summer nats

[wfodirt66]

feger shirley and unzicker all dropped off?

[Dlmfan123]

Unzicker was never racing the tour and has missed quite a few races. Feger and Shirley are going to Stuart tomorrow and took tonight off

[TheJet-09]

I don't know if that's for the rest of the tour, but with them missing just one show you can pretty much write the check to Pierce now.

[LM1M]

The tour has sure been a downer this year, basically only 2 competitive cars that have ran every race. The luster of the Summernationals isn't enough anymore, need to pay more than $5k to win.

[zyoung25]

The tour has sure been a downer this year, basically only 2 competitive cars that have ran every race. The luster of the Summernationals isn't enough anymore, need to pay more than $5k to win.

I seen someone mentioned that when they released the schedule. Cigarette Sam shot it down by saying some of the tracks couldn't afford to pay anything over 5k.

Drop the mods and help out the purse. They barely get enough for a full field as it is. You cannot tell me that the WRG can't step up with streaming money and help these tracks out. If XR can hold 2 25k to win and a 50k to win shows all in the same weekend and have 13 people in the stands, that they can't step up.

Up the purses, and cut the series down, and quit being money hungry.

[Josh Bayko]

I don't know if that's for the rest of the tour, but with them missing just one show you can pretty much write the check to Pierce now.

Pierce isn’t even running the whole thing. He’s headed to Stuart.

[zooker25]

The Summernational's are off Monday and Tuesday. Bobby will be skipping the last weekend though to go to I-80 for the silver dollar nationals. Even missing that weekend, he might still win the championship.

[Pennsboro32]

The Summernational's are off Monday and Tuesday. Bobby will be skipping the last weekend though to go to I-80 for the silver dollar nationals. Even missing that weekend, he might still win the championship.

He will for sure since Shirley and feger dropped.

[Highside Hustler25]

Not sure about Brian but Jason said weeks ago that he wasn't running the whole gig.

[Umpdirt1]

Summer Nats need to get on board, the days of the 5 grand races wanting "Star" to show up has long since passed. They are still paying 2000 payout purses. What a f n joke. Dump that idiot Driggers and get someone in there who knows what's up. You remember ole Sam paying purses out of a brown bag did you pay taxes on it Sam.Until they dump his a$$ nothing will change.

[BTExpress]

$10K to win for the Late Models, $2K to win for the modifieds should be the minimum. If tracks can't pay that, remove them from the schedule. If the schedule is only 20 dates so be it!!!! The times have changed.....

[backspace]

LM1M,,,,,also quit charging 35 bucks to go to stands Not worth that with what cars they have

[cgrace]

I don't mind paying $30 to $35 for the stands if they are paying the drivers well. In the SN they've kept the pay the same for years and years. One question, Highland has consistently paid $10k for their races. Their stands don't seem massive. How can they, yet the other tracks can't? I agree the SN need completely revamped to keep up with the times. At least two or three of the features have been good.

[ImCryn2]

Summer Nats need to get on board, the days of the 5 grand races wanting "Star" to show up has long since passed. They are still paying 2000 payout purses. What a f n joke. Dump that idiot Driggers and get someone in there who knows what's up. You remember ole Sam paying purses out of a brown bag did you pay taxes on it Sam.Until they dump his a$$ nothing will change.

Dirtcar has the same mindset as corporate America. They think the ones sitting behind a desk are the important ones, while thinking the ones producing the product deserve less.

[Shiny Side Up 18]

Disclaimer: I've never raced, run a series, or done anything in any official capacity whatsoever, and almost certainly never will. This is just my personal opinion as a fan and only a fan.

So at the risk of sounding like an ignorant rambling fool, (because I've said some very ignorant crap on here in the past)...


I think the tour should be just long enough to still be a grind, but just short enough to leave everyone wanting more. Absolutely no more than four weeks accomplishes that. That's still 24 races with one off day per week. There are far more options for racers these days, and getting a respectable number of them to commit to a tour of this magnitude is nearly impossible with the current model.

It's going to take a large infusion of cash to bring this series back to what it once was. Weekday races of no less than $7500 to win, and weekend races of no less than $10,000 to win (or even $12,000). The points fund needs to be something worth committing to for four weeks. Minimum $50,000 to the champion, down to $10,000 for 5th. You'd need a title sponsor to make this happen (Like Camping World or Casey's, for example) to help keep ticket prices reasonable. The tough part would be finding someone that caters to our demographic that can still see some solid ROI. That might not be as difficult compared to 5 years ago thanks to streaming (but the economy being in the toilet is another problem).

I don't know if this is realistic considering our current economic situation. That's above my pay grade. But I can dream, right?

Costs to race are out of control, and that certainly isn't going to help matters. I'm probably just beating a dead horse at this point. I've typed and erased a few different ways to end this post already. I could probably think of more things to say if I put forth the effort, but this post is long enough already.

It's easy for me to type a bunch of "in a perfect world" stuff that sounds good to someone like myself that doesn't know the intricacies of the industry. Reality isn't always as simple as we want it to be.

[Umpdirt1]

It's not realistic in WRG or Driggers mind. Ole Sam is 1 dollar for Drivers 3 dollars for me.

[Buford.Justice]

$5K to win is rediculous. I think $8K on weeknights and $12K on weekends would be a good plan.

