Terre Haute pits
 

are we pitting in infield? :15:

Re: Terre Haute pits
 

I can only speculate and say you are with dry weather....

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I hope so. Because this is about the race fans. Especially the younger and new race fans. That fence's proximity to the race cars and race teams is something that helped create at least two generations of loyal race fans. Ones like me that were the kids hanging on that fence in the 50's thru the 80's. D.O. told a good story last year about Jesse Hockett playing a little football catch with a kid over the pit fence. I'd bet $100 there's no way that kid is going to let his dad get away with not taking him to any sprint race that they have there.

Jerry

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Thank you jerry for that post. Summed up everything I was thinking. I witnessed Jesse playing football with the kid and that kid was seemingly having the most fun he's ever had at a race track
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If they want to pit out back then let them it should be the racer's choice,I prefer to let them pit out back then they can work out of the trailers and everything is right there,who wants to unload and load everything back up each time they go there.

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I have heard only a few racers complain about pitting on the infield and tons of fans praising King and all for pitting on the infield. I know last year, at one race, I only knew of one racer who was refusing to pit on the infield and was simply told to pit there or not race.....

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Chris & Jerry are so right. I can imagine that it is a pain in the butt to pit in the infield but the idea is to please the fans especially the younger ones. Its worth saying that all of the current fans are eventially going to pass on so its very important to create new fans to keep the fan base alive. Without the fans racing simply couln't survive.

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It's not a pain in the butt if you just do a little PLANNING. We do it with the Crown cars at Duquoin & it's not that bad.

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I hope that we are pitting in the infield. :6:

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I can imagine it's probably a pain for those teams that will be going to the fairgrounds the next day. You have to load, unload, reload, go back and unload sprint car and then load crown car.

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Amen brother......who wants to unload everything and then be forever getting out when its over?:15: Especially if your want to leave early.:15:

If they want to pit in the infield let them take trailers and all down there, theres plenty of room to do that.

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It my be a pain but your a racer pay attention to the rules or go home, this is 2009 go back to open trailers if you cant WORK. :22::22::24::24::8::8:

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Man! I feel sorry for those guys! unload the sprinter, then reload the Crown car and then maybe next week the poor guys have unload that heavy-@ss crown car and reload the midget. Just horrible that people have to live that way. Maybe we should donate can goods or something to help these folks out.....:2:

just yokin' !!:3:

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If they allow the trailers in the infield, where are the fans going to be? Also, how much of the track would be visible from the infield? As it is now, the infield pitting cuts down the amount of track you can see from the infield. I like the idea of the infield pits and my kids enjoyed looking at the cars and talking to a few drivers last year.

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HA!!! :6:
Maybe leave the spare car(s), and 4 spare engines in the "rig" this one race????
... Or we could just pass the helmet around and take up a collection. That way, they could hire even more people to do all that extra work!!! :2:

Heaven forbid that teams lose a half hour to an hour of their time to help entertain fans, and help create a future fan base.
When asked what my favorite race track is, the answer is, and always will be, Terre Haute!.. And by far, one of the biggest reasons, is the time I spent in that infield as a kid! Not only was it great place to run around, and burn up all that extra "kid energy", but my heroes, including my Dad, were accesible right through the pit fence!! Of all the race tracks I was taken to as a kid, that was extra special! At all the other tracks, the pit area was a far away mystical place (except lil' Springfield), where you could only catch a glimpse as to all those important things going on. You'd sit in those bleachers, and just be itchin' to ask your Dad, or any of my many heroes of the day, what was going on, and why??? But you always had to wait until the end of the night, and the drive home, to hear those tales!
Terre Haute though, is , and should always be different! The immediate access to those heroes has created ever lasting fondness for the Action Track, and my times their as a kid... And a bigger kid!

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Im just in the right mood for this one!! I can see the pro's and con's to both sides of this. It takes alot of time to load and unload everything you need for the night especially if heaven forbid you have a "mishap" and need extra parts to make a B or C main. However I'm just as big of a fan and over the years spent alot of time in the infield at the Action Track watching. We will be right in the thick of it unloading with everybody else in the infield. What kills me about this post is this we are using an enclosed trailer right now but we own an open trailer. We have 3 cars and 3 motors and quite frankly it's easier to load/unload, wash and work on them with an open trailer. Plus, since it's about the fans, the "fans" think it's awesome when they pull up beside you at a gas station and look at your car or give you :6: on the highway when they pass you. Go buy you a big, bad rig for about 100,000+ and see how much you have left to put in your car and what a pain it is to get in and out of a place like the infield especially when its wet. Since when do we race the trailers around the track??. :14:

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That would be cool to see 18 wheelers with trailors attached racing each other.....

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Maybe the "racers" will just stay home and you "fans" can watch ???? Since its about the fans???:11:

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Butch was a racer probably before you could walk.
A racer with multiple track championships, A racer who raced sometimes three classes in one night and won in all of them.


Chuck, Thanking Butch and other racers for great memories and hopes the tradition continues.

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That's Butch Wilkerson, you idiot. Unlike you, he was a racer. A legendary one.

Jerry

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to paraphrase a quotation attributed to Abe Lincoln:
'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to use your keyboard to remove all doubt.

