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I would think pure economics are a big part of the problem. It isn't cheap to race a night at Knoxville and the risk is pretty high. Older guys who aren't racing anymore probably don't even have a car. They'd have to borrow one and that's a huge risk for a little joy ride. Maybe the track should consider footing the bill and covering damages that are bound to happen. 305s sound like a good idea since there's probably enough around to rent. I kind of think this race is supposed to be more of a retirees event and with that in mind they should limit the participants. I like watching Sammy as much as anyone but he really shouldn't be in this race until he is officially retired. He'll probably still lap the field then but it would be a neater appearance if it was one of the only times you got to see him in a car. I'd also say don't bother with a payout based on finish. Just give each participant a small amount and cover their expeneses. The guys we're talking about aren't going to be motiviated by payout. Bragging rights are much more valuable. Something along these lines might help get more of them out.
A side note, can you imagine 10 years from now watching Steve, Sammy, Jac, Danny, Gary Wright, Fast Freddy, Jeff Swindel, Terry Gray, Randy Martin, etc, etc. And how about even a Doug Wolfgang appearance. You talk about competitive. That might be the best race all year! I'd probably even make a trip up for that.
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Reply to:
Posted By: MoOpenwheel on June 16 2010 at 11:40:04 AM
I would think pure economics are a big part of the problem. It isn't cheap to race a night at Knoxville and the risk is pretty high. Older guys who aren't racing anymore probably don't even have a car. They'd have to borrow one and that's a huge risk for a little joy ride. Maybe the track should consider footing the bill and covering damages that are bound to happen. 305s sound like a good idea since there's probably enough around to rent. I kind of think this race is supposed to be more of a retirees event and with that in mind they should limit the participants. I like watching Sammy as much as anyone but he really shouldn't be in this race until he is officially retired. He'll probably still lap the field then but it would be a neater appearance if it was one of the only times you got to see him in a car. I'd also say don't bother with a payout based on finish. Just give each participant a small amount and cover their expeneses. The guys we're talking about aren't going to be motiviated by payout. Bragging rights are much more valuable. Something along these lines might help get more of them out.
A side note, can you imagine 10 years from now watching Steve, Sammy, Jac, Danny, Gary Wright, Fast Freddy, Jeff Swindel, Terry Gray, Randy Martin, etc, etc. And how about even a Doug Wolfgang appearance. You talk about competitive. That might be the best race all year! I'd probably even make a trip up for that.
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Don't forget Ron Shuman, Mike Brooks, Dave Blaney, Andy Hillenberg and Mark Kinser!!! What's he doing these days anyways! :-)
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While I think the race has "run it's course", and should be dropped from the schedule (it's WAYYYY too expensive for a local 360 team to "loan" their car out to someone that hasn't been behind the wheel in 5 years or more), I too enjoy seeing some of the old-timers out there since I didn't get to see them in their "heyday".
I had no issue with Danny or Sammy participating in the race, they met all the criteria, and I'd venture to say that their equipment was good, but I wouldn't have called it "killer" either. Randy Smith drove a car with very good equipment, it's just that a "raw" rookie drives it every week (for the record, Jamie is making improvement every week as well) and the perception is that is isn't a great car. I disagree.
Sammy drove 360 races at the beginning of the year in the Tom Rolfe Car and was chasing ASCS National Points, so he had a baseline of how a 360 is different from a 410. Danny hasn't raced a 360 all year, no baseline to go off of, so to me that's a disadvantage as there are major differences in a 360 and 410 (including the tires this year).
Having said that, for those of us in attendance, you could tell the difference in how Sammy drove compared to Danny once they hit lapped traffic. Sammy took his time, slowed down if need be, and waited to see where the cars in front of him were going, he "knew" that these guys don't race for a living anymore (and some hadn't but 1 time a year for many years), and made sure to pass them leaving plenty of room to spare so no one got crashed. Danny was almost exactly the opposite, he drove like everyone out there ran the World of Outlaws every night, and he paid the price by being chopped off multiple times because he wasn't patient.
IMO, had the race gone green-checker without yellows, Sammy would have lapped the field (including Danny) because he raced SMART, and his car was set up to go anywhere on the track, Top, middle or bottom (and he could drive it in those spots).
I do think that they should drop the Master's race altogether in 2011, as obviously, it doesn't draw a crowd (even with the WoO there). While I enjoyed watching Judi Bates from PA, Ferkel, Rager, Engelhart, etc. through the years, the fact of the matter is this, the NAME drivers of that generation are now few and far between and there are no "name drivers" that people will pay to come watch.
Now, if they can convince Foyt, Andretti, Bob Kinser, etc. to come, I'd wager the crowd would show up (of course they'd actually have to promote it so people knew they were coming, but that's another topic alltogether).
Just my $.02
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