Originally Posted by Mud Packer:
Tim,
I have been following this thread and have some questions. I have "no dog in this fight" so the decisions won't affect me one way or the other. Starting in the beginning, I thought this was a great idea and it could give some lower budget racers an opportunity to race in a series. In looking at the original schedule, I was kind of amazed that they would try to make this work travel wise. I still feel this concept has merit but here are some questions for you or anyone else who might care to elaborate.
1)Are there enough steel block sprint cars out there today to adequately supply this type of racing?
2)If you had a three year plan, would you attract enough modified drivers, street stock drivers, etc. to jump on board and increase the number of cars available?
3)I commented earlier that if you had a couple of tracks be the cornerstone for the series, would that help with reduced travel...higher car count? I mentioned maybe contacting Joe Spiker and seeing about running Lincoln Park & Danville once each month from April to September. That would be a 12 race schedule and maybe fill in a few more dates elsewhere. Would that work?
4)In your opinion, what does it now take to make this "idea" continue and flourish in the future?
I am not trying to bash anyone and from a spectators point would like some drivers, fans, sponsors, officials, opinions. I realize that "weekend warriors" have regular jobs and sometimes it isn't feasible to make the races every time. If cars get torn up it sometimes takes a little while to get them fixed and back at the track.
Mike, I'll answer as best as I can.
There were enough cars to fill the originally mandated 16 car feature starting field after, probably, the third race, but many of the racers were on such a tight budget that one lost motor or significant car damage incident knocked them out. I think we also lost one (I think it was Alex Pettas) to injury. Short answer - Apparently August 9, 2009 and beyond there are not enough cars.
A three year plan would probably work, with the understanding that the first season would be a "character building" experience. It must be, however, viewed as an investment for both racers and promoters/track operators. This takes both patience and money, which are in short supply these days.
As witnessed last night at LPS and through the year at VCS, Joe Spiker doesn't need another sprint car class. Car counts are OK at the traditional Indiana venues. So, you either sell a new track to the idea, or you come up with something else, which I believe I have.
I'm sorry, Mike, but I'm going to play my cards close to me for right now. I have an idea that I think will work for everyone, but I'm waiting for some folks who I believe in and have respect for to share those ideas to. These folks have a far better chance of getting the ear from a promoter/track operator than I ever would.
Just a short story I relayed to Steve Thomas the other day. When we first started coming to Indiana from Arkansas to race I told folks that I only had two objectives. The first was for folks to get familiar with us and, when they saw us at the track they, at least, acknowledge our existence and, maybe give us a wave.
The second objective was, when they waved, they use more than one finger. There seems to be a smattering of each, right now.
Tim Simmons