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

Brown I think could do well. Larson and Bell would both be a huge addition to the WoO and I believe both would win races early on. As for some of the other names mentioned. A lot of those guys have tried and just didn't get it done for whatever reason's . 

I think Larson would give Schatz a run for his money right from the git go...Bell would be Top 10

I think Dewease, Hodnett & Dietrich would be competitive, win occasionally. They were all better than Schuchart in Pa. & he's doing just fine....

Not as familiar with Midwest & Cali guys, but Brian Brown would no doubt hang in there

I will throw one name out there. Danny Lasoski. He is a money driver. Seldom tears up equipment and has the experience.....and still has the ability. He is also a good set up man and could work with about any real good crew chief. Too bad the sport has become such a "buy your ride" kind of deal.

While there certainly is some truth to your ending statement, I would think that in the case of the Dude there is much more than that going on - I'm not going to act like I'm directly privy to any information, but one has to think with all of the stories of burnt bridges over the years that there has to be a level of truthfulness to them.

I'm sure that's so. In the same breath, anybody in racing needs to be a little bit thick skinned. I've heard things over the years about Danny too, but didn't witness anything. Also heard some things that indicated Danny was dumped on a time or two. So burning bridges may go both ways. I did however see Karl light in to both Steve and Mark on occasion and Karl didn't really hold back when he chewed ass. Regardless what we may think has gone on between drivers and owners or within race teams, those that have been successful and achieved the highest goals did so because they could get the job done. And those over achievers were able to get the job done on more than one occasion and with more than one cast of characters. To me, that's what sets the very best apart from all the rest. A change in circumstances does not neccessarily mean a step backwards for those types of individuals.

FU!

Being a WOO full timer and being able to run up front starts with the crew cheif,the equiptment has to be equal,the crew has to their part and then the driver must be able to travel and also run with the best. One missing piece and it wont happen. I agree Danny has and probably still could but sponsorship seems to favor the younger drivers or the big three teams with Nascar roots.WOO isnt as glamourous as many think with the traveling and the money won will not support any team outside of top 5 realistically

The thing with Bell and Larson right now is that they arent points racing when they show up somewhere. They race purely to win and are okay wrecking out of a race trying to win (and theres nothing wrong with that). Thats what Sheldon I think is trying to get sorted out with his driving style too.

If either were to run a series fulltime you would probably see a different style of racing from both Larson and Bell. Give either an experienced crew cheif who has been in the grind on the WoO tour and both would compete top 5 in points I believe.

Out of Posse country I would say Wolfe and Dietrich for sure, with little Freddie as a dark horse. Not sure if Hodnett would be up for it or not. Greg‘s one fast dude but I’m not sure he would be up for a fulltime WOO ride anymore.  At his age I want to lump him in with Lance and why I dont think Lance could either.  

Lance and Greg would have been a real threat 10 years ago if he would have wanted to do it.  Unfortunately Father Time comes for all of us. Raw driving talent, reflexes, and such I would say Wolfe and Dietrich would be better choices being they are younger over the course of a 90+ race season.  Granted Lance and Greg have alot more experience and success than those two but still. Part of why that 69k car is so fast is because of the crew that works on the car.  Lance is a hell of a wheelman still, but Donnie, Davy, and that entire crew of senior citizens give Lance one of the best prepared cars in the country every time that car hits the track.  As for Greg he’s still a heck of a wheelman also, I just think his crew guys have struggled the last year or so for whatever reason.

That sums it up pretty well. Another thing to add is that if the driver can't communicate to his crew what the car is doing they will struggle, also. There have only been a few crew chiefs that could "feel" the car without having ever been in it. Karl Kinser and Davey Brown Sr probably the two most notable, and now Ricky Warner. There are probably others I'm not aware of.

Good points... I wasn't thinking of  "the long haul", just being competitive at individual races. Obviously The Dream Team isn't up for grueling WoO schedule, given that they're part time in Pennsyltucky

Saldana in the right car could probably win 4-6 races and be in the top 8 in points for sure. He had a bad run in the 17 for sure but prior to that had success in the Roth and Motter cars. 

I agree with blazer... did you guys see how bad Larson struggled vs the WoO at volusia in his own car without Silva. Larson definitely has the talent but a crew chief goes a long way.

Brian Brown is a 1/2 mile specialist. Im guessing he would struggle like crazy on slick bullrings.

This. I offer this just about everytime this comes up.  Drop into a race or two or even OH Speedweek and you can run balls out, wreckers or checkers.  That doesn't work so well when you need consistency all the time up and down the road constantly.  It is a grind. I have no doubt Kyle or Christopher would be a threat, but they'd have to balance out the feast or famine approach to racing and build consistency.  That would mean adjusting from time to time and realizing that some nights that don't go your way you adjust your aim for a Top 10 or Top 5 instead of laying it all out there and trashing a car possibly or blowing an engine.  It is all about consistency.  Brad Sweet finsihed 2nd in points last year and is sitting 2nd in points this year because he is consistent.  Gravel won 18 races last year (!!!) and Sweet finished 2nd because he was consistent.  

 There is still a lot of season left, but I predicted Sweet would finish second again this year ahead of Gravel simply because of the consistency factor. Granted, winning is where the money is at, but Sweet is close enough each night that the wins could surely start to come. For those two to be a real threat to Schatz it's going to boil down to which happens first....Gravel becomes more consistant or Sweet starts to pick up more wins. Right now there is nobody in Schatz's league so it may not really matter at all. 

I suggested someone like the Phillips brothers not because I thought they could win right out of the box but young hungry drivers is what the WoO needs. And if a car owner could financially weather the learning curve of the likes of a couple of hard chargers like this who knows in maybe 2-3 years they might be top 5 contenders.  Look at Wild Child & Dollasnsky, these cats tore up a lot of equipment in their early days but look at all of the good years of racing they gave to us... All I'm seeing are the same ole names mentioned here. Sure would be nice to see a couple or 3 new names come along and shake up the Sprint car world.

Some guys get it after a while, some guys don't.  Tasker has been at it for a while now... not sure if he's ever going to get it.  I think Sawyer has the most raw talent of any of the boys and should move up to a 410 ASAP... JMO.  

PS -- Daniel Coggeshell sure shook up the sprint car world!  ;)  

You mean young, hungry drivers like Sheldon, Gravel, Brent Marks, Logan Schuchart, Jacob Allen, Cory Eliason (yes I know he's missed 2 shows), heck even Clyde Knipp?  The WoO have a good mix of veteran and young hungry drivers these days.  I see your point but it's not excactly a sustainable goal for any car owner to put someone like the Phillips brothers (and tbh and this is no knock on them but they wouldn't exactly be the first names called) in a car and try and tackle the WoO.  That's an enormous, enormous undertaking from a logistic and fiscal standpoint.  More likely scenario is a car owner giving a "young, hunry" driver a shot on a localized or regional schedule.

The question was which drivers could run with the Outlaws.  There is a difference with being able to run with them and contending for a championship.  There are many former Outlaws racing locally all over the country who know what it takes to do the whole tour.  There is a former champion out in California who's name hasnt come up in this conversation.  The number with a serious chance to contend for the title is much smaller.  

Stan Meissner