Dirt capital ?

[BTExpress]

A disclaimer: It has been 10 years since I have attended a race at Hagerstown. That being said, I remember if you did not get there at least an hour before the races started for the bigger shows...... you barely got a seat. I am assuming that is no longer the case. I am going to try and see the upcoming LOLMS race on April 23rd.

[jlacey]

Hagerstown use to have big races with big names and high car counts atleast once a month. Supers, sprints, big/small blocks. Sometimes 2 of the above or all of the above. STARS races, Outlaw sprints/supers, Lucas, DIRT mods. Was the place to be without a doubt. I could be mistaken but they dont run any of their big shows anymore and havent in years. They use to have the Octoberfest for all of the above classes, supers vs big blocks, race of champions for all the LM track champions from MD, VA, PA,DE, etc. Dont think they have many if any big shows now.

[dlmfan]

it was also voted as the #1 track at one time

[mud duck]

Hagerstown Speedway's nickname or slogan since the mid 1980's has been "The Capitol of Dirt Racing". Back then, Frank Plessinger always had traveling series come a few times per season, and paid better money to win those races than other tracks. He had the $50,000 to win Free State 100 in 1983, won by Jeff Purvis. Hagerstown was THE place to see the best in Dirt Late Model racing.

Ernie Davis is leasing and promoting the track under his own Dirt Capitol, LLC name. That's why it is called what it is. And, it really isn't far from our nation's capital of Washington, DC either.

Since then, it has lost a lot of its luster. Hagerstown is still a decent facility, but the weekly racing is suffering. The track has been, and is still in dire need of clay. It's still smooth, but it's packed hard, blows dust, gets slick, and turns black within two or three laps during the Late Model hot lap session.

Crown Jewel races - I miss the Johnny Roberts Memorial, the Conococheague 100, and the Hub City 150. The Lucas Oil race is about as big as they get nowadays. Everything else is pretty much bland and ordinary. They might pay decent weekly money, but it isn't drawing cars.

Handicapping instead of wheel spinning at intermission would make for better racing too.

Absolutely, a perfect post. You nailed it on all pts.

[bowler4life223]

It used to be a great place to see a race however after franks daughter ran it into the ground Ernie tried to save it , everyone who goes to the world finals can thank hagerstown speedway for that , the octoberfests was the original world finals, not sure why frank won't put new clay on the speedway , Ernie has little control on what goes on over at the track all he does is promote , he has nothing to do with trqck prep or anything like that, and the whole favoritism thing was seen first hand when Brayden jumped by a long shot in his heat race and nothing was said, and the low car count was because it was not a point show, they will get between 19-27 cars on a weekly basis and the lucas show will pull in about 45-50

[raburke23]

I used to go to Hagerstown from Ohio 3-4 times a year. The Sunday afternoon shows in Feb were awesome. Both in car counts, divisions and crowds. They would draw 30 late models, 30 big blocks, 30 small blocks easy. The Hub City late in the year was so unique at the time, sad to see it gone.
Havent been to Hagerstown now in maybe 10+ years either though, so I am talking about a pretty distant past.

[TJHTA42]

Dirt tracks pa-52,ny-37,iowa 48, ohio-34,illinois-34 Indiana-31 this does not include karting tracks indoor and outdoor

[Dante Toledo, OH]

Don't waste your time arguing. You must have sleep boogers in your eyes.I'll give you the World and Dream. You boast your argument on the last 2 nights of the Hell Tour? Illinois basically has the whole series. Theirs more big racing in Illinois in a week than you have in a month.

Illinois has a lot of big races, but the 2 biggest races in pay are the Illini 100 and Prairie dirt classic. Ohio has 5 races that pay better than that and have bigger crowds. And I am not even mentioning that the North South and Ralph Latham are about 10 miles outside of Cincinnati. I am within 4 hours of 7 late model races that pay 30k or more. In Illinois you are not.

[TDRacinŽ]

Absolutely, a perfect post. You nailed it on all pts.

I agree. That is about as honest as you can explain it! Kinda reminds you of a once great driver who is getting into their older years and not able to produce the same results even though you still hold hope that they can.

[kidrock]

Don't waste your time arguing. You must have sleep boogers in your eyes.
I'll give you the World and Dream. You boast your argument on the last 2 nights of the Hell Tour? Illinois basically has the whole series. Theirs more big racing in Illinois in a week than you have in a month.

Why don't we just wait and hear from the drivers. Oh wait we did lol