Dirt capital ?

[dirtMAN007]

i was thinking the same thing -- i didn't see many.

Possibly hardy, covert, friese and myers would have been there if the ufo hadn't been at port but none of them (aside from myers, that is a surprise) are hagerstown locks even when there are no specials in the area.

I was surprised to see both deese and fitzgerald at the winchester opener rather than hagerstown.

didn't myers win at hagerstown ?

[W2Racing09]

didn't myers win at hagerstown ?

Oh sorry, just realized there are two Myers'.

I was talking about Chad Myers, he was an LLM regular at Hagerstown until he had a bad wreck last season. Then he came back toward the end of the season and was running SLM at Hagerstown.

Thanks,
Jeff.

[kidrock]

Ohio has the DTWC, the Dream, The World 100, the Kings Royal, the last two nights of the Hell Tour at Oakshade, the 50k race at Atomic. It's not even a contest. Iowa has a better claim than Illinois. Not arguing just saying.

It looks like the drivers think Illinois is the dirt capital. I found that interesting.

[W2Racing09]

Let me apologize up front for not commenting on your writing in its entirety. I really don't care how many cars they build or if they offer several new designs. I do think it may prove a premature investment by the guys who jumped into a new one so soon, but that's their money. I don't wish anyone misfortune and I don't relish anyone stumbling. I'm sure building cars for a living and trying to make all those different customers fast, with different budgets, knowledge and skill levels feel impossible. I do wish some of there devoted followers showed a little more respect to some of the other builders who may be past their prime, but still deserve respect.

I wasn't even commenting on how many cars they have or have not built. All I said was that the cars have been very successful into the regular season outside of Florida.

The cars are taking drivers (like Matt Cosner) to the next level. Matt Cosner was always a good driver but prior to this season he had one career win. I've seen him race three times so far this season and he has finished 3rd, 1st and 2nd against fields that included Gregg Satterlee, Mason Ziegler, Kyle Hardy, Andy Anderson and many other big time regional SLM drivers.

You keep harping on Florida but there is plenty of evidence that these cars are winning outside of Florida. In fact many races take place in the GA/TN/SC/NC area and Josh Richards won two out of three features at Golden Isles too in front of huge fields of LOLMDS cars.

As far as not respecting other builders past their prime, I don't think I'm guilty of that.

[Highside Hustler25]

It looks like the drivers think Illinois is the dirt capital. I found that interesting.

D@mn right Kidrock. 100 of the top dirt late model drivers can't be wrong.

[Highside Hustler25]

Ohio has the DTWC, the Dream, The World 100, the Kings Royal, the last two nights of the Hell Tour at Oakshade, the 50k race at Atomic. It's not even a contest. Iowa has a better claim than Illinois. Not arguing just saying.

Don't waste your time arguing. You must have sleep boogers in your eyes.
I'll give you the World and Dream. You boast your argument on the last 2 nights of the Hell Tour? Illinois basically has the whole series. Theirs more big racing in Illinois in a week than you have in a month.

[kidrock]

D@mn right Kidrock. 100 of the top dirt late model drivers can't be wrong.

You got that right highside Hustler25

[W2Racing09]

D@mn right Kidrock. 100 of the top dirt late model drivers can't be wrong.

I wasn't aware that an argument could even be made that IL is not the capital of Dirt racing.

I'm not sure why Hagerstown calls itself the Dirt Capitol. It is a storied track for sure with a lot of prestige associated with it (although they could certainly benefit from offering a crown jewel type event). It probably does have a lot to do with how close it is to Washington D.C, I doubt they are trying to make the claim that a track in Maryland (home to just 2 active tracks) could be considered the capital of dirt racing.

[zyoung25]

I'm a born and raised Ohio boy. I'll have to give the nod to Illinois for the dirt capital crown, nd I've never even attended a race out there. Normally when they do the "what state are you from" deal at Eldora, Illinois makes about as much noise, if not more noise than the home state crowd does. That says a lot about the fans out that way.

I'll make it out there someday soon.....

[RacerRose]

I wasn't aware that an argument could even be made that IL is not the capital of Dirt racing.

