Who is telling the truth about SLMs?

[Kromulous]

I know people like to think Crates and 525s can "Run" with Supers, but when the track is ripe in heat races and qualifying, your a sitting duck. You can never overcome the bad qualifying, its all about the Heat races, making the transfer spot.

Sure in the Feature they can, because the track slicks off. Evens out the engines. A SLM engine, say 875 Hp, 99% of time in the Features we are DE-tuning them, 390 cfm carbs, restrictor plates, uncouple the 4 barrel and run on 2. We put a taller gear in so your running above the peak power and torque curves etc etc. There are all kinds of tricks. But the reality is, if you do not qualify well your suffering, and your chances to win are greatly diminished.

Whats the Answer? Who knows but i think it will take a Industry wide effort. Unless that Industry wants SLMs to be a Special Event only type of deal, and that may be there intent, let them be that wide open, raw power type class.

Personally i think current SLM racing, Touring level, Heat Races are boring, all it is 900hp hold it to the floor and hope a guy screws up so you can pass a car. If you dont start on the front 2 rows, your B main bound, most of the time.

[Highside Hustler25]

I know people like to think Crates and 525s can "Run" with Supers, but when the track is ripe in heat races and qualifying, your a sitting duck. You can never overcome the bad qualifying, its all about the Heat races, making the transfer spot. The reality is, if you do not qualify well your suffering, and your chances to win are greatly diminished.

100% correct right there. And I've never seen a slicked off track for qualifying. Most times I witnessed crates competing was because of low car counts at a few tracks. They were a full 2 seconds off of fast time but made the A Main because of the lack of cars. I don't have to tell you where they finished.

[Highside Hustler25]

My favorite touring series, bar none. You got a car, you can run with us. It doesn't pay much, so the big guns ain't coming, which makes it even better for competition. They put on fantastic races!

Not knocking your series out there. Probably does produce great racing. But that 3rd sentence says it all.

[Fully Torqued]

The cars are too expensive and there isn't enough interest and fans out there to help the track afford a high payout. Seems people only really care about Lucas Oil and WOO when it comes to late models. Weekly racing is a local, community thing. When the cars get too expensive you push out the people in the local community and you end up with a few REALLY fast super late models lapping guys with outdated stuff just attempting to keep up. The interest isn't there for SLM weekly racing and there aren't enough filthy rich people interested in racing them. Pretty sure fans and people in the pits at weekly races are there to see their friends and family race, not some yuppie yahoo that shows up in a stacker just because he can.

[mcarter815]

100% correct right there. And I've never seen a slicked off track for qualifying. Most times I witnessed crates competing was because of low car counts at a few tracks. They were a full 2 seconds off of fast time but made the A Main because of the lack of cars. I don't have to tell you where they finished.

Tracks need to get rid of qualifying. I don't remember ever having qualifying when we had supers running weekly here.

[mcarter815]

Nobody ever got into racing saying I'll be happy retiring from 4cyl, hobby stock, or even crate latemodel. Everyone pinnacle different but in latemodel world it's a super, just sayin! But y'all keep twisting the bs how ever you like to make fit your theory

Maybe for the racers that have a rich daddy. We got into racing expecting to run whatever we can afford and not trying to do more than that.

[NeedforLMspeed]

The cost of weekly local racing not in any form of LM racing to even be somewhat competitive is out of control.

[Fully Torqued]

Maybe for the racers that have a rich daddy. We got into racing expecting to run whatever we can afford and not trying to do more than that.

No kidding. For most racers, the idea of racing a SLM isn't even a thing. It's unrealistic to evenn humor the idea. Only way is if someone offered you a ride.

[let-r-eat]

I was just out to the campground last week. The $50K plus campers and boats were everywhere I tell ya. They were paying all kinds of money for those camping spots and boat certifications and licenses and such. I didn't hear 1 person bitching about not getting paid enough.

Hobby racing isn't a professional racing endeavor. You have professional racers and then you have hobby racers. People confuse the two all the time. Hobby racers are lucky that they can get back a few bucks here and there for putting on something for a fan.

SLM has become more of a professional racers class. The hobby racing a SLM is what has left the building most likely completely naked.

[Waldo]

Hell, I don't know anybody local to me who has ever retired racing a Latemodel. You know why? Because it dosen't exist. And when N.C. Mudcat said that the Blue ridge series dosen't pay much, that was totaly directed for the South. That Series pays as good as Supers running in the Midwest on a weekly bases.

[mcarter815]

I was just out to the campground last week. The $50K plus campers and boats were everywhere I tell ya. They were paying all kinds of money for those camping spots and boat certifications and licenses and such. I didn't hear 1 person bitching about not getting paid enough.

Hobby racing isn't a professional racing endeavor. You have professional racers and then you have hobby racers. People confuse the two all the time. Hobby racers are lucky that they can get back a few bucks here and there for putting on something for a fan.

SLM has become more of a professional racers class. The hobby racing a SLM is what has left the building most likely completely naked.

Those campers don't depreciate as fast as an SLM does. They're also likely mostly financed. You could get a brand new SLM and total it the first night out and it's not going to be insured.

[Waldo]

And I guess somebody didn't see when I said a CRATE LATEMODEL qualified 10th out of 25 supers on a wet TACKY track.

[nc mudcat]

Not knocking your series out there. Probably does produce great racing. But that 3rd sentence says it all.

It does say it all, but the question is what does that mean to most people. For those of us that just want good racing, we don't need to see the big dogs every week. I don't care if the guy I am watching has never been heard of. And it means more to me when I do get to see the big dogs.

I am also not hung up on supers like so many are. For me, I want to see the best racing. At my local track, that is not supers. The track can't handle the supers and it gets so dusty you can't see them. I'll take 604s over that any day. On the right track, give me supers, but not on my local track.

[Jim11h]

Sounds like your local track needs fixed not dumbed down

[Waldo]

What is your local track?
Do they run supers weekly?
What is the pay?
Who has retired racing supers there?