Discuss: It's Time For 360's in St. Louis

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ghost67

Well-Known Member
Memphis had 50+ cars last night at Riverside in a big ASCS show

Last weekend, fans and 410 supporters worked to put up extra money for 410 winged shows in the area. It appears there simply aren't that many 410's around anymore to get a regular weekly car count that can support three full heats and a B main.

Wouldn't 360's be cheaper?

If you disagree, why should the local tracks keep the 410's?
 
Where would they race? All the tracks on a weekly basis have a full card already. Are you talking about specials?

Farmington and Jacksonville run Sprints on a weekly basis.
 
They can run 360's around here all they want, but what track has tech to make sure they are really 360's. I like Farmington's no-rules with a hard rightrear. I was one of the people helping with payout for Farmington, there was a few drivers missing that night and most had reasons. The ones missing had either motor problems or vacation, but the racing was still great.
 
It's just a matter of time. Sprint invaders pay $1,200 to win and always bring at least 20-25 cars in Iowa/Mo/Northern Illinois. There were tons of 360's in Lake of the Ozarks last week (bigger purse though).

Last week Jacksonville paid around $3k to win and drew about 20 410's. Farmington was around $2,500 and drew less than 20 I think. Shepps drew about 13 on Sunday paying $2,500 while the Sunday 360 show in East Moline drew 22 or so.

If there was a weekly 360 show that paid $1500 to $2000 to win anywhere from Springfield, IL south, my bet is that it would draw 25 cars or more per week. If it was from Springfield north, I bet it would draw 30 on a weekly basis. After a few months and guys got tired of their 410's sitting in the shop, I'd guess you would see about 30 in the St. Louis area also.

There are more and more 410 guys that have a 360 sitting around. On the other hand, there are fewer and fewer 360 guys that are also maintaining a 410.

Imagine if there were a couple of 360 tracks in the area with weekly shows. I think those numbers would go up even more. Heck, at some of the smaller tracks that MESS runs, a guy could do okay running his 360 against the 410's

As for tech, use ASCS specs more or less. No place else has a problem with tech.
 
I like watching the sprints every once in a while....especially at I-55 and the midgets at Belle-Claire

However, I hate to be the bearor of bad news to you sprint guys.... the STL area is Late Model/Modified country:eek:....good luck getting one of these tracks to add the sprints or drop a stock car class to add the sprints.
 
You dont need a 410 at Jacksonville or Farmington to be competitive, the tracks are not big enough to use all the hp, you could use a 360 and most likely do very well. Not sure about Shepp's though, havent been there yet. I remember going to Tri-City years ago when they ran (i think 360's)on the half weekly. If i remember correctly they had good turn-outs, and Danny Smith won the Championship.
 
Late Models are king here. In order fror a local track to add sprints, they'd have to keep late models and charge at least $15 per week for admission. I just don't see that happening.

PREDICTION: Before you see either TCS, BelleVegas, Highland, or I-55 pick up Sprints on a regular basis, you'll see a Saturday track (Highland or I-55) pick up UMP Crate Late Models every week. With the number of crates running in this area now, I think that could happen as early as next year.

Bottom Line: Sprints might have wings but they don't fly in these parts.
 
hitech19 said:
You dont need a 410 at Jacksonville or Farmington to be competitive, the tracks are not big enough to use all the hp, you could use a 360 and most likely do very well. Not sure about Shepp's though, havent been there yet. I remember going to Tri-City years ago when they ran (i think 360's)on the half weekly. If i remember correctly they had good turn-outs, and Danny Smith won the Championship.
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I remember going to Tri-City about every week around '95 or '96 and I think a guy named Tommy Scott won about every week in the 360 class. I think they had an average turnout for a car count where they ran two heats and no consi.
 
The only time I saw the weekly sprints there, there was about 10-12 cars and Bobby Hawks won by more than half the track. I'm not a fan of the winged sprints anymore, but take the wings off, and I would definetly be interested in watching.
 
jpugh said:
Farmington and Jacksonville run Sprints on a weekly basis.
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Although we have either non-wing or winged sprints on the card several times this year, they do not run every week at Morgan County. Some weeks we have POWRi, and some weeks--like this past Friday--the modifieds are the headline class.
 
Way back in the early '70s Tri-City ran sprints and late models on Friday nights and had good fields for both classes. One of the main reasons sprints drifted away from the old 1/2 mile oval was because the long straights would eat up the engines. The new layout seems to be working well for all the different sprint car series that have raced there. I wish they would try it again. Late models, modifieds and sprints (410 or 360, but no wings) and let the street stocks and factory stocks run at Belle-Clair.
 
FlyingPenguin said:
Way back in the early '70s Tri-City ran sprints and late models on Friday nights and had good fields for both classes. One of the main reasons sprints drifted away from the old 1/2 mile oval was because the long straights would eat up the engines. The new layout seems to be working well for all the different sprint car series that have raced there. I wish they would try it again. Late models, modifieds and sprints (410 or 360, but no wings) and let the street stocks and factory stocks run at Belle-Clair.
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Have you seen the car counts they've been getting in the street stocks and the factory stocks? There's no way either of these two classes go away anytime soon.
 
A weekly Midget show at Belleville would be awesome. It would seem fitting since that is what the track was built for. Nothing gets around that place like a Midget.

I like it that Farmington has a Sprint car show every week. I know this is a big stock car area but it nice to have some variety in what you can watch race. It gives each track its own personality.

I might be wrong but I think Sprint cars would gain in popularity if they lost the wing for good.
 
I would love to see a weekly 360 show somewhere a little closer than Farmington. Tri City or I 55 would be awesome. I just dont see it happening because like the other folks have said, Stl is Late model country.

If it were to happen, I would support the track.
 
FlyingPenguin said:
Way back in the early '70s Tri-City ran sprints and late models on Friday nights and had good fields for both classes. One of the main reasons sprints drifted away from the old 1/2 mile oval was because the long straights would eat up the engines. The new layout seems to be working well for all the different sprint car series that have raced there. I wish they would try it again. Late models, modifieds and sprints (410 or 360, but no wings) and let the street stocks and factory stocks run at Belle-Clair.
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Support classes are needed at every track. Running lm's, mods and sprints, and no support classes would be a big gamble for any promoter. When a track pays the lm's $1200 just to win not counting the rest of the fields pay. 20-25 cars don't cover that. It's the classes getting 20-25 cars and their total payout for the night is what the lm or sprint winner would get for winning, is what "supports" the show.
 
jimmymac said:
A weekly Midget show at Belleville would be awesome. It would seem fitting since that is what the track was built for. Nothing gets around that place like a Midget.
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I agree....my first race i went to watch there was powri. The car count is going down at belleville, the powri guys are hardly getting to race this year...I think they would get the count to justify it.
 
Sprints

I-55 was a sprint car track before a late model track so let's not jump the gun and say it is late model country. I would much rather see sprints at I-55 than late models.:cool:
 
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