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

Most everything within driving distance of southern Mo is cancelled for tonight and tomorrow night. Except for Benton Mo. They are running tonight 4/11. Winged sprints (MASS). So we are headed down there.

We drove down to our first race in MO., other than I55. People will not like what I have to say, but it's the truth. That was the WORSE sprint show I was ever at. I know the weather wasn't the greatest, but sometimes you have to pull the plug. The track was bad from the first hotlap and got worse as the night went. The feature took well over an hour, that's after they cut the race 10 laps short! I know it's a dirt track, but when the dust is so bad you can't watch the race there is a problem. Countless cautions and red flags, the track was not only dusty, but rough as hell to boot. The program was unorganized and took way too long. Thank god the one driver wasn't injured after the track crew righted the car by just letting it flip itself over. It was a nasty crash that could've been made worse if the driver had a neck or back injury. SAFETY FIRST!! This makes my 5th MASS show in 3 states and could very well be my last. I keep giving this series the benefit of the doubt, but I'm out of chances. I'll stick to the WoO or the ASCOC for sanctioned races. Most of the time I leave the racetrack with a positive attitude, not last night. All the people sitting around me felt the same way.

I think the series did a good job, the problem was with the people running the track. The way that crew flipped the 35 car back over like that was scary. He could have very easily had a neck injury. They need to train these guys better if they are going to work in the infield. and as far as the track goes I think a trained ape could have done a better job. First they don’t water it, let it go dry, then they decide to till up the corners and put out street stocks. Who in their right mind would think a 3500 pound car with 6 inch wide tires wouldn't make ruts on a fresh track that had 20 some inches of rain that month? So by the time the sprint cars got on the track, there were 2 foot wide ruts all the way around. I think the promoter should have put his greed aside and canceled the show. But like always all that track is concerned about is $$. Who gives a care about driver safety. They better take some of that money and make sure their insurance is renewed. If they continue this course someone is going to get hurt.

I'm just curious - based on the list of complaints, how do you justify saying it was the fault of the Midwest All Star Series that the track was bad/dusty/rough, the safety crew wasn't safe, or that the drivers couldn't manage to keep their cars straight and on all 4 wheels? The report I got was that there had to be TWO fuel stops because of all the cautions and crashes. Now I understand it was the first race and most of these guys haven't been behind the wheel in several months, but yikes!! So I hope you modify your complaints to specify the reasons "it was unorganized and took too long." The goal of this series is to improve with each race. Now - just like the drivers/teams - there were some new guys there helping out. The track promoters are new to Benton if I am not mistaken. The weather wasn't the best. The drivers seemed to be a bit rusty in the seat. Was this all the Midwest All Star Series' fault?

Former Owner/President of FAST and Black Swamp Media
Group. Currently just another fan in the stands.

The blame has to be shared here, MASS was the headliner last nite. I find it hard to believe the MASS officicials have nothing to say about the way the show is being ran, especially last night. I'm not saying its right but guilt by association has an affect on how people percieve something. Isn't it true the MASS series runs at this track more than any other track on their schedule? Maybe the series should take a long hard look at some of the tracks on their schedule, simply for safety reasons and the fact that when they race their name is the product being sold. I understand what you're saying, but the average paying fan paid to see a MASS show and associate things both good and bad with it. Everyone was lucky someone wasn't hurt last night. Out of the 5 MASS shows I've attended, last years Bloomington was the only good show of the 5. They have for the most part all been unorganized with less than a racey surface. No big deal, I'll just stay home and catch the WoO and the ASCOC when they come around.

Since I wasn't there - I can't comment on "how things were run." However, I do know the Midwest All Star Series "staff" is only a couple of guys trying to do everything. Same goes for the ASCoC - there are typically 4 to 5 people running the show on race night (not 30 like the Outlaws). We rely on the tracks and their staff to assist in the night's operations. We do not bring our own scorers, our own safety crew, our own push trucks, our own flagman, etc. I don't even think the Midwest series has its own pace truck (yet). It was intentionally created as a low budget alternative for sanctioning 410 races in an area that was all but dried up for 410 racing. That means in order to keep the sanctioning fee low for the tracks, there are only 2 or 3 guys trying to run the race operations on our side. I'm not making excuses - I'm telling you how it is. Could there be some better organization or planning at the beginning of the night or before we even get there? Probably. These are the things we need to work on.

Former Owner/President of FAST and Black Swamp Media
Group. Currently just another fan in the stands.

