Open Letter to UMP

[rmrc]

Sam

As you know, I've been involved with racing for a long time, 55 years to be exact. This has given me a unique perspective on our sport. Right now, I think that weekly DLM racing is in deep trouble. On the National level, we have allowed the big $$ teams to dictate the rule packages which we race under. As weekly racers, it's no longer possible to compete with the travelling teams, yet we race under the same rules package. You know as well as I do that this is driving racers away from weekly tracks. We simply can't keep going in this direction. We can't restrict engines, there's already too many wide bore and exotic engines out there. We can't regulate shocks, even though they're out of control. We CAN however regulate the bodies. (1) Bring the noses back to 48" with a variation of 2" from side to side. That will also increase the angle of the noses, reducing the wedge effect. (2) The decks should return to flat and level. Use a string line from the back of the hood to the base of the spoiler. The deck must not deviate more than 1" from the string. (3) Reduce the spoiler height to 6". (4) remove the "dish" from the right side doors.

All of the above changes will work to unhook the cars, taking away some of the engine dependence. These things can all be measured quickly, using only a tape measure. There are other places that can be addressed but those 4 simple changes will help. Additionally, maybe it's time to put a group together a group of racers, promoters, owners and builders to discuss where we are headed. I'm talking about weekly guys, not national racers! Let's work together to bring Bob Memmer's vision back to weekly racing. It's time to divorce ourselves from the National touring series. The "Next Level" isn't working out as we thought!

[Kromulous]

Denied...

Makes to much sense.

[kidrock]

Denied...

Makes to much sense.

Aint the truth...………………………………………………………...

[waaac77]

You can make all the rules you want but if they’re not enforced then you got nothing. A committee of well known respectable previous drivers, promoters, owners and builders is the only way to enforce the rules and keep everyone in check.

[CornSmoker]

Put the left rear spring/shock package back "IN FRONT" of the rearend at the same relative angle as the right rear spring/shock. No traction shock on rear end. Get rid of the open windows in the tail wing to help kill the aero package. Shorten up the nose piece at least 12". and last , but not least, a total of 5 spring/shock package total on the car, with no progressive springs. Then and only then will DLM racing survive at weekly race tracks. BUT IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN. Dumbass Richie ruined it after the Davenport year, and the Wedding Photographer and the spineless WoO director have no balls to get DLM racing back on track.

[Illtsate32]

Yes! Good point about the nose they got the nose angle down and the a** up for the deck to catch all the air, and the shocks ya idk horse is out of the barn but there are things to do like was said to cut back on the traction and make engines and shocks less effective, they arent twisting all these bodies up for looks thats for sure...

[Kromulous]

Just cutting the spoiler to 6" would make a healthy impact.

Add in a max spoiler angle, around 70* from horizontal, not the decking, would also further that impact.

[Krooser]

Add 100lbs to cars with wide bore engines and have a spec shock package.

[MittenMadman]

Sounds great but it’ll never happen. Piss off to many people that have the money and money talks.

[rmrc]

That was one of my points, the sanctioning bodies are allowing 10-12 teams make the rules. That HAS to change.

[IZZOJR16]

Super Late Models have evolved way past weekly shows.

[IZZOJR16]

No matter what rules you make teams will find a way to exploit the rules and run up the cost of everything. Its the nature of the beast. Money will always = speed. Thats the purpose of racing, to be the fastest.

[racincowboy02]

I don't think you will see weekly super racing around much longer even at the tracks you see them out now unless they are going to pay anywhere between 5-7500 to win weekly

[dirtcrazy4u]

I like all this talk about teams. The manufacturer puts out the product and if it is a good product. Well, reach deep into those pockets boys. And to be competitive what are teams suppose to do ? Sure some guys have said no I am not going to by a wide bore motor, or I'm not going to buy that new chassis. Well the guys that do say great. Less competition for me. You can't change the rules. You would make so much equipment obsolete, then what ? Fans want to see the top guys race, period, and those guys are going to spend what it takes. As a fan, and if you implement all the changes in this topic. Are you going to sit in the stands and watch them ? Crate racing draws a huge fan base huh. Me personally I wish woo, better yet, wrg would go away, but we all understand that is not going to happen. Tony Stewart's new Ford motor in sprint car racing, they get the bugs worked out and the money teams are going to have to spend will be outrageous. Or run for a top 10 instead of a top 5. Boy, I can't wait.

[fastford]

unfortunately , i agree with dirtcrazy , also in reference to the original post , you can take all the aero away you want to , BUT , by not limiting shocks , springs and there placement , cubic dollars will still have an advantage , and im not jealous of this , what does irritate me is rules that limit my using my brain to find an advantage and that being taken away , ie: rumley device...........JMO......

[IAMN21]

Well said in the original post I have attended dirt tracks for 45 years and for the last few years you can watch the steady decline of your local racers and tracks. Probably already gone too far to fix and it is sad that the local promoters cant get together and provide and enforce a rules package that would allow DLM as well as other classes to flourish. But we all know Big Money Rules always has and always will.

[Krooser]

I was at one of the very early promoters meetings Bob Memmer had when he was starting UMP.

There were guys that stood up and told everyone that you would never get two tracks to run the same rules much less form an alliance of promoters to agree on common rules. But it happened.

All it will take for DLM racing to change is one man with the foresight and commitment that Memmer had... it can be done.

[Kromulous]

The problem that some of you are not seeing is this, once the core wood in the middle of the Tree is dead, the Tree is going to die sooner or later...

What i mean is this, its the Weekly guys that buy all these parts, and pay to race etc. We support these companies with our money. The Top Teams use Sponsor money, well when the Sponsors markets begin to decline because you ran off all your paying Customers you begin the rot.

SLM racing is on a cusp of it right now as i see it. We can still afford to race weekly, but its almost lost. It will be interesting to see how it turns out. Currently we are probably selling the SLM and going to a Mod, maybe one more year. Its me and my Brothers that own the Team, and me personally i don't want to be the last man holding the Bag, meaning we better sell out before everyone else does, then your market value hits the skids.

IMHO thou, once you start to out price your market, your doomed. Nascar did the same thing in the 90's, maybe earlier. You look at modern car sales now, same thing, Ford etc is out pricing their market, the backlash will be big, sooner or later.

I also believe that a simple spoiler adjustment, and some simple Aero adjustments could fend off this decline at least for a few years.

[roughride]

I feel this is so easy to get back on the right track. Just the body rules alone would be a great start. These cars are nothing short of a modern day wedge. These rules would not even be noticeable from the stands. When did the dishing out of the decking get so out of control anyway? Lift the noses of the ground. Make the right and left door panels be the same height. Remove an inch or 2 off the spoiler and no one will even be able to tell from the stands. The UMP rules were great for some time, what happened?

[play4kps]

It all starts with the lack of support for weekly racing! I think what really made dirt late model racing such a terrific and interesting sport was to watch the track locals race and sometimes beat the big names when they come in. When that went away, the sport lost a lot of charm. Unfortunately the driving force of companies that are destroying the sport are the ones funding it at the touring series level. Lucas oil series and World of Outlaws and Dirt on dirt also. A lot of people gauge the sport on attendance at big races only, thats a huge problem.