I'm not sure why Hagerstown calls itself the Dirt Capitol. It is a storied track for sure with a lot of prestige associated with it (although they could certainly benefit from offering a crown jewel type event). It probably does have a lot to do with how close it is to Washington D.C, I doubt they are trying to make the claim that a track in Maryland (home to just 2 active tracks) could be considered the capital of dirt racing.

Hagerstown Speedway's nickname or slogan since the mid 1980's has been "The Capitol of Dirt Racing". Back then, Frank Plessinger always had traveling series come a few times per season, and paid better money to win those races than other tracks. He had the $50,000 to win Free State 100 in 1983, won by Jeff Purvis. Hagerstown was THE place to see the best in Dirt Late Model racing.

Ernie Davis is leasing and promoting the track under his own Dirt Capitol, LLC name. That's why it is called what it is. And, it really isn't far from our nation's capital of Washington, DC either.

Since then, it has lost a lot of its luster. Hagerstown is still a decent facility, but the weekly racing is suffering. The track has been, and is still in dire need of clay. It's still smooth, but it's packed hard, blows dust, gets slick, and turns black within two or three laps during the Late Model hot lap session.

Crown Jewel races - I miss the Johnny Roberts Memorial, the Conococheague 100, and the Hub City 150. The Lucas Oil race is about as big as they get nowadays. Everything else is pretty much bland and ordinary. They might pay decent weekly money, but it isn't drawing cars.

Handicapping instead of wheel spinning at intermission would make for better racing too.

[BTExpress]

A disclaimer: It has been 10 years since I have attended a race at Hagerstown. That being said, I remember if you did not get there at least an hour before the races started for the bigger shows...... you barely got a seat. I am assuming that is no longer the case. I am going to try and see the upcoming LOLMS race on April 23rd.

[jlacey]

Hagerstown use to have big races with big names and high car counts atleast once a month. Supers, sprints, big/small blocks. Sometimes 2 of the above or all of the above. STARS races, Outlaw sprints/supers, Lucas, DIRT mods. Was the place to be without a doubt. I could be mistaken but they dont run any of their big shows anymore and havent in years. They use to have the Octoberfest for all of the above classes, supers vs big blocks, race of champions for all the LM track champions from MD, VA, PA,DE, etc. Dont think they have many if any big shows now.

[dlmfan]

it was also voted as the #1 track at one time

[mud duck]

Hagerstown Speedway's nickname or slogan since the mid 1980's has been "The Capitol of Dirt Racing". Back then, Frank Plessinger always had traveling series come a few times per season, and paid better money to win those races than other tracks. He had the $50,000 to win Free State 100 in 1983, won by Jeff Purvis. Hagerstown was THE place to see the best in Dirt Late Model racing.

Ernie Davis is leasing and promoting the track under his own Dirt Capitol, LLC name. That's why it is called what it is. And, it really isn't far from our nation's capital of Washington, DC either.

Since then, it has lost a lot of its luster. Hagerstown is still a decent facility, but the weekly racing is suffering. The track has been, and is still in dire need of clay. It's still smooth, but it's packed hard, blows dust, gets slick, and turns black within two or three laps during the Late Model hot lap session.

Crown Jewel races - I miss the Johnny Roberts Memorial, the Conococheague 100, and the Hub City 150. The Lucas Oil race is about as big as they get nowadays. Everything else is pretty much bland and ordinary. They might pay decent weekly money, but it isn't drawing cars.

Handicapping instead of wheel spinning at intermission would make for better racing too.

Absolutely, a perfect post. You nailed it on all pts.

[bowler4life223]

It used to be a great place to see a race however after franks daughter ran it into the ground Ernie tried to save it , everyone who goes to the world finals can thank hagerstown speedway for that , the octoberfests was the original world finals, not sure why frank won't put new clay on the speedway , Ernie has little control on what goes on over at the track all he does is promote , he has nothing to do with trqck prep or anything like that, and the whole favoritism thing was seen first hand when Brayden jumped by a long shot in his heat race and nothing was said, and the low car count was because it was not a point show, they will get between 19-27 cars on a weekly basis and the lucas show will pull in about 45-50