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

When did California racing turn into roller derby and demo derby's combined? I was at Ascot alot in the 90's and saw alot of very talented drivers race CLEAN, unlike the amount of Carnage as up and down the coast today!! Daddy's Money??

I can't speak specifically about CA, because I've never been there.  However, all of the racing I witnessed in the 90's was "daddy's money" as well, so nothing has really changed at the places I've been-----other than we've gotten 30 years older and are now the "no one wants to work anymore" or "kids these days" guys----just like our dads and grandpas were in the 90's...................................

I lived with my grandparents as a teen in the mid 60's and they had my uncle set me up for a job at the local truck farm.  When I was fifteen I was hoeing endless rows of tomatoes and picking radishes and onions for $3.50 per day.  Comparing my circumstances at 15 to 15 year old drivers I barely managed to buy a used Honda 50 at 16.  Everything is so expensive now and drivers so young it's pretty obvious they're not picking radishes at 15.  With todays costs and fewer owners putting aspiring drivers in their cars the sport survives on family money and sponsors.  They don't take a torch and welder to a model A frame and make a $1000 open wheel car like they did years ago.  
 

Some use the opportunity to build a racing career, some aren't driving anymore after they realize it's not going anywhere.  I think when they're a bit more aggressive nowadays but that is today's driving style for some.  When I was a kid they were all adults with crew cuts and open face helmets, no roll cage or wing.  Those old cars taught clean driving by default. 

Stan Meissner

I don't disagree with you Stan, but he was talking about the 90's.  Almost all of the late-model drivers at my local track in the 90's were racing with daddy's money, and it was all "way too expensive" back then as well.  Also, he wasn't asking about our circumstances.  I grew up on a farm, doing a lot of manual labor as well, but I could in no way shape or form afford to field a late model and compete with the big guns in our area---not with as much money as daddy had for some of them.  Those drivers in the 90's had little regard for anyone else because they didn't earn the money they were wrecking.  I just don't see a difference today other than the fact that they are moving faster, and decisions have to be made much much quicker---especially when talking about sprint cars.