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

As many of you from the Central Illinois area know, Jacksonville Speedway will be starting a 305 wing class that will run most weeks. I'm simply putting my contact info out here so that any interested people in the area will know how to get questions about the class answered.

For the most part, our rules will be similar to those for 305's at 34 Raceway in Burlington. The major exception will be that we will allow a 305 built from a 350 block with an additional 50 pounds of weight added. (Just like the rule for the Fords).

If you have any questions about the class or rules, please call or text me at 217-371-3653. We are trying to stay in close contact with those people building cars. Our 2013 schedule will be out in a few days, but we expect roughly 13-15 nights for the 305's.

This class is meant to get more people interested in participating in sprint car racing in Illinois. It is not meant to replace or be a substitute for the 410's. Those of you in our area know of the deep involvement in MOWA of myself and the other promoters of Jacksonville and we remain committed to continuing to build MOWA and the 410's while encouraging even more people to choose sprint cars over other forms of racing through an affordable 305 class.

A few short years ago, there were maybe 15 sprint cars in Central Illinois. Now with the growth of MOWA there are closer to 30. Hopefully by making the 305 an option for some people the number will grow past 50 in the coming years. We are committed to keeping the 305 class an affordable and fun class. Our target is to allow a person to have a complete, competitive sprint car for a roughly $10,000 initial investment - close to or less than a typical UMP Modified. We will structure the class format and rules so that such a car can be competitive over the long term. This is a local class, not a division of MOWA.

The response from people who either gave up racing due to the cost, or who always wanted to try a sprint car but were either financially or competitively unable to find an entry point has been huge. We look forward to the support of area open wheel fans and participants as we travel down this path of putting even more sprint cars in race shops across the area. More sprint cars means more sprint car racing. Again, please contact me if you have any questions about the class.

Thanks

Ken Dobson
Jacksonville Speedway
217-371-3653

Great Job Ken...and a very smart move with the 350 block idea..we wish you all the best and hope to see this division grow even more

Right or wrong call on the block rule... that's been debated here at length before.... but we know of 3 more cars that will get built because of it that wouldn't otherwise be there - and at the end of the day you need race cars to have a car race.

Mr Dobson, to make this work, and I hope it does, you must tech, tech, tech! Every race! It is the only way to keep the playing field level. Racers have a way to "strech " the rules.

We will tech. But fortunately we have a thriving 410 series for people that want to make an investment in equipment that will also hopefully keep heads screwed on straight and avoid the temptation for being the big fish in a small pond for $500 to win. This will include handicapping starting positions in subsequent weeks for past winners.

I have found through managing a 410 series that more important than tech is to maintain strong lines of communication with participants and have them buy into the goals of the series or class. We know our participants well and will also be quite familiar with their equipment well before the first green flag drops. It would shock me if more than one unfamiliar race car showed up on any given night for a 305 purse.

Do you mean 50 lbs added to min. chassis weight. If your car is 30 lbs over weight, you would just have to add 20 Lbs?????????

So happy to hear there are people out there actually ttrying to grow sprint car racing in Illinois. Keep up the good work and I will be heading a couple hours south summer and hope to see the some MOWA guys at the LaSalle IRA and Outlaws shows.

Bring back Santa Fe, and LaSalle .

Very good question we have been asked a few times recently. We expect to decide this at an upcoming meeting with participants. There's two ways to look at it. Burlington seems to simply require the 50 pounds of ballast but the car can still weigh the same 1550 pounds as the rest. I suppose this keeps the fat guy like me from choosing the 4 inch bore motor (Ford at Burlington) by default since otherwise he wouldn't have to bolt any weight on.

Our current preference is to have a simple rule for the 4 inch bore motors of 1600 pounds (vs 1550) whether by ballast, heavy parts or a big belly. That might not give a 50 pound handicap over the heavy guy or car with the standard motor that is over weight, but on our 1/4 mile bullring until proven otherwise, I don't suspect it's going to be a huge difference either way. Administration is going to be much easier with a simple scale weight for each configuration. The less lead ballast running around the track with the risk of falling off, the better.

I'm currently writing a set of rules for the class and the general approach is going to be that our standard engine is the Burlington configuration at 1550 pounds. Anyone building anything outside of that configuration will be warned that we reserve the right to adjust handicaps for 4 inch bore engines as the need arises. To be safe, build or buy the standard configuration or less. If economics or availability make the 4 inch bore the better choice for you, then understand that you are subject to rules that might adjust occasionally to keep parity among configurations. And stay in touch with us through the process. Also realize that you are going to have a hard time selling that 4 inch bore motor because I think we would be the only place that allows the 4 inch Chevy.

We may also allow standard configurations that on paper should be less competitive, such as a Racesaver (Aluminum heads), or perhaps even a 604 crate (400 hp) where we still have a mechanism to verify the legitimacy of those motors being within specs. (seals). If a guy happens to come across a great deal on a Racesaver that he can bolt in and get laps and experience, or if he happens to be moving from a crate late model and wants to go to the hassle of making it work in a sprint car while he gets some laps and experience, we will let him run it until it proves itself to be a problem. But it's doubtful that a 400 horsepower crate engine is going to hurt much running against our standard Burlington engines. I'd rather them be getting laps in something instead of sitting at home.

Again, this is subject to adjustment as cars get built. It's tough when starting a class from scratch with none that exist within 2 hours of your track. To an extent we are encouraging people to get started with what they can piece together.

I know 50 people are going to chime in now saying it won't work. Get one set of rules and stick to it. We've heard that. We do have one set of preferred rules. But we are going to try to fairly accommodate other ways of getting into the class. We aren't sending a guy home with a legal Racesaver just because the heads are aluminum. On the other hand, if that great deal is on an All Pro aluminum head 305... you better pass up the deal or plan to buy some conforming heads and parts, because you won't be racing it here.

Never hit stationary objects!

There's no way to predict cars until the season gets closer. If all goes well, I hope most nights we have 12-15 to start the class. Give me a call at the number above sometime Sprinter79 and I'd be happy to visit about our plans.