Why the sad face? It is because there is no racing this weekend that’s why. Oh I’m sure there will be some kind of racing this weekend, maybe something that resembles sports car racing but there is no stock car racing this weekend. What is that you said? Nascar is racing at Watkins Glen this weekend? I say Nay Nay! That is not a Nascar race, at least not in my book! It is no secrete that I loathe road course racing, to me it is just a wasted weekend. These cars were not designed and built to run on a road course and doing just that is a joke in my book. With only a hand full of races left before the cutoff to the chase this is a serious waste of money. I don’t care how many people show up there in New York state to watch a bunch of oval track drivers try to turn right. Where were they when the IRL was there or how about CART back in the day? I am tired of Nascar propping up road courses that if it weren’t for our sport would have closed a long time ago. People are just not all that interested in open wheel racing anymore unless it has to do with sprint cars and such.
I know that the track management at Watkins Glen will tell you that they had over 100,000 people there this weekend. It is my opinion that track promoters inflate their attendance figures so they can look better in the press so take 25 to 30 percent off that. It wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t count competitors as well. Wow am I being hateful? Not really, just real. There will of course be your usual road course ringers there this weekend. You know, the likes of Boris Said, Ron Fellows, Dan Gurney and so on. What this ordeal is all about is sometimes when a team has a young driver that doesn’t have any road course experience, they throw him out of the car for the road course weekend and put a “Road Course Ringer” in the car. These guys specialize in road course racing, usually in Grand Am cars or The American Sports Car series. My question is, how does a young driver get any experience on a road course if you are dumping him out of the car on these weekends? And when was the last time that you saw any of these so called “Experts” win a Nascar race on a road course?
I can’t remember one ever winning one of these, there is a vague image of maybe Boris Said doing it once and only once but for the most part these guys usually don’t finish in the top ten all that often. Hell your “Ringers” for Nascar are our own drivers here lately. Guys like Kurt Busch, Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon as well as Robby Gordon. If I had to put a road course ringer in my car you can bet money that I would pay him on a percentage of where he finished. In that case I wouldn’t be out much.
I’m working today so if I was inclined to listen to the Nationwide race today it will be on satellite radio. At least that will be broadcast on MRN radio, those guys might be able to make it sound somewhat exciting. Dave Moody could make snail racing sound wild! When I get home Sunday morning I’m not wasting my time watching the cup race. I’m going to an auction to see if I can pick up any tools cheap.
I could put up with this kind of racing if it were to be only one weekend in the early part of the season. Get it out of the lead up to the chase and you can keep it. As for me? As long as they run these tracks I’ll be looking for something else to do on those weekends.
If you liked that post, then try these...
The Fourth of July weekend is soon upon us and that means the Daytona night race. I’ll get into that later but today I want to give you a heads up on some short track racing around the country. Many racetracks across this country plan special shows for the fourth of July weekend and this year is no different. I am going to concentrate on certain racing sanctions rather than specific tracks; you will get the track information in the process though. Short track racing is the root where Nascar grew from, the dirt tracks across this country produced many of the early drivers in the 
Some big names have been in the World of Outlaws sprint car series including Tony Stewart, Donny Shatz, Craig Dollansky, Steve Kinser, Joey Saldana and Sammy Swindell. I have seen this touring series many times when they would come to the Talladega Short Track on Nascar race weekends. 130 MPH qualifying times are not out of the question when these guys get on the dirt. They do run pavement during their season but dirt is where the real action is. My philosophy has always been “ If you don’t have dirt in your beer, your at the wrong track! I used to have a t-shirt that had a sprint car on the front and back and said “Asphalt is for getting to the track”! This weekend the World of Outlaws is at The Dodge City Raceway Park in Dodge City Kansas. This track is located on US highway 56 on the south side of town where 14th and US 56 cross. I have been to this track before but it was a pavement track at the time. This is a 3/8 mile dirt track that normally races on Saturday nights. This weekend they will host the World of Outlaws July 1st and 2nd. Tickets are still on sale and unless something has changed you should have no trouble parking your rig there. Just remember the rule of thumb that I use, “ First In, Last Out.” This is a special event so expect to pay a higher than normal ticket price but trust me, it is worth every dollar that you spend. If you are going to be rolling on I70 in west central Kansas this Friday or Saturday Just get off at exit 127 which is US 283 south, go 93 miles south to Dodge City. I know that is a long way off of I70 but it is worth the trip.
Ok so you say you don’t want to drive that far to see the best sprint car racing in the world? How about some late model action up on I-80 in Nebraska? The Mid-West Late Model Racing Association will be at the I-80 speedway in Greenwood Nebraska on July 1st. I haven’t seen this racing series in action but I’m sure they put on a great show if you like late model racing. I have not been to this track but it is on my list of places to get to. They have a show this Friday called The Midwest Tri-Fecta Challenge. There will be a Late Model $3000 to win race, a Sprint Car $3000 to win race and an A-Modified 2000 to win race. These purses are a lot higher than your weekly series purses so this event is sure to draw a lot of cars this holiday weekend. I-80 Speedway is located off Interstate 80 at exit 420, halfway between Omaha and Lincoln. The 4/10-mile dirt track is home to the NASCAR Whelen All American Series (NWAAS) on Sunday nights, and host several specials featuring regional touring late model and sprint car series. For more information, visit I-80 Speedway.com. That should cover the mid west for this weekend; you have World of Outlaw Sprint Cars, and Super Late Models to make you happy this weekend.
So you don’t want to go see drivers go fast and turn left? How about a little straight-line action? There is one whale of a drag race going on this weekend near Evansville Indiana at the Chandler Motor