DoD Top 25

[waaac77]

I don’t have a dirt on dirt subscription but see on there webpage that Richards jumped to No. 2 in the rankings. Just curious if anyone knows who No. 1 is? I know Bloomer and T-Mac had great years and so did BShep but how is Richards not No. 1? Kid Rocket ain’t my favorite just don’t see how he’s not No. 1 after the year he had and what went down last weekend. My top 5 in order are

1) Josh Richards
2) Tim McCreadie
3) Scott Bloomquist
4) Brandon Sheppard
5) Jonathan Davenport

Wondering what the DoD rankings say and interested in what other people’s opinion is on who had the best year.

[Pennsboro23]

They have B-Shepp at #1

[W2Racing09]

Sheppard season this year isn't much different than Richards year last year was, and Richards was no. 1 most of the season. Bloomquist all but dominated the LOLMDS that season, while this season nobody dominated the LOLMDS. To me it is about right. If Richards was no. 1 last year after dominating the WoO, over Bloomquist who dominated the LOLMDS then Sheppard should be no. 1 this season for dominating the WoO, especially since nobody dominated the LOLMDS.

[Highside Hustler25]

I couldn't help but notice all the young talent being Nationally ranked:cool:3 are not even old enough to drink and 8 of the top 20 are in their 20's or less. Moving forward, that's good for our sport.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

I couldn't help but notice all the young talent being Nationally ranked:cool:3 are not even old enough to drink and 8 of the top 20 are in their 20's or less. Moving forward, that's good for our sport.

The problem is, there are not many 20 year olds in the bleachers.

[Highside Hustler25]

The problem is, there are not many 20 year olds in the bleachers.

I guess:confused:DoD didn't have them listed or Nationally ranked.

[W2Racing09]

The problem is, there are not many 20 year olds in the bleachers.

Aint that the truth, although I will say I switched to attending Sprint Car racing here in Central, PA, rather than Late Model racing. I can safely say the stands are packed most nights, and there are a lot of younger people. I'm not quite sure what makes Sprint Cars appeal to the younger crowd more than Late Models, Sprint Cars are a lot less technologically advanced it seems. I've definitely noticed a difference in the average age of the crowd though just not sure why.

[dirty-white-boy]

The problem is, there are not many 20 year olds in the bleachers.

Amen. 4m post of the year candidate right there!

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

I guess:confused:DoD didn't have them listed or Nationally ranked.

My point being that is a negative barometer for the sport.

[SLIDING SIDEWAYS]

Aint that the truth, although I will say I switched to attending Sprint Car racing here in Central, PA, rather than Late Model racing. I can safely say the stands are packed most nights, and there are a lot of younger people. I'm not quite sure what makes Sprint Cars appeal to the younger crowd more than Late Models, Sprint Cars are a lot less technologically advanced it seems. I've definitely noticed a difference in the average age of the crowd though just not sure why.

Pa has always been a strong sprint car racing state

[PRCKartRacer9]

I said to multiple people over the weekend at PRP that the amount of kids running around was the least I have ever seen at the DTWC. I've been attending races since I was in moms belly and the October visits in the fall were some of the best memories growing up. It seemed to me that every camp had half a dozen kids running around. Over the weekend it was maybe 1 kid to 10 adults. Pretty sad if you ask me.

[PRCKartRacer9]

October in the fall. Go ahead, left the door wide open there.....

[W2Racing09]

Pa has always been a strong sprint car racing state

But the ratio seems to be higher. If you counted 500 people at Bedford Speedway maybe 20% of them are under 30. If you count 500 people at Lincoln or Port Royal maybe 40% of them are under 30. It just seems like there is a higher percentage of young people over all.

I think what it probably boils down to, is that younger people want to see the fast cars and leave, my grandfather will sit at a show for 5 hours and be happy watching different variations of mini stocks and street stocks. Younger people (myself included) are not really interested in that and would rather just watching 2 or 3 premier divisions and then go home.

Sprint Car racing tends to get that part right, both Lincoln and Port Royal only ever have three division shows (410s, 358s, and a lower division in Lincolns case, and 410s, SLM and usually either LLM or 305s in Ports case) while most of the tracks in the Western part of the state (area) like Hagerstown, Bedford, etc. have 4-5 divisions nightly with 2 or 3 of those being lower divisions.

[BTExpress]

Give me a two, and at the most a three division show on a weekly basis and I am perfectly fine with that. Heck I would gladly pay a few dollars more a week NOT to sit through a five division show. (and I am in my 50's). I have been spoiled watching races the past 30 years in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. What drives me nuts, especially more on the Late Model side vs Sprint Cars, is when you go to a track for a National tour race and they have Four or Five support divisions. Only one support class is needed on those occasions in my opinion. I came to watch the big boys race not a bunch of lower divisions.
I truly believe the "back gate" mentality is hurting weekly racing. I know in my case as I have gotten older, I tend to go to more "special" shows rather than weekly races and am willing to pay more money at the ticket window to do so.

[Highside Hustler25]

My point being that is a negative barometer for the sport.

