PPV’s Plus Some Silver Dollar Nationals Thoughts

There are two Lucas Oil Dirt Late Models shows on PPV this weekend. The Busch 50 from Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois is on Lucas Oil Racing TV tonight at 6:30 p.m. Central Time and is available to yearly subscribers only. Tomorrow night, www.DirtonDirt.com will be showing the St. Louis U-Pick A Part 100 from Macon Speedway in Macon, Illinois. Modified action on the 1/5^th mile track will also be shown. Check out the DOD website for details.

I-80 Speedway promoter Joe Kosiski might think I will be knocking the $90 3 day Silver Dollar National reserved ticket package, apparently the only way to guarantee getting the same reserved seats each night. I am not going to. It is a steep price, but it is the price we have to pay to see one of dirt late model racing’s crown jewel events. So, Matt and I will pay-and hope admission prices won’t go up in the future as $90 is plenty for this retiree.

I would ask several things of Joe, though. First, when Lucas Oil announcer James Essex interviews you on the Saturday night of the Silver Dollar Nationals, DON’T announce an increase in the winner’s share of the purse. 53 is a number long associated with the Kosiski family, so $53,000 for a winner’s share of the purse seems appropriate. Plus, unless the winner’s share is increased to $100,000, I doubt any addition would draw a single car more.

$53,000 should remain the winner’s share every year the track hosts the Silver Dollar Nationals. I would like to see the lower half of the purse beefed up, BUT only if a major sponsor could be found to allow the increase-not coming out of the wallets of fans.

The other thing I would ask is to make sure everyone in the grandstand area has a reserved seat. It angers me a lot when people without reserved seats sit in the grandstand. Last year I watched a redneck foursome move three times when people who had the seats arrived. A sign in front of the grandstands saying “Reserved seats only,” is not going to keep anyone without reserved seats from walking up the grandstand steps. I am not sure how many people actually notice the sign, and those who do tend to ignore it.

What is needed? When we go to the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury American Legion Speedway in Illinois, I get a pit pass-the pits are near our back stretch parking spot and I don’t have to walk across the track to get to them. Like every other track, those in the pits at FALS wear a wristband. In this case, it is a plastic wristband and I do not take it off for two days. How about doing the same at the SDN and having people at the bottom of the stairs checking for the wristbands? Perhaps this sounds petty, but someone who paid for reserved seats should NOT have to ask someone who didn’t to move. Yeah, this does irritate the hell out of me.

I am not sure if egos involved would ever allow this, but it would be great if somehow the Silver Dollar Nationals could be co-sanctioned. No, I don’t mean my MLRA and the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series, I mean with Lucas Oil and the World of Outlaws. The WoO Wild West Tour finishes up about the same time as the SDN. Seldom do WoO drivers venture outside their series, but a co-sanctioned event would certainly bring them to Nebraska. I realize I am being greedy wanting all of the best drivers racing in the Cornhusker State, but it would turn a top ten event into a top five show.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

I Still Know How To Write

I haven’t posted a blog in forever. Well, it seems that way. I haven’t been to a race since the Knoxville Nationals-Late Model variety-last September. For years I never missed a race at Sunset Speedway, or at I-80 Speedway when it was known as Nebraska Raceway Park. I doubt I will attend any race until the Go 50 Lucas Oil show at I-80 Speedway in late May. That, the Silver Dollar Nationals, the Prairie Dirt Classic, and Knoxville in September are the only races I have on my calendar in 2018.

To me, most other specials simply aren’t special at all. Yes, Late Models are featured at many “specials,” but to me there is nothing special about a race when 3-4-5 support classes are included. And always, every damn time, one of the support classes is the dreaded B-mods, or whatever it is they are calling this class nowadays.

I used to watch NASCAR every Sunday, but haven’t watched at all this year. Cookie cutter tracks, lack of real racing, and bland drivers make for a product I don’t find entertaining anymore. Couple that with mostly knuckle-head announcers and TV production that is beyond annoying, and I just don’t bother. I remember a few years back going to Kansas Speedway on a Friday to watch Cup practice and qualifying. It was cheap, it was fun, and for a while I wanted to repeat that visit. Now the only way I would consider that is having my grandson along.

And yes, my grandson is another reason why races are less interesting to me. That young man is way beyond important to Jane and me, and his interests are mine. He loves basketball, he really loves baseball, and he likes track and soccer, so guess what I like? Check out my Facebook page for photos of him and me at games (I know-you might not agree with my politics, but that is not all who I am).

There is a photo of Henry and me at last night’s Nebraska vs. Iowa baseball game at Haymarket Park in Lincoln. Matt and I did not go to the “special” at I-80 Speedway, but opted instead for the NU double-header. We arrived at the park at 1:00 p.m. and didn’t leave until 9:00 p.m. And yes Joe Kosiski, I would have been screaming bloody murder if I ever attended an eight hour long race show. Instead I loved every minute of our day at the ball park. Strike outs, double plays, home runs, Henry with fist bumps to his favorite players, and Herbie Husker sharing his cowboy hat with my grandson. It was great fun.

Part of my problem is I was witness to the golden days of Nebraska racing with the Late Models at Sunset Speedway. Sorry, but today’s Late Model drivers are not as good as drivers in the finals years of the legendary Omaha track. The SLMR is a good series, I won’t deny that, but no, it does not compare to the NASCAR Busch All-Star Tour. And there is certainly no weekly rivalry to compare with that of Joe Kosiski and Kyle Berck in the late 90’s.

When Matt wants to go to Park Jefferson or Corning or even I-80 Speedway for an SLMR show I go, but reluctantly. Sunset Speedway once ran three classes, now every weekly show runs five or six classes. Sunset would have 100 cars in those three classes and competition to make a feature race was stiff. Now most tracks have less than 100 cars on hand, even with multiple classes, and except for the B-mods I hate, every car is going to make the feature race. It is just not the same.

I would like to think I am still a race fan. Just last weekend I watched two nights of Sprint Car racing from Texas on Lucas Oil Racing TV. There are at least 27 more nights of racing on LORTV that I will watch this year. I intend on buying a month of DirtVision to watch World of Outlaws Sprint Cars race at places like Fairbury, Jackson, Grand Forks, and Knoxville-11 nights of racing. And I suspect I will watch more on Speed Shift TV and DirtonDirt. That will take care of any need for speed I have, and if I get bored I can turn off the PPV at any time.

I would like things to be different, but I am doubtful they will be. One kudo to I-80 Speedway though. I like their concessions far better than the concessions at Haymarket Park. The service at the ball park is atrocious. The ball park serves Pepsi products, not Coke products. The Haymarket popcorn is pre-popped Colby Ridge popcorn. I hate pre-popped popcorn and I really dislike Colby Ridge popcorn. And Haymarket concessions have NOTHING to compare with I-80’s pork tenderloin sandwich.

Thanks for stopping by.