More Mid-Week Shows...

[ancrdave]

As a Sprint Car nut, I visit Hoseheads.com every day and noticed that last night, USAC ran a Midget show at Jefferson County Speedway in Fairbury, NB... Had a turnout of 33 cars on a Tuesday night... Not sure on any report of what kind of crowd was there but I bet it was the biggest thing going in the bustling metropolis of Fairbury! Nice to see Chad Boat get the win... Met his dad Billy down here a couple of times at the PRI shows... Very good racing family...
By the way, if you have nothing else to do tonight and access to a private jet (like Phil Jaques), there is a Wednesday night USAC Midget show at Solomon Valley Raceway in Beloit, KS - The 7th Annual "Chad McDaniel Memorial"...

[Elto-Joe]

Midweek

Several reports advise it was "STANDING ROOM ONLY"

[Phil Jacques]

As a Sprint Car nut, I visit Hoseheads.com every day and noticed that last night, USAC ran a Midget show at Jefferson County Speedway in Fairbury, NB... Had a turnout of 33 cars on a Tuesday night... Not sure on any report of what kind of crowd was there but I bet it was the biggest thing going in the bustling metropolis of Fairbury! Nice to see Chad Boat get the win... Met his dad Billy down here a couple of times at the PRI shows... Very good racing family...
By the way, if you have nothing else to do tonight and access to a private jet (like Phil Jaques), there is a Wednesday night USAC Midget show at Solomon Valley Raceway in Beloit, KS - The 7th Annual "Chad McDaniel Memorial"...

Hahaha Dave! No private jet here! Though my 77 has been a jet itself lately with having just set the track record in my division @ Thompson on the hottest day of the year!

[Frasson118]

Merittville, Ontario ran Monday night Big Block Mods, with Ransomville NY running on Tuesday.
Both had full fields and great crowds.
Keep in mind.... these guys also raced Friday, Saturday, and Sunday leading up to this.
5 consecutive nights for many of the competitors.

[OldSchool+]

"...my 77 has been a jet itself lately with having just set the track record in my division @ Thompson [Speedway]."--Phil

Fantastic!

Glad a little grits-and-gravy Southern Technology is finally getting you Northerners up to speed!

[Darren]

Is this the time that someone is suppose to say "They know how to do it better up north." Or is it that racing season is a lot shorter up there then tracks running the whole year now here.

[OldSchool+]

I dunno, I believe I might be trying to rub a little salt in all that.

Probably not my best moment.

Glad the mid week shows work up there.

[Phil Jacques]

Give credit where it's due, Patrick, Aaron and Scott got me going strong with this car, along with the help from my two crew guys Joe and Les.

There will always be things we do better, and things FL does better. It's all subjective.

Honestly though Darren, we race from the first week of March to the end of November here... Most tracks have 26-28 schedule point seasons. In comparison by my count NSS has 30 point races that alternate divisions. We for the most part race the same division, every week with a few exceptions scattered throughout. You may race longer, but I firmly believe we race more as far as that goes. We also do have TQ Midget races indoors sporadically and occasionally a track will take a chance on a Mid Winter race like a few did last year. Obviously, that depends on weather more than anything.

[OldSchool+]

"We for the most part race the same division, every week with a few exceptions scattered throughout."--PJ

Philosophically, and from the grandstand, I strongly support that.

From the perspective of yourself, Joe and Les, maybe in search of a championship, am not so sure...

[Phil Jacques]

"We for the most part race the same division, every week with a few exceptions scattered throughout."--PJ

Philosophically, and from the grandstand, I strongly support that.

From the perspective of yourself, Joe and Les, maybe in search of a championship, am not so sure...

Honestly, I like how FL does it better. Alternate the divisions and give the drivers a break and a chance to recoup the money and get the car back RIGHT rather than hack it up and come back half as good as it should be.

Why are we talking about this? Poor Dave... We HiJacked his thread lol

[OldSchool+]

Am blaming it on Dave, after all, he mentioned your name...

What about the strength of a track, and expectations of their fans?

Do you think the drivers become "used" to a weekly show at a given track and are then largely dedicated to that facility?

Do you think the fans become similarly addicted, er, used to, one or more of the same classes every week that they can count on?