Their is nothing negative about new and young talent getting into the sport. You derailed the thread by making it a fan related topic. But that's not surprising. You seem to be pretty good at turning a positive into a negative.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Their is nothing negative about new and young talent getting into the sport. You derailed the thread by making it a fan related topic. But that's not surprising. You seem to be pretty good at turning a positive into a negative.

I didn't say young drivers was a bad thing. As for the insult, say what you want. I don't try to do anything but call what I see.

[Chris Thomason]

Maybe if both tours or tracks that design flyers for big races would market the younger drivers it would appeal to young fans. I know they like to present the headliner guys but everytime we turn around its Bloomer or the rocket house car. We need more face time for the likes of Moran, Hudson, and Tyler Erb

[Illtsate32]

The problem is, there are not many 20 year olds in the bleachers.And with society embracing the tight pants man purse I identify as a girl trend going on its not looking good for us...

[flagone]

One of the reasons fewer young people are in the stands is they have nothing to hook them...

When most of us 40 and 50somethings were growing up the cars that were racing were identifiable. You had the Ford vs. Chevy vs. Dodge crowds. There was something to that. I venture to guess that about 75% of the people reading this have a brand loyalty and drive a car or truck of that brand for that reason. In reality one isn't really better than the other but you identified with that brand. You liked the way it looked or your dad told you it was the one to want. So that got you hooked and your love for racing developed. We got you in the gates.

Now a days all the cars look alike and sound alike. Young people that are "gear heads" today aren't called mechanics they are called tuners. The cars the relate to and drive are these Hondas, Nissans, Neons, etc. That is why I have embraced the FWD division. I believe it is key to getting younger people to the tracks. With this SCDRA deal that I do the average age of driver is around 25 with the Late Models that I do the average is closer to 35-40. I feel like our product (DLM racing) is good enough that if we can just get them in the gates and get them hooked they will develop that love just like all of us did.

What does that have to do with you, you may ask. Simple. Be a fan. Don't put them down and hate on them. I started out as a hater but have learned that these guys can put on a great show when they are allowed to develop and build race cars and not junkers. We have got to start somewhere with building our future fan base and I think this is certainly one of the key ways to do that.

[MI Dirt Fan]

There's no way without a doubt Bshepp would be ranked lower than Bloomquist

[onlyfacts]

Waaac77... it's based on the whole season not just last week. Has anyone else come close to Sheppard's season? No... not even Richards and for sure not Bloomquist or McCreadie. He won 24 races in the Rocket car and 4 in the B5. I would bet in total earnings he is way ahead of the others.. all those top 5's still pay pretty good each night. On their web site he has 54 top 5's out of 70 starts in the Rocket House car. I would say he is over 600,000 in total purse moneys between the 2 cars. I know speed sport has a power ranking and Sheppard has been in their top 10 about all season... no other DLM driver has hardly been in their top 10 more than one week. DOD has it pretty close if your basing it on the whole season.

[flagone]

The key is Sheppy has been consistently great all year while the others have had some bad weeks. Now if Josh comes to Charlotte and beats everybody and wins everything he MAY move to number 1. I think it is equally about what you did this week and your whole year. That is where Sheppard stands above the rest right now. He has been consistently winning and running well head to head. No one has done anything to move the needle enough to pass him.

[NY DIRT]

The key is Sheppy has been consistently great all year while the others have had some bad weeks. Now if Josh comes to Charlotte and beats everybody and wins everything he MAY move to number 1. I think it is equally about what you did this week and your whole year. That is where Sheppard stands above the rest right now. He has been consistently winning and running well head to head. No one has done anything to move the needle enough to pass him.

I,m with flagone on this one. Beside all of his WOO wins and championship, He had a handfull of Summernational wins and also Lucas wins. PLUS he finished second at the Dream worth $20,000 and he finished 2nd at the DTWC for another $20,000 payday.

My opinion is the only way he could drop out of the lead would be if either Richards or McCreadie would win both events at the World finals PLUS win the $20,000 to win event at East Alabama Motor Speedway to finish the season...

[Duke100]

There's no way without a doubt Bshepp would be ranked lower than BloomquistNo way! He only won The Dream 100 and The Topless 100.

[waaac77]

When I think who the driver of the year is I like to take into account how they did over the course of the whole season but I definitely think that if they won a big race with a lot of talent, that says a lot about that particular driver. It shows he is #1 against the toughest competition.
Races like Dream, USA nationals, N/S, DTWC World all are races that if someone wins should carry a lot of weight. That being said, yes BShep completely dominated but he never won a big race all year. He did win the PDC, which has very tough competition, but that is it. I know Richards only won the DTWC but I think the Lucas series is a lot tougher to win than the WoO. Don’t get me wrong, WoO is no slouch of a series. Very tough competition but not on the level Lucas is.

I think Richards would’ve dominated the same had he run WoO. What would have been interesting is to see him and BShep go at the title there. But still, I cant get over BShep not winning a crown jewel to place him at #1. That is when you’re supposed to shine against the best in the business and he didn’t. At least Josh did once.

I think it comes down to Richards and Sheppard but I give Richards the nod since he won a big race and the tougher series. Just my two cents. Thanks for replying

[let-r-eat]

They both have something in common. ROCKET! FWIW