Missing from Hagerstown tonight???

[Russell W]

I noticed some top teams from the mid-Atlantic not at Hagerstown tonight. Jason Covert, Kenny Pettyjohn, Dale Hollidge, Roy Deese and a few others. Are there personal reasons they weren't there or were they racing elsewhere?

[bonz45]

Almost expected Richards to be there after planning on running Sharon & raining out. He has always run strong there.. great chance to steal another from the Lucas gang.

[BTExpress]

I was surprised that the 4 or 5 drivers mentioned above were not there as well, especially since Winchester did not run SLM's last night. As far as I can tell none of the above mentioned drivers raced any way else last night.

[MI Dirt Fan]

Any reason as to why there is 3 weeks off in between WoO dates?

[dirtdobber45]

Almost expected Richards to be there after planning on running Sharon & raining out. He has always run strong there.. great chance to steal another from the Lucas gang.

By his web site he wasnt running anywhere this weekend...thats why I didnt pick him on #4 (snipers picks) lol

[Josh Bayko]

I'm gonna guess the Lucas tire rule kept some folks away.

[zyoung25]

Hollidge posted last week he would be taking this weekend off. Never said a reason was stated.

[CrankedUp90]

Tire rule does it, all the non Lucas guys have to buy all new tires. They dont run the few options they have at all. Except guys like Satterlee and Zeigler who have them in stock already as they race with them regularly. If not for that there would have been 50 cars atleast. Even guys like Trever Feathers, B Omps, CS Fitzgerald, etc.. were missing..

[huskerdirt]

Doesn't Hagetstown have an open tire rule for weekly shows?

[Russell W]

I did see later on that Hollidge was at the beach and got engaged this weekend. Congrats to him and his now fiancé

[old fan]

and lucas doesn't have an open tire rule

[Josh Bayko]

Doesn't Hagetstown have an open tire rule for weekly shows?

It's not totally open. Open Hoosier rule.

[RacerRose]

None of those guys were racing at Port Royal either. Port had 35 Late Models.

[SaddleUpLock&Load]

This tire rule talk is pure crap. Lucas puts everyone on an even playing field with tires. You only have 2 choices of tire available for each corner of the car. RR is all thats different, its an additional $40 per tire and you only have two options. A 1300 or a 1425 for the RR. All other corners are ribbed 1300/1325 which im certain 90% of guys that run Hagerstown run weekly anyways . I just cant believe that a super late model team would frown over an additional 40 bucks for two tires. Its worth 40 bucks additional a tire to not have a tire debate before the A. You got one choice, everyones on it, now you choose how to cut it. It paid a $1000 to take the green. Plus the compounds teams were on were gonna be smoked anyways, so you wouldnt have to worry about running them again, which none of them would anyways. Just seems like a convenient accuse to not race. This isnt them telling you to jump on all UMP LMs.

[Russell W]

35 cars at port for 25 laps 2,000 to win35 cars at Hagerstown 60 laps 12,000 to win? Interesting that you have the same amount of cars for a fraction of the price to win.

[prodirtcar32]

Good point about the same amount of cars at Port Royal for $2,000. The drivers have been making it clear to the promoters for the last couple of years that they will race for less. It is a shame for the sport but I think you will see no big shows within next couple of years in that area. The promoters do not have to put up decent purses cause they are supported with the lower purses just as well. Why spend the extra money?

[jog49]

Nowadays, I think drivers go where the odds of cashing the bigger check is paramount.

[NormP]

Why would you race for $2000 to win when you get $1000 just to take the green at Hagerstown? Everyone around here always talks about how more starting money would draw more cars, but that doesn't appear to be the case in this particular situation.

[huskerdirt]

Good point about the same amount of cars at Port Royal for $2,000. The drivers have been making it clear to the promoters for the last couple of years that they will race for less. It is a shame for the sport but I think you will see no big shows within next couple of years in that area. The promoters do not have to put up decent purses cause they are supported with the lower purses just as well. Why spend the extra money?

This has been a trend for awhile now. It's really not that surprising.... atleast in my parts.

When MLRA comes to I-80. Chances are you are gonna attract a 40-50 car field. Guys would come from 4,5, and 6 hours away to race for $3000. Now when the Silver Dollar Nationals comes around. Some of those same guys won't travel to that race. Likewise some locals guys would rather be in the stands than racing that weekend. It has nothing to do with conspiracy theories or tire rules or event payout/format. It has more to do with thinking they can hang with Lucas boys or not.

Lucas has one day show in May at I-80. I'll be absolutely floored if over 30 cars show up. A month later a MARS/MLRA co sanction event could hit 50 cars at the same track. Wheatland drew 47 cars for there spring race. And for the Diamond Nationals in July, they might draw less than 40.

[06Tireman]

NormP.. Because those drivers knew they had a better chance of making that $2000 than the $1000 just to take the green.. Plus this deal with Port/Selinsgrove is a great thing for the late models in central PA... You cant miss a race.. Port Royal also treats every race as a points race.. And honestly.. The only driver that runs up there other than Yoder that would have went to Hagerstown is Lupfer and hes trying to win his 3rd championship at Port Royal..