need your thoughts!!
 

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Non Winged is what I prefer, the way the cars slide the turns & the front wheels dance over the dirt hardly making contact. It's just stand on the gas slide'r in w/ the left front in the air. Car hits the wall & w/ the cage still grinding on the wall the driver still on the gas. Seeing the car on the 1/2 mile in a full slide w/ the tires turned. Rear tires flinging a rooster tail of dirt behind them against whatever they hit. Seen more 3 & 4 wide racing in NW than w/ Wings.
Don't get me wrong I believe it takes alot of nerve to strap one of these monsters on & go race. I have a lot admiration for these people. :6:

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With a wing...you need a good set up, strong motor, and balls...without a wing, you need all of the above, plus the ability to drive a car that doesnt drive itself.


My opinion of course...I have the UTMOST respect for anybody who races!

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All I know for sure is that you have to have a wing if you want to race for $50K at Eldora.

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Does that make one better then the other??? :11:

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never drove a wing sprint car i really learned to drive in a non wing i have respect for both but i prefer no wing in the non wing definly can find your self working the wheel and when its slick you work the throttle and i love getting the car in the corner and feel it lean on the right rear than on the gas the front of the car start to rise and it can be more forgiving when you make a mistake from running a micr with a wing i have noticed being smooth and keeping your momentum up is key well dont know if this helps but its just my thoughts

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Why not word it, Winged and/or non-winged?

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All I know is Jac Haudenschild won 200k without a wing at Eldora :5: Stevie Smith won 150k and Dickie Gaines won 100k.
ALL IN THE SAME RACE

All I know is, the non-wing guys better be glad the wing guys don't care to run the no paying out non wing series,, wing drivers that take the wing off make a much better non wing driver. If the world of outlaws took the wing off and ran USAC, WOO would probably be really really tough to beat! Put a wing on the USAC guys, and only the ones with wing experience would have a chance.... thats wing vs nonwing.
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What race was that? I just started trying to pay attention to purse sizes about a week ago. Thanks.

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I like both, but if someone were to ask me to choose, my preference would be the non-wing. But regardless of which type of sprint car is on the track, I enjoy what I'm watching. I'm not one of these people who think a winged car drives itself or strapping into a non-winged sprint car makes you more talented. I have respect and admiration for drivers who strap into anything.

It seems like the winged shows wind up being follow the leader and all strung out, which is a shame because there are some great drivers running wings yet putting on some dull shows. In my memories the winged races were so exciting. Then again, maybe my rememberer isn't what it used to be. The non-wing cars can lay some real eggs too, but more often than not it seems like the on-track action is just...better.

Don't get me wrong, I love sprint cars, regardless of whether they're sporting the wing or not. I grew up here in Indiana and remember when the weekly shows would be non-winged for years, then switch to winged, then back to non-winged, so I have an appreciation for both. States around us that run sprints seem to gravitate toward the wings and Indiana remains, for the most part, non-wing. The wingers run for big money every weekend while a $5,000 to win show is a big deal for the non-wingers. Yet it's those non-wing drivers who eventually move up the racing ladder, so to speak. Color me crazy, but I've always found that dichotomy really interesting.

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I wish you'd all call them Traditional Sprints and Super Sprints. :20:

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I was there when the first plywood wings started getting put on cars. I thought they sucked then and still do today. With a wing you try to keep the car as straight as possible and you need a strong engine cause of the bite, also due to more traction and horsepower it tends to cost more in the long run racing a winged car. In my opinion why would anyone want to take the sideways out of a sprinter ? On top of all that you take a incredibly good looking car and make it look like crap by putting a wing on. Faster isnt always better. BACKITIN, thats the name of the game when it's played right.

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The race that paid $200K to the winner was called the Mopar Million and was held at Eldora...... I wish for another, one with a wing and one without, I love them both!!! :8::10:

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Cool, I just looked it up. I was 'lost in the woods' in 'misery'(MO) in September of 2003 (basic training)

---------- Post added at 01:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:50 PM ----------

I talked to a guy that ran wings a few times... said it was like being in a tornado with a billboard. He mentioned you could drive them harder into the turns, making the racing harder on the motor (which is one reason why hired guys do better in somebody else's car - they don't have to pay for the motors or the tires!). He said they were no easier to drive than non-wings, as was my original perception, but they do hold you down to the track. I imagine being stuck to a track during a tornado would make passing extremely difficult.

