Forum: SCRAFAN.COM Forum (go)
Moderators: ljennings

23 cars at Petaluma. 14 cars a B-field. About 50 cars at Ventura.

What is Naylor doing that's making it work in Ventura?

Location, location, location!

Well let me see Mr. Naylor runs his VRA regulars with his seniors so if you take away the senior's you would have 28 Sprinters . That is 5 less sprinter's than what was at petaluma. Mr Naylor give his fans more bang for the buck at his track he runs 3 or 4 divisions a night and that is great . He is doing something good here to keep the sport of sprint car racing alive and for that I salute him for his efforts . But what really irritates me is when people like yourself get on here and talk about low car counts . Lets see you talked about the about 50 cars at Ventura but you failed to mention the 26 cars that showed up at Watsonville , The 30 cars that showed up at Perris on June 12th . I understand your love for Mr Naylor and Ventura raceway I love the place as well but dont blame the tracks or racers for not showing up in case you forgot the economy still has some racers sitting at home wishing that they could go race .

Joe Clifton

Don't discount the senior sprints. Half or more of that field could win any 360 race on any given night. Watch Howard, Kershaw, Davis, Deblauw, Culver, Alderman, Prosser, Warren, Wakim, the Millers, Douglas to mention a few.

They all buy pit passes, tires, fuel and have haulers and crews. No matter how old the driver is a sprint is a sprint.

Jayp Where in my post did I discount the senior sprint drivers ? Never said that they were not drivers now did I ? I don't think I did If I did was not my intention . Just tired of people talking about low car counts at other tracks . My point was the reason Ventura has big car counts is because of the fact that there is 2 sprint divisions running in the same night . Just so you don't misunderstand me I am in no way talking crap about anyone at Ventura the track the racers the seniors

Joe Clifton

My post goes to the 50 cars. You mentioned taking away the seniors. Have to count them all. Not intended to question anything you said or accuse you of anything. The number of sprints going thru the back gate points to something Jim Naylor IS doing that works. Thanks for your clarification.

This is something I discussed with someone last night...

Less than 30 'Pro' cars, and we surmised that it was because when the seniors are not running four or five of them will run the 'Pro' division.

Cars through the back gate though, he gets a dozen or so extra sprints on senior nights.

There were not 26 410's at Watsonville. I was there and a good amount of their spec sprints (restricted carbureted 360s) doubled up to run both their local division and the USAC/CRA race.

$18,000 to host the USAC/CRA and the track got around 10-12 regular series cars. Tough sell in my book. I sincerely hope they book the USAC/CRA next year cause the race was good but the grand stands were not full and the series didn't bring much in car count. This isn't baseless comments just pure facts. I spoke with someone who works at the track and they were certain they lost money. This person told me it costs about $10,000 to have their winged 360 ocean sprints and they get about 30 cars on average and full grand stands. Just the way it is I suppose.

Its just a shame more SoCal cars dont travel. The winged guys from NorCal go all over the place I just dont understand why it doesnt work with the non wing guys from down south. I love all sprint car racing and just want the sport to grow not die.

No offense is meant by any of my comments.

"Winged or non-winged its all about 
the sprint cars for me!"
http://mattmusselldesigns.daportfolio.com

So what are the kiddie racers racing for? Trophies perhaps. I am sure that the support staff for the kiddie racers are buying just as many pit passes per car as the VRA sprinters are.

I think that Mr. Naylor is running his track on a stability platform. He doesn't have to shell out any money to somebody in Indiana or Concord, California.

The staff answers to him. Once again, not to somebody from an outside sanctioning body.

While I have wished many times that he would hand over the microphone to a trained professional announcer. But it is his playground. Fortunately the sound system sucks and usually we can't hear him.

I have been attending races off and on at Ventura for twenty years. I still don't understand why a scoreboard hasn't been installed. I am sure that Budweiser or Coke would be happy to sponsor a scoreboard. Of course if their was a scoreboard, we might expect to have qualifying.

The time it takes to get through qualifying, you could at least run one more class of cars. That helps pay the bills also.

It's not a So Cal racer not going to Norcal. thing. The santion body rules being so different have more than anything to do with racers not showing up for certain shows or tracks. The night that ASCS was at the PAS the USAC 360's, and the VRA were both off and the PAS didn't draw that many cars from either of those clubs. The ASCS paid a good winner's share but too many car's were not legal and or felt like they could not compete with the 360 they run elsewhere.

The point is most of the USAC/CRA series cars dont seem to want or cant afford to travel. 10-12 cars is pretty thin in my opinion. I hope Santa Maria gets more support than that when they are there in August.

"Winged or non-winged its all about 
the sprint cars for me!"
http://mattmusselldesigns.daportfolio.com

I agree. Just imagine a solid 20 regular USAC/CRA cars with those NorCal guys too.

"Winged or non-winged its all about 
the sprint cars for me!"
http://mattmusselldesigns.daportfolio.com

It cost more to run a 410 and if broken even more (considering it's a top notch motor) I believe that the cars that do make the tow are the one's who are chasing points(which this year is only a couple) without saying and the other's just have disposable race budget's.

"While I have wished many times that he would hand over the microphone to a trained professional announcer."

LOL So true. It is the yelling into the mic that gets me. Luis Esponosa sits in as does Blake Miller once in awhile. But the kid that does it is, well.....bad.

I agree. As to the car count at Watsonville and Petaluma - as if most of you don't know, it is the lousy economy that keeps some car owners sitting at home. The car count for the GSC 410 wingers has not been very good this year and there is rumor of a new series taking over next year. Hopefully Ryan Bernal (spec sprint) impressed some folks with his run at both tracks. I was happy with the car count at the PAS on June 12. Santa Maria is well liked by the CRA teams so I would expect a good car count at that great track.

"Ralphie, Senor, muchas gracias por una mas cerveza"  -
Scott Daloisio @ the PAS