summer nats

[Buford.Justice]

I like the concept of the Summer Nationals, just wish they could work out the payouts and find ways to keep a good following before it gets worse. Gate admissions could be $25 for the 8K races and $30 or a little more for the $12k races.

For the smaller venues it would be understandable to pay a little more. I don't know how much money goes to those running the SN races so these suggestions are not fully educated ideas. Just some ideas.

One thing that does hurt and I can't see anyway to prevent it is the drivers that drop off the tour when they fall too far back in the points, they are just making decisions for their own best interest as they should.

[bc12]

I've enjoyed when they used to come to florence on a week night. Was always fun. Looks like a dying series with XR and Lucas money.

[cgrace]

I think the SN with changes could be a very viable series. Dirtcar just needs to make some changes to bring the series to this decade.

[hoosier race fan]

The most effective thing Dirtcar can do to improve the Summer Nationals is get rid of Sam Driggers. After that, it’s a little more complicated.

Payouts are always a topic brought up, but I don’t think the pay to win is the most important thing. They can bump the winner’s share up but that only helps 2-3 guys that are going to win most of the races. If they can get a sponsor and drop the modifieds, maybe they can increase the payout without needing to pass on the cost to the fans through admission fees. Summit Racing, Casey’s General Store, Nutrien Ag Solutions (since the series will mostly run in Illinois - see below), or whoever is willing to sign on for a 20 race sponsorship.

Speaking of 20 races, that is the number that makes the most sense to me. Personally, I think the tour needs to stick to their bread and butter - short tracks in Illinois. Sprinkle in some other tracks that aren’t far away and try to limit the amount of travel between tracks. I know they have bought into the idea that crowds will be bigger if they aren’t hitting the same fans on back-to-back nights or several times within a few weeks, but their crowd sizes just don’t back that up. I would rather see them schedule races with reasonable travel each week. I know it’s fantasy booking, but here’s an example for 2023.

Casey’s General Store UMP Summer Nationals
4 race weeks - 5 races each week - 20 race series
6,000 or 10,000 to win races

6/14 Springfield
6/15 Lake Ozark
6/16 Tri-City
6/17 I-55
6/18 Adams County

6/21 Wilmot
6/22 Kankakee
6/23 Farmer City
6/24 Fairbury
6/25 Lincoln

6/28 Sycamore
6/29 Spoon River
6/30 Jacksonville
7/1 Highland
7/2 Tri-State

7/4 Fayette County
7/5 Red Hill
7/6 Macon
7/7 Peoria
7/8 Davenport

I know that leaves out some tracks like Brownstown, Oakshade, Clarksville, etc. that have been part of the tour for many years. It also doesn’t leave spots open for new tracks to join like Montpelier tonight. I’d rather see a series based in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Kentucky that can visit tracks like that. Something like a “Midwest All Star Tour” that has 15 races (3 per weekend) over a 5 week period. It will never happen since UMP/Dirtcar struggles to run just one series, but I think there are fans and racers outside of Illinois that would support a tour that highlights more than just the Illinois teams.

[Josh Bayko]

The only way to fix the Summernats is to cut the number of races to 10 over two weeks. Make ‘em all 10k to win. You might actually get more than one car to follow the whole thing. It’s a bloated mess and has been for years.

[Barbecueboy]

A bloated mess…….the irony in that is strong.

[Buford.Justice]

Nearly one quarter of the races get rained out, so cutting down the number of races would wind up thin. Make up races are difficult due to conflicts with other events and travel problems.

[Raceready]

Is that what you call "Drigger Dollars?"

Ha Ha ! Now that is very CLEVER of you ! !

[Minny Lakes]

Tomas Hunzicker. How many cautions/wrecks/spinouts has he been in this summer nationals? He must average about 3 a night. So far 2 spinouts with no laps done yet in the feature tonight.

[Jim11h]

Too many options anymore paying good money. You can barely get teams to run woo or lucas!

Hell tour raceday format sucks as well.

[Shiny Side Up 18]

I'm about Hell Tour'd out this year.

[TheJet-09]

Me, too. I canceled my subscription to Dirtvision, not in response to anything, because I enjoyed the majority of what I've seen over the past month. But I don't see the need to tune in to anything in the immediate future.