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

I dont understand why they tell you to go down to the pit area after the races to get autographs when everyone leaves before you have the chance to get down there. It didnt so much bother me but I was with a friend last night who had three young ones with him, and they were really looking forward to meeting Donny Schatz and Steve Kinser and the rest of the drivers but by the time we got to the pits everyone was already gone.. I could see if maybe they had a race to go to far away but there next race is on Tuesday at Kokomo so it isnt like there really going that far. I just dont understand why they are in such a hurry to leave the races right after they are finished but they say they are there for their fans...

racerman454 ; How long do you hang around work after quitting time?

Let me ask you this DDCA4. Do people pay to watch you work?

Nuff said!

Theres no excuse for it except having a race the next day at a different track. In this case they dont race again until Tuesday it wouldnt have hurt them to stay until everyone could get in the pits.

Wetntacky took the words right outta my mouth.

It has been a tradition to stay around for the fan's and it's also something we brag about to the stock car guys. We tell them how our boy's are accessible to the fan's, not like most of their guys. I guess a lot outlaws are just to big in the britches to hang around for the fan's now day's.

Do you think maybe to many of them are seeing the corporation as the paymaster and so they look right past the fan?

Kenny

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

Entirely different situation here. Short track racing has had the tradition of allowing fans meet their favorite drivers since I first attended racing in the early 60's. I'll bet that Terry McCarl, Brooke Tatnell and Craig Dollansky were still at the track greeting fans when they finally were allowed pitside. There's a few drivers that "get it" but a few of the so called big dogs that forgot where they came from.

This is a pet peeve with me. Yeah, most of us don't hang around work long after quitting time unless we're in a profession such as sales where we have to attend dinners and golf outings with clients. Same thing with trade associations for certain professions, there are a lot of people who don't punch the clock and run out the door at 4 pm. I'd consider these guys in that category and some of them sad to say are notorious for snubbing the fans at d*mn near every stop. One of the tracks where I see them every year runs one support division and they have their Feature after the WoO. Same situation, no races for a couple days and the track has a curfew so it's not like it's 4am but certain haulers d*mn near run the fans over trying to hustle out the back gate.

Stan Meissner

I'm with you guys about the drivers not sticking around for the fans. In 2003 after the Outlaw races at Beaver Dam we headed to the pits. The trailers were still there trying to sell T-shirts but most of the drivers had left. I saw kids getting shirts and then asking for drivers to sign them and being told the drivers had already left. I decided then and there that I would take a little time off from the Outlaws. For what they charge I could go to other racing programs, have money left over, and many times see better racing. I don't need a name driver or a certain type of car to enjoy a racing program. I stuck to my boycott until last fall when the Outlaws came to Wilmot. I had heard DIRT wanted the drivers to stick around afterwards to greet fans plus spending a lot of nights over the years at Wilmot I wanted the see the Outlaws run there. It was a great race with a 3 car battle heading into turn 3 on the final lap. Two weeks ago I went to Lasalle Speedway fot the Lucas Oil race. Same type of deal. By the time we were able to get into the pits most of the haulers were backing out and headed down the road. My son had planned to buy shirts from 3 different drivers and they were all gone. I guess the only way to stop this is run the main event feature the last race of the evening. It's funny how these drivers can so quickly forget where they from.

I'm assuming that you probably mean the IRA seeing as you live over on the other side of Wisconsin in their home base area. I'll guarantee that you're not going to go down into the pits after the races and not be able to meet Donny Goeden, Kim Mock or Travis Whitney. Steve Sinclair's guys are fun to watch and they're great with the fans as well.

I think some of the nationally known teams have lost touch with the fans. Someone needs to kick them in the *ss and remind them that (a) meeting the drivers is a short track racing tradition that goes back to the very first races staged on county fair horse tracks (b) they never quite attained that elusive "next level" that everybody was expecting (c) racing for a living probably is a tough way to make a living but try punching the clock like your fans do for a couple weeks.

I keep reading these press releases about the new and improved media and fan friendly Outlaws but I haven't seen it in practice yet. I've been writing for a local racing paper that's circulated in a metro area of 3 1/2 million people for ten years. If you think it's fun taking your kids down to try and get an autograph try asking these guys a few questions for the paper or taping an interview for TV. Unless you're wearing an ESPN shirt a few of them won't even give you the time of day. A couple years ago I gave up on most of them except a few I know personally so I'll get my quotes from those guys and to h*ll with the ones who think their sh*t don't stink.