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Dave Scott, remember this, without EACH and every person that posts on this board YOU would not have the privledge to apply your trade at any race track in the USA. Because there would be nowhere for you to race at. PERIOD
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motormisser ,you seldom take your car any ,so stay home and complain.

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Whats funny, is now most of the big teams have a full cart they drive around with all the spares on it anyways....gotta be tough to drive that in and out of the trailer huh?

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I rarely post anything on here anymore for a variety of reasons, but I just can't sit still on this one....

I think Motormasher has gotten an undue roasting on this board in the past, but not this time. I do understand his sarcastic sentiment about it being "all about the fans", because that's certainly the tone in this little corner of the Web. But, for once, I wholeheartedly agree with Jerry Shaw. That is Butch Wilkerson. Enough said.

I can't believe this topic has come up again. If some of you don't recall or weren't privy to this board last year, the exact same conversation took place prior to the MSCS race at THAT last spring. I can't believe pitting in the infield is an issue, and I really can't believe it's an issue with one of the prominent car owners in the state. Foyt pitted there, Rutherford pitted there, Opperman pitted there, and the list goes on. It's this kind of thinking that slowly drives me away from the only thing, outside of one female and music, that I've ever truly loved.

That's all I've got tonight.

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Agreed. And I one day hope that I have the privilege to unload my sprint car in that infield, with a true racer set to buckle in...

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As a member of a team unloading is always a pain. But i thought Terre haute last year had great "energy" and was some much needed change to rekindle interest at a track that I was not lucky enough to enjoy back in the day like all you older racers.. Little more work....yes....great for our sport....yes.

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:8: Amen!

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Let's hope the program is well run and everybody, including the race teams, can get out at a decent hour. With no support classes this show should be over by around 10pm easy, I would think. Should get out even earlier if there are not too many cautions. With this beautiful weather I sure hope track conditions are great. No excuse this time not to be.
Tom

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Same old story. I remember this argument from last year and for some reason it still makes me angry. I get that it's hard to unload and load, I've helped do it before, for a long time. Why is it that at Terre Haute so many people get so worked up about it? It's not like it's the only place you can't work out of your hauler. Someone else mentioned Springfield, what about Manzy, Belleville, and Winchester sure is a pain waiting for the next race to be over so everyone can rush across. And honestly what BETTER place to do it than Terre Haute. There is so much history there, so many race fans, so many kids. While we are worrying about the future of racing, dying car counts, and dying crowd counts, there is that little boy (or GIRL!) whose parents took him into the infield at Terre Haute. He get's to have a great time with his family, hang out by the fence, watch a team thrash to fix a car and get it out in time for the next race, and maybe even get to sit in someone like Dave Darland, Tracy Hines, or Jerry Coons' car after the race. These are the kids that decide, "this is what I want to do when I grow up". This kid is the future of the sport, and you're mad because it took you an extra half hour to unload your stuff in the infield? Get with it.

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This was a great show last year, good track and well run.
The sad part is it was the only one they got right.

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I was at Florence last weekend and sitting behind me was a guy and his two kids or grandkids (He said he was 62)
The young man was about ten. Has driven three races I can't remember where but it was portsmouth (Im guessing kart track) and won all three of them. All night long he was "I want to drive one of them" (SPRINT CAR) Word is that Staab and some others are getting them a Mini SPrint together so he's a go.

The Young Lady with him was about 7 and she had just won here first Kart race. This gives me hope for the future of the sport. Face it, It's a time where kids would rather play Nintendo than go outside on a 80* sunny day. Its a sport that fathers and sons and daughters can enjoy and even participate in together.

Lets not forget the Big Kids who get there early, stay late, drive hundreds of miles to see you. I know most of the drives are not snobs as are most teams not. Theres been great turnouts for meet the drivers ect when I've seen them held.

Since kids really can't get to the pits or see cars and teams up close much anymore (Sprints being first at multi class events are ususally gone at the end of the night) I encourage this as much as possible.

Nobody said its not a pain to haul it all over, haul it all back but SOME of us, (PROBABLY MOST OF US) Apreciate it.

Dad took me to races as a kid, Gaines, Milburn, Smalley, Gilstrap, Wilkerson, Krebs and a dozen others and their team owners, made me love the sport. I fell off a couple years with sports and girls and then started going back and if it hadn't been for great people like Corbin(LM) Williams(Street Stock) Jewell(Street Stock) Staab. Bowling, Bland, Randy Kinser ect (Who always had a Hello or whats happeing?) I really don't know if I'd of fell in love with it all over again, Expecially enough to join a LM Team, work long after work ect all for saturday night.

Don't get me wrong, Its exciting whats on the track, However I think there is a lot more too racing than the actuall racing, The cars, the people, the action. It all ties into what makes this sport GREAT!

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:8: :8: :8: :8: :8:

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Thank you, Amy
This looks to be the Post of the Year.
:69:

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With the help of several days of dry weather which allowed the pit area to dry out, all teams will be pitting in the infield pit area. Terre Haute Action Track will have three trucks available to help any team who needs assistance shuttling equipment from their hauler to the infield pit area.

Joe Chambers
Terre Haute Action Track
Push Truck Director