That is how it was when I grew up, and it seemed like a "stronger" deal. Of course, that was the sixties, and the track closed in the early 70s, so...

[kendo]

we race from the first week of March to the end of November here... Most tracks have 26-28 schedule point seasons. .

What track races 1st week of March through end of November?
Thought you raced at Seekonk?

[Phil Jacques]

What track races 1st week of March through end of November?
Thought you raced at Seekonk?

I race at Thompson. Thompson scaled back a few years back. There are tracks that start early, and tracks that finish late. I never said one single track runs 1st week of March through the end of November. I said we (in general) race in that time frame. I was a little high on my guestimate, but still in comparison, our divisions seem to race much more frequently. I was on track at Thompson this year on March 5th for Practice. The will run some tracks all the way through Thanksgiving up here including Wall in NJ and a few other tracks in NH. For argument sake though, Seekonk runs 25 Saturday NASCAR Point races, not to mention their Friday races they also do in the same time frame, Stafford runs 23 Friday Night NASCAR Points Races, Waterford cut down this year to 18 as well for their Saturday Shows but also includes 18 Thursday Night shows as well. Even Star Speedway up in NH has 22 Points events. Keep in mind too, like I said, with the exception of a couple random off nights here and there for particular divisions, Almost every single one of each of these tracks divisions runs every week. It's a tough schedule that sees the fields thin out towards the end of the year or become patchy towards mid season. A lot of these tracks are averaging anywhere between 15-20 sometimes 25 cars per division, and it can take it's toll as you well know. I love the schedule Thompson provides us with. It's similar to how NSS seems to do their alternating schedule, except we don't alternate, we just race every other week. I think that's why Thompson's car counts stay steady just like NSS seems to this year. It's a great way to give guys a chance to get back to the track repaired properly. A lot of guys, myself included would rather skip a week if we raced every week to make sure the car is right. That only robs the fans imo. So NSS is definitely doing it right and props to them. I haven't payed much attention to the other tracks schedules, can you tell me who else is following suit with a sort of A week B week type schedule? Im curious now.

[Phil Jacques]

Am blaming it on Dave, after all, he mentioned your name...

What about the strength of a track, and expectations of their fans?

Fans come to see a good show, no matter the track or division. If it's entertaining, it will put butts in the seats. I will go watch anything from bombers to pro stocks and supermods as long as it's entertaining. It actually is discouraging to me a bit when I hear people say that Pure Stocks and Street Stocks or Bombers aren't race cars... It's on a track, in competition, it's a racecar to me.

Do you think the drivers become "used" to a weekly show at a given track and are then largely dedicated to that facility?

When thompson cut from 26 to 8 races a few years back, people lost their minds. Today, we have 10 races and those same people have flipped almost 180º and really like how it is. It gives you a chance to recollect your thoughts, fix your car and do things right. As a fan, we all want to see more racing, but a lot of racers, myself included, have tight budgets and the alternating rotating of divisions, or shorter schedules end up providing a better show for the fans in the end because more competitors can come back at 100% and give 100% rather than struggle to make it there at 50% I think

Do you think the fans become similarly addicted, er, used to, one or more of the same classes every week that they can count on?

I love going to any track with good racing. Class doesn't matter. Seekonk for example runs 4cyls, Pure Stocks, Bandolero's, Mini Cup and Legends on Friday, and Street Stocks, Pro Trucks, Late Models and Pro Stocks on Saturday every week. It's a pretty good variety. Stafford does similar with their kids divisions on Monday's and Waterford with their Pure Stocks, 4cyls Bando's and Legends on Thursday. One thing I think is cool that Waterford does is occasionally they will bring one of the NASCAR divisions from Saturday shows and run them on the Thursday shows. Fans of particular divisions will always go see that division no matter when it is. But that doesn't (in my eyes anyway) mean they shouldn't go other times too.

That is how it was when I grew up, and it seemed like a "stronger" deal. Of course, that was the sixties, and the track closed in the early 70s, so...

[kendo]

There are tracks that start early, and tracks that finish late. I never said one single track runs 1st week of March through the end of November. .

So you cherry picked and combined the schedules of a few tracks and compared that to the schedule of 1 track (NSS) down here,to make your point.
Actually, I don't disagree with you.Having lived up there most my life,most up north fit more racing into April-Sept than racers down here do all year.