When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

Eldora, New Bremen, Winchester, Dayton,Salem,Terre Haute,etc.all ran Sunday afternoons for years. When and why did this stop.IT's like we can't run in the day anymore.I want any and all explanations on why this is the case.Other than a few dirt champ races the entire usac schedule is night.Same way with most other sanctioning bodies.Sunday afternoons always meant USAC sprint car racing.

Three things.
Napcar (In it's hayday) was on tv most sundays.
Indy car about died.
All americans got used air conditioning. Never used to see races cancelled for heat.

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

Air conditioning, bigger motors, bigger tires

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

I'm guessing when tracks were prohibited from using calcium chloride.

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

When calcium Chloride was banned to reduce dust
When Tire rules preventing using a tire that would last.

Def dust and moisture, we ran the same track this last Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. The dust/lack of visibility and poor track conditions made for a miserable day.

I hate to admit it, but just like the Indycar series, the local tracks can't afford to buck the NFL in the fall... It's too easy to sit at home with the TV on.... But that's not all of it...

I agree with Charles... Dust control is tough in the daytime...

Many folks were complaining about last weekend's race at Eldora. In the years prior to 1985, we had the World 100 on Sunday afternoon. We chewed a little dust, but the racing was great. Switched to Saturday night, or, as we saw this past weekend with the 4-Crown, Saturday/Sunday, and it has turned into a drunk fest. Years ago, our local track switched from Saturday nights to Sunday afternoons once the weather got a little chilly. It was a great time to take the FAMILY to the racetrack. Would you want to take a 10 year old kid to the 4-crown or World 100 under today's Saturday night scheduling?

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

Originally Posted by Bill Angel:
I'm guessing when tracks were prohibited from using calcium chloride.

I third this motion.

Pavement racing died out. Terre Haute and Eldora switched to a more powdery type of dirt that is more dusty at night and unraceable during the day. As far as calcium chloride, I know of one track that still uses it according to a track employee I spoke with. I actually like it and have seen many good day races. They have a different atmosphere that seems more prestigious for special races. Another plus is getting home early or catching another race that night. I remember some big crowds during the day, especially at Winchester. I quit watching the NFL so I'm free on Sunday's!

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

winchester lives.come over sunday the 9th.not open wheel,too fast for todays drivers,but real racing none the less.

I would be happy to take a ten year old to today's races. I was in attendance at this year's world 100 and we have a 3 and a half hour drive, we were home before 2 central. And if you're complaining about sparing children from the some inappropriate language from some folks who might have had a few, you should go back to reside in your glass house. With all the atrocities going on in the world today, a loud mouth at the race track hardly seems like a consideration.
And speaking of the world's hundred, some folks like to submit that you can't run that many high horsepower cars on one night, well they do it about every year for that event, and get through it. Now some years are better than others and the best are usually when mother nature helps out. I will say that I think the compound of the late model tire and an open wheel tire are different in that it takes longer to transfer rubber to the track, but that's just my unsubstantiated opinion.

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

Originally Posted by Bill Angel:
I'm guessing when tracks were prohibited from using calcium chloride.

It is cost prohibited not prohibited. I have seen it used in the last 2 years. When using it in a liquid form is very corrosive and hard on equipment. It is nasty stuff to use, and very harsh to anything it comes in contact with.

Originally Posted by BrentTFunk:
It is cost prohibited not prohibited. I have seen it used in the last 2 years. When using it in a liquid form is very corrosive and hard on equipment. It is nasty stuff to use, and very harsh to anything it comes in contact with.

Which is the same juice they squirt on our roads in the winter!

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

people stopped showing up to Sunday afternoon races when the drivers stopped showing up. Its hard to pay $15 to $20 to see 10 sprint cars and 11 midgets. especially when 2/3rds of those cars are lucky to finish on the lead lap. I started going back to Winchester when they paired the Sprint Cars up with CRA late models. At least I got to see a show with them.

