[Dennis ONeil]

Progressive style racing, earning your feature start through heat races, has been aroung for ever. It has been the norm at many dirt tracks for years.
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Thanks
Dennis ONeil
www.oneilsauto.com

"A MIND IS LIKE A PARACHUTE.............WORKS BETTER WHEN OPEN"

[jeff finley]

Thanks for all the imput.I talked with Wayne Bishop from Mc creary tires friday.He sells the tires at spartan and is frustrated as well about tire issues.He does have a great tire at spartan and we agreed on that but hoosier is buying up the market.That leaves little room for mccreary to grow unless they get aggresive as well.We tested the 970 friday and it was 1/2 a second off the slick.My opinion would be to have a 1500.00 to win 50 lap race with 250 to start and good pay back and see what we can draw in and then see where we need to head from there.Crate motors have a 100 lb weight break now and that needs to be looked into for next year.I feel the race structure is fine may be a fast car dash could be added.The fan count looked great friday.There was great racing as well.Just wished we had more cars.Respectfully Jeff finley

[governor72]

Jeff,

I know what you are saying about tires. Wayne is a great guy but in my opinion the 970 holds up much better, plus it has almost the same foot print as the slick when on a 10" rim.

What difference does it make if it is 1/2 sec slower as it will still be the same 1/2 sec for others.

I know the SLM's @ Kalamazoo seem to have no issues with that tire. I have talked to guys who feel it is better after 150 laps than new and 300 laps is not unheard of.

I feel the SLM could easily be on a one tire a night deal and the mods could be on an every other week rotation.

Dan Logan

[jeff finley]

We ran the tire to see if we could allow it on fridays per jim but it was not fast enough to compete against the slick is all that was for.Jeff

[jeff finley]

If any one sees foote,rugg,dunovin,hackworth,tim ryan and on and on.Tell them i am lookin for them.Jeff

[Jerry Garland]

Jeff,

you might come out to owosso (this saturday) because I know John Donivon is going to be out there. and while you are out there you can ask the other drivers that show up why they are not racing at spartan. Just a suggestion.

JG
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Torg Motorsports!

[grr456]

[beetle]

i live in east lansing and have been attending races at spartan on and off for the last 35 years. i love the track and thank all of you for providing me with my friday night entertainment. iam the race fan. the supers are why i come to the track , not that i dont enjoy the other classes you people do a great job and we need you to race,but the supers are awsome and thats why i go.
so i say to the promotor of the track please keep the supers and more of them. ps jeff finley you need get back in a car and show them how its done.
thank you from east lansing.

[jeff finley]

Thanks for your replys.We ran owosso and they where expecting 28 to 30 cars and they had 18 on hand.My brother ran auto city tuesday and they had 15(he won by the way).These are tracks that only race supers for special races that pay 1500.00 or more.To get people out of the wood work we will need to pay more for them to buy tires or come up with a plan to lure them in?Dunivon came on friday and that helped.Talked with hackworth and he is still has a issue he is upset with but may run chuckies memorial race.Tim Ryan will run chuckies race as well but wont get off the coach to run weekly though bonnie is ready for him to.Doc and sodman should be almost back with rebuilt motors.Missed bob bauer last week and miss chuckie and stan everyday because they where that type of racer.Honestly we have great racing with the cars we have.I counted the pit board one night and there was almost 90 cars total.The crowd does appear to be pretty good.Again these are my opinions and ideas .The low budget teams are fadding and thats not healthy for anybody.That reflects the world today.At owosso it was the same travlers that can do it week in and out.They look at what it pays for the top 3 spots and there on there way.You know in your heart if your true racer you can make that happen but hope is more logical.16 cars is a great number to have and we need to get back to that.I can get 4 good used tires for any one with a day or two notice so the offers out there.Thanks beetle but its really neat to watch my son progress and be able do with him what my dad did with me and more importantly for my folks be able to see it.But i always ponder the thought of the harvest 100.Can not find the spell checking button so sorry in advance. Jeff

[Jim Leasure]

We will also have John McNalley's Super back possibly this week. It will be a bitter sweet night for many to see the number 10 at Spartan but with out Stan. The good news is Bud will be driving.

Most tracks in this area are struggling with Super counts. We can learn from the one that isn't.