Last nights show went very well with all things considered, but you have to look at all things, not just a feature. We want to sit here and talk about how long the feature took, that's fine...understandable that it ran a bit longer than the Midwest All Star Officials and the Benton Race Park Officials wanted. NO ONE WANTED TO CUT THE RACE SHORT. You talk about safety, yet complain when a decission is made to cut the race short because of less than favorable track conditions and lingth...amazing. Billy Clayton and Randy Dukes did everything they could to work the track to a good racing surface, oh by the way do you realize that they have been having FLOODS? Not just rain, FLOODS, it's not the easiest thing to get a track in any kind of racing condition when the closest house to the track has a temporary lake in their back yard. Billy and Randy did what they could and I for one take my hat off to them for their efforts.

I notice we are not going to mention that the remainder of the nights sprint action pretty much went clean and green with the exception of a couple of spin outs in qualifying. Looks to me like it was a GREAT show and I for one am looking forward to going back to Randy and Billy's facility. You have to look at the bigger picture, not just a longer than normal feature event.

I take note with your issue about the safety. I think many tracks, officials, and series may need additional training on driver safety. If you weren't so interested in pointing out and watching the "bad" things that happen you might have caught the guys name and would have been well to know that the driver is fine. Funny how we sit there just waiting for something to complain about (the length of the feature) and not praise things when they go off good (the organization and clean/green racing in the other events).

Commend whoever for whatever, last nights race was not good. I'm glad the driver is alright, but that situation was handled in a bad way. No more arguement here, just keep telling yourself how good last night was, you might convince yourself, not me.

"The Driver" as you so willingly put it has a name, and he is one of the best competitor's out there in the area. Tim Montgomery is "the driver" name. The Midwest All Star Series comes into to tracks to put on a show with real people. Tim Montgomery showed up at the race for 2 reasons, the first one being that he is a racer and the second is that he knows he is going to get paid. Both of those reasons are why a guy like Tim Montgomery goes out there and pushes the envelope. I am certain that Tim Montgomery didn't want to end his night that way, no racer wants to end their night that way.

Part of the problem with racing anymore is that we don't have Tim Montgomery, we have "the driver". What the Midwest All Star Series and the tracks that bring the series onto their schedules are doing is to help promote these guys like Tim Montgomery. The Midwest All Stars pays gauranteed money and works hard to promote the drivers via phone calls, press releases, and getting to know them. Not a lot of tracks or series are doing that anymore. They just want to promote a "410 Sprint Car Show" and take your hard earned money. This sport has gotten to be such a business that people have forgotten that "the drivers" are real people, this is something that the Midwest All Stars are working hard to change.

If this is not about money and promoters and track owners really wanted to help make these guys stars and pay them honest money, then why does SFCR in Farmington only pay $2,000 to win against Midwest All Star shows on the same night? If SFCR really wanted to help the drivers, they would be doing the things that Guy Webb IS doing with the Midwest All Star Series. The promoter at SFCR is just trying to keep "his drivers" at his track when the Midwest All Stars are running the same night because he knows where the majority of "his drivers" are going to go. SHOW ME THE MONEY!

While I agree 110% with what MASSive is saying, we - as a series - also need to take into consideration the view from the stands. Checkered48 paid his hard earned money to see good racing. It is our job to make sure he gets his money's worth. (By "our" I mean series, promoters, track crews, vendors, etc). Without the fans - there is no race. I don't like reading complaints either - I choose to believe that every show we put on is a great one...and most times they are. Sometimes, however, conditions or situations arise that are beyond our control. This case - the track/weather/safety crew/etc. So all we can do is apologize that you did not enjoy the show and hope that we can and WILL improve on it in the future. We hope you'll be back to Benton and to see the Midwest All Stars elsewhere. I mean that. Just keep in mind it is a young series with some guys who don't have a ton of experience running an event. That will improve as time goes on and the series will continue to grow. We'll all do more planning if you all do less complaining.

Former Owner/President of FAST and Black Swamp Media
Group. Currently just another fan in the stands.

Nice response Swamp, no one was being ignorant with their response until Massive started his ranting. BTW I know who the driver is I've seen him race many times at a lot of different tracks. Swamp, you can tell Massive he'll hurt the series more than he helps it with his attitudes and rantings.

I've been to several MASS events and they've all went fairly well. Not as well run as a WOO show but then the ticket price is not near as high and they certainly don't have as much staff running around. I think their shows are about equal to the other regional series shows (Spint Invaders, WOW, regional ASCS, regional USCS etc) shows that I've attented. They have some good local drives and cars. The issue I see is they should know by now that the Benton track is known for extreme track conditions. Track prep is poor no matter what the weather has been. The lighting/lackof lighting on the track was equally as bad. Lot of light not working. Turn three was really dark. I'd have to question putting sprints on this track. I'll make more MASS shows but I'll probably pass on future Benton shows. I'll make the trip to Farmington instead.

NO ! Mass shows for me.