Lucas Oil talent pool grows deeper after Clint Bowyer Racing move

[Returning to Dirt]

http://insidedirtracing.com/lucas-oil-talent-pool-grows-deeper-after-clint-bowyer-racing-move/

The move by Lanigan from WoO Late Models to the Lucas Oil series and Bowyer adds even more talent to that series.

[buster83]

ok but how many are leaving.

[bleedblue55]

Most of Lanigan's success on the WOO tour has been when a certain driver wasn't participating. There may be a slight difference between Lanigan and Francis at this stage of there careers but I'd hardly call it immense. Nor do I think Bowyers switch to Club 29 cars has Bloomer or Davenport shaking in fear.

[SnakeX3]

Interesting tidbit that I read in the recent DoD story on EAMS, Francis could be considering a WoO run. He was quoted in the article as saying, "We’re going to run the full deal with (Tim) Logan next year, but we’ll probably do a lot of guest stuff in David’s car depending on what series we run.”

I don't take it to mean more then he hasn't made up his mind. Maybe he runs the new Battle of the Bluegrass series and just chases the big money shows.

DoD article is here...

http://dirtondirt.com/story_8821.html

[gorj]

IMO, Francis will start off with WoO in 2016 and see where they are performance/points wise after Florida.

[Bubstr]

I believe, we will see a lot of teams racing in both series during speed weeks in Florida as is usually the case. They basically see how they set in each series and run where they have the best chance to be successful. It is in all of the racers best interest, to spread out, so everyone can have apiece of the pie. The draw backs of switching series, is not having race notes on a complete different set of tracks. Some will switch, some will stay and some will drop out. We may even get a new team, here or there.

Now fans would prefer that all the top dogs ran one series and raced quite a few races near them. This is not going to happen. Due to racing dates, there would be less races in your area. It wouldn't make financial sense, for a top 3 racer settle for 6th spot pay days. As it is, they all race together around 4 times a year, not counting FL speed weeks.

[SnakeX3]

I agree, Bubstr. Two series makes more financial sense for the drivers and it also allow the fans to see touring shows in their area more often. You don't want to oversaturate the market, but the country is certainly big enough for two tours and not kill local shows and regional series. Besides, if all the top guys ran in one series it would take away from the special events...not to mention it would kill all the speculation about who is really the best driver.

[W2Racing09]

One thing I would like to see is one of the series' start to have a West Coast swing. If you have enough races (look at WoO Sprints) then the drivers will consider it worth it. If you think about it there is almost half of the country that is uncharted DLM territory. How many drivers are toiling away running Mods, or other divisions on the West Coast whom we have never heard of due to the lack of National LM coverage on the West Coast? I think it would be great to see the Lucas or WoO series run a 7-8 race swing out there and possibly even run a "Crown Jewel" race out there so that the fans on the West Coast can see what big time DLM racing is all about.

Thanks,
Jeff.

[WVRACEFAN]

Most of the west coast payouts are low, looking at the schedules most of the ones I see on west coast pay $800-$1000. so what track out west besides the track in Arizona & maybe the Las Vegas Dirt track is going to step up and have a big paying show for late models?

As far as 1 series having more talent than the other what does it really matter, it is the same 4-5 guys in each series that win all the races anyways. so who cares if 1 series has 12 top drivers & the other series has 8 top drives only 1 can win and maybe 1-2 guys be a close to the leader the rest are just filling out the field.

[Josh Bayko]

The draw backs of switching series, is not having race notes on a complete different set of tracks.

In the case of somebody like Steve Francis, that wouldn't be so much of an issue, considering he ran the WoO for years before he ever ran Lucas.

[W2Racing09]

Most of the west coast payouts are low, looking at the schedules most of the ones I see on west coast pay $800-$1000. so what track out west besides the track in Arizona & maybe the Las Vegas Dirt track is going to step up and have a big paying show for late models?

As far as 1 series having more talent than the other what does it really matter, it is the same 4-5 guys in each series that win all the races anyways. so who cares if 1 series has 12 top drivers & the other series has 8 top drives only 1 can win and maybe 1-2 guys be a close to the leader the rest are just filling out the field.

I think the guarantee of drivers like Scott Bloomquist, Jonathan Davenport, Jimmy Owens, etc. would be enough to get tracks to pony up for a Lucas show. Getting a track to pay a big purse might be tough, but the tracks out there do it for Sprints and I think the fans would come out to see the big time SLM drivers on the West Coast too. Depending on the time of year they did it I could see it becoming a vacation destination race. Late February/early March for instance. But I'm not just talking about California either. There are tracks in OR, WA, and up into the Dakotas and Montana that would be thrilled to get a Lucas race I'm sure. There is a plethora of great drivers up there that are basically overlooked by the DLM community because they don't get a chance to race on the National stage. River Cities has a WoO race, but what about tracks like Nodak, Dacotah, Jamestown, Gallatin, etc. I think if there were more races in that neck of the woods you would be more likely to see drivers like Jeremy Keller, Dustin Strand, Brad Seng, Ricky Weiss, etc. venture out on the road some more.

Its just a thought of course, but after going to college in ND I can say there are some spectacular drivers up there who are an afterthought to the rest of us.

Thanks,
Jeff.

