Paragon Speedway 35 Sprint cars for the Johnson Memorial

The midgets alone were worth the $20 admission fee!

I didn't say it was the best race of the night, only related what Ballou said in his interview. Understand that.

You need to get out more. Review your posts and see what I mean. Understand that.

I am a fan, period. I'm glad all tracks had a good night last night, good nights keep the doors open and gives us all choices. I thought the racing at TSS was great. If, however if I was a promoter last night might give me pause. Helfrich posted a $5000 to win $250 to start race for non-wing sprint cars and 17 sprint cars signed into the back gate. Like the impression or not, this is a signal of a lack of support from the sprint car teams. One complaint that seems to be consistent with drivers is that purses need to be higher. This track posts a very good purse and his reward is a weak back gate. Honestly, as a promoter I would be hard pressed to take seriously any complaints focused on purse. Why offer a good purse if the drivers don't support the race? I am disappointed, not in the racing nor the car count (car count did not hurt the quality of the racing), but in the lack of support by race teams for a well paying event. If you want higher purses, support them when they are scheduled.

I remember one of my old college professors talking about that. He said it was because they had certain 'insecurities'. He explained it a little more, but I can't remember what else he said. I was daydreaming about being at a race.

I sat with a driver who races full time and maintains his own car about a month ago. The field was loaded with talent, and it paid 1400 to win. He told me " people say we need to race for more money, but what is the incentive when more people run the lower paying shows?"

If you look at what LM racing has become. Two touring series with big purses and a few tracks survive on barely a full car count or less and several that used to be weekly only running a couple specials in a year. Six tracks having over 15 cars is pretty remarkable.

CN, I understand your point, but again how will purses rise if this is the support a high purse attracts? I know this week could have been an anomaly with so many tracks running sprints and Belleville taking others, but teams are setting a poor precedent for higher purses by not supporting any track that puts this type of show together. I believe to maintain teams in this sport we are going to have to see purses rise somewhat on a weekly basis, but I honestly no longer see the incentive to the promoter. I wish this was an isolated incident, but TSS is rarely overwhelmed for their high purse or significant shows with cars in the pits. I have made most big shows at TSS and am always kind of disappointed in the support of the teams. As an example, you would think the $10000 show in the fall would have the pits stuffed, but they will be lucky to draw 30 teams. I am not trying to be critical, I know it is difficult to fund and run a team, I am just bewildered and a little worried. The tin tops drew well (real well) at Haub and the rumor is more shows for them in the future. More dates for late models mean less dates for sprint cars and, selfishly, less enjoyment for me.

I personally would like to thank TSS an MSC for putting on the higher paying shows around Indiana. even tho there may not be an overwhelming number of race cars the payout does reflect the quality of racing for the evening. not all tracks need the back gate to foot the entire purse as the front gate , especially at TSS, is spectacular. you may think that the payout is excessive and high at TSS last night but most of us believe the payout is not enough at the other tracks that we are racing in relation to what is spent to field a team and sprint car.. and on another note most teams go to where " they" feel they can pick up the most cash at the payout window..
again thanks to all of the tracks and all purses are appreciated