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

New Egypt looked like some decent racing. Especially at around 2:03 of this video.

https://youtu.be/QjnbDNT4ECI

Kerry Madsen seems to enjoy turning left on the straights a lot recently. Donny Schatz may agree. But I'm not here to start a debate.

Look at the move Donny Schatz makes when Madsen comes down on him on the front straight. Now, I could never know for sure without talking to Schatz but it seems like he anticipated this move by Madsen and made a defensive move that kept him from losing it and also happened to send Madsen off course. If you'll notice, Madsen seems to come down on the back straight before, as well, maybe giving Schatz reason for concern.

If this is the case or if he was just lucky, it shows the max RPM's that Donny Schatz is ripping right now. He's on another level and on a tear that hasn't been seen in a long time. Love him or hate him, it's fun to watch. The man can drive!

Chad Kemenah seemed to suffer a slightly more victimized fate in this situation at Weedsport earlier this week, luckily only losing the spot. https://youtu.be/NrTl0OwVNK8?t=2m27s

As much as Madsen turned left on Schatz - Donny squeezed Saldana on the front stretch pretty bad headed into one when they were battling. Man was on a mission.

That was good racing! I think its probably safe to say some of the outlaw drivers are irritated with Donnys domination hence they dont give him much room. Pittman also tried cutting off Schatz speed that last couple of laps just wasnt as bad as Madsen. I personally like the agressive driving as long as nothing is being torn up.

Pittman and Madsen are the very best out there at turning down, chopping or blocking.  I would also put Pittman and Brown in the category of best at jump starting a race.  It looks to me like Donny has gotten so used to it that it is part of how he prepares to pass these guys, as he knows in the back of his mind it is coming and reacts when they react.  The most likely reason that this never happens to Pittman or Madsen is that they very seldom pass many cars, therefore they dont need to be concerned with getting chopped.  Looks like the only thing that saved Pittman at New Egypt was a timely yellow flag.  The 15 was obviously the fastest car on the track once again.

Racing is racing guys. Chopping someone into a corner is probably the most popular form of "blocking" in dirt track racing. The great drivers "Schatz" see the chop coming and switch their line. 

Really did not see where Donny did anything but race close on the straight away. No turning left, just wheel to wheel. As for Madsen turning left he was way to deep into the corner to try that. It will eventually catch up with him when he runs over someones rf & sends himself for a ride into no mans land. Terrible way to have to drive, but most will remember the good & the bad racing & repay u for the bad.

Now you guys are complaining about hard racing?

I think at this point many of the drivers will do whatever they need to do to keep Schatz behind them.  I know as a fan, im personally tired of hearing him win everywhere, although im watching record, its getting old.  So i can only imagine how the drivers feel.  Which im sure is what is leading to the chopping and what not.  I wish i could see racing like that all the time.

I will say that the feature was great.  The track finally widened out at feature time and as tired as I am getting of Schatz winning all the time, he put on a show (as did McMahon coming through traffic) and before the caution the top four were under a blanket.

I get to a lot of tracks, but NES is my closest to home for me.  What annoys me, and is something I think the OUtlaws need to look at is where the short purse midweek shows happen.  I don't have a problem with them having the shorter purse if it helps them fill out their schedule, but I think they should be a little more picky about where they allow them to occur. 

New Egypt is not far from Posse territory, but it is far enough away that if you don't offer a great purse (and NJ rules are strict for the cars too), you aren't going to get many of them to show up, because they don't think its worth it.  I would bet for a full Outlaw purse, they could have pulled in well over 30 cars.  Unfortunately, when you have a shorter purse show far enough away from where the 410s are located, there is little incentive to travel.

I know the arguments about not spending other people's money for them, but NES is not some little podunk middle of nowhere facility and I doubt with the crowd they pulled Tuesday, that they wouldn't have made a pretty tidy profit even if they were paying a full WoO purse.  Again, I don't mean to say the lower purse midweek shows need to go away, but I think there are some places that book  them who could be pushed by the WoO into a full purse without the date being lost, and in the end the field would be better.  The racing was good Tuesday, but I worry with how NES fans can be that if they don't start drawing more than 25 cars, people will start balking at paying 30-35 bucks for this show.

