Trending the wrong way
 

767 on another thread made a good point about what I’ve been seeing and it’s nothing new, but seems to have accelerated in recent times. It’s trending away from what I think dirt track racing should be, but I believe there’s a reason for that. Now I’m going to use some Late Model references here so if that offends you, please turn the channel. Smooth and slick seems to be the preferred surface of big time dirt racing these days. My theory on that is it benefits the highest engineered teams by allowing them to get the most out of their big time shock packages and other things. (I would say traction control but we all know that’s illegal, wink) I’ll go back to what was either an XR or Lucas race at our beloved Kokomo Speedway You can probably track this down yourself if you want to, but in the pre-race they interviewed Reece. Now this may not be verbatim but it’s close. He said they told him you don’t have to prepare the track like you would for Sprint Cars because these cars manufacture grip. The big money team’s have the loudest voice so that’s what they want. A track with a thick and treacherous cushion might give some B level guy the idea he can compete with the big dogs while running the uncomfortable thin edge between fast and disaster. Case in point. Last year at the last Lucas race at Eldora, Mother Nature intervened. My buddy Mac is a 35 year veteran of World 100’s. He said that was one of the best best Eldora race’s he’s seen. Many insider’s complained of track texture, while someone like Tyler Carpenter was putting on a show for the ages. Yes the same “ Hey Dudes” Tyler that always runs well at the St Louis dome. It seems the best shocks and engineers don’t mean as much when you have wheels off the ground. Now I’m not saying I want to see a cornfield race, but slick and smooth you can keep for pavement rain delays. Track prep is hard work. To get moisture in the track, especially in conditions like we’ve had recently can be a monumental challenge. I don’t think the trend will change anytime soon. Doesn’t look good when the Hey Dude kid drives past Superman

Channel turned & blocked.

I prefer damp and cowboy up, separate the ballsy from the neutered

Re: Trending the wrong way
 

With the way dirt late models are going I’d certainly not follow their lead on track prep. Over the last few years the body rules have become so lax that the aero is ruining the racing. The races on 1/2 miles is worse than it has ever been. World 100 was pretty good. Cool temps helped the track imo. That was the first good race at Eldora on the late model side in several years.

Re: Trending the wrong way
 

When I raced the "locals" hated a heavy fast track. They constantly bitched and threatened to leave and not come back when it wasn't slick and smooth. Honestly it was annoying. I was always told the track is the same for everyone, figure it out. Being a track promoter is the most thankless job in the world. The crowd complains about the dust or track conditions and the drivers want the track to suit them. You can't win.

If you understand how much mechanical grip and downforce a modern dirt Late Model creates, not to mention how actually fragile they are, you'd understand why they don't like to race in the mud.

And right on, aero is killing Late Model racing, but anything you do to get away from that is going to slow them down significantly. No one wants that either.

Re: Trending the wrong way
 

Originally Posted by racenut69:
Go get some manure with straw mixed in and turn the track over?....Thoughts?

Yes Mike, I’m sure you’ve noticed at some point on most nights at Haubstadt a manure smell ( or that could just be me sitting next to Rpracing1 :3: ) and you’ll see mulch mixed in as well.

Re: Trending the wrong way
 

Originally Posted by kendirt:
If you understand how much mechanical grip and downforce a modern dirt Late Model creates, not to mention how actually fragile they are, you'd understand why they don't like to race in the mud.

And right on, aero is killing Late Model racing, but anything you do to get away from that is going to slow them down significantly. No one wants that either.

Seems to me if the car is so technical and fragile that it needs to be on a hard black track...... Go run pavement

Originally Posted by markd:
Seems to me if the car is so technical and fragile that it needs to be on a hard black track...... Go run pavement

You saw that Eldora just set a single-day attendance record Saturday of the World right?

Re: Trending the wrong way
 

Originally Posted by kendirt:
You saw that Eldora just set a single-day attendance record Saturday of the World right?

Yeah and you have a hell of a lot less Super LM racing all together. So yeah, everyone's hitting the few shows there are.

Re: Trending the wrong way
 

Tastes in spectator sports are constantly changing, and the in the area of motorsport both the machines and the owners tend to follow the evolution. The notable exception to this evolution is that group of cars and owners that continue to field a suspension combination that was last used on an American passenger vehicle in 1948. That is to say, a beam front axle and a torque tube live rear axle.
Late Models, both pavement and dirt, have evolved suspension-wise. The live rear axle is still there, but the torque tube is long gone, and independent front suspension provides more grip on both pavement and dirt.
The promoter at any entertainment facility will, and does, pay attention to the car configurations that sell; it is, after all, business.
Midgets and Sprint Cars were, for a long time, a primary path to both Indy Cars and Nascar. Both of those top tiers are changing quite fast; the Indy Cars have their own Formula car progression series, and Nascar is drawing more and more on a variety of junior door car classes leading through Late Models into ARCA.
What draws a crowd in the top tiers will have a strong influence on the feeder series; they will emulate the top tiers.

Originally Posted by Charles Nungester:
Yeah and you have a hell of a lot less Super LM racing all together. So yeah, everyone's hitting the few shows there are.

Just so I understand...

You're saying there are fewer SLM events than there are non-wing open wheel events?

Re: Trending the wrong way
 

Originally Posted by kendirt:
You saw that Eldora just set a single-day attendance record Saturday of the World right?

Didn't the 4 crown have the largest crowd it is ever had? Like it or not, there is a big PR machine behind Eldora. Combine that with big PR behind the LM and HiLimit. Your going to see huge crowds.

As much as I hate to say it, the more cookie cutter the tracks are, the easier they are to dominate. Yes across all big series they are becoming hard and slick.

Re: Trending the wrong way
 

Originally Posted by kendirt:
Just so I understand...

You're saying there are fewer SLM events than there are non-wing open wheel events?

Im saying theres less SLM Races period. Not events. Heck Cincinnati had four tracks within a hour and a half that ran SLMs in the 80s- Brownstown, Burg, Atomic and Florence every Saturday night and the all had full fields.

People are going to less races too, just choosing the ones to go too. Both World and North South were sold out.

I always thought Smoke would either build a second level to the main grandstand or a pier'd grandstand on the back straight over the creek.

Re: Trending the wrong way
 

That last night reminded me why I love this sport. Tracks no setup is going to be perfect on. A track where everyone messes up at some point and a track that someone trying something different may just pay off.

She was one spot short of winning that thing and if you ask me, she got screwed on the yellow. Jade made some fans last night for sure!

Thanks to IMS and all involved for pulling that off. It'd been easy and understood if they called it and took a bigger loss. That's for the love of the sport. All involved.