If I was giving the Gateway Dirt Nationals a letter grade...........

[TBone15]

I was there Saturday night. It wasn't bad.... probably a B. It was more entertaining than anything the Rams did there in the last ten years.

[modfan24]

The massive undertaking this event required has never been seen before in stock car racing.

It's like in high school when the kid with the mansion was convinced to have a house party while his parents were out of town. We came, we partied, we raced, we got dirt everywhere. Now we go back to our normal hangouts until next year. As we walk away we look around at the dirty foot prints up and down the multi-million dollar convention center and think about how bad it will suck to clean up.

Sure the chilli bowl pretty much has it down to a science. But they've had many years to master their product and started in a more favorable era. The EPA is the tightest it's ever been. Fire marshalls, union reps, big city council members all looking over your shoulder. From all the mandated dome employees to security. Just trying to manage everyone would be insane.

[modfan24]

My only complaint is RC Cola. Who the hell drinks that? Haha

If nothing else, this event has set the record for having:
1. The most bathrooms. I never seen a line.
2. No hot and smelly port-a-pots.
3. The Most beer and concession stands.
4. Raced while experiencing large amounts of rain/ice/snow

Those are things I see people complain about on 4m. So that's good

[Clayton_Wetter]

gates should 've been opened earlier also

Well there you are complaining yet again!!!

[turnleftandgasit]

Instead of mods, work with the Midget promoter (they are already at Du quoin ) to have them come in. We thought less track wear, and could make it a huge lead up too the chili bowl.
Formulate a point system for the 2017 DLM season , and invite the top ????? No idea on how many midgets to invite, as I have only seen them once at FALS, and can't wait to see more of them.
3-2-1 attack

[turnleftandgasit]

I think the Italian family across the street will have an issue with a 50/50.

[calverton]

Well there you are complaining yet again!!!

you think there might have been safety concerns the way it was ran oh wait you wouldn't know you were not there

[plunks7]

Instead of mods, work with the Midget promoter (they are already at Du quoin ) to have them come in. We thought less track wear, and could make it a huge lead up too the chili bowl.
Formulate a point system for the 2017 DLM season , and invite the top ????? No idea on how many midgets to invite, as I have only seen them once at FALS, and can't wait to see more of them.
3-2-1 attack

If they do that I'm out. JMO

Run just lates, 2 heat races with passing points. NO Freaking time trials.

[fryefan]

I mainly attend late model shows, but I also attend several sprint, midget, and USMTS shows. Of those, the midgets provide excellent racing more consistently than the other classes.

Midgets and late models would be a great combination.

With that being said, I like watching the modifieds and I am okay with them staying. If they do, then they should make it an invitational event for them and limit the number of cars to no more than 60 max.

[powerslide]

Push the wall out right where the corner ends so the topside timmy's can get better runs. It was just about a foot to tight to get that top really moving. Get rid of the track wetter crap from VP, every track that has tried it has the rough issues that i know about. More track equipment like the chili bowl, i think they have a smaller tractor/tiller that doesn't cut it so deep.

I didn't make it Thursday but it looked painful on TV, drove from Tulsa Ok with that crap weather and was about 3hrs late Friday. I was really expecting more of the same 3am ending time but they really turned it around #timemanagement

Announcing crew did an awesome job, Dustin lost his voice by Saturday thats why Ben seemed so much louder.
Bathroom lines were awesome, 10x better than the chili bowl.
Beer ran out a couple times saw a couple dudes get pretty bent about that lol.

Overall B- mainly for the pole sitter winning Saturday unchallenged and the time drag on Thursday. Awesome feature race on Friday. Mod feature Saturday was action packed as well

[jog49]

.......and the feature race was 8 miles!

[turnleftandgasit]

I don't have anything against the mods, just thinking about a class that would cause less track damage. I like the LM only idea, and the twin heats, but instead of passing points, run it with a full invert from 1st to 2nd heat. Low points start up front, like a go kart race.

[BN247]

I give it a solid B. Some things to be done to make the racing better. Drop the mods, widen the straights so high side guys can keep their momentum, and add a little more banking. All of which sounds like might happen next year. Once we got guys on the track that new what they were doing, the racing was great. From a logistics standpoint I think the organizers get an A+. Other then a lot of cautions and track prep, they keep things moving and were prepared.Friday night was worth the price of admission. Glad I went and looking forward to next year. They get any more people to show, they will have to open the top sections. Bottom bowl was almost full.

[cjsracing]

ptown I see you keep harping on the time it took to run the show. My thoughts on this is most people came from far away, stayed in St. Louis so it's not like they have to get home. They are making a weekend of it so why is it a big deal to sit for 8 hours watching a sport you love?

[ride height]

The event has alot of potential. It needs a major sponsorship, and ESPN level TV The DOD outfit did pretty well, but it doesnt reach mainstream america, which is why dirt LM racing doesnt ever grow to a bigtime sport. The DOD crew was pretty entertaining actually. I liked the fly by seat of pants coverage, which im sure takes talent to pull off. At least they are knowledgeable about the drivers and such or so it seemed. Im sure they will play it all back and see where they can improve. At this point im just glad somebody aired the race so we could watch. To be fair, its got to be a chore for announcers to keep you on edge of your seat when there is a yellow every one or two laps. Thats a lot of " fill" time to come up with things to talk about. Im for dropping mods, and I race a mod. There is just too much carnage out there with so many mods trying to hammer their way into the feature, plus it beat the pi$$ out of the track.

[powerslide]

I don't believe you are going to see them drop the mods. 100 late models isn't enough to entertain for 3 days. I think they need to find better dirt or get rid of the VP track wetter junk, that dirt was like the stuff you see at rodeo's it just doesn't pack together well.

This isn't the first indoor race. The chili bowl does this every year, along with a couple others. These guys will get better with time, I hope they get a chance to go observe a couple of the other great indoor events and really take notes on what they do to prep the track, it maybe the bringing it in an packing it down from the start that they missed on or it maybe the dirt itself. Maybe a berm around the inside instead of the tires next year, not sure if that will work with the late model noses dragging the ground though.

[turnleftandgasit]

Do you think they will get more LM next year? It seems to be a hit with the fans, but did 100 lm drivers watching on DoD think the same and will have too be there next December?

[turnleftandgasit]

VP is title sponsor, I doubt that the track wetter is going anywhere.

[ptown]

VP is title sponsor, I doubt that the track wetter is going anywhere.

Yup and too much moisture in the track pretty much ruined it for Saturday.

[calverton]

Wrong they didn't enough water it that much they tilled it up too much