Are we seeing a trend

H

havoline28

Active Member
I seen in Tri-city there were more B-mods then A-mods and at Farmer City there were more crate lates then supers. The more and more the cost go up the more and more we are going to see this in my opinion. I know some have said crates are the future maybe they re right.

I like to hear what others have to say
 
Man I hope not as far as the supers now the b-mods I think that just might eventually happen I think it's in the transformation period now
 
Steve,,I also have been seeing this. Money pits are drying up I guess. So sad that the days of buying a car from a junk yard and weekend building it has gone by the way side. Motor costs are out of hand and it is showing..When drivers quit their class because of costs,,other classes gain numbers. Also some quit and never look back,,hence some spectator numbers going down also.
 
Farmer City's Supers were down because Lincoln was also running Supers.. Lincoln normally runs crates... So their crates went to Farmer and some of Farmers normal Supers went to Lincoln..

With Fayette not running on Friday's.. I thought for sure Granite's A-Mod count would be 30+ every week.. But, B-Mods will continue to grow.. Problem is, the B-Mods are luring drivers from not only A-Mods, but also Street Stocks, Sportsman and so on.. So those car counts are down as well.
 
Yeah i see where 3 or 4 guys that usually run Farmer in the supers was at Lincoln and 2 of the guys that runs crates at Lincoln was at Farmer but, every year your seeing more and more crates and less supers.
 
with crate motors being the only option in the B Mod class soon I see the low buck racers being forced to change classes or not race at all .. for what a new crate costs a racer can build 2 fairly good open motors .. now that is with the racer doing some price shopping for parts and a machine shop giving them a deal of some kind . in my opinion the B mod class should have went with AARAs sportsman motor rules at the onset . but still include crate motors . one of the gray areas is in the TEC of crate motors . take valve springs and fuel .. from what I understand with a crate you have to replace the springs every so offton and lets say you get a set from a approved vender and until they get broke in so to say they might not spec correctly .. and fuel - the idea behind a crate was to save the racer money by buying PUMP gas .. well now we find out some pump gas is not to specs .. how are we the racer supposed to know that .. and now if you run a open motor and have roller rockers in the Bs your car has to weigh 2625 now that's heavy compaired to the crate B s at 2400 ...I could go on and on but I will shut up for now this is JMO
 
Fireball, what your going to see if the crates start to take over their price is going to go up and we will be still have the problem of racing being to exspensive. Like you said pump gas was suppose to help with cost now if they are making you run racing fuel there goes that savings. Plus I believe the lack of teching these cars will drive the cost up as well. Racers and those who supply the parts will all drive up the cost. The racers are usually their own worst enemy when it comes to cost.
 
right at 20 that's why they asked (suggested) that I run the 27 car as a B mod ( it is 100 % legal "B") as each class has to have a total count to get full national points .. there ended up being 14 b mods ...RE: to fuel I am sure the rules makers know what pump gas will pass muster and which brand adds to much funny stuff to pass muster @ tec ..if they know and neglect to inform the racer then "BAD ON THEM" --this is just my opion
 
Funny, A-Mod and Super LM counts at Pevely are up from last year, Sportsman and Pro-4 are down, and the B-Mods are putting on a great show.
 
The B-mods could be a huge class IF they keep it in check. I would love to return to racing but have no desire to until tracks start doing a good job at tech. Lets be honest here the tech locally is horrible. Give the drivers something to be scared of so that they don't try cheating. We all know that there will still be a select few that will cheat regardless until they get caught. I loved the days of the sportsmans when they were heavily teched weekly. Bring it back! These days it seems like tracks are too scared to pi$$ off a driver if they are caught illegal. The cost to have a competitive car in any class these days is a arm and a leg. Dont get me wrong i love watching harrison, long, hoffmann, bittle and all the other big guys wheel these Mods around the track. Even if i had the talent and knowledge that them guys have i could still never afford to run with them. Racing as a whole will eventually be gone unless these sanctioning bodies get their heads out of their you know what and do something about the cost. The cost of racing keeps going up but our paychecks remain the same. Tri City in my eyes is the only track in the area that is doing good. They have decent car counts and people in the stands. I cant speak of highland bc it has been awhile since ive been there. But the stands at belleville and pevely are pathetic usually. How are these tracks surviving? Find a way to make this more affordable for ALL not just the racers.
 
