Eldora has become just another boring 1/2 mile track.

[EDERDS]

Aero has completely ruined the sport. They better fix something or folks are going to stop attending and watching.

[Dirt Clod]

AMEN! Look at those freakin jacked up front ends. And, look at the left rear corner panels on the top running cars. How in the world can it be legal for some cars to have the left rear curved in, but many others don't. I guess the back of the field doesn't have an aero budget like the top cars do. Sadly, maybe it's time for a dirt late model template.

This was an interesting video article on FLO yesterday regarding tech:

DIRTcar officials are checking nose-widths at the 2024 Dirt Late Model Dream at Eldora Speedway.


ROSSBURG, Ohio — When rules go unchecked, things get out of hand. That holds true virtually anywhere, but especially when it comes to Dirt Late Models, where a body rule that’s not frequently governed tends to be stretched if not ignored altogether.

So it is with the width of a Late Model's nose, or more specifically the width between the fender flares. According to unified body rules, the fender flares aren’t supposed to extend beyond the front tires by more than 1 inch and should have a maximum width of 90 inches when the wheels are pointed straight.

If DIRTcar officials keep their word, any team beyond the 90-inch maximum won’t make it onto the track for time trials, when half the 99 entries for the event will begin competition on a $25,000-to-win qualifying night.

DIRTcar official Steve Francis, the World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series director assisting at Eldora, estimated that 75-80 percent of the cars going through Wednesday’s tech inspection failed to meet the 90-inch standard. DIRTcar officials rechecking cars Thursday said about half still didn’t meet the mark. Why double-check?

[chathamracefan]

Not just that it is boring, but it just seems the field of potential winners is so much thinner than it used to be. Of course, Bloomer & Moyer were dominant there. They dominated pretty much everywhere in their heydays. Now it just seems it's heavily dominated by the super teams. It's been years since a off the radar guy really contended. Dennis Erb in 2016 is the last non big time team to win there in a major event. You could argue Pierce when he won the World, but he was one of the favorites as I recall.

It seems until about 10 or so years ago that Eldora would have 20 guys that had a reasonable shot to win. Now that list is maybe 6 or 7.

[Morgs153]

(I'll copy this to this thread. It fits)

Getting nosey about noses.

The back story at Big E is the crackdown on the width of the noses. I seen the report on the telecast, and on the Flo site and I still can't stop chuckling. Apparently - they have a rule. The rule is that nose can't be wider than 90 inches at the base between the wheel flares. 90 inches! 7.5 feet wide. They said that as they were checking cars they found one at 102" and a few around 100". For cri-i-i the widest un-permitted semi trailer is 102".

The thing that makes me laugh is. They just noticed? This has been something that hasn't been passing the eye test for - how long now? They just now decided it was worth a look? Tape measures are in short supply? Go-no-go sticks are on backlog? This is one of the simplest, easiest things to check and they wonder why aero has gotten out of hand. Because you let it get out of hand.

As fans continue to complain about non-racing races on big aero tracks, rest assured - they're on it. I hope they keep covering down on this. I need the humor.

You want to get compliance? Tell the teams, this is what the rule IS. Demonstrate the method of checking it on ONE car. Then tell them it will be checked AFTER qualifying and if the car doesn't fit, the time is disallowed. Bet they would all get the memo.

[latemodelman]

Morgs153 the teams would not get the memo look at tires. I bet 1 or 2 teams will fail the tire test this weekend and it will be announced in 2 or 3 weeks. The reason teams do it is because as an industry we have gotten away from the UMP Unified rules. The bodies and the cars should be straight as an arrow and not curved and to be honest there should be no fuel burn off either for the feature it should stay 2350. Bob Memmer and Earl Baltes have to be livid up in heaven with what these cars have become. This is why no local tracks run them anymore. Also a price tag of $130,000 for a complete car.

[fryefan]

While it has always had major events that attract the best drivers in the country, it never has been one of the raciest tracks in the country. Tracks like Cedar Lake, Knoxville, Wheatland, Fairbury, etc. have always been racier.

[Rajflyboy]

I don’t like how they groom it

[blncfn57]

(I'll copy this to this thread. It fits)

Getting nosey about noses.

The back story at Big E is the crackdown on the width of the noses. I seen the report on the telecast, and on the Flo site and I still can't stop chuckling. Apparently - they have a rule. The rule is that nose can't be wider than 90 inches at the base between the wheel flares. 90 inches! 7.5 feet wide. They said that as they were checking cars they found one at 102" and a few around 100". For cri-i-i the widest un-permitted semi trailer is 102".

The thing that makes me laugh is. They just noticed? This has been something that hasn't been passing the eye test for - how long now? They just now decided it was worth a look? Tape measures are in short supply? Go-no-go sticks are on backlog? This is one of the simplest, easiest things to check and they wonder why aero has gotten out of hand. Because you let it get out of hand.

As fans continue to complain about non-racing races on big aero tracks, rest assured - they're on it. I hope they keep covering down on this. I need the humor.

You want to get compliance? Tell the teams, this is what the rule IS. Demonstrate the method of checking it on ONE car. Then tell them it will be checked AFTER qualifying and if the car doesn't fit, the time is disallowed. Bet they would all get the memo.

I like how they made a reference to (don't remember exact wording) they just have to keep everyone somewhat close so the drivers are ok with it. BS, if the rule is max 90", then 90" is the max. Just because the teams are ok with it shouldn't make it ok. The series needs to be in control of the rules, not the teams. The series officials want to be friends with all these guys and doing what's good for the sport doesn't always leave friendship as a possibility.

[kidrock]

The manipulations of track rules by the rule makers themselves have gone on for as long as I can Remember. It's those ole if we don't have cars we don't have a show and we don't make bank.

[Pennsboro32]

The talking heads will tell you how great the racing is and tell us we just like to complain.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

The talking heads will tell you how great the racing is and tell us we just like to complain.

Sure will. We've been basically operating on 2 or 3 enforced rules a year for about 15 years. The 2 or 3 keep rotating. The product has gone to hell. It used to be a chore to pass tech at Eldora.

[chathamracefan]

200 laps of features had 1 pass for the lead. Pierce passed Rtj Thursday. Only other lead change was when Bobby blew up. More lead changes in f1 today. That’s bad. I love that place but it is not a good product these days. Woo sprints put on a waaay better show there these days. And people say those are single file races.

[LM1]

DLM racing on the bigger tracks has turned into NASCAR, the costs have made it so only the top 10 teams with funding and information have a chance to win at the big shows on the bigger tracks.

[lurker]

Yes, the product isn’t good.

I’ll give live in person LM’s one more chance tomorrow night at Kokomo. If that su#k’s, I’m done with bigger tracks and will watch on Flo when and if I want.

And our sport won’t survive on Flo alone.

[chathamracefan]

LM1 has nailed it. Eldora basically had 5 to 7 contenders at most. Used to be 20 guys that could win a big event there given the right draw. Now it’s all big $ teams all the time. Davenport is great but he drives for the biggest $ team going which is the biggest factor in his eldora success. It’s not conceivable that a Bart Hartman Matt Miller or Dennis Erb type can win a 100 lapper there any more.