G.R. Smith & Donald McIntosh Possibly on tour in 2017.

[HoosierDirtFan]

Per Dirt On Dirt and Ben Shelton just a few minutes ago.
G.R. Smith and Donald McIntosh Possibly on tour in 2017. Didn't say which tour but did say they will be running Speedweeks and one tour or the other through at least April.

ALSO Colton Flinner back on the Lucas Tour in 2017.

[B_K]

Sheet metal and spare parts dealers rejoice. The traveling 22 destruction show may be coming to a town near you.

[Josh Bayko]

I'd bet they're considering the WoO.

[SLIDING SIDEWAYS]

Sheet metal and spare parts dealers rejoice. The traveling 22 destruction show may be coming to a town near you.

Boy you pinned the tail on the donkey right there B K!
What a driving time bomb.

[macro646]

Boy you pinned the tail on the donkey right there B K!
What a driving time bomb.

Do you guys know with the G.R. stands for? ............Guard Rail!!!!

[Barbecueboy]

I'd bet they're considering the WoO.

They would be great for woo........probably make a little noise too

[Josh Bayko]

They would be great for woo........probably make a little noise too

I agree. I could see a national tour doing wonders for calming GR down. I mean, look what it did for Tyler Erb over the course of a season.

[nuff said]

For those of you that think Davenport is/was rough on equipment,wait until the G.R. show comes to town.I think McIntosh would do well,he is always near the front and usually finishes races and the car is in one piece.

[W2Racing09]

I'd bet they're considering the WoO.

Mcintosh would be a HUGE pick up for either tour. I would expect him to pick up a few wins no matter which tour he were to join up with.

Thanks,
Jeff.

[dirtdobber45]

Macintosh would do ok. G.R. probably drop after speedweeks.

[W2Racing09]

Per Dirt On Dirt and Ben Shelton just a few minutes ago.
G.R. Smith and Donald McIntosh Possibly on tour in 2017. Didn't say which tour but did say they will be running Speedweeks and one tour or the other through at least April.

ALSO Colton Flinner back on the Lucas Tour in 2017.

According to DLM Live Ben Shelton said they are considering a run on the WoO and did not mention LOLMDS at all. He said Tyler Bruening, Donald Brasher, Donald McIntosh, and G.R Smith are all part of a possible 2017 Rookie Class for the WoO.

[Ryan21mid]

Any opinions on why the past few years the WoO rookie classes have been much stronger than Lucas? Is Lucas just too top heavy that they feel better about their chances on the Outlaws?

[W2Racing09]

Any opinions on why the past few years the WoO rookie classes have been much stronger than Lucas? Is Lucas just too top heavy that they feel better about their chances on the Outlaws?

Thats probably part of it -- although (I don't know for sure) I think WoO has a higher payout for RoY as well. I think the WoO has started paying back farther in points as well (or at least show up money) since the Craftsman sponsorship occurred. The LOLMDS is definitely very top heavy, just look at Brandon Sheppard, he hasn't lit the world on fire running the LOLMDS and he is a top level talent -- many of the guys trying to run for RoY in either series are not at Sheppards level or even close when he started with LOLMDS, and he had very little success the first season. I think there is a lot more room for guys to finish in the top 5 of WoO races than there is on the LOLMDS.

[Josh Bayko]

Any opinions on why the past few years the WoO rookie classes have been much stronger than Lucas? Is Lucas just too top heavy that they feel better about their chances on the Outlaws?

I think the Lucas tire rule has something to do with it, last year at least.

[B_K]

Fairly simple to me. With WoO you have two cars that are consistently good and others that can be very good but often times are beatable.

When you roll out Bloomquist, JD, O'Neal, Lanigan, Tmac, Erb, BShepp, etc generally four or five at least are going to be on kill.

McIntosh would show well. He'd struggle some, but who doesn't at first?

Maybe I'm just selling GR short, but all I've ever seen him be was a weapon.

[Bigracer93]

Have head a WoO driver say that it just makes sense to race WoO over Lucas because you have a better shot of making money. Unless you have a big sponsor that wants to be on tv Lucas doesn't make sense to the drivers

[Barbecueboy]

Any opinions on why the past few years the WoO rookie classes have been much stronger than Lucas? Is Lucas just too top heavy that they feel better about their chances on the Outlaws?

Yup.........

[Ryan21mid]

That's what I thought, just wanted some other opinions. Lucas payout seems better and they sanction more crown jewels so that seems more intriguing to me, but I can see where WoO could garner more attention for young guys and lower budget teams. Thanks!

[W2Racing09]

That's what I thought, just wanted some other opinions. Lucas payout seems better and they sanction more crown jewels so that seems more intriguing to me, but I can see where WoO could garner more attention for young guys and lower budget teams. Thanks!

I think that is the biggest reason for sure -- there are two guys in country at the top tier: Josh Richards, and Scott Bloomquist. Each tour has one of those, but below that you have a huge inequity between the tours. I think the future definitely looks good for WoO if they can hang on to guys like Tyler Erb, Brandon Overton, Billy Moyer Jr, Eric Wells (and McIntosh if he joins up) and others whom I think will develop into great drivers in addition to guys like Richards, Clanton, Casebolt and Eckert.

The LOLMDS is going to need an injection of young guys soon enough as most of their core drivers are getting up there. I would like to see a few new guys join up over there (There are several drivers who could jump in and compete with LOLMDS IMO, such as: Jared Hawkins, Hudson O'Neal, Nick Hoffman, Gregg Satterlee, Devin Gilpin, etc).

I will say I think that one thing the WoO definitely has over the LOLMDS is in the point fund. The WoO point fund amounted to over $386K while the LOLMDS point fund amounted to just over $325k. That is over 10 positions. The WoO also pays out an additional $1000 in Craftsman bonuses to tour regulars at each show. So the payout for the LOLMDS is better on their Saturday shows but the WoO isn't far behind. I expect both tours will even out over the next few seasons.

Thanks,
Jeff.

[One Man Gang]

Did Bradsher not file a lawsuit against G.R Smith back in the summer ? If those 2 are going to follow WoO hell I might have follow it too as a spectator to see when the $&!t hits the fan