Will the WoO survive??

[Loopy]

WoO has made an announcement trying to get some of the local Wissota late model teams to try and fill the field with the next race this Saturday with them basically only having 15 cars following the tour now, let me remind you last year they turned away the same Wissota racers and now that they are struggling for car counts they are hoping our regulars will fill the void.
You have to wonder who makes these poor choices and if this series is going to survive??

[bleedblue55]

WoO has made an announcement trying to get some of the local Wissota late model teams to try and fill the field with the next race this Saturday with them basically only having 15 cars following the tour now, let me remind you last year they turned away the same Wissota racers and now that they are struggling for car counts they are hoping our regulars will fill the void.
You have to wonder who makes these poor choices and if this series is going to survive??

Curious as to how the WOO turned the local drivers away. I've heard of locals not running WOO or Lucas races because of tire costs or lack of mandated safety equipment.

[Cardirt0]

They have no one to blame but them selfs.

[MI Dirt Fan]

Well they are out there in part of Sprint car country. Will they survive? That's kind of vague question so I'm not sure what your asking, but I don't see why not. Might cause them to rethink some things in the future.

[Hollis]

How many cars will they get at Fairbury? Certainly the safety demands are a issue with many cars. I don't believe safety was a issue at the summer Nats., yet car counts varied greatly.

[chathamracefan]

They will have close to 60 (maybe more) at Fairbury in a couple weeks. They may want to rethink their schedule for future years. I suppose if they are making $ at the gate, they don't mind having a few short fields in the more remote locations on their schedule.

[Pennsboro23]

I've never really understood the reasoning for WoO late models running in that part of the country. (Minn, SD, ND, Wyoming, etc.) There's not a lot of cars out there, and like someone else said, SD and ND is more sprint car country. It's also a heck of a haul for most teams and I don't think it's a coincidence that some of the teams that aren't sitting good in points drop off tour right before they head out west. I understand giving the fans out there a chance to see something different but I don't think it's working well.

[Hollis]

I've never really understood the reasoning for WoO late models running in that part of the country. (Minn, SD, ND, Wyoming, etc.) There's not a lot of cars out there, and like someone else said, SD and ND is more sprint car country. It's also a heck of a haul for most teams and I don't think it's a coincidence that some of the teams that aren't sitting good in points drop off tour right before they head out west. I understand giving the fans out there a chance to see something different but I don't think it's working well.

Supply and demand. WoO gets their money up front. The promoter has to decide their value. But, as stated in another post some just not willing to do the travel.

[MI Dirt Fan]

Didn't they also run a few shows a couple yrs back in that part of the region but in Canada? I know they've run in lower far eastern Canada before.

[Tireguy17]

The WoO schedule, when comparing crown jewels versus Lucas, I think is finally catching up with them. WoO has 10 drivers that have ran every show, Lucas has 14, but the competition on both isn't even comparable. WoO has easily 2-3 drivers that could drop off at any time and could leave the series in serious trouble. Its not a healthy series right now.

[Josh Bayko]

The WoO has already made their money from these shows. The low car counts are on the tracks for scheduling big time super late model shows in an area with almost no super late models.

[amusall]

A month ago WoO ran at Stateline, NY (near Erie PA). They had 38 cars on a Thursday night. The following night they had 19 cars 110 miles north at Ransomville. Difference being, Stateline is a late model and EMOD track where Ransomville is a big block track.

[huskerdirt]

WoO has made an announcement trying to get some of the local Wissota late model teams to try and fill the field with the next race this Saturday with them basically only having 15 cars following the tour now, let me remind you last year they turned away the same Wissota racers and now that they are struggling for car counts they are hoping our regulars will fill the void.
You have to wonder who makes these poor choices and if this series is going to survive??

They only have 10 following the tour.

No way in hell they should’ve been at Black Hills. There’s like 1 maybe 2 late models in that area. Plus, it was on frickin Tuesday night. I’ll say it was pretty asinine by both to schedule a date.

[FANSFund]

Minnesota, Wisconsin, North/South Dakota have plenty of cars in this area to help support the series. That said, that far out West during a weeknight... not many guys will travel that far. That issue is NOT ON WOO... that is on the track promoter - travel, weeknight, motor and tire differences... he should have known. There is nothing wrong with the WoO and Lucas Oil would have likely had an identical car count had they sanctioned a race there. Car counts will go up at the next two races at River Cities Speedway (ND) as well as Ogilvie (MN).