The thing that I find ironic is that there is anybody left who defends that behavior. Looking outside of Sprint Car racing I'll give one example, Late Model driver Scott Bloomquist. He's considered the "king" of Late Model racing and I have never been rejected when I tried to get a quote from Bloomer. I think some of these Sprint guys need to take a look outside their little circle and get a clue.

Stan Meissner

it is getting harder and harder to find a driver that knows how to write.

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Every driver in the world could learn a lesson from the way Dave Darland interacts with the fans.

Been to many outlaw races and never once had that problem with any of them.

Same here, I've never had a problem. That's very uncharacteristic of the King and Schatz!

  Hold on a second.  There were still 2 features to run for the other divisions.  I didn't go in after the race last nite, but was in before the races. But usually you have to wait until all the racing is over to go in.....unless you have a pit pass.  If  it was different I stand corrected.  But if that was the case, how long do you want these guys to stay around?  It's not like they drove the cars into the trailers and high tailed it outta there.  There were still 2 undercards to go, and who knows how long those races could take on top of it being a long nite already.  And even though they don't run till Tuesday, those teams still had traveling to do last nite while all of us were sleeping.  I understand the disappointment but the teams have a side in this story as well.  Just my opinion.

Dave is definitly the coolest! You can tell that he is just as loyal to his fans as they are to him.

Member of this message board since 1997

I think Racerman does have a valid complaint; but when Mother Nature throws a curveball on raceday, some things just can't be fixed to meet everyone's satisfaction. The only way to prevent the sprint teams from loading up while the support classes race is to run the sprint A Main as the last event of the night, which is common. However, in defense of Eldora's management, I imagine they rushed to get the sprints over as quick as possible in case more rain was on the way. Had they left them till last and the rains came during the support class races, trust me --- they would have had even more unhappy fans.

Buying pitpasses for the whole family is cost-prohibitive for most folks plus most tracks, including Eldora, have a minimum age requirement. And -- the pits are usually no place for kids or spectators anyway IMO. Since most of the WoO drivers have their own t-shirt trailers in the grandstand area, maybe the resolution to this problem would be for them to spend 15-20 minutes at their t-shirt trailer (either after their final race or during a track rework/rain delay) to sign autographs and meet the youngsters not able to wait until the wee hours of the night to go into the pits afterwards.

Just my 2 cents.....

Don't most pits have a "height requirement" for entry?...........just like at Cedar Point..........Leaves me out!!!!!!HAHAHA! No really, i think the trend has shifted over the yrs. as to everyone pulling out just as soon as they can. Things need to be done & scheduIes to be met, but couldn't some fan time be factored in too? Seems that at times they do forget where they came from. Petey's right.....Dave's the coolest!

The race I was referring to at Beaver Dam was a World of Outlaws race. I can't remember if there was a support division after the Outlaw feature or not. Irregardless, if you are the stars of the show you owe it to the fans who paid $30 or more to get in a few moments of time after the races to sign a T-shirt or hat they just bought from your trailer for another $20 plus dollars. That was part of what made me a race fan as a kid was going into the pits and watching and listening to the drivers I idolized after the races.

I agree with your statement about the IRA drivers and their fan accessibility. It seems the less money you race for the more fan friendly the drivers are. I've watched their drivers race since the sixties and have always enjoyed their group.

wetntacky: first of all the hanging around after work comment was made in jest. But your comment about paying is cool if you think about it. First of all yes, people pay to watch me work. Second if you use paying to get into a race as a basis for staying around then the fans should stay and sign autographs for the pit crews because the crews pay more to get in than the fans.

c'mon ya'll.........what the hell is wrong with you?

Racerman is right..........when you pay these ridiculous ass prices to see these guys race.....you are basically paying that because these guys are "the best". They owe to fans AT EVERY SINGLE TRACK THEY RACE AT to sit there for however long and sign autographs or whatever. If these guys don't make themselves available to the fans at their shows....the fans may think twice about donating their money to that traveling best of the best series. Where the hell do these guys think they will race if there are no fans to support them.

Being the best is not just about talent..........it's about charachter as well.

Racerman whatever drivers did stay to chat with fans and sign autographs are your best Outlaws.....maybe not in talent, but definitely in personality.

The WoO are only able to race on tour because of the fans who support them all across the U.S. So to idle out for a couple features so that the fans can back there and meet ya is not a whole lot to ask.......like racerman said........their next race was in Kokomo and thats no halfway across the country ya know.

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wouldchuck could chuck would