Selinsgrove dusty snooze fest

[minthess]

I am blown away how track promoters charge 30 or 40 bucks to get in and basically forget about truck prep. I am done with Winchester and I am now done with Selinsgrove. The Rocket Ford is truly a special piece but if there is no track it doesn't matter. A beat up ol chev and a good starting spot is all you need tip toeing around on the bottom. I'm thankful for the video from other tracks that care showing what the cool stuff can do.

[GEAR_HEAD]

The same thing happened at Tyler on Sunday for the Hillbilly. Since it was the 3rd day of racing the track should have been disked deep and watered all day long. Instead the feature was a rubbered up one groover. There was no excuse for that. It was easily the worst race I have ever seen at Tyler. If the track prep crews at these tracks don't know what they're doing then they should ask for help or suggestions. The problem is a lot of the track prep guys have never been to other good racetracks to see how good track prep is done.

[BTExpress]

It is a shame they had to run the make up features (power failure at the track the previous week) the night before the Outlaw race. With the current clay, it is hard for the track to handle back to back racing nights. For the most part, Selinsgrove has been pretty decent in 2016 with track conditions. On a positive note, it was nice to see a big crowd on Sunday. The track has had it's share of problems this season with the weather, losing some of their bigger shows. The new promoters got through their first season. They have plans for future improvements and I believe the capital to make them happen...time will tell, the track with proper maintenance is certainly FAST.

[543210]

The two shows that I saw at Port Royal & Dog Hollow last weekend had lots of passing.

[06Tireman]

The race the night before had nothing to do with the track prep on Sunday night.. That track has been like that everytime we raced there this season.. Maybe not as rough.. But definitely dry and taking rubber for the features.. It would have been even worse if the 360 sprint cars had been there..

[W2Racing09]

I am blown away how track promoters charge 30 or 40 bucks to get in and basically forget about truck prep. I am done with Winchester and I am now done with Selinsgrove. The Rocket Ford is truly a special piece but if there is no track it doesn't matter. A beat up ol chev and a good starting spot is all you need tip toeing around on the bottom. I'm thankful for the video from other tracks that care showing what the cool stuff can do.

It wasn't the best race I've ever witnessed but as usual I enjoyed myself (if I could just get a handle on not being able to see the whole track because of infield pit areas... that really gets to me). They are a great group of people and I have personally seen the track in much better shape. They had a lot of racing on it the night before and a lot of tires hitting the track the day of as well. I was crossing my fingers for some water to be put down instead of just knocking down the cushion that they did early in the program.

With that said Winchester is definitely not a good track to give up on, the last race I saw there (which was just over a week ago) was excellent, racy slick surface with a ton of side by side racing throughout all of the features. I've seen some great races there, it can be hit or miss but I've seen some bad races at the tracks everyone likes to revere in the area as well. If you don't like the ownership that is one thing, but I've seen some great races at Winchester recently.

I do have to say that anyone who wasn't at Port Royal last Saturday missed an excellent SLM race. Great car count and great racing (with quite a bit of drama resulting in an interesting victory lane interview). I really wanted to see the Econo LM feature too, but they decided to run those cars with wings on them first and I wanted to get home so I missed it. The SLM feature was one of the best I've seen this year though! (Still tough to beat the AMS show at Path Valley though!)

Thanks,
Jeff.

[ironboss]

I just don't understand why tracks continue to try to run multiple nights in a row. It never works out well as there are only a handfull of tracks in the entire country that seem to be able to pull it off successfully. But the thing that really bothers me is when you pay money to go to the races and can only see half the track. It is well past time for tracks to move the pits out of the infield or raise the bleachers up!

[BTExpress]

Ironboss, I agree 100%. I think the promoters of Selinsgrove recognize they need to move the pits from the infield.....but the big question is where to put them? I was looking around the property on Sunday and I am not sure where there is room to move them. Maybe a fan who has been there more often might have a better idea. I thought I had a pretty decent seat at the WoO show, but could only see half of the track as well.

[W2Racing09]

I agree 100%, I'm not a fan of infield pit areas no matter what, but especially not when they cause me to be unable to see the track.

Thanks,
Jeff.