I agree the dwindling fan crowd is very disappointing. Without the fans the sport of racing will die. Dirt track racing is the most exciting form of auto racing in the U. S. There has to be a way to get the younger crowd to come enjoy these events. Maybe advertising at their school. Offering student i d special pricing. In addition to a senior citizens admission price.
The product is there, Friday night saw some great racing at belle Clair with a less than perfect track( it's not Curt's fault; he is the best at working the track it's just the rain made it rough). I've seen on here before some one was requesting drivers to bring their cars to a school. I'll be extra willing to do that!!
Also anyone who pays attention to this post... We need a new commercial on tv. I'm sure LTD productions and Connor Hamilton can help with that
 
I think the crowd a Pevely is a bit deceiving. When I pulled in at 6:30pm on Saturday, there were quite a few cars in the parking lot. Having stands almost all the way around spreads the crowd out alot.
 
One problem the current car classes have with young people is the heavy reliance on small block Chevys with carburetors. Let's be honest, any young person who works on their car these days is using computer codes for their EFI system and the 350 Chevy is not the engine of choice for most of these kids. Why not allow some current production engines in the B-mod class and let these kids build them with junk parts the way our generation did 30-40 years ago? I know it would take some ingenuity to equalize the performance potential of the powerplants but I think it's worth the effort to keep our sport relevant for the future.
 
Isn't the ct525 the equivalent to an ls crate motor ?

I'm a fan allowing the modern motors so people can run current gen hemi's
 
No facts to back it up just my opinion. But most racers that walk away do so due to cost. Most of those who would like to start racing dont because of cost. This is nothing new. Writing has been on the wall for quit some time. Those in control have been/are being reactive instead of proactive. Racers share in the blame also. Not enough give and way to much take. Those with the dough buy the lastest and greatest and the average joes beat their heads against the wall trying to get it. They get their asses handed to them to the point they say to hell with it eventually. For every 10 guys that quit. We are lucky to see a third of that many join in. Well dont have to be a genius to figure out that math. It leads to diminished car counts. Which leads to diminished fan counts.
I dont believe there is anything that can be done to lure fans in to watch partial fields a race cars. That being said do what needs to be done to bring car counts up. I think that is the best way to start the process. Then worry about the fan experience when they start coming. People are coming to watch good racing. They arent coming for a carnival. The way i see it, what needs to be done is a double edge sword. Its will piss off some and make some very happy. Some may quit due if what needs to be done is done. But if it leads to new found interest and more joining? It would be worth it. But in the end we have to make the front door to enter more attractive than the back door to exit . JMO
 
highland is trying to put a BONE STOCK class on the track-- the only rule is NO turbos or blowers (buicks )
 
When I look through results, what I see is mostly the haves still racing. All the lower budget people have pretty much quit. I mean, it really is a ridiculous oxymoron "budget racer" lol.

But right now, the promoter has to either cater to the dwindling amount of guys that can afford to build and race cars, or risk running them off. When I lived in the UK, racing was a rich man's sport. Working class/Blue collar people didn't have the funds to afford it. Most could barely afford a ticket to go watch.

Sadly this is where America is heading too. The cost to go to or participate in most sports entertainment choices are being constantly refined to the point that only the very wealthiest can afford to go to a live event and even fewer can participate. How many kids do you know can afford to be on the traveling teams, go to baseball, football and basketball camps, etc now as compared to what it used to be like even 15 years ago?

This have/have not situation can be seen in every walk of life, not just racing.

Next time you decide to start making fun and ridiculing folks saying $15 an hour minimum wage, remember that if all those folks at the bottom had more wages, it would probably go a long way to keeping your local dirt track open. I am pretty sure the majority of people who used to sit in the stands or own cars and race weren't making $500,000.00 a year.
 
I think competition and the tech are the only things going to keep the costs involved in check. I don't blame the sanctioning bodies or the racers, they are doing what they need to do to stay alive and keep the doors open and the lights on but I do think a track that would get away from the monopolies they encourage would do well. I like crates but it procures a fairly high price tag for something not readily rebuildable and it pushes out the guys who used to do their own engine work all together. Engines, tires and fuel are the three most expensive costs and instead of the tracks teching cars, they seem to get on board with a sanctioning body and let them do the bidding for them. The sanctioning bodies are doing a poor job managing it all so they choose to regulate at the manufacturer level. 1 tire, 1 engine, 1 fuel, creates a monopoly. If a racer had 10 tires, 10 engines, 10 fuels to choose from he/she could choose they one they could afford or worked the best for them amongst all the factors involved. As long as everything falls within spec then who really cares where it came from?
 
I think the biggest killer for the street stocks was to put them on Hoosiers. I beat many big motors in the past due to the fact they couldn't put the power down. Now we have a good motor but can't get close to the guys spending a ton of money for a ss motor.
 
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