The way it is now and in the past, some race tracks want to schedule weeknights for $5k to win and charge weekend prices to make big profits. Brownstown did that for years and had huge crowds on a weeknight race. And made big profits, enough to not want a weekend race, which they originally had until they made the shrewd change.

[Buford.Justice]

It's not realistic in WRG or Driggers mind. Ole Sam is 1 dollar for Drivers 3 dollars for me.

Is that what you call "Drigger Dollars?"

[LM1M]

WRG is in for a rude awakening if they don't change their ways. Yes, they are in business to make money but being too greedy is going to cost them in the long run. The WoO sprints have the cliche to keep going but WoO LM's are not going to last and Summernationals are dying a slow death. They rake in so much money from their big shows such as the World Finals where the pay hasn't kept up with the times. XRSS is putting them on notice IMO, at least on the LM side.

[BirkyTime15B]

Seen videos of tracks that shouldn’t be allowed to host local racing, let alone a touring series. Make them all 10K to win shows and run 20-24 good tracks, and good facilities. Perhaps I’m spoiled with way Kay’s and Mississippi Valley Fair have done here at Davenport in recent years to resurrect a facility that was barely used for years. It’s now definitely in the top tier of racing, facilities, and location. Plus I used to hate curfews, but I love them as I don’t go to certain places now because of horribly run shows and time being wasted.

[Buford.Justice]

I like the concept of the Summer Nationals, just wish they could work out the payouts and find ways to keep a good following before it gets worse. Gate admissions could be $25 for the 8K races and $30 or a little more for the $12k races.

For the smaller venues it would be understandable to pay a little more. I don't know how much money goes to those running the SN races so these suggestions are not fully educated ideas. Just some ideas.

One thing that does hurt and I can't see anyway to prevent it is the drivers that drop off the tour when they fall too far back in the points, they are just making decisions for their own best interest as they should.

[bc12]

I've enjoyed when they used to come to florence on a week night. Was always fun. Looks like a dying series with XR and Lucas money.

[cgrace]

I think the SN with changes could be a very viable series. Dirtcar just needs to make some changes to bring the series to this decade.

[hoosier race fan]

The most effective thing Dirtcar can do to improve the Summer Nationals is get rid of Sam Driggers. After that, it’s a little more complicated.

Payouts are always a topic brought up, but I don’t think the pay to win is the most important thing. They can bump the winner’s share up but that only helps 2-3 guys that are going to win most of the races. If they can get a sponsor and drop the modifieds, maybe they can increase the payout without needing to pass on the cost to the fans through admission fees. Summit Racing, Casey’s General Store, Nutrien Ag Solutions (since the series will mostly run in Illinois - see below), or whoever is willing to sign on for a 20 race sponsorship.

Speaking of 20 races, that is the number that makes the most sense to me. Personally, I think the tour needs to stick to their bread and butter - short tracks in Illinois. Sprinkle in some other tracks that aren’t far away and try to limit the amount of travel between tracks. I know they have bought into the idea that crowds will be bigger if they aren’t hitting the same fans on back-to-back nights or several times within a few weeks, but their crowd sizes just don’t back that up. I would rather see them schedule races with reasonable travel each week. I know it’s fantasy booking, but here’s an example for 2023.

Casey’s General Store UMP Summer Nationals
4 race weeks - 5 races each week - 20 race series
6,000 or 10,000 to win races

6/14 Springfield
6/15 Lake Ozark
6/16 Tri-City
6/17 I-55
6/18 Adams County

6/21 Wilmot
6/22 Kankakee
6/23 Farmer City
6/24 Fairbury
6/25 Lincoln

6/28 Sycamore
6/29 Spoon River
6/30 Jacksonville
7/1 Highland
7/2 Tri-State

7/4 Fayette County
7/5 Red Hill
7/6 Macon
7/7 Peoria
7/8 Davenport

I know that leaves out some tracks like Brownstown, Oakshade, Clarksville, etc. that have been part of the tour for many years. It also doesn’t leave spots open for new tracks to join like Montpelier tonight. I’d rather see a series based in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Kentucky that can visit tracks like that. Something like a “Midwest All Star Tour” that has 15 races (3 per weekend) over a 5 week period. It will never happen since UMP/Dirtcar struggles to run just one series, but I think there are fans and racers outside of Illinois that would support a tour that highlights more than just the Illinois teams.

[Josh Bayko]

The only way to fix the Summernats is to cut the number of races to 10 over two weeks. Make ‘em all 10k to win. You might actually get more than one car to follow the whole thing. It’s a bloated mess and has been for years.

[Barbecueboy]

A bloated mess…….the irony in that is strong.

[Buford.Justice]

Nearly one quarter of the races get rained out, so cutting down the number of races would wind up thin. Make up races are difficult due to conflicts with other events and travel problems.

[Raceready]

Is that what you call "Drigger Dollars?"Ha Ha ! Now that is very CLEVER of you ! !

[Minny Lakes]

Tomas Hunzicker. How many cautions/wrecks/spinouts has he been in this summer nationals? He must average about 3 a night. So far 2 spinouts with no laps done yet in the feature tonight.

[Jim11h]

Too many options anymore paying good money. You can barely get teams to run woo or lucas!

Hell tour raceday format sucks as well.

[Shiny Side Up 18]

I'm about Hell Tour'd out this year.

[TheJet-09]

Me, too. I canceled my subscription to Dirtvision, not in response to anything, because I enjoyed the majority of what I've seen over the past month. But I don't see the need to tune in to anything in the immediate future.