I found this on Smokey Yunick's wikipedia page, but I'm not sure when they showed up on sprints: "In 1962, Yunick changed open wheel racing forever when he mounted a wing on Jim Rathmann's Simoniz Vista Special Watson Roadster. The wing, designed to increase downforce, allowed Rathmann to reach cornering speeds never before seen at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway but created so much drag that it actually caused the car to record slower lap times. The United States Automobile Club (USAC) immediately banned the use of wings but they soon began to appear on cars competing in Can-Am and Formula One and by the early 1970s USAC once again allowed their use."

Of course, currently, open wheel racing is not so much about innovation. It's more about marketing and sponsorships and filling seats. Wings allow for more advertising space and it's easier to see a driver's number.

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non-wing
i like'm 3 wide and side by side,and thats just in the cornor! :31:

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Two winged drivers take off the wing and finish first and second. Imagine that? I could have swore I read on here USAC drivers were the best in the world.

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:34: Ouch! This must be why mother raised me not to talk about money. The United States of USAC (not affiliated with USAC) attributes this 2003 Mopar Million outlaw cherry pickin' incident on the 'construction work on the road to Indy' :31:

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??????????????:15:

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sprint cars don't have wings.

Despite my name I like both. My name is what is too only agitate the people on this site because. It is so bias that it should be called Indiana nonwing.com. On this site the people are close minded to any other form of racing. It would be intresting to ask this same question to people in Ohio.
Anyway back to your question. I grown to like non-wing due to proximity to where I live. Drivers are more personable as well.
Wings I grew up with watching at the burg. I love the speed.
Regardless of what people parade racing exists on both sides.
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some are intelligent, some are right on and then some just don't have a clue...lot of different answers...lot's of good quotes...going to give it a couple more days to fester...keep'm coming :16

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I never said nothing about the best. Just pointing out Jac won the equivalent of four Kings Royals in one non wing race.

As for prefference, Yeah its non wing to view.

As for driving, I think both make a much more rounded driver. The winged guys say things happen in slow motion NW with tells me it speeds up their reaction times and decision making with the Wing.

The NW helps you find the edge and hold it where a wing might help you through tough situations

I also think the little guy has a better shot at NW. many times it isn't necessary to have absolute top equiptment and 950 HP. I THINK DD is proving that fact this year more than any other of the past ten or so for him.

I do know that a couple years ago WoO if you didn't have the absolute best of everything, You were running for tenth. We're playing Catch Up this season "THE KING"

One thing about Eldora, its run the same winged or not, Jac was good winged or not before the Million. Stevie is fast there and at times looked like a fish out of water but was able to get comfortable with it and run the wall NW. It paid off.

I just don't see much passing in Winged racing. Expecially if there aren't two distinct separate grooves. It gets a lot better the longer a race goes green as the leader no longer has the only clean air on the track. It also can be exciting. I've watched races at Eldora where the leader half tracked em but by mid race the crowd was acoming and battles ensued.

Question, Could Donny Shatz race a sprint, midget and champ, Both dirt and pavement, Win in both and finish top five in all three?
Its one reason I see the USAC guys being competitive in the bigger leauges over the WoO guys. Blaneys had some success and of course he won the champ car division of USAC. IMHO the rear engine thing is a moot point, Its a RACE CAR and whats more important in say INDY is AERODYNAMICS which isn't normally a part of NW racing

Id say USAC is the toughest overall series but not toughest to win races at.

I come from a wing background, but prefer NW to wing. That said, I don't understand why some feel the need to pit one style against the other. We're kind of a niche sport, so we need to stick together.
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Both have their attributes. On one hand, winged guys have to have quicker reaction times because of the speeds and quick closing times to the car in front of them, but the non-winged guys have to work the throttle more to be fast. I really enjoy that fact that a guy doesn't have to drop as much money into a non wing motor to be competitive too (at least on a small track anyway). Don't get me wrong, motor sure helps though. I've always preferred non wing just due to the fact that the racing is generally closer most of the time. The wings stretch out to single file a lot and you're basically watching a slot car race at that point.

Matt Smedley

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I enjoy watching both traditional and winged sprints run. One thing that I would like to see done is make sure that all heat races and features are run with some invert. Make the top dogs that night earn their way to the front. More racing to get to that feature event. That is one reason why I have enjoyed the Knoxville Nationals. They invert the field while other sanctioning bodies do not.

Last Monday nights race at Twin Cities had the heats set to run straight up. Not the foremat that in my opinion produces the best racing either wing or traditional. That is how the late models for many series are run and some folks like that while others don't. I also enjoy a good late model race as well.

I attend more traditional sprint races in a year than winged. Most of that is due to Indiana being a traditional sprint car state. In my opinion, just enjoy what you have and get out to the local tracks as much as possible.