Looks like it was a fun race to watch.... Schatz kicked ass & added some excitement, but didn't win!

He's so good....

That looked like some great racing to me!

I agree about Donny and Saldana... that looked like close racing. 

I can definitely see your point, but I have a different outlook on it. I'm not a Donny Schatz fan, really. I just respect him immensely- like I do the Kinsers or Sammy. I think it's fun to watch someone dominate any sport because it is like king of the hill. It makes it exciting to see if anyone can beat them.

It's like he said to the boo birds during the post race inerview at the Knoxville Nationals in 2013 when he came out of the B main and won it all, "I don't know what else you guys want me to do!"

He's earned his success. He was a back runner in the 90's. He finished second 3-4 times at the nationals before he won it once. He's put in his time and effort AND he's known to be one of the cleanest drivers in the sport, always giving others adequate room, yet still being aggressive enough to win. He deserves whatever pinnacle he achieves. 

I think the fact that he isn't "dirty" makes it even more impressive. He's not cutting any corners.

Take Rhonda Rousey in the UFC. It could be argued that she is more dominate in her sport than anyone ever has been, in any sport. She beats almost everyone with the same move (arm bar), usually within the first minute, and no one can seem to successfully challenge her. Yet, she is always at the top of her game, just in case anyone does. The athleticism and dedication that takes is remarkable. 

Donny Schatz is giving us a new era in sprint car racing that will be regarded in the future just like the "Big 3" era is now. He will be a legend. Whether you're cheering for him or not, you have to respect that. 

The fun part of it all is who will be there to challenge him? Who will rise up and become the "arch rival"? Pittman's been closest. Who else can do it?

Great link to the event. I could not help but notice those potentially lethal  steel posts extending beyond the tops of the guardrails along the front stretch prior to the starters stand.  Is this an optical illusion?

I'm just cringing at the thought of a car flipping or crashing along the top of that.

Something needs to done about that disaster in the making....

The Outlaws don't DEMAND that a midweek show be a reduced purse, they allow tracks to book them for a reduced purse because it is the only way they can sell a show to some tracks, and the only way they can get most places to book a midweek show because of the risk a midweek show puts on ticket sales.

New Egypt could have paid a full purse for a midweek show...or even paid 30 grand to win/ 3 grand to start if they had wanted to. Obviously the speedway owner thought a midweek reduced purse was his best chance to make a profit from a show...it's that simple. From a cost standpoint, adding 10 grand or more to his expense for the show just to gain 4-8 more cars worth of pit pass revenue and a minimal amount of extra ticket sales doesn't make sense. An outlaw midweek purse still pays double to win and a couple hundred to start more than what a weekly PA show pays, and I can't imagine too many guys that won't travel for 6 grand to win deciding to travel for 10 grand to win.

  It isn't up to the series to say yes or no to a promoter who wants a show based on potential non series driver participation. It's actually better for the series if only 22 cars show up for a midweek show...series still gets their sanction fee, keeps 2 positions worth of start money instead of having to write those 2 checks, and the contracted series drivers are more likely to take home more of the purse money if there are fewer invaders fighting for their money.

Loose is when you hit the wall with the rear of the
car, tight is when you hit the wall with the front of
the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall and
torque is how far you move the wall.

Best post I've read on here in a long time. I love the fact that Donny is dominating for the same reasons you so perfectly described. I appreciate the fact that I'm able to see one of the sports all time greats in his prime. I don't care if you like him or don't, he's the best there is and like you said, he worked his ass off to get there. He spent a good many years getting his ass handed to him every night by Mark and Steve Kinser and Sammy plus all the others and he's progressed to where he's now the undisputed best there is. Winning sprint car drivers don't come any cleaner and he seems like a nice guy too which makes him a great representative for our sport as a whole and if I had a kid who idolized him, I would be perfectly fine with that. Better than some arrogant multimillionaire roid pumping football player.