[Barbecueboy]

I think the guarantee of drivers like Scott Bloomquist, Jonathan Davenport, Jimmy Owens, etc. would be enough to get tracks to pony up for a Lucas show. Getting a track to pay a big purse might be tough, but the tracks out there do it for Sprints and I think the fans would come out to see the big time SLM drivers on the West Coast too. Depending on the time of year they did it I could see it becoming a vacation destination race. Late February/early March for instance. But I'm not just talking about California either. There are tracks in OR, WA, and up into the Dakotas and Montana that would be thrilled to get a Lucas race I'm sure. There is a plethora of great drivers up there that are basically overlooked by the DLM community because they don't get a chance to race on the National stage. River Cities has a WoO race, but what about tracks like Nodak, Dacotah, Jamestown, Gallatin, etc. I think if there were more races in that neck of the woods you would be more likely to see drivers like Jeremy Keller, Dustin Strand, Brad Seng, Ricky Weiss, etc. venture out on the road some more.

Its just a thought of course, but after going to college in ND I can say there are some spectacular drivers up there who are an afterthought to the rest of us.

Thanks,
Jeff.

Good post..........are you a bison alum Jeff???

[huskerdirt]

I think the guarantee of drivers like Scott Bloomquist, Jonathan Davenport, Jimmy Owens, etc. would be enough to get tracks to pony up for a Lucas show. Getting a track to pay a big purse might be tough, but the tracks out there do it for Sprints and I think the fans would come out to see the big time SLM drivers on the West Coast too. Depending on the time of year they did it I could see it becoming a vacation destination race. Late February/early March for instance. But I'm not just talking about California either. There are tracks in OR, WA, and up into the Dakotas and Montana that would be thrilled to get a Lucas race I'm sure. There is a plethora of great drivers up there that are basically overlooked by the DLM community because they don't get a chance to race on the National stage. River Cities has a WoO race, but what about tracks like Nodak, Dacotah, Jamestown, Gallatin, etc. I think if there were more races in that neck of the woods you would be more likely to see drivers like Jeremy Keller, Dustin Strand, Brad Seng, Ricky Weiss, etc. venture out on the road some more.

Its just a thought of course, but after going to college in ND I can say there are some spectacular drivers up there who are an afterthought to the rest of us.

Thanks,
Jeff.

I've always said Nebraska.... Particularly I-80 was the western end of big time late model racing. I've always envisioned a east meets west deal for the SDN. It's never came really to fruition except this year when 4 west coast guys came out.

WoO goes as far as west as Wyoming and hits Rapid City, Grand Forks and some Canada stops in between.

The Dakotas seem to be rich in IMCA Modified racing and the Dakota mod tour draws some the best one night fields ever. Could you imagine 90 modifieds on a Tuesday night somewhere in SD. On the surface it doesn't sound right.... But it works.

Saw Keller race at I-80 earlier this year he held his own with a Wissota motor.

[buster83]

i 94 possible.

[W2Racing09]

Good post..........are you a bison alum Jeff???

Haha, I'm not that well educated. I went to Lake Region State College in Devils Lake, ND (About 90mi West of Grand Forks, and 120mi East of Minot). I did go to my fair share of Bison and Fighting Sioux games if that counts though!

Thanks,
Jeff.

[W2Racing09]

I've always said Nebraska.... Particularly I-80 was the western end of big time late model racing. I've always envisioned a east meets west deal for the SDN. It's never came really to fruition except this year when 4 west coast guys came out.

WoO goes as far as west as Wyoming and hits Rapid City, Grand Forks and some Canada stops in between.

The Dakotas seem to be rich in IMCA Modified racing and the Dakota mod tour draws some the best one night fields ever. Could you imagine 90 modifieds on a Tuesday night somewhere in SD. On the surface it doesn't sound right.... But it works.

Saw Keller race at I-80 earlier this year he held his own with a Wissota motor.

I went to every Dakota Mod Tour show in 2012 -- it was EXCELLENT. Huge fields of cars every night (I think the lowest was at Southwest Speedway (On Wed.) and it was in the 60s. The stop at Dacotah had close to 90 cars). I will say that if Jeremy Keller had the right equipment and the means to get out and race some he would impress a lot of people. I watched him put on a hell of a show in the John Seitz Memorial at River Cities in 2012, and then he went an won the Stock Car Stampede at Jamestown later in the season over 50-60 other cars. I hope at some point he does get a shot to run some more open stuff in other parts of the country.


Thanks,
Jeff.

[bleedblue55]

A Lucas western swing would draw the fans but how many times has the WOO travel been blamed for some drivers preferring the Lucas circuit. Just saying

[Late_Model_Mark]

As a former West Coaster, I tried, begged, the track owners I know out there to take a crack at a Lucas Show. Of course all said it would take a big swing with many tracks to pull it off. Then most said they would need a fat sponsor. Another problem point is that for the most part mid-week shows are not good, especially in California.

A dream of mine was the Lucas Series hitting my old home track, Bakersfield Speedway, I saw so many great LM shows there. That track would absolutely be jam packed for a big race like that.

Bakersfield Speedway is easily the best joint to watch a Late Model show in California, with Perris being second.



Late Model Mark
Talladega Short Track Announcer

[Escobar]

A Lucas western swing would draw the fans but how many times has the WOO travel been blamed for some drivers preferring the Lucas circuit. Just saying

A lot of things have to align for it to take shape. The sponsors have been wanting it to happen for some time. The west coast brings in a lot of markets that makes sense for many of the Lucas series marketing partners.

[ShawnStreet]

Yes a big sponsor for the West Coast swing would help a great deal. And that's where promoters NOT promoting their tracks comes into play.

[Clayton_Wetter]

$1000 dollar fuel bill, wear and tear on vehicles, and insane travel times.