Are race fans in the south getting shafted??

[dirtnut]

Iwould like the pill draw and heat races.

[Bubstr]

Are race fans in the south getting shafted??

Not only the fans, but the racers that think they want no heat race format and the track operators also. When the front gate drops, either or all of three things happen. One the pit gate price goes up. Two the front gate price goes up. Three, the purse drops from no attendance. All of this hurts the car counts, which hurts the attendance. It becomes a vicious circle that is happening all over the country, to some extent and just blamed on rising costs. The cost of everything has been rising. That makes it more important to get more fans in the stands so the purses rise with the cost or just close shop. You get that fan, by having a show worth seeing. One lane Choo Choo's aren't the answer.

[WisWildManFan]

Just makes up for the cold winters you guys avoid

[formercrewguy]

Well you guys would have hated the way we did it out West back in the day,then. We ran qualifying, trophy dashes for the 6 fastest. Heat races, Bmains, then the A main. You lined up for the feature based on points. In otherwords, fast cars started in the back. Always. Total inversion. The fans loved it, and we didn't tear up cars like you might think. Cream always rises to the top!

[huskerdirt]

Twin heat races with the second round inverted on passing points is the ultimate for a big show. (I can't remember which race did that last year but it was the one where Jason Jameson ran so good).

North/South

I-80 started doing that format for the Silver Dollar Nationals back in 2011. Since then it has spread like a California wild fire, especially in the mods.

[DoubleZero]

Y'all gonna give the DNC a whole new platform, right alongside global warming, undocumented visitors, and bathrooms.

[Clayton_Wetter]

Twin heat races with the second round inverted on passing points is the ultimate for a big show. (I can't remember which race did that last year but it was the one where Jason Jameson ran so good).

Sounds like it was the North/South 100 at Florence, Ky.

[LMPunk]

The formats are what they are and probably won't change, but the bigger problem down here is that, except for a select few, the tracks suck. Whether it's the prep, track configurations/size or the dirt itself, you seem to see a lot more highlights of train races on DoD down South than you do up North. So it wouldn't much matter if they did run heats everywhere.

[Doc88D]

Great point LMpunk

[jr29]

I just don't go to races in the south anymore. All of the late model racing I watch in person is from Paducah northward.
Pevely qualifies late models but they group qualify during hot laps then run heat races. That system is fine and doesn't bother me.

[fastford]

Are race fans in the south getting shafted??

Not only the fans, but the racers that think they want no heat race format and the track operators also. When the front gate drops, either or all of three things happen. One the pit gate price goes up. Two the front gate price goes up. Three, the purse drops from no attendance. All of this hurts the car counts, which hurts the attendance. It becomes a vicious circle that is happening all over the country, to some extent and just blamed on rising costs. The cost of everything has been rising. That makes it more important to get more fans in the stands so the purses rise with the cost or just close shop. You get that fan, by having a show worth seeing. One lane Choo Choo's aren't the answer.

very well put, the absence of heat races does save some one like me a few bucks, but from a fan in the stands perspective, I would like to see heats. but till there's more money all the way around , I doubt things are going to change much down here......

[ptown]

A recent discussion on a racetrack's facebook page got me wondering the question that is my title. Late Model teams in the south have successfully convinced the promoters/track owners that they are too special to run heat races. Many local shows just qualify, then have a 2nd hot lap session and run a feature. If the fan is lucky they only lock in 10 cars or so and then run a b feature to set the rest of the field. The argument by so many car owners is that they get tore up in heats.

What a joke, I wouldn't pay 10 cents to see that garbage.

[dirtdobber45]

Voluteer Speedway(back in the good ol days) had it set up on the 'big races' that only the fastest and 2nd fastest were locked in everybody else had to race their way in to the feature

[old fan]

I just don't go to races in the south anymore. All of the late model racing I watch in person is from Paducah northward. Pevely qualifies late models but they group qualify during hot laps then run heat races. That system is fine and doesn't bother me.

Tri city also

[toyracer]

HLQ & running heats still stinks imo. Fast guys still qualify up front & you get no passing in the heats or mains.

I understand qualifying from time to time but on weekly shows shouldn't happen.