The main issue, WISSOTA drivers race with a limited engine package (steel heads is one of main differences) on an engine that is producing 650 - 700+ HP versus open motor at 800 - 900+ HP. Add to that the WISSOTA mandated spec hard compound tire - the open tires the WoO runs at $150 - $180/tire (roughly $1000 in tires for night for tires you won't use the rest of the year). So when the WoO comes to our area, most of our local drivers don't participate because the cost of tires and the HP difference in qualifying to our limited engine package. The funny thing is our drivers are spending huge amounts on what amounts to a spec engine which was designed to control engine costs originally.

This is why events like the USA Nationals and Knoxville don't really showcase a significant number of local drivers. With WISSOTA and IMCA the primary sanctions in these states, some of our best drivers don't race the events due to engine differences and tires. Whereas other events in the mid-Ohio, IL and southern regions draw larger numbers because drivers are racing on nearly identical rules with the WoO.

Again, this is not a WoO issue... it is more of a promoter issue. That said, WoO helped offset drivers expenses with a mid-week event but the choice of location - that I would have questioned.

In a few weeks, you will see Lucas Oil at Jackson, MN which is primarily a Sprint Car track and then another event in Aberdeen SD. Watch how successful those events are despite being at a Sprint Car track and "way out" in Aberdeen... to me, that is good homework and one that will yield successful events that will likely be on the schedule again next year due to their success.

Last point, for those of you who don't know the Jackson, MN track - you will after the Lucas Oil event there. Tod Quiring owns the facility and has turned that track into one of the best facilities in the country. Drivers will rave about the facility and it will be racy. Despite being a mid-week event... I expect a great car count and fan turnout.

Rich Olson
Minneapolis, MN

[MI Dirt Fan]

Does running an event mid week also have an effect?

[Josh Bayko]

Does running an event mid week also have an effect?

Absolutely. Regional and local drivers tend to work 9-5 jobs and traveling a couple hours to a show that they have long odds of making isn't that high on the priority list.

[NY DIRT]

A month ago WoO ran at Stateline, NY (near Erie PA). They had 38 cars on a Thursday night. The following night they had 19 cars 110 miles north at Ransomville. Difference being, Stateline is a late model and EMOD track where Ransomville is a big block track.

You are half right. But nobody runs on a Thursday night . If Ramsomville would of run there show on Thursday night they would of had 30 cars because most of the cars that raced at Stateline would have been there.

Alls well that ends well and Ramsonville had a large crowd because Friday night is there weekly race night and the WOO race was a good one plus there second division was there weekly modified cars.

[MI Dirt Fan]

Absolutely. Regional and local drivers tend to work 9-5 jobs and traveling a couple hours to a show that they have long odds of making isn't that high on the priority list.

Exactly. It's definitely noticable on the SN tour. Especially on Mondays and Tuesdays.


That was setup for disaster running Black hills on a Tuesday night in an area that isn't LM friendly.

[Dante Toledo, OH]

Will Outlaws late models survive? Ummm yep. They are part of world racing group. Pretty sure they are the biggest most successful involved in dirt racing. Outlaws Sprints, late models, UMP, ALMS, The Hell Tour, All race under the WRG banner. Those track pay the series upfront to stage these races. The series could give a flip less what the car count is. And if those tracks lose money and don't want them back. A bunch of other tracks will jump at the chance to get them.

[amusall]

You are half right. But nobody runs on a Thursday night . If Ramsomville would of run there show on Thursday night they would of had 30 cars because most of the cars that raced at Stateline would have been there.Alls well that ends well and Ramsonville had a large crowd because Friday night is there weekly race night and the WOO race was a good one plus there second division was there weekly modified cars.

Valid points there. I did not attend Ransomville but was disappointed to see they only had 19 cars.Even more surprising was that there were only 27 cars I believe at the Clash at the Mag. I realize there were other touring series races that weekend but that seemed low for the money up for grabs. As for the series, the tracks due need to put up money for the purse. I know Bowman Grey stadium chooses not to have the Whelen Modifieds back anymore. They sell out every week as it is so having to put up ten of thousands of extra dollars for the Whelen purse isn’t worth it for them.