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I have always been a fan of both but thought what I hear people say wings for are ******* until I became a Driver of both my thought has changed since then after my accident on a ATV in 01 left me Paralyzed from my chest down in 03 I had got a non wing sprint I drive with Had Controls that took a season and a half to make work perfect as can be It is hard but works for me now but I always ran non wing I have Ran every Dirt Sprint Track in Indiana besides TSS I wish I could make it there. Racing non wing has been a job it's not easy racing these cars it's amazing how the car feels sideways wheels up working the throttle getting blasted with mud running on the edge for real it don't take much until your upside ways down end over end that stuff hurts a bit! I love non wing it's more challenging! I say this after years of non wing racing because I did strap on a Wing and Ran with the ALL STARS at Terre Haute it was my first time to race at that place I had a bit before I got fast learning that I can run full throttle at a concrete wall and just turn left around the corner it went It was a lot of fun and scary at the same time as fast as you can go with Wings I Wish I could do it full time it was much easier for me at least cause by the end of the night I was as fast as the rest of the guys! They are both great but I guess I Have to say is It takes more balls to run NON WING Full time!

Just my opinion from my experience! I have Respect for both as they are both very Dangerous as Joey Saldana's wreck proves!

Danny 24

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I think Donny Schatz would be fast in anything he tried. He is not one of my favorites. He can be a little arrogant and somewhat abrasive but he is a very talented racer, one of the best. The main reason you don't see many WoO drivers making the jump to NASCAR is most of them just want to be professional sprint car drivers. They are not racing with the WoO to use it as a stepping stone to some other form of racing like 99 percent of the kids in USAC are. A few might give it a try if the opportunity presented itself but they are not actively pursueing it. As far as which series has the best drivers and is tougher to win in. I suggest you ask Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Ricky Stenhouse, Brad Sweet, Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Jac Haudenschild, Danny Smith, Jack Hewitt or even Bill Rose or Daron Clayton that question. I'm pretty confident what their answer will be. As Sammy once said "Winged drivers win non-wing races all the time, non-wing drivers never win winged races".

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I have driven both extensively over the last 13 seasons. And I see it like this, running with a wing is like screwin with a condom, sure it's safer, but it just doesn't feel right.

Someone earlier mentioned that non wing drivers were more personable..........that is a 110% correct statement. Saturday night at K-C Raceway, for the first time in the tracks history, sprint drivers actually pushed their cars into the general admission section when the race was over and stayed for 2 hours signing autographs and putting kids in their car..........and not so coincidentally, it was the first non wing race in 17 years there........

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:3::5::3::8: I think you may get quoted on that one.

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That is not copied or stolen from anyone......... my buddy asked me one time why I liked non wing better...... that was the first thing that came to my mind. I probably should copyright that!! LOL

Well... apparently you and Jimmy Sills are on the same wavelength man... weird... haha
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I have a tee shirt with that fraze "Racing with a wing is like sex with a condom...safer but........." has a non wing car and bought at the 4 crown in '89....my favorite tee...of course I can't wear it cause it's a med and I wear a XXL now..LOL

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I would love to have that shirt! lol :10:

Danny 24

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Never have seen it again...it came from Indy Screen printing at gasoline alley

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wow, I really thought I was original!!!! I think I first said that back about 2003 or 2004. Never seen it on a t-shirt though!!! I have said that quite a bit to people over the last 8 or so years. I should have gotten royalties on the shirts............ or maybe Jimmy Sills if he really beat me to it. haha

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That very well could have been a quote from Buckwheat!!!! :8:

---------- Post added at 03:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:16 PM ----------

illiNOISE as I said in the very 1st post this is not a VS. one against the other. Here in Florida there are 11 sprint car type series including (micros/minis/dirt/pavement) with only 1 dirt series...mine ... The Southern States Sprints Series that are non wing dirt lightning sprints. Some are very uneducated about the difference between the two and I'm am gathering FACTS and Quotes to write and article about the difference. Nothing bad just difference...I wrench a winged sprinter for the guy that is 2nd in the top gun sprint series and EVERYONE refers to them as Outlaws and being it is a limited deal they only see what they see...the wing on top so it has to be and OUTLAW..Finally USAC has come back to Florida the last 2 years and people are start to see the difference...so this post IS NOT about 1 VS. the other...just a fact finding, quote gathering post...Wayne Davis :6:

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I was always told growing up that racing with a wing was like having sex with a condom! Much safter but not nearly as fun. Thank you Chris

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"Sprint car racing is sprint car racing, with or without a wing. I love them both." ---- Jim Fisher

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In 1971 Karl kinser, Butch Wilkerson, went over in Ohio on Wednesday evening to race we did not put the WING on the 11 car but run second in the feature we was pretty PROUD of corse:22::22::6::6::8::8: