the reason the Ohio 410 crowd got their differences solved is that it is now owned by a single entity. the sod management essentially thru the current car owners that supported the series in prior years under the bus. new sets of rear rims will be required that are only good up there. aluminum engines and other light weight components and the car won't be legal for running the Ohio tracks or Canada and other east coast venues

There are definitely a lot of questions for the race tracks too. SOD has been a very reliable affordable partner for all tracks in Michigan for a very long time with a very successful package. 2016 is going to be a nervous year. Sure any track can schedule dates, but if the car counts aren't there because of the decisions of the management, that leaves the tracks taking the heat from the race fans hurting repeat business in the future.

I believe the new SOD rules package is good for racers looking to make that initial step for getting into winged racing, but for those who have already made the commitment for the 360 rules package, it's a slap in the face. Had SOD made the decision back around 2000 for these new rules, I don't think this would be anywhere near as big of a deal. However now that the winged community has settled on 410 "Outlaw" rules and 360 ASCS rules for the national standards, it makes it extremely costly for EVERYONE to make such a significant change.

We hope to have both SOD and GLSS at Hartford Speedway next year.

I like the new SOD rules, I think its a great idea. I doubt there is a need for new wheels. I talked to one of the guys that tested and he said they ran current wheels, and narrower ones. He said the car was fastest with the current wheels. Makes sense. Even though the current 410 and 360 tires are 16" wide, why is there a 18" wide wheel rule? Because they are better on wider wheels, if they weren't, then there is no need for the rule. If that's the case, there is no cost other than tires for any sprint car out there to race with SOD. This tire rule makes sense to me, narrower tires are going to put less power to the ground, no denying that. If you can only get so much power to the ground, who cares how much power you have. In my opinion, it will make a lot more guys competitive that had good engines, but not the huge budget for a killer one. The RR is smaller, but I think the harder compound and 3" narrower LR is going to take away a lot of traction. Not to mention, only 1 size LR is going to save a lot of money. With the trend of non-wing guys trying more winged shows, I wonder if any will try SOD if they get some Indiana shows. I would think less traction would be right up their alley!

Good points about getting the power down, as John Naida noted in his presentation to the drivers when SOD decided to change the rule book for next year.

But with no rules other than the tires, what about traction control? I am assuming a driver can run full traction control at every SOD event. A lot of sprint cars run it (like WoO), and it is "illegal", but the sanctioning bodies tend to look the other way. At least SOD will be playing it straight up.

But traction control should negate any tire slippage issues....... right?

SOD has rules, and a lot of them. I believe the engine rules were eliminated as a result of the new tires, and the weight rule was eliminated. As far as I know, wing rules, safety rules, technology/T.C. rules etc, all remain.

2016 rule book:

http://www.sprintsondirt.com/2016_Sp..._R151030A2.pdf

Got it straight from the series director: Traction control will not be allowed.