[Bighalfmilefan]

BTexpress, as far as I know the plan is for them to knock down all the trees in 3 and 4 and design a plan to put the pits out there. Even if they have enough room for the big stacked trailers it would help tremendously! It's a shame the track didn't turn out very good Sunday. For the most part they have done a good job with what they were left to work with. I just hope nobody gives up on the place. Like somebody said the new promoters had their troubles this year but they made it through. With new clay on the way and the potential move of the pit area, these guys have Selinsgrove speedway going in the right direction again! I can't wait to see what the future plans are for the big half mile.

[BTExpress]

Good to know.....the track has a soft spot in my heart. I have seen more good races (mostly sprint cars) than bad over the years. I still try to go to one or two races a year. I would go to more if it was closer (2 hours away).

[GEAR_HEAD]

I just don't understand why tracks continue to try to run multiple nights in a row. It never works out well as there are only a handfull of tracks in the entire country that seem to be able to pull it off successfully. But the thing that really bothers me is when you pay money to go to the races and can only see half the track. It is well past time for tracks to move the pits out of the infield or raise the bleachers up!

There are tracks like Florence and Pittsburgh that can consistently stay racey for 3 straight days. It just takes effort and knowledge of your racetrack and what it needs to stay multi-grooved. It also takes adjustments throughout the program to keep it racey, but some tracks are just too lazy to bother with that. Everybody around where I was sitting at Tyler was complaining about the track and the guy behind me got bent out of shape and said he graded the track that morning. Big freakin deal, that's not track prep! Admit you screwed up and ask for help or suggestions! Where was the disk and the water all day? And that's the problem with a lot of track prep guys, they're stubborn and always think they know better even though they don't. Then there are guys like Josh King at Florence and Brian Underwood at Pittsburgh who have taken advice from people and made the racing better at their tracks. The promoters don't help either. Portsmouth has enough trouble staying racey for 1 day, but on the 3rd day of the DTWC Carl insists on running the non-qualifiers race before the DTWC, even though the schedule said otherwise. The cars blew the cushion off the high side during the NQ race and it ruined the DTWC. It's common sense that the track should be saved for the main feature, but common sense isn't so common anymore.

[Bighalfmilefan]

I know what you mean BT. I grew up at Selinsgrove. I seen my share of good races and bad races. I've been there through the good times and bad times. The last couple years haven't been the greatest. You could tell the effort wasn't there to make improvements. But now they have people in charge that care. Mr Heffner and Mr Inch have my trust. Heffner made the comment that they are going to ask drivers and fans what improvements they want to see made

[bleedblue55]

The same thing happened at Tyler on Sunday for the Hillbilly. Since it was the 3rd day of racing the track should have been disked deep and watered all day long. Instead the feature was a rubbered up one groover. There was no excuse for that. It was easily the worst race I have ever seen at Tyler. If the track prep crews at these tracks don't know what they're doing then they should ask for help or suggestions. The problem is a lot of the track prep guys have never been to other good racetracks to see how good track prep is done.

Exactly. Tyler deserves to get called out for that pi$$ poor excuse of a race track.

[Clayton_Wetter]

Exactly. Tyler deserves to get called out for that pi$$ poor excuse of a race track.

Any track that wants to run two and three day events should do full track prep for all three days. But they never seem to do that.

[onlyfacts]

Promoters today have access to really good equipment to do the job but can't seem to figure out how to use it. 20-25 years ago the equipment wasn't what it is today but promoters figured out how to make their tracks racy. The secret was work. Very few promoters wants to put the effort out that it take to keep a race track racy for 2 or 3 days. Tyler county was a complete disgrace to proper track prep.

[bighalfmile]

Come to Port and see the best weekly late model racing anywhere. Always wide and racey just like last Saturday night.

[minthess]

I have a huge soft spot for Selinsgrove but the great shrimp, unmatched history, all the great memories, great track layout etc etc doesn't make up for total lack of track prep. Either make sure there is some cushion or close the place up. All the excuses are a joke. Knoxville has had 2 shows in the same day in August with moisture at the end of the night for pitty's sake. Why pay all the extra money to see the best equipment when they are forced to just ride around the bottom. I'll go watch NASCAR at Martinsville if I want that. I've always been a sprint car fan and now those guys all run the identicle average cookie cutter car. Its maddening because with the late model guys being smart enough to runs some cool stuff a dry track is like pizza with no cheese.