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

father time possibly??

No Dude, no Tmac either...

NAH, Sammy has been tough all year and The King still has alot of racing left in the tank. You need a little luck as well as skill at Knoxville.

Does the Nat's pay WoO points or do they just do showup points since provisionals are not allowed?

Two drivers have won before, the 15 and the 11k.

Sad without Sammy and Steve. Paulus and Sides hung in there to make the A. Good for them.

That's how stout the competiton is now...nothing against earlier years but I don't think Sammy and Steve have skipped a beat...it's just that close now...not to mention Wednesday qualifying sucked for advancing in a heat...because of rain, not track prep.

More weight, more regulation, more similarity in the 
cars.... that will ensure plenty of thrills for years 
to come.  Only the most average talent behind the 
wheel will be needed with such awesome equipment on 
the track!
minthess 8.28.14

First time since 1975 that the Nationals A-Main on Saturday had neither Steve nor Sammy.

the time has come that the same 3 sprint car drivers that win every year is not gonna happen anymore! new talent has arrived! packed house at knoxville tonite huge crowd! both sides of the track was packed! pretty good ! shitz had his shitz together like always cant take that away from him. overall alot of new talent is starting to dominate which is good! im tired of seeing the same guys win this sprint car racing sport that has been racing for 40 years isnt there anyone else that can do it?

Hate to burst your bubble there hoosier but the same guy has won 6 out of the last 7 Nationals, one theory down. You then say, 'a lot of new talent is starting to dominate' yet Sammy leads the Outlaws with 8 wins and Steve is about leading and has been in the points which blows up the rest of your theories, tell me something I don't know, thanks.....

The question I have is how many other tracks do the WOO race on that is a big half mile that is decently prepared? I admit I haven't attended many WOO races in person recently but see some on TV. Many of the tracks look much smaller than Knoxville and some horribly prepared.

So my curiosity of what was witnessed this week at Knoxville is: do you have a lot of racers that can qualify better than usual on a big track like Knoxville? Then the heat line ups with more heat cars, plus inversions, and a more raceable track than usual WOO events, thus making it more competitive and harder to qualify. Of course Steve and Sammy have the same chance as everyone else. Is Knoxville more of an anomaly track wise that changes expected outcomes?

The reason I question is I just wached an earlier TV race( Kings Royal) and Sammy handled the field, so I doubt very much either driver has lost their edge.

WoO race on quite a few 1/2 mile tracks, the key is what you said "decently prepared." Knoxville is differant as it has large sweeping turns. and it is decieving to see how much banking is actually in Knoxville, vs what you see on TV.

What happens during the Nationals is an anomoly. The rules format is not what you would see at a normal race. Your qualifying laps really set the tone for your week. It is all about the points. Wednesday night with the heavy rain prior to the race, we saw speeds in the 14.7 seconds range. That is fast, but that same night the track did not widen out to be conducive to good racing (provide for more passing). You get points for passing cars. So this really put guys like Rahmer, Kinser, and others behind the 8 ball in their heats. They couldn't pass, because the cars were so locked down and fast on the surface that was fast. By comparison, Thursday night the track was almost a second slower, 15.6 second range, but the racing was much better as the night went on. The track widened out and was slicker, and provided for passing. these two nights locked in the top 16 in points. Most of which, came from the Thursday races. The Friday races throw a wrnech into everything. If you can race your way into the Friday A Main, you got a shot at being in the show.

Most WoO races only draw maybe 26-30 cars....The Nationals draws over 100. This makes your heats a little more stack with cars as you are getting 50+ on the qualifying nights, and then Friday you are getting 80+ maybe....more cars in the heats.

The drivers haven't lost their edge. Luck has a lot to do with it...JMHO

I hope this helped in understanding the Nationals and why thet are special.

NO, both Steve and Sammy had chassis problens all week, esp S. Kinser . Steves car was loose on corners.

I do agree with hoosierdaddynow that more talent has arrived. Dobmeier, Heskin, Brown, Larson are just a few who have done well with less at the Nationals in recent years. That said those 4 guys still are far from what Schatz, Kinser and Swindell have. It would be interesting what they could do with TSR or Kasey Kahne funding. Dobmeier's crew is nearly all volunteer, Heskin is a family operation, and I didn't see a dozen crew guys swarm Larson's car when he was in the pits. Brown is about as close to a WoO opperation as we have in this 4. Yes, it would be nice to see new drivers win the nationals each year. I'm sure that's what people were saying when Kinser dominated in the 80s and 90s.

End of an era? Hope not.... Kinser jinxed himself with black car?