UMP steelblocks

BLUNTLY PUT,MR.SCHRADER DID NOT WANT IT,Was it the best move in regards to a business stand point,NO,what it could have been was a chance for the "ALSO RANS" to shine.They could come to a track where they did not have to race against super mega-buck teams,oh sure,you can put just as much money into a steel block as a aluminum block but just knowing the "HOT DOGS"were not likely to show up would have given many racers a psychological boost if nothing else.
 
I don't think it would have made much difference either way at Pevely. If racers want to race they'll show up, and if they don't, they won't. It's that simple! As far as the fans go, they just want to see competitive racing. The car counts in my opinion , wouldn't go down. As far as other tracks, who knows. :confused:
 
Obviously Mr. Schrader isn';t concerned with other tracks and of course he wouldn't make a decision like that if it would hurt his track. Talk about abuse of power.
 
Always a conspiracy isn't it...

UMP decided they had too much other stuff going on to take on a new division with only 1 or 2 tracks to support it.
 
Every fan, competitor, track owner, etc., etc., has there own opinion, then there are others also. There are only so many classes everyone can keep up with, then it gets to out of control.
 
There are several cars running steel blocks that do quite well running with the other engines. Try Kenny Rumble last year!! And there are more that do well, so why have a separate class just for steel blocks? I don't think UMP unique in this area. Other organizations use weight as a benefit for running steel blocks.
 
Car counts are not high enough to split into two seperate but very similar classes, but if they did, and made the only difference in the rule the block I would try to run both classes with the same car.
 
Let's say for a moment that what racer1946 has to say is correct. If one is to believe that "everything is a conspiracy", then the organizations Schrader is associated with have some interesting connections:

When word of the Ironman division hits the web, Craig Cowan is saying "definitely yes", Schrader "definitely no", and Bob Sargent "mmm, maybe". The powers running UMP are not on the same page at this stage of the game.

It is announced that the World of Outlaws Late Model series will sanction I-55's Nationals. I speculate that the racers may view this as a slap in the face, due to the loyalty issues vs. guaranteed spots for the "Dirty Dozen" (which is now down to 11 members). Will the mid-pack racers support the track all season long (referring to the "psychological boost" racer1946 spoke of earlier)?

It is announced that Fayette County Speedway has booked a WoO LM race on the same night as the NALMS event. Remember Schrader' is Vice President of NALMS. Fayette drops the NALMS, and soon after, the WoO drops Fayette because of "miscommunications" between the schedule makers. NALMS doesn't reschedule after being "slapped in the face" by the powers that be at Brownstown.

The newest version of the Summernationals schedule is released with the July 11th date going to Tri City. This is the date UMP tried to force on Montgomery County. Kinniard wanted the date that was originally promised to him on July 4th weekend. The promise came from Memmer during the 2003 season. The original date would have allowed the racers to go directly from Pevely to Montgomery on consecutive nights. The July 11th date is a week later in the series, therefore fewer teams will be following the series by that juncture, not to mention the added travel involved.

Now I ask the following questions: Is it UMP's intention to make things difficult for any track that is in competition with I-55 on Saturday nights? Is I-55 worried that some of it's steel block drivers might run Tri City on occasion, if not all year? Did Schrader have any influence on the decision not to sanction a steel-block class? With Schrader's NALMS ties, will the bruised feelings due to the WoO stepping on their toes at Fayette County result in I-55 dropping the WoO sanction for the Nationals? And maybe the biggest question of all... is Schrader really not as much a "good ol boy" as he is a cut-throat businessman? And does anyone really care as long as he keeps grinnin' for the cameras?

Of course, this is all speculation, depending on whether or not you believe there's always more to the story than meets the eye.
 
Just trying to look at all sides of the issue. Since this site is basically the "Schrader House of Praise", then the only option for a differing viewpoint is to look at the potentially seedy underbelly.

I actually enjoy watching Kenny race and respect immensely the improvements he and Marler have made to I-55 over the years. But does that make him god-like? No. Does that he is immune from criticism? It shouldn't, but around here, I guess it does. Look, I don't know if any of what I theorized is true, but isn't it interesting and thought provoking to look at the scenarios and ask yourself "what if"?
 
What if, doesn't really mean anything! The reason Shrader is praised so much is because he and Marler operate the best racing facility in our area. Can't argue with success now can you!
 
we run an iron head, flat tappet class at callaway raceways in fulton mo. we run friday nights on d-55s, not on bubble gum 10s,20s,or 30s
 
let me put it to you this way. I don't care if you an iron 358 or an aluminum 430 at I-55 you stand a chance at winning the fact of the matter is simple. people are tricked into believing they have to have an aluminum block to win races when really they need to be focusing on setups to win races. Been in the pits a1/3 of my life and i'll be the first to tell you there are a lot of feature wins on iron blocks that a lot of people ASSUMED were aluminum.
 
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