Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Shane Stewart ? He's racing this year ?  Pitman at 19 ? Without a full time ride. The 20 listed  after #7 is questionable at best.

Don't take offense, but I find it odd that someone who is so into his local racing scene doesn't have at least some knowledge of Central Pa drivers. 

I agree with the majority of comments posted so far, but I’m still unclear as to the definition of ‘elite’. The OP defined elite as running up front consistently in central Penna for an entire season. Then the definition expanded to include beating the Outlaws and Allstars when they come to town as well as winning consistently outside of Pa. 

Since the bar has been raised significantly, I’m interested in hearing what “local” driver(s) anywhere in the country would meet that expanded definition.

None taken. My local racing scene is in South Dakota, 1200 miles from PA. In the past I was more aware of who the big dogs were in PA- by name. Probably the only car numbers that stood out were 1a, 29, 19 and 77(? Hamilton). Now there's lots of new names and what seems to be more jumping around from car to car (?)

Our midwest elite is from Australia?

Funny how things work out sometimes. Kerry was untouchable the first 2 nights of the Jackson Nationals and then wasn't even a factor on the third.

One of the most interesting things about sprint car racing is that the cream always rises to the top when the big money is on the line. 

I know... the local Aussie is the Midwest elite. Heck two months ago he was a forgettable PA driver. Funny how things change. Biggest point here is between Knoxville and Husets we just don't have one driver absolutely spanking the competition this year that can also hang when the big dogs are in town. 

Going through this thread, 3-4 yearly/era  "elites" seems to be a common denominator. Having been around for 40 years, I think that's a good number. Surely there has been some variation up and down over the years, but I don't think it has really changed much. But, I could be wrong, again.

Nostalgia brightens every memory.

Take Williams Grove out of the equation and Marks and Dietrich are more elite than Lance(Marks for sure). The 69k is hooked up at the Grove and it's all about that turn 3-4 "flyer". 

A

No one is saying Freddie is bad. He is just not elite right now in terms of holding down the Posse against national competition in PA. We expect the best posse teams to be competing for wins against the outsiders.

He has a 14th place average finish in his last 25 starts (all 2020 + 2021 so far) against WOO and ASCOC competition. Not bad by any means He does have a lot of wins against local competition the past 3 years, but no wins against WoO/ASCoC since 2018. He is right there in terms of top 5 PA cars, I guess. I just don't think he is elite right now.

Edit: Also everyones definition of elite will vary, as it seems from some of the other comments. As I said...I think most expect (including myself) the elite PA drivers to be competing for wins/podiums when the outside competition comes into town. Not just WoO/ASCoc, but speedweeks as well.

You guys need some 69K shirts in Area 51.

He wins damn near every time I go to Port Royal ("big shows" usually)

Lance has already won 3 times at PR this year, racing on a part time basis

i would keep the definition of elite to within pa.  that would be the first step and then maybe a guy can be ready to go out and compete elsewhere.  i was surprised zearfoss went out with the outlaws since he is very hot/cold like some any other guys...and i honestly hadn't seen him hot at any point since we moved into the area in 2017.

it seems like a combination of things...and maybe ownership is a bigger factor especially after the 24 team folded.  are there any other teams that are just barely holding on right now or thinking about getting out of it?

i also want to be fair to the drivers/teams since i understand most of the have day jobs.  it has to be hard to keep these cars running up front night in and night out on top of doing other things.  i'd like to see at least one guy really step up as the man to beat besides dewease.

Its been 2 days & nobody has given you a straight answer yet (but someone did put you down for asking!)

Dietrich is 48, Anthony Macri is 39, Freddy Rahmer, Jr. is 51

Hmmm thought I did? Us midwesterners have to stick together when cruising through PA forums trying to gain insight on a diff racing scene. 

In the world? I'm talking only PA. I just don't see how the stats show this world elite level you're speaking of.

I back peddled my statement on barely top 10 a little bit, but I still think he is the 5th-7th best PA-only car. 

Yeah but in only 1 of those wins was he actually the fastest car. I believe the other 2 times, the faster cars were the rim riders(Macri,Marks) that ended up biting the outside wall. He's still good at Port but not as dominant as the Grove. Nobody can pull off that turn 3-4 move like he can since the elder Rahmer retired. Do you honstly think Lance would have done as well as DD if he ran OH speedweek or as well as Marks did if he went out with the WOO for a couple weeks? I've been a Lance fan since the late 80's and I would say no.

A

Please, the names that are being thrown around of the "next" generation of great driver's. There's only 1 that has a track championship, and it's not 1 it's 3 in two years. And championships mean consistency. And dedication & hard work. The rest will come with experience and life lessons. Write it down somewhere, the next sheriff in town is Freddie Rahmer.

Not wrecking is part of winning, isn't it?

No idea how he would have done in Ohio, your guess is as good as mine...

But my guess is he would have done better than Dietrich