Some Ga. racing news

[ALASKA54]

Some good:


http://www.screvenmotorspeedway.com/

Some not so good:


http://www.dmpspeedway.com/schedule.html

[leftfield]

Headed up to Oglethorpe Friday and over to Screven for the WOO latemodels on Saturday. Should be a great weekend of racing!!

[JackTripper]

I don't know that there is such a thing as good news any more for pavement racing in Georgia. ASA SAT cancels races, Watermelon cancels stuff, GAS hasn't done much, on and on. It's rough up there now for those track owners.

[AJ14]

There are some success stories in short track racing , Eldora , Bowman Gray , Five Flags , and apparently some tracks in New England and further North from what Andre says . The funny thing is though , none of those tracks have very much in common . You can't point to one or two things that make them successful . They have very different owners , different rules , some are near large population centers , some aren't . Some have very long seasons , some don't . Some are dirt , some are asphalt . Even the economy can't explain it , every area is different , and north of the border is certainly a different economy .

[georgep]

The pavement tracks making the money run the Whelen Modifieds or SK Modifieds (Whelen with a smaller engine) After to talking to the owner of Wall Stadium in Belmar the modifieds are keeping him open. That is also the reason Bowman Grey is doing so well all these years.
I THINK that the era of Super Late Models has been going down since American Speed Association closed it's doors. The ASA of today is a different animal with ALL divisions under their banner.
Love or hate NASCAR they do have a solid division in the modifieds.

[andre]

One rule to remember: if you want to pack the place, the show has to be worth the drive and the price.

If you want to fill the Miami stadium, are you going to bring in a local bar singer or Pink Floyd?????

Same apply to racing, or any entertainment event.

We have race track here in Québec that are packed all the time, because the show is awesome all the time. And some are empty all the time because it's not worth going. And it's the same everywhere, Québec, US Northeast or Fla.

Take any of your Fla track, put a major class a field of 25+ every week + 2 or 3 support classes with fields of 20+ week in week out, and don't worry, after the word is out, the place will pack itself.

[AJ14]

I've often wondered if the absense of the NASCAR modifieds in Florida is the result of planning , or if no one ever made a real attempt to bring them to this state . Its the home of NASCAR , you'd think this would be the home of the modifieds and Bowman Gray would only see them on tour . Why would they be based anywhere but Florida ?
I know they are one of my favorite parts of Speedweeks , and from the fan reaction i'd say its theirs too .

[georgep]

I've often wondered if the absense of the NASCAR modifieds in Florida is the result of planning , or if no one ever made a real attempt to bring them to this state . Its the home of NASCAR , you'd think this would be the home of the modifieds and Bowman Gray would only see them on tour . Why would they be based anywhere but Florida ?
I know they are one of my favorite parts of Speedweeks , and from the fan reaction i'd say its theirs too .

This is the reason that I was TOLD when I tired to bring a modified down in 1974. You can not get to NASCAR Cup series from the modifieds. You had to drive late models and the fans wanted the cars to LOOK LIKE the cars that raced at Daytona and the wanted the Chevy Ford thing LIKE NASCAR had at Daytona.
Well news flash when was the LAST time a LOCAL Late Model Driver made it to the big time?
Now look at the Modified drivers:
Steve Parks, Tommy Baldwin Ray Everingham, Geoff Bodine, Todd Bodine and a couple of others I can not think of at this time.
Fans WILL pack the house for a tour type show, sorry but the IMCA cars just do not have the same thing as the ground pounders from the Tour Series.
Well now you know that I am a modified fan from the 1950's that is why I own and drive one. Tried an IMCA and it just does not do it for me.

[cake]

Late Models are failing because there is 70 different series down south and 70 different sets of rules

[georgep]

Late Models are failing because there is 70 different series down south and 70 different sets of rules

Agree, there is only ONE Modified tour the Whealen that is why they are a success

[mocha2@dishmail.net]

Nascar does not give a crap about the modifieds.There is also the True Value modified series that does well in New England.In New York and Pennsylvania the have the ROC tour that does pretty well too.

[georgep]

Nascar does not give a crap about the modifieds.There is also the True Value modified series that does well in New England.In New York and Pennsylvania the have the ROC tour that does pretty well too.

Agree but remember that down here unless you are a transplant like me you never heard of those series. The other point is that those cars can RUN with NASCAR since the rules are so close. No MAJOR expense to be ready to go. The late models spend more to run a local track if they try to than the modifieds to run a different series. That is the whole point they are pricing themselves in a corner.

[mocha2@dishmail.net]

Very good point about the rules.They do have a fair amount of crossover while some just prefer one of the series.Some of the best races I have ever seen were the mods at Louden,NH.I heard the mods at Richmond were good too but I never got to see them there.

[georgep]

Very good point about the rules.They do have a fair amount of crossover while some just prefer one of the series.Some of the best races I have ever seen were the mods at Louden,NH.I heard the mods at Richmond were good too but I never got to see them there.

Bristol was good and FAST with just the North South cars. A GOOD example is Wall Stadium they have at least three different grades of modifieds running together Whealen, SK and MAD (Modifies afordable division) Cast Iron motors.
Could it be done in Florida, YES, could it survive in Florida, NO. WHY? to many tracks want you JUST to run with them so the TWEAK the rules so you can not go anyplace else.
The big thing I have NOT brought up is TRACK SIZE.
If you run a 1/4 or 1/5 on Friday then run a 1/2 on Saturday you have some major tweaking to do to get ready. Up North (sorry Y'all) they where ALL 1/2 or 5/8 mile so you JUST changed the gears. Tires where the same and so where the rules. That is how you get 40 cars on Friday and up to 60 on Saturday in ONE division.

[AJ14]

George , i hadn't heard of the MAD cars . How are their rules different ?
I don't see NASCAR ever running the modifieds in Florida , used to at Daytona on the road course , that was always a pretty wild show . But it might be worthwhile for a budding race promotor to start a touring series running exact or pretty close copies of the Whelen cars in Florida . You'd probably have to find a series sponsor ( i wonder if Whelen would be interested in expanding ) and offer the series to a group of tracks at a reduced rate until the crowds picked up . Race at 4 tracks , one track per week , or only special shows at a number of tracks . Just need to avoid overexposure . Even i would get tired of a Pink Floyd concert every week . Maybe even include a touring sprint car series as well . That would be a terriffic double bill .