[deadhorse30]

I agree with Rpracing1 here. I live in Ohio, which is mainly wing country. We have around 100 410's running weekly in the state. That seems like a pretty good number, and the 305's have helped the car counts. Countless teams have moved up from the 305's thanks to the strong Attica - Fremont division. With 3 to 4 tracks running weekly and series like FAST & OVSCA you would think tracks would struggle. That's not the case. You might see a track at the end of the year pull 16 cars, but that's rare, the fields are usually full.

I understand the costs of racing are high but it seems like car counts have gone up, not down. This topic seems to never end and has been talked about for as long as I can remember.

[Charles Nungester]

2012 MR. G had 117 cars earning points in Indiana alone.

Most I've seen any one night is maybe 70 and thats including races in OH or KY

This is Non wing 410.

Who ran against LPS last weekend. Burg ran a mod show. Paragon off
Boss had a couple at Hilltop and another track.

LPS has a decent base. But you know darn well that except for bigger events USAC average isn't justifying a consi even though they might have one to eliminate a couple cars.

[Rpracing1]

Originally Posted by Charles Nungester 2012 MR. G had 117 cars earning points in Indiana alone. Most I've seen any one night is maybe 70 and thats including races in OH or KY This is Non wing 410.

Midwest Thunder Sprints (Non Wing) lists 81 cars have points currently.

[TQ97]

I want to be clear that I only responded as a reference point for costs since it was asked and not deemed as me whining. I knew what I was signing up for all those years ago when I brought the first quarter midget home. When I can’t afford it or the interest fades, it’ll be for sale.

As for last weekend’s car count, I believe it was 48 Friday and 45 Saturday. There were no other non wing races except for War at Lake of the Ozarks and they only had 8 or 9. Boss rained out early on Friday and didn’t have a race Saturday. There were plenty of cars who took the weekend off. Car count has remained relatively healthy imo, but I’ve seen a lot more “selling out” posts on Facebook classifieds than I can ever remember, though it’s been primarily Ohio and PA wing guys. There will always be parents coming out of micros with money to try the next level. We moved out of micros to sprints because one night I came to my senses and realized I could have a competitive local sprint car for what I had in the micro. What I underestimated was the running cost, engine refresh, repairs etc. when we moved up. But damn it can be a blast!!!

[TQ29m]

Yes sir, when you mash the gas on that sprinter, you suddenly realize that if God left anything else more thrilling, he must have kept it for himself, nothing else matters

[oldfan49]

Originally Posted by Rpracing1 50 USAC sprints last Friday and Saturday is bad counts? Exactly how many cars you want for a good show? High 40's a few weeks back for Maverick for 4 continuous nights? TSS 40 Late Models with 30 sumthin Mods this past Sunday night on CST also.........You saying these are bad numbers?........... Not seeing your vision......

We can pic and choose all we want. go look through Myracepass and you will find many results showing multiple classes with not enough cars to even run 2 heats of 5 or 6 cars

[oldfan49]

Originally Posted by TQ97 Just a random comment that I bet the average fan doesn’t know. At local shows most tracks pay the same to finish 10th as they do 20th and the incremental increases up to the top 3 are pretty small. For instance, at one place 8th pays $20 more than 20th, and 5th pays $80 more than 20th. So it’s really hard for the car to help pay the bills, unless you’re running top 3 every night with a couple wins sprinkled in. Below are the stats from someone who most would say is a top 5 local driver and has 3 non local starts (usac/boss/mwts) where payout might be a bit more. Barring disaster he finishes top 10 every night locally, and 2/3 of the time he’s in the top 5. They’re averaging $550 a night that’s covering their fuel, 1 tire, and their pit passes. Races: 21 Wins: 1 Top 5: 13 Top 10: 17 Payout: $11,550

I have always said that top heavy purses are killing the sport especially weekly racing.

There was a push a few years ago to have purses pay no more than 3 times the start money but it pretty much died. I feel weekly tracks would be much better if they took the top-heavy money and spread it back through the field.

There are teams who will spend what ever it takes to dominate no matter what, but they are not the teams that are parking their race cars. It's the ones back through the field that can no longer take the big losses we have now.

Heck in the Mo./Kan. area there are many tracks who will not even pay you the start money unless you complete all the laps.

[Jonr]

Originally Posted by oldfan49 ....... Heck in the Mo./Kan. area there are many tracks who will not even pay you the start money unless you complete all the laps.

Which tracks are those? Most of the non wing stuff around here is run through the two clubs MWRA/WAR. Does it happen at their shows?

[hoscalecody]

Originally Posted by oldfan49 There are teams who will spend what ever it takes to dominate no matter what, but they are not the teams that are parking their race cars. It's the ones back through the field that can no longer take the big losses we have now.

Exactly this comment. No matter what you do, the big teams will still spend as much money as they can to be dominant. A lot of them teams usually have huge sponsors and other big businesses helping pay for the team.
I could almost guarantee you, if the rules all the sudden became open and they could do whatever they want to, there's going to be multiple teams paying for exactly that, to do whatever they can to beat the other guy.

Look how bad it's gotten with all carbon and Ti now. Teams are spending thousands of dollars for brand new carbon bodies and around $1000 for 1 Ti bolt kit, to save a little weight. Look at the midgets, new rules came out mandating tube thicknesses and made lots of cars illegal. Running thinner, lighter chassis. Just to possibly have a slight edge over someone, even if it meant potentially running a higher chance of injury in an wreck.

[oldfan49]

Originally Posted by Jonr Which tracks are those? Most of the non wing stuff around here is run through the two clubs MWRA/WAR. Does it happen at their shows?

I was talking weekly shows.

I grew up in Central Mo sprint car country. When I moved to the central western Mo border i was surprised to hear this was common at the local tracks. (I stand corrected, you have to take the checkered flag).

I have heard many stories about racers who overheated or such would pull into the infield then pull out to take the checkered flag to get paid some using the starter to get across. I have read track purses that read if you don't finish you get tow money.