[Al Pierce]

Originally Posted by Pushtruck Al, our group only does the push trucks. The wreckers are the race track. Joe

My bad! I reckon we tend to lump all the track support personnel together. They'll get it fixed. I agree about the racing. Pretty darn good as was the track. Midgets have a little bit of trouble with that 8" wall but it was a good night and good racin'.

[LEADERS EDGE]

Hot lapping under caution is a major problem.

At Macon guys where hot lapping coming off 2 with trucks and personal on the backstretch. If they don't get guys to cool it....there will be another headline one of these days

[suzuki756]

Got ran over at eldora this year killed left rear birdcage,torsion arm,Nerf bar,tire,rear bumper, bent top wing. 700 with side board wrap to fix .

[rockstar5]

Originally Posted by Kinser11 After watching the little 500, and suggesting someone need to start a push truck school. I believe I am going to start taking applications. Everyone has to start somewhere to learn, but tore up racecars, slows the learning curve, and is expensive for car owners. What a way to begin Midget week. It appears the push track has run over Jarett Andretti car while pushing off. The push truck is on the hook, don't see that everyday

I think it's a great idea... There are some very good push truck drivers but it takes more than a 4x4 truck and a 2x10 to be able to do the job im not putting anyone down I just hate seeing cars tore up for no reason

[darnall]

A buddy of mine has been pushing here in MO for 3 years now... does a great job...usually gets 3 times as many cars fired as any other truck during starts or after redflags.. never had a problem until last month.

He got up over a bumper and dented the tank on a sprintcar. Going from the pits over the banking. Got his butt chewed and chewed by the owner and driver.

He was looking at the car afterward and noticed that not only did the bumper not have a kick up post on the top, it was angled down as opposed to flat or angled up a tick... the top of this cars bumper literally sat 9 inches lower than any other car in the pits. The owner didn't want to hear anything about it being his fault that the bumper sat so much lower than anybody else, ended up winning the feature that night, and came back next week with a correctly mounted bumper.

[hoosier]

Reading this post cracks me up. Joe Chambers pretty much said it all but I will add this. Not all "push truck" drivers are just drivers we own sprint cars to. My family has owned sprint cars for 15 years. I know what a set of rear shocks cost, I know what a fuel cell and bladder cost and so does our team. Accidents do happen and if it weren't for the pushtrucks, shows wouldn't move very fast and you would have something else to gripe about. So please, think before you speak or at least try pushing over 100 cars a night 3 nights a week during midget or sprintweek then tell us how easy it is. Thanks to all the great people who do thank us and appreciate what we do. 🏁🏁🏁

Crystal Pottorff

[Pushtruck]

Originally Posted by darnall A buddy of mine has been pushing here in MO for 3 years now... does a great job...usually gets 3 times as many cars fired as any other truck during starts or after redflags.. never had a problem until last month. He got up over a bumper and dented the tank on a sprintcar. Going from the pits over the banking. Got his butt chewed and chewed by the owner and driver. He was looking at the car afterward and noticed that not only did the bumper not have a kick up post on the top, it was angled down as opposed to flat or angled up a tick... the top of this cars bumper literally sat 9 inches lower than any other car in the pits. The owner didn't want to hear anything about it being his fault that the bumper sat so much lower than anybody else, ended up winning the feature that night, and came back next week with a correctly mounted bumper.

You are absolutely spot on. I've seen it.

There are so many things you have to be alert for and aware of. A race cars push bar may be just fine at the start of the race, but can be damaged during the race. On yellow re-starts or red re-starts you have to look at each cars push bar as you approach them to be sure it is still in a decent position.

You have to be very careful pushing cars out of infields or over the banking because it is easy to get a push bar under or over your push bumper pushing over sharp terrain changes. It is often better to give them a little shove and back off over those big humps then catch back up to them. It sure beats getting a kick up post behind your bumper or lifting the car off the ground when you get your bumper under them.

There is a lot to this. I could make you a list of a dozen things most people never consider about pushing race cars when they are sitting in the stands watching. Unexpected things can happen faster than a persons reaction time. Throw in a wet, slick or muddy surface and the inability to steer away or stop. Your options are limited.

Still the number one problem we face are race cars making sharp left or right turns with a push truck's bumper only inches from those big rear tires.

Two things are always certain. 1. Accidents will happen no matter how proficient or careful you are. 2. The push truck driver will always get the blame.