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

Why is it the last couple weeks that the car count is way down in the 360 class

My wife told me if I went to one more Sprint Car race 
she would leave me.................I'm sure gonna miss 
that ol' gal. 

Laney Feight- putting together new car after hard wreck 2 weeks ago.

Groendyke- engine.

Shilling- engine.

Cole Wood- traveling with ASCS??

Zoutte- engine.

Huge threat of rain last two weeks not really worth the haul when its only $1,200 to win and $150 to start. Especially if there is a race closer to home without the threat of rain.

-Austin Rankin

It's kind of funny as 3-4 years ago there were 30-40 360's a night and barely enough for a full field of 410's and now it is the other way around. I think over the past few years several guys stepped up to the 410 ranks as the pay off is better than the 360's.

Plus gotta agree with Cubfan07 it is that time of year where guys equipment starts wearing out and people have to sit out to regroup.

this would be a great time to raise the prices for 360 engines...wait...that already happened?

Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May

Keep It Real

Is 360 racing really that much 'cheaper' that 410's to race for WAY less than half the purse? Virtually everything costs the same other the initial cost of the engines and that is quickly getting close to the same. And yes the weather has sucked the big one ALL spring around here as a added 'bonus'

this is what a guy needs to run thro when you see car counts fall, majority of hard core fans, or insiders know exactly what is going on with specific racers, weekly challenges or racing plans will effect each driver differently the "perfect storm" method is used, and to put a finger on just one thing is impossible, but the lack of cars leaves us scratching our heads? "whats everybody doing?, where are they?" to my knowledge this is the second week 360's count has been pretty soft?.. at anyrate,, that purse they run for needs some attention.. that's just suicide...

What happened to the 54 car this year? I don't think they have been there at all this year.

I asked this on a different thread but here goes....

Over Saturation??? Eagle dropped the class and Jackson hasn't had a 360 show yet, I would think there has been LESS competition for cars this year than in previous years at this stage of the season.....

Time of year when equipment is wearing out??? In a normal season this might be true but with the ungodly amount of rainouts all Midwest tracks have seen I really doubt this is the case.....

The $1250 to win $150 to start purse is a problem??? Hartford SD had 24 360's last Saturday for their pathetic $600 to win, $100 to start purse. Huset's had 23 of them Sunday.

Looking through the results from Saturday not ONE driver from Des Moines competed in the 360 class. Juhl & Bakker (who I assume will be regulars at Jackson) Montgomery from CO, Johnson from FL, Roberts from NE & Garner from SD are all out of town regulars..... if those 6 cars weren't there the field would have been insanely short.

The worst president of my lifetime:
Ronald Reagan

Perhaps the 360 class have priced themselves out? Not just at KVille either, it appears the ascs car counts aren't what they were just a couple years ago. Could 305's replace the 360's?

Big half miles are hard on motors.The economy is in the tank,when your on a tight budget you have to pick and choose your battles wisely.

I'm pretty sure there was a thread about this last year, or the year before... but I'll reiterate. If Knoxville cared about growing the 360 class, they would've increased the purse to $2k or $2,500 to win at some point in the last decade. They'd be directly competing against the Nebraska group and ASCS if they did that, and would likely kill off the 410 class. The reason they've barely touched the purse is because the purpose of the 360 class (when it was created in the mid-80s) was to give guys experience in a sprint car and get them up to a 410. When 360s became a stopping point and costs skyrocketed, the purpose was soundly defeated. As soon as Knoxville brought in the 305 class and gave them more dates, the writing was on the wall for the 360s. As soon as the end of this year, and possibly as late as the end of next year (after another year of horrid car counts), you're probably going to be faced with a choice if you own a 360: spend a little less (make quite a bit less) by dropping down to a 305, or spend a little more (not much more) and make a lot more by stepping up to a 410. Honestly, I think that was the plan when they brought in the 305s. While I really enjoyed the competition in the 360 class when Jake Peters, Tony Norem, etc were running regularly -- and there were often times 35+ cars -- the costs got out of control (thanks in part to ASCS) ... so this is where we're at.