The end of Stock Car Racing at Speed World

[katlizy]

Kat, If you had your crew and Dora had hers, y'all could just about have an event!

Who is Dora?

[OldSchool+]

Kat--Dora Thorne (see "Circus County" thread). She brought a coupla cars to Citrus County Speedway lately.

Sometimes am so obtuse even I don't know what I am talking about...

[Lurkin]

LOL ! It's definately part of the problem. If it wasn't , how would everyone on here know the track has been struggling ? It's for damn sure they didn't hear it at the track because only a handful ever went .

LANGUAGE!!!

[UREZ2PASS]

LANGUAGE!!!

Did you hear about the fish that swam into a wall ?
He also said "damn".

[OldSchool+]

Language?

English, please.

[Lurkin]

Freakin Homerun EZ

[Don Nerone]

So who rembers when Billy owned the track and it opened in March and he closed it in may for many years.
The cars and fans didn't go.
Billy was interested in the drag strip only.
He got a new GM every year for 10 years.
Remind you of anything??
Sometimes a track has to get to the bottom to come back and I think its there now.
A new face and a some new ideas now would work. Everyone has thrown some mud on the track and it can only get better from here.
I think that Butch Carr was a good idea and if they would have given it a little time would have worked.
Someone step up to the plate and swing at it. It is ready for a great comeback now.

Don62

[OldSchool+]

Someone with money.

[Boneman]

Two years ago, De Soto was a basket case. It wasn't much better last year, but in 2014 it is taking flight.

Two years ago, Showtime was resurrected from the dead. It was slim pickins for the first few weeks, but they steadily built and improved.

A couple years ago, Melbourne Motorsports Park rose from a mudhole in a field. When they were running, they drew a solid field of junkers that were built in a hurry, and only raced there. The fans came out too, and in surprising numbers.

Motorsports is still alive and healthy in the US. The Speedworld oval can come back to life. In my opinion, it won't come back to life without major changes to the whole presentation. There is no hope in trying to recreate the show from better days. It has to look different than the past(IE: Showtime's mini stocks), it has to be fast and exciting (pavement sprints, figure 8's), it has to draw in new fans (audio drags, supermoto), and don't forget passionate racers who don't expect to get rich (shifter karts, super bikes, etc.) The most important building block? It needs to be carried for a while by someone with money.

A difficult task? Yes! But not impossible.

[egspeedway]

I completely agree with Boneman. Someone who can absorb the losses needs to show the fan and driver that the track is moving forward and will be there week in and week out. No bogus rainouts, give each class a chance to show they are sustainable and appreciated. I think new and different classes is a good idea especially the sprint car part as they have rarely been a frequent participant. What the hell Citrus is running off racers in all classes so you now have cars that were not previously available. As I have previously said I am a dirt guy first have always seen quality racing every time I went to OSW.

[kendo]

This year is done...Now is the time for the promoter to plan for next year.Showtime and Desoto already have the 2015 schedules out.That is how a business is run.

[Matt Albee]

I hate to put a damper on all of this wishful thinking, i'd love to see OSW come back and prosper too. But truth is, as long as the current owner or lessee, ( I'm not sure which one Ozzy is ) runs the show, racing as we know it at OSW is done. Not just for the time being, but forever. The dragstrip will prosper, the oval will become a venue for car shows and drifting competition. This months track manager wasn't hired because of his extensive knowledge of oval track racing, he knows drifting and tuner cars ( imports ).
As others have pointed out, the place hasn't really even been maintained very well, much less any big improvements being made. It's no longer going to be a stock car track as long as Ozzy is in charge. He doesn't seem to think that oval racing makes sense, and he's not about to spend any meaningful money to find out any different.
So let's all start planning for a future without OSW, because the future is now.

[scottgarrity07]

As painful as the truth may be, I have to agree with you 100% on this one, Matt.

[dd38]

I agree too. Drag racing doesn't make sense either. You go in a straight line for a few seconds, running the piss out of your engine. And you go sit around until you get to do it again. Sometimes waiting up to an hour. I Drag raced back in the mid 70's and most nites I averaged 3 passes a nite total (2 of them just time runs). Now I do like the professional stuff like Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro stock. Drag racing is a Dragggggggggg.