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

As the 2021 racing season has come to an end (for me) I wanted to see how this year panned out for everyone else.  I ventured to 34 new facilities this year ( a personal record) in 9 different states.  A few years back I decided to travel to racetracks I have nebver been to before.  I'm up to 151 total after this season.  My wife and I watched racing of all different varieties in our travels (Indy cars to go-karts).  These were our destinations for the year.

Illinois (Macon, Peoria, Rockford)

Indiana (Indianapolis Dirt Track, Indianapolis Road Course, Jennings County Fair, Knox County Fair, Lawrenceburg Motorcycle, Miller Raceway Park, RTR Motorplex)

Kentucky (Cedar Ridge)

Michigan (Auto City, Birch Run, Crystal, Galesburg, Merritt, Mid-Michigan, Mottville, Silver Bullet, Thunderbird, Tri-City)

Ohio (Mid-Ohio, Midway, Painesville, Portsmouth)

Pennsylvania (Michael's Mercer, Pittsburgh)

Tennessee (Clarksville, Crossville, Duck River, Nashville Superspeedway)

Wisconsin (Milwaukee Mile)

West Virginia (Ohio Valley, West Virginia Motor Speedway)

Favorite New Track: Indianapolis Dirt Track.  If you ever get a chance to go then DO IT!!  Tight little track with tons of action.  The midgets were spectacular here.

Least Favorite: Mottville.  $15 to watch 12 cars.  2 street stocks and the rest were 4 cylinders.  This place is a dump.

I'm already trying to make plans for 2022.  What were your highlights for the year?

My wife and I had a baby in 2021, so that kept racing to a minimum, but of the 9 races I went to, I saw 4 sprint car crown jewels (2 Kings Royals, Knoxville Nats and National Open) so I can't complain. 

Favorite race was probably the 2nd Kings Royal, with great battles between Larson, McFadden and Sheldon. 

No new tracks unfortunately, I have been stuck at 114 since 2019. Definitely looking at more races and new tracks in 2022. 

Went to fewer races than ever this year. I went to Port Royal a few times, but didnt get a chance to go the other Central PA tracks. I went to I-55, Oskaloosa, and a week at Knoxville which was fun. I-55 was a such a fun, badass place. 

I've kind of just started doing different things and didn't plan my weekends around going to races. Don't get me wrong if I have a chance to go to a race, I'll still go, but the urgency just wasn't there. I did a lot more hunting, fishing, house partying, and general tomfoolery than I did in previous years. I watched on Flo when I could and if I was out, I just followed social media to see how things transpired. 

Did I miss the races? Meh, the jury is still out.

Congrats on the new addition

I only got to one new track and it was the highlight of my racing year. I live in the Pacific Northwest, which is kind of a racing dead spot in the country (in my opinion). With all the Covid restrictions enacted by our moronic governor, I despaired of seeing the Outlaws in person this year. As a result, in July I traveled to Wisconsin and saw both WoO races at Cedar Lake Speedway with an old school friend who lives in Minneapolis. They were definitely the best sprint car races I have seen in many years. Next year I'm hoping to make it up to Skagit for the Outlaws, but we shall see. Family life limits my traveling for now. I'm sure that will change when the kids get older.

Thank you!

This year was a pretty good year for us in California as racing at most tracks is back! Last year there were pretty much only races at my local track, Marysville Racewy, which I really enjoyed going to every other Wednesday. This year the KWS 410s and SCCT 360s were back after a year due to being cancelled because of Covid restrictions crap. No new tracks for me, but I enjoy going to tracks I have already been to. This year I went to:

Marysville, Placerville, Petaluma, Chico (Silver Dollar), Stockton, Merced, Hanford (WoO show), and Tulare Thunderbowl for the Trophy Cup! 

I really want to go to both Perris and Ventura someday soon! I have been to pretty much every other dirt track in CA so far. 

I have also been to Ocean (Watsonville), Antioch, American Valley, Bakersfield, Kern Country Speedway, and the now closed Ernie Purcel in Grass Valley, Baylands in Fremont, and San Jose Speedway.

Looking forward to the new Golden State King of the 
West series schedule! 

Winged sprintcars = the fastest and most exciting 
racecars on dirt! 

Re: Mottville-

Which was the better race, the street stock heat or the street stock feature?

I topped out at 40 tracks during the last ten years and went to two races this year but probably watched 1,000 more from home.  My entire season was spent in the man cave watching races after yard work and other obligations.  There was no travel time or expense and no motel rooms needed.  Part of the reason for so fee races was cataracts that made night driving a chore and I finally got the surgery and had that fixed back in September so there could be a few more racing trips next year.

Traveling to races alone doesn't make much sense to me and that is what I usually end up doing when I go.  It's not much fun footing the whole bill, doing all the driving and sitting by myself at the track.  I live in an area where any 410 race except for a handful of nearby specials is going to be a minimum of 200 miles.  I'm ok with it though when I can manage to watch the Outlaws, All Stars, USAC and IRA from home.  Personally I don't miss all that solo windshield time.

Stan Meissner