022 since 2012. Furthermore Indiana's rainfall and water table is lower then it ever has been at this point in the year, late May/early June. Dryest Spring on record in Indiana for 2023. Hmmm, Haubstadt must be hogging all the rain from the rest of the state, no wonder Indiana had a drought last year and is headed in the same direction again this year. Oh wait meteorologist lying too?

I'm gonna get ready to go to Indy and be a part of low attendance bc it's a Monday. Enjoy your day!!

Re: TriState
 

What per cent of the people in attendance have you seen complain about track prep? De minimis at best.

Re: TriState
 

:5::5::5:

What percent...well to give you an accurate answer I'd have to find true attendance numbers which is none of my business being that I dont own, operate, or work at the track, then go survey the crowd and see how many are on OpenWheel, then take the people who said they are and ask for user names, then go through all their post and read them and find their comments about TriState then do the math...yeah so guess what...it doesn't matter the percentage. It doesn't matter there was a problem with attendance to me. I ask a question of if anyone knew why. So to your other post you made about a point being made, there's the point made. You nor I nor anyone's opinion really matters. There's your point made. I was asking a question in my original post on here, not making a point. Educate yourself today and look up the 2 definitions and meanings and make yourself smarter today. I'm heading to Indy for IMW 2023 night #2, which should be a low attendance race bc it's a Monday night/work night/weekday, according to some of the experts on IOW!!

Re: TriState
 

Larry O. has returned to IOW after a long absent.

Re: TriState
 

I havent seen a poster like DirtTrackTherapy16J since the golden days of SUPERDUKE.

:11;