I know there are a lot of long-term Off-Road guys here, figured this could lead to an interesting discussion.

Views: 2974

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Sounded a lot like sour grapes to me, heres a suggestion dipshit up your cash purse and you will have all the talent you need. He said he already had sponsors and TV.

oil

As you all know i am hardcore off-road and ive gotta say everything that bob says about the history of short course is true . It was them that bailed out SODA /CORR , HOWEVER making their drivers choose 1 series or the other isnt right . If anything i think it will HURT the sport cause it will water down BOTH series . I say what they need to do is let the drivers do both series but they can only go for the Championship in 1 series or the other . For example if Robby were doing the LOORS SERIES he could run in TORC and get the race prize money but wouldnt be able to collect CHAMPIONSHIP points

How often does a corporation come out and tell you the truth? I don't like everything they do but you can't argue that they have been good for the sport and a split series would certainly be bad for the sport.

Basically it all boils down to 1 thing . M O N E Y ! ! ! ! ! ! !

The drivers are going to go wherever they can make the most money . The 1 big bullet that TORC has over LOORS is CRANDON . Crandon is the Daytona of short course and has more history and prestige than any other track there is . Not really sure what to say about this whole thing as i love both series and i want what is best for the sport overall . On the 1 hand i do agree that there needs to be 1 series with all the drivers united . on the other hand i dont agree with what bob is doing to make it happen . That is why i suggested the let drivers pick their championship scenario that way its not up to either sanctioning body it will be up to the drivers to decide . If you want the drivers in your series then offer more money for them . Like i stated above the drivers will go where the money lays and in return the fans will go where the drivers are .

"Crandon is the Daytona of short course" Seriously? I can see you never raced at Riverside. None of the races anywhere or ever are even in the same league. Races at Riverside pulled in 80,000 fans. Think about that for a minute.

Riverside is a little something called a PARKING LOT ! Yes in it's day Riverside WAS  really awesome and could never compare with Crandon as far as excitement or amount of people it could hold but it sadly is gone . Another thing is Riverside was never a permanent track like Crandon is .

Crandon has held short course racing since 1970 when the original Brush Run 101 was over a 4 lap 25 mile course through the woods til in 1984 the current 1.75 mile track was built . In 2004 the track put in a loop which shortened the track to 1.25 miles . Today both layouts can be used for different races , with the shorter course giving fans full view . The track has host a number of different sanctioning bodies through out the years such as MORA SODA CORR WSORR and now TORC . With the biggest race being the World Championship held every Labor Day weekend . The winners list of this race is a virtual whose who of offroad racing , including such drivers as Jack Flannery , Walker Evans , Robby Gordon , Curt LeDuc , Scott Taylor , Rob MacCachren , Johnny Greves , and Jason Baldwin just to name a few . The race is also very prestigous in the fact that it is the only other form of motorsports to share the name of it its annual trophy with the Indy 500 , that being the BORG WARNER TROPHY .

My understanding is Crandon would draw 100k + fans. Riverside was a big deal but I don't know where the 80,000 fans were hiding when I was there. We raced it the last year it ran and it was a zoo but 80,000 people doesnt make any sense to me. Dodger stadium holds 55,000. I haven't been to Crandon but I have been involved in off-road racing for 30 years and have always thought of Crandon as the Daytona of short course racing.

YOu are comparing to different eras as well. ASCOT was the jewel of the dirt track world on the west coast, Like Riverside in its hayday it was great. They both are parking lots with lots of stories burried under them. No offense to anyone that doesnt fit myself included but the going crowd to most of the short course events never heard of or know what Riverside was. Most dont care about the history of it . Thompsons ridge and everything that was cool, Just like Crandon there is Knoxville, city ran and still going very strong because the community cares and wants it to be there. Those are some pretty cool parking lots they have out in California. Just saying you cant compare yesterday to today. Riverside "was" awesome, Crandon still is AWESOME!

Isn't this whole deal over a charity event TORC is going to hold to benefit the family of Rick Huseman who died? A guy that most drivers of both series knew and respected? Is not the LOORRS guy missing the big picture here...

Some of you must be pretty naive. This goes on all the time in racing between promoters. If you are a regular in the weekly show at track A you are asking for all kinds of problems if one Saturday night you race at track B over in the next county. Promoters always do whatever they can to make sure the racers stay at their tracks. It has been that way since the beginning of auto racing.

I ran a short track car one Summer. The Orange Show Speedway and the old Irwindale Speedway 605 were both NASCAR tracks. They had an alliance, 605 normally ran on Friday night and OSS ran on Saturday. It was fairly simple to swap the rear gear and change the suspension setup to go from the tight 1/4 mile at OSS to the big 1/2 mile at 605 They encouraged it honestly. But, if you ever went to one of the other SoCal short tracks like Saugus or Cajon you would have problems. Few racers ever did it simply because the rules were kept different enough that you couldn't just show up and race. Plus, if you did you would get stuffed into the wall for being an "outsider." Then the following Monday or Tuesday you would get a call from the NASCAR promoters asking how that worked out down at Cajon? Did you plan on going back?

I drag raced some before that. If you were a regular and popular at one of Mickey Thompson's tracks he didn't want you going other places. You would get a call from Mickey during the week if Carlsbad was putting on a big show the next weekend. If you said yes I am going to Carlsbad, San Fernando, Riverside, or any of the other 100 drag strips in California he made you a deal. He would say something like I can't match the purse those guys have posted, but come to my strip and I will pay you good "tow money"and kick in a couple of cases of oil. If he really wanted you at his strip he might throw in a pair of slicks. The purse for Comp Eliminator was $50 to $100 at a weekly show. I know not much by today's standards, but in the 1960's it was. So did you take MT's perks and go to Fontana for the sure thing? Or go to Carlsbad to run against cars from all over the state, Las Vegas, and Phoenix for the $250 purse? And just to go on record I liked Mickey a lot.

This has always gone on and always will go on. It's a business and now it's a big business. I have been following this on RDC. Robby has ties to TORC. I can see where Lucas is worried about the TORC race in SoCal and also worried about Robby's SST. Many people keep saying that comparing short course to stadium racing is comparing apples to oranges. Well, to the people closely involved that is correct. But, to many of the casual spectators that fill the stands and to many of the sponsors it is the same thing. You need to stand back and look at everything that is known. After seeing what I have seen through a few minutes ago. If I was still racing I would be siding with Lucas at this time.

RSS

© 2024   Created by TOG.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service