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Originally Posted by AlkyMadness
"Sprint car racing is the most mainstream form of dirt racing"---***???? You must be from Ohio or Pennsylvania (since you seem to have a love of wings).
You really need to do your homework. Dirt late models and modifieds both far out number sprints. Unless you live in OH, PA, IN (and finally some in IL), you have to drive there to see sprints on any given weekend. By the way, have you ever seen a dirt late model race at Tazewell Tennessee? If not, you might want want to reconsider that last statement. I've been going to races for 40 years and everytime I'm at Tazewell my hair stand up on my arms. It's that good. Don't knock it if you haven't been there.
Get a copy of the National Speedway Directory and compare how many dirt tracks run sprints as a feature class versus late models or modifieds. If I remember correctly, there are only about 20-22 tracks east of the Mississippi that run 410 sprints as a regular class. That's out of about 300 dirt tracks.
I wish it were the other way around.
Oh, and concerning attendance at a big paying non wing show, perhaps you remember the Mopar Million at Eldora? The economy was still pretty good then and I don't think they had as many people as Knoxville did tonight. Non wing racing is the best, but it will never outdraw winged racing. And that's okay. More room for me.
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I love both winged and non-winged racing, whats wrong with that? And yes, winged racing is more mainstream. Lets say you take an average dirt race fan from, I don't know, Idaho? A place where neither non winged sprints or winged are ran, and asked them who Steve Kinser, Donny Shatz, or Joey Saldana is, what they race, their car number, etc. , and quite a bit will know. You ask the same fans who Dave Darland, Jerry Coons Jr, or Tracy Hines is, and most likely, less will know of them. I'm not saying winged racing is more popular as far as tracks that run them, outside of Cali, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Iowa/North Dakota, not many places run them on a weekly basis at multiple tracks. But there are the icons in dirt track racing that are more relevant than others. The # 11 Sprint Car is arguably the most famous dirt track race car EVER. I would LOVE to see USAC as popular as the World of Outlaws, but unfortunately it isn't outside of Indiana. As far as late models, Yes I am from Ohio(late model country,) and I would much rather watch a sprint car race, winged or non-winged than one. They're fun to watch(helluva lot better than modifieds,) but nothing can compare to the speed and excitement of sprint car racing.
Whats wrong with liking winged sprint cars? I grew up watching them at KC Raceway and am attached to them. Until recently racing often in Indiana, I had never really been exposed to non-wing sprint cars, but after watching races at Lawrenceburg, Twin Cities, and Bloomington, I've grown attached to them too. I've seen about equal amounts of winged and non-winged races the past 2 years, and I've seen plenty of good winged races, and plenty of bad ones also. Same deal with non winged, seen lots of great ones, and lots of bad ones. Both are equally great forms of racing, stop acting like winged sprint cars are inferior to the traditional sprints.