Originally Posted by bobbyg45:
That thing is way on top a hill if you can get a car up there id buy you a house
It's amazing where racecars can end up; I don't think anyone ever dreamed you could hang a Sprint Car by its' cage from the top of a catch fence pole at Ascot but Clark Templeman proved that you could, with tragic results. Not long after that every pole in the place had a tire on top of it to prevent it from happening again.
I have a house; I just want to remove "again" from that last phrase whenever possible so guys like us can enjoy their houses for a long time. There will always be risks in racing but some can be eliminated with a little preventative effort.
I think the printed age is 14 years old>>> but I also think that they also allow the use of discretion by the track promoter. My boy started I think at 12 years old. AJ Felker started at 12 as well as Brad kuhn, JT Stapp and I think lastly Seth Motsinger all at Thunder Valley. The best I can remember Will Kimmel of ARCA also did a few races at Thunder Valley in a Mini Sprint before his 14 th birthday.
Racing is about improvement and doing the best with what one has at hand. D II Midgets came along just about the right time Wayne Davis filling a void between the smaller cycle powered cars and the full blown if you like Midget racer with it very exclusive pricing structure.
The nice thing about DII midgets is it is more inclusive of other race cars and engines. Right now Mini Sprints are powered by an economical $1200.00> $5000.00 1000 cc motorcycle motors in semi stock condition. We are already witnessing motor builders out there that would like to make them go better for a nominal charge. The automotive engine starts out life also as a stock motor in a wrecked vehicle for about $300.00 to $1000.00 but it requires additional parts to make it work in a race car however these parts can be used over and over again as we explode motors occasionally. Making engine choice about even as far as out of pocket money and giving the automotive engine an advantage in the long run. It is hard to admit but there is also very little difference between a $1500.00 quick change set up and a $600.00 axle and sprocket set up with several $100.00 dollar chains and expendable sprockets that tend wear out at an alarming rate.
In racing the best usually wins out if they happen to race together as in DII midgets soon the best will win out one over the other and the majority will be one type or the other power plant.
If we protect the Mini Sprint Brand and exclude the automotive engines then in 10 years we will be racing with Motor cycle engines and chain drives just as we do today.
Originally Posted by bobbyg45:
That tree stump issue is being dealt with today
I have an old car tire I don't need anymore. If they're chopping that stump down as close to the ground as possible, I can bring the tire with me and we can throw it on top of what's left of the stump for added safety.
And I know guys hate tractor tires on the infield marking the turns, but smaller car tires marking the turns is just as bad. Ask Andy Bradley when he flipped off one at Columbus.
I have been looking over the pic on Thunder Valley's FB page and see another safety issue. Up on the hill where the Ambulance normally parks all I see is a police car. Open wheel racing is by its nature more dangerous than other forms of racing. I know that Ambulance rental is expensive but I would much rather pay a little more at the gate for the reassurance that medical response was close at hand.
As far as the earth mover tires I think we have a pic somewhere that shows the damage one of them things can do to a small stock car. One of those things will destroy a Midget more so than the wall will. We Being fortunate enough to race there when they used a berm my vote as well as most other Midget racers would be for a berm with those big tires moved to the infield as back up protection for track crew and photographers.
