Is the Prairie Dirt Classic a Crown Jewel

[dualdj1]

I was fairly impressed with the trophy they put together for this year. Think it was a decent one to set it apart from other races, and they utilized local talent to built it. Is it a "Crown Jewel"? Got me, after the 29 years this race has been run, it has stayed consistently good, grown the field and fan count, and continue to put on a good show. Is the pay the top out there? No, however few tracks pay as well through the field as FALS has over the years (even on regular nights), which is part of the reason they keep pulling good fields. And that has carried over to the PDC with the unique format, adding more winning money to the purse for friday night. Even though it's listed currently as 30k to win, Moran took home around 33k. And with the likes of Erb, Moyer, Babb, Jimmy Mars, JD, and Bob Pierce as PDC winners, we've had a pretty good history. For those that haven't seen it, here's a nice recap of the history: http://www.pontiacdailyleader.com/ne...e-dirt-classic

Yes, I'm a homer, born and raised in Fairbury, but that doesn't cloud my judgement. There's been plenty of mistakes made over the years, but when you have a group of people that mostly volunteer their time to put on a good race to entertain the fans, and consistently are able to do so, then that's a winner in my book. Call it whatever you want.

[Highside Hustler25]

Interesting take. I seen so many out of state license plates, I lost count. If it were "just another late model show" to everyone outside of Illinois, apparently droves of people didn't get the memo.

Apparently he didn't try to find a parking place Saturday after 4:00.
I talked with folks from Wi. W.Va. Indiana, and Nebraska. Farthest plate I seen was N. Mex and N.Car.

[#FALSuperman]

And as for the PDC, if u get outside of illinois, the PDC is just another late model show.....

Interesting take. I seen so many out of state license plates, I lost count. If it were "just another late model show" to everyone outside of Illinois, apparently droves of people didn't get the memo.

[fryefan]

True Show Me 100 used to be a crown jewel but no more since it left West Plains last Show Me I attended it payed $ 41,000 that was about 11 yrs ago they pay $ 30,000 now don't think that proves out to be a crown jewel

The Show-Me 100, as well as the PDC, are definitely crown jewels.

And by the way, the purse for the Show-Me 100 actually dropped before it left West Plains. That started when it became a Lucas Oil sanctioned race.

[dirtyboy]

I have to agree with a few others on this post, The "CROWN JEWEL" can only be 1, there is only 1 race that can draw the highest car count CONSISTANTLY for the last almost 50 years,
one race that if u asked EVERY driver n late model racing, which trophy would u want over all others, they'd all respond the same, 1 race that can fill up a near 20k seat venue, 1 race that can fill up every available acre of ground around with campers,1 race that nearly every single other track n the 5 state area closes down for, 1 race that can be the TOP DOG, there is only 1 crown jewel n dirt late model racing, THE WORLD 100!

That right there is the facts.

4m post of the year!

[ptown]

And as for the PDC, if u get outside of illinois, the PDC is just another late model show.....

Good point, it’s definitely a crown jewel of Illinois.

[rickybrown1952]

Show Me was pretty cool back in the day. Now it is a hijacked name on a Lucas race that pays a little more. I don't see the big deal.

True Show Me 100 used to be a crown jewel but no more since it left West Plains last Show Me I attended it payed $ 41,000 that was about 11 yrs ago they pay $ 30,000 now don't think that proves out to be a crown jewel

[KAOS]

Really this only comes down to if you go to the race or not. If its a race you like its the greatest of them all in your mind. And apparently a lot of you don't want to give anything to anyone outside the state of Oho. Look at the sprints they have the Kings Royal, Knoxville, National Open and what else the Jackson Nationals?Im glad the DLMs have enough big money races that we can debate about this stupid stuff.

[superstock79]

And as for the PDC, if u get outside of illinois, the PDC is just another late model show.....

[superstock79]

I have to agree with a few others on this post, The "CROWN JEWEL" can only be 1, there is only 1 race that can draw the highest car count CONSISTANTLY for the last almost 50 years,
one race that if u asked EVERY driver n late model racing, which trophy would u want over all others, they'd all respond the same, 1 race that can fill up a near 20k seat venue, 1 race that can fill up every available acre of ground around with campers,1 race that nearly every single other track n the 5 state area closes down for, 1 race that can be the TOP DOG, there is only 1 crown jewel n dirt late model racing, THE WORLD 100!

[cdustyr1]

Trophy

Hands down... talk with the drivers and they easily define with four criteria:

1.) History - drivers will talk about being on next years t-shirt with a the list of HOF drivers that are listed on the back of the event t-shirt
2.) Trophy - you will hear drivers talk about "I want the globe (Eldora or DTWC), Eagle (USA Nationals), trophy with the flags (US and Confederate for North/South) etc" and the prestige that goes with having that trophy in your trophy case.
3.) Payout - long before some of the newer events, the crown jewels have a long history of payouts of $40K, $50K, etc. as well as high "to-start" purse. Those promoters took a huge gamble by paying out those purses long ago.
4.) Venue - you hear drivers talk about big races won at the venue by some of dirt racings biggest names and the biggest events.

Bottom line... you combine the four above and you have history as the main theme of events that were won by the sports biggest names (regional, national and sometimes local).

Fans do not define Crown Jewels - drivers define these races by ones that they most want to win (reasons above) on a national level. Also, I don't think there is one Crown Jewel - what famous crown in history has ever had one jewel? The idea around Crown Jewels is several prestigious races and right now we have less than ten.

BTW... all big races need to come up with a unique trophy. FALS, I-80, Knoxville and others need to come up with an iconic trophy. A trophy from the World 100, USA Nationals, North/South 100... even the Cotton Pickin and Toilet Bowl... these are trophy's you don't have to look at the plate to know what trophy the event represents. Crown Jewels should all have an iconic trophy.

Rich Olson
Minneapolis, MN

Rich wondering what your take was on the new PDC trophy they came up with this year with the gold shovel?

[Swampy121]

So, the Dream paying 100k for 20 plus years is not a crown jewel.....hmmmmm!

I agree that the Dream is a crown jewel, but if we are just looking at payout then wouldn't that mean that the Dirt Million is our newest jewel?

[Josh Bayko]

I'm with you on the Hillbilly.

No WoO races on Labor Day weekend this year should make for a great field this edition of the Hillbilly. I am definitely planning on making the trip down this year.

[a25rjr]

So, the Dream paying 100k for 20 plus years is not a crown jewel.....hmmmmm!

[dch191]

I would think one defining criteria would be that the race is big enough that it doesn't need a support class.

There’s no such thing as a support class in racing.