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

It wasn't Sundays but for several years the Hoosier Hundred ran the same day at the Hoosier Fall Classic and several drivers would rent a Chopper and fly in to Lawrenceburg and land in the field that is now ball fields.

Blaney, Staab, Jacobs and others would do both.

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

When everyone started pissing and moaning about it non stop like they are now when a track gets dusty or dry slick, that's when it died! People piss and moan if a track takes time for track prep during the show but yet wants no dust, no ruts, and perfect conditions. Its a no win deal anymore for tracks and no wonder more and more are shutting the gates for good

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

We used to have a fair amount of Sunday Afternoon show back here in the east too. Williams Grove and Hagerstown used to run their first 3 or 4 races of the season on Sunday afternoon. There also were a number of season ending shows on Sundays too. Then everyone starting bellyaching on the Internet about black, slick, rubbered up no passing races tracks, yet the same folks will pay twice as much to see WoO or DIRT Mods race on a Summer night with the same track conditions and lack of passing.

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

Horrible racing is the biggest reason imo.

I live in the northeast and there used to 5-6 200 lap afternoon races for the dirt mods every fall, usually packed with fans. Then it just got to be obvious that 1) the racing at night was much better 2) the promoters would keep you there for hours on end, and the 200 lappers are down to 2.

Plus, I am not sure people really like getting home on the later end of Sunday, I know I don't go to Sunday races very much anymore unless i know I have Monday off.

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

Think it was climate change :D:D:D

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

Supply and Demand. There is very little demand for an afternoon race. For all of the reasons mentioned above.

I have gone to several Knoxville Nationals that would have 20K fans for the Saturday finale. However, if one of the qualifying races gets rained out and runs on Saturday afternoon, they have closer to 3k to 4k fans for the afternoon race. All of the fans are already in town. All of the fans are already die hard fans to drive to Knoxville, Iowa in August. But 3 out of 4 of these fans would rather do something else than go to an afternoon race.

Wonder if Kokomo would agree, and change their Sunday date, just sayin! Bob

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

They're running a 300 lap big block race on a temporary dirt track on top of the concrete at Oswego NY this October.
Pretty sure this will be a daylight race and pretty dusty.:D
Most likely will be pretty epic if your into that sorta thing.

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

I think you can blame Thomas Edison for it, not long after he invented the light bulb, daytime racing began to disappear, or global weather change, or the suns proximity to the earth, or just about anything, hay fever, whatever, I always liked the day races, as well as the night races, maybe it's because there are too many race cars, and it takes too long, about anything can be blamed for something other than what is really the cause! Beats me, we used to do it a lot, just one of them things! Bob

Tire technology has played a part in the demise of day racing too. Tires in the the old days were the consistency of concrete blocks and would last on a hard, slick, dry track and would last 40 or even 50 laps. You can put on the hardest tire available today and without babying it, it probably wouldn't last for a 30 lap feature.


Time is another factor. We went to Terre Haute, and Eldora for years for day races in the 70's and early 80's. Yes, they were dusty...sometimes terribly so. The track crew watered the track after hot laps, after qualifying, after the heats (sometimes between the heats) and after the semi. Yes, all that watering and running the track in controlled the dust,, but it made the show's run long. It was pretty common for hot laps to start at Noon and the feature to checker at about 6:00-6:30. Yes I know, that isn't much compared to the "12 hrs. of Eldora" 4 Crown event this past Saturday, but it did have its impact on people traveling from distances to the events.

IMO, no one factor "killed" daytime racing, but certainly dust, heat, tire costs, the popularity of NASCAR (even if it has waned) and many other factors have all contributed.

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

Another reason Terre Haute held only day races "back in the day" was they did not have lighting. The THAT Racing Group led by the late Bill Hopton added lighting to the track in May, 1993.

Re: When did Sunday afternoon racing die
 

I used to love racing at night till I got old. Now I wish all our races were daytime, when I'm still half awake.
Our last speedway race of the year is in October during the day and it's usually the most fun.
Of course dust isn't near the issue that it is with cars.
I just noticed my avatar photo was taken during the daytime race a couple years ago.