Smoky Mountain Speedway

[luv racin]

I went Saturday night and yes it was a speed place and yes it is big track. Anybody remember Bluegrass Speedway? In my opinion it is a brother track to Bluegrass. Big long straight ways. I dont know if its always how it was Saturday but I saw a choo choo train. Is it always like that or did I just catch a bad night? It was my first ever visit there. Might consider going back to a lucas or WoO race down there but not Ultimate. Ultimate locked the first 10 in from qualifying and then ran consolation races for the rest of the field. The Southern nationals, spring nationals, and the bonus series all have similar format to that. They lock in 4 from qualifying and race the rest from consolatiolns unless its 10k or more to win. I hate that format. I like watching racing and that format does not offer the most racing. I should have checked that before I went but teaches me a lesson. I do applaud them that they had 34 supers, 25 crates, and 9 street stock. They started pretty late but the entire show was over by 11:30 which was very efficient. Just thought I would share my input with everyone on my first visit to Smoky Mountain

[NormP]

I was thinking about going to the Spring Nationals race at Florence, but you're saying there are no heat races?

[LMPunk]

I dunno what happened to the high line at Smoky Mountain, but the last year or so no one's really been able to run up against the wall and make any ground up there. They widened turns three and four and it seems like that's the place to run now with no one really being able to go anywhere up high. Racing definitely seemed better to me back in '13 and '14 than it has been recently.

Still pretty much the best option for racing out in that part of the state, though.

[PushinTheLimit]

I raced in the the UCRA crates there this past weekend and it was my first time racing at SMS. That was also the biggest track I've ever been on and it's pretty wild at the speed you see... even in a crate lol. I give all the super guys credit cause it takes some nerve to drive that place.

I know it wasn't for the lead, but where I was running... there were 4-5 cars running within 2-3 car lengths apart for almost 20 laps the other night. I didn't finish where I should have, but it was fun to be part of the action.

[luv racin]

NormP I know thats how they do it for the bonus series and southern nationals series and I'm thinking thats how they do it also for the Spring Nationals as well. I would definitely check on it just to make sure. They lock in the top 4 from qualifying and then run what I call "consolation" races to make out the rest of the field. They call them "heat" races and take the top so many and don't run any "consolation" races is how they state it.

[GEAR_HEAD]

Most of the formats in the south are horrible for race fans, including Ultimate and anything Ray Cook is involved in. A few years ago I went to three Ray Cook races at Cleveland, Bulls Gap, and Taz and was dumbfounded by the format where guys are locked in after qualifying and don't have to race their way in. It's a complete joke and I will never support a race with that format again. Thank god for the UFO series up here where guys draw pills and man up and pass cars to earn their spots in the feature.

[dirtfan22]

If you think it is fast now, you should have seen it when it was 7/10 of a mile. There was some really fast speeds on those long straightaways. Of course, there were a lot of engine failures.

[70satomic]

They shortened the track somewhat and really took the banking out of the track compared to when it was asphalt don't know if it helped or hurt the track when it was redone years ago? ??

[MRM]

The track was actually a half-mile, not 7/10. It was shortened in the late 80's. They have put some of the banking back into the track the last couple of years.

Can't really compare the racing of the first two races to races last year or the year before. The first race was run on the third straight night of cars on the track. Saturday's race was affected by the wind that really dried out the track, except for the very bottom.

[luv racin]

So are you saying that it's usually a racey place to go to?

[MRM]

It's like most dirt tracks. It has its good nights and its bad nights. Some people have complained about many of the races last year. Keep in mind Randy Weaver pretty much wore out the competition every race there last year. Hard to use that as a gauge. Check out some of the DoO videos from '14.

[luv racin]

I have seen some of the DoD videos. Thats why i was asking ppls opinion cuz i know they all have good and bad nights but some are follow the choo choo very nigh lt so i was trying to see what everybody thought before i make tye 4 hr trip again. Probably didnt help on my part that mcintosh won too. Hes been dominating tn here lately and I'm not big McIntosh fan lol.

[buckeyebandit7]

My first trip to SMS as well. Considering that it was windy as hell, helping to dry it out, and the fact that it's the first weekend of April, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the racing will get better as the weather warms up and the track conditions improve. Not gonna let an early season race shape my opinion.

[70satomic]

The Lucas Oil race should be one to come and see