Michigan Senator Mike Nofs head of the michigan transportation committee has introduced SB35 to increase the length of RV's from
65 to 75 feet. This will make alot of racers legal in michigan if passed
and allow us to increase our trailer length from 40 to 48 feet. That
means I can sell my brand new united 40 footer.. Cheap advertising.
I think we should all send emails to Sen Nofs thanking him for this
effort. The bill has passed the senate 37 to 0 so now only the house and MDOT are left.
You can also go to the above link and follow the bill as hopefully it becomes legal. Now lets try and get your senators in indiana and
ohio, etc etc to adopt this length.
Well if the guy cant get to the track it might. lol
If a team knows about the 65 foot rule and is an RV it
might determine if that ohio or indiana driver even goes
to race in michigan.. but i do agree with you,.
Michigan is one of the shortest states in the country, at 65 feet. Many race teams coming in to Michigan have been pulled over for being too long. Ryan Litt is one of them that I know for sure. On their way to Winchester, they had to turn around, go back home to Canada, and borrow a truck to get under the limit and head to Winchester once again. I have seen 1/4 midget teams get pulled over. Only way around it is to have commercial plates.
I do think most surrounding states are 75 feet for an RV.
You are right, the size does not get you in victory lane, but most toterhomes and trailers are longer than the 65 feet to begin with, keeping some people out of the state. Every weekend I would hear of someone getting pulled over in Jackson County for it.
As I stare down the twilight of my racing career, this discussion reminds me of one of the greatest weekends of my life. In 1996, my friend Chad Delagrange and I decided we wanted to run a couple of races in North Carolina with the sprint car group then known as AWOL (later became USCS). We figured if we could find a way to haul both cars together, we might be able to make some money. With a little help from a friend, we came up with the rig seen in this picture.
It was a stretched one ton truck chassis with a shortened Chevy van body and a car hauler bed on the back. We then hooked my open trailer to it and off we went! As you can imagine, we got looks everywhere we went. Every fuel stop (and there were lots, it only held 12 gallons) we had a crowd gather.
We both ran well that weekend and actually came home with more money then we left with. There’s a lot more to this story, but this forum just doesn’t have the space for it.
I don’t blame anyone for having a big fancy enclosed trailer. It’s a lot easier to not have to unload everything when you get home just to have to drive the truck to work Monday morning.
I’ve not had what most would call a glorious career, but I’ve raced at 65 different tracks in 14 different states. And every time I was driving my own car, it went to the track on an open trailer. And I wouldn’t have traded it for the world!
Tom Paterson
P.S. By the way, my house is only 60 feet long but in true racer fashion, my garage is 66 feet.
Originally Posted by 1121:
As I stare down the twilight of my racing career, this discussion reminds me of one of the greatest weekends of my life. In 1996, my friend Chad Delagrange and I decided we wanted to run a couple of races in North Carolina with the sprint car group then known as AWOL (later became USCS). We figured if we could find a way to haul both cars together, we might be able to make some money. With a little help from a friend, we came up with the rig seen in this picture.
It was a stretched one ton truck chassis with a shortened Chevy van body and a car hauler bed on the back. We then hooked my open trailer to it and off we went! As you can imagine, we got looks everywhere we went. Every fuel stop (and there were lots, it only held 12 gallons) we had a crowd gather.
We both ran well that weekend and actually came home with more money then we left with. There’s a lot more to this story, but this forum just doesn’t have the space for it.
I don’t blame anyone for having a big fancy enclosed trailer. It’s a lot easier to not have to unload everything when you get home just to have to drive the truck to work Monday morning.
I’ve not had what most would call a glorious career, but I’ve raced at 65 different tracks in 14 different states. And every time I was driving my own car, it went to the track on an open trailer. And I wouldn’t have traded it for the world!
Tom Paterson
P.S. By the way, my house is only 60 feet long but in true racer fashion, my garage is 66 feet.
Was that when George Echols was still the front man for AWOL?
I agree with David M. It was a big thrill when I was a little kid and would see a race car being hauled down the road on an open trailer. If they were around my neighborhood, it meant me and my uncle were gonna get to eat some dirt that evening! Great times. It had to be good P.R. back in the day as well.
Originally Posted by Speedwrench:
Was that when George Echols was still the front man for AWOL?
Yes, I believe it was. There was a couple of other guys that were involved also, but I don't remember their names. Several guys from up here ran down there on a semi regular basis. The pay was quite a bit more then we were getting up here. Gas was still cheap and when they would have two race weekends you could make some money.