It is not only the high cost of operating that keeps some of the established drivers on the couch but there is a natural attrition rate that we are seeing. Motivating drivers to purshase or build a Super may be difficult given the fact a new driver would be faced with such an expense to be competitive. Trying to influence people to race that don't really want to is a bandadge (but a good idea). It is my belief that the Supers will continue to struggle (except for special shows that have the big purses) until we make it easier for drivers to get into the division by making it more affordable for them to get in and to operate once they are in.

Tires that need to be impounded hurts the driver that came to Spartan every once and a while. Buying two new and two take offs is too much work too much money and they can't take them home and use them else where. If a driver could race on the tires that they have they would be more likely to run Spartan once and a while. If you look back a few years many drivers were not there weekly but because they would come sometimes, there were nights we had to run a consi. Tire soaking has hurt this division as much as anything and it will also do the same for the other divisions in due time.

Powerful engines that are expensive to purchase and maintain is also a deterrent. I think we will soon need to give big weight breaks for cars with less bells and whistles in order to make them competitive. Every driver has one common denominator and that is they choose to race for the fun and excitement, it is a choice they make. When they spend a ton of money instead of two tons we might see higher car counts but it won't happen over night.

As posted earlier we will do some serious brain storming as soon as the season is over but every day we think about a solution, and every one including the people watching from the stands can list what they think the recipe to repair (not replace) this division should be emailing or posting their ideas. Basically become part of the solution (not on race night though, please!).

[martyb]

You might want to look at Flat Rock and Kalamazoo. Both tracks appear to have good car counts. I don't know how much ARCA or NASCAR sanctioning has to do with it. On other boards there has been discussions about dirt tracks triving and asphalt failing but if you look at car counts, there are problems with both surfaces. Oakshade in Ohio is a good example of a dirt track that is thriving (130 -150 cars a night for 3 classes with 30 to 50 late models). But then you have several tracks here in Michigan that don't draw 100 cars in 5 or 6 classes on dirt. Kalamazoo and Flat rock are both drawing full fields for the late models weekly. Granted kalamzoo combined their top 2 classes but still they are getting close to 40 cars in the late model class. I know a lot of the same cars that race at Spartan also race at Owosso, but I think you may need to look more at Flat Rock and Kalamazoo.
I am not a fan of track tires but I know most tracks do this. It has hurt guys, as Jim put it, that come once in a while. Rules vary from track to track which has hurt the traveling guys. Maybe what is needed is the American Racing Congress that Dick Beebe and others formed back in the early 70's that made the rules more uniformed from track to track.
Enough rambling on from a long time fan (started watching races at Jackson in the early 60's) who probably doesn't know at thing about the costs of racing or what the problems are. Just my thoughts on the matter.
Thanks Marty Blume Almost forgot, I loved the good old days when there was rain at another track and you never knew who was going to show up.

[KT]

The cars are out there. There were at least 60 cars at M-40 last night with only one car from the east side of the state and no cars from the Lansing area.

Angola is getting a decent count.
_________________
Keith

www.myspace.com/ktfor3

[beetle]

I to was at M-40 last night and 60 supers was a great show, 260 laps of late model racing WOW! But i was also was a little shocked at who was not there
more than who was, But is was a great show. What about Galesburg speedway, that is a flat 1/4 mile track. They get 12 to 16 late models saturday night. Seems to me if we can get even 3-4 of them to come here to spartan on friday that would be a plus.Some of them used race up here quite
a lot. What about spartan having a $5000.00 to win super show. Just a thought.

[jeff finley]

With chuckies race friday and folks adding lap money i sure hope we can bring some drivers out.I will do all i can to get with any of them to get some imput.Jeff

[jeff finley]

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Hey Gang Yes i did spend sometime with Harry Foote.He is committed to the hoosier 970 and we spent sometime with Jim Liesure and we need to see whats in store for next year.One thing that bothers me is these posts seem to open up avenues for folks to vent in the wrong direction.I have been doing this a long time and nothing ever comes from bad to good.We all need to take a breath as we all should know this thread opened up a lot of stress for the spartan gang.As i said before i would walk thru fire with Jim to see this racetrack go forward and i beleive jim is that guy.He just needs time to get his feet wet.He is surley headed that direction.As for the folks that did not choose to particapate friday they are who they are and shame on them.Find a different racer to root for.Life is what it is and we can not change that.Live life for what it is today not tomorrow because tomorrow may never come.But what ever you choose to do be polite to others.Respectfully Jeff Finley
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Respectfully Jeff Finley www.chadfinley.com
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Respectfully Jeff Finley
www.chadfinleyracing.com
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