Pacecar Posted December 21, 2006 Report Share Posted December 21, 2006 Super Late Model racing is expensive. Generally, the purse cannot support the individual SLM racers. A key problem for the SAS area is that it takes a fair number of race team owners to catch the competitive fire and own or support the individual SLM race teams. We need to cultivate more business owners that have the resources to own/support a SLM team. We need these owners to have the same competitive nature of their drivers. For areas that have successful SLM racing, there's lots of SLM car owners willing to spend what it takes to compete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Definitive Posted December 21, 2006 Report Share Posted December 21, 2006 Sounds like the Super Late Model is right next to the 'Hair Band'....wherever that retirement home is. Larry is head on right though. A good example is Wisconsin...15 asphalt tracks with hundreds of slm drivers...all having great chances at the big time...why?...most of the slm's are owned by old racers with bucks or owners that have been around forever.These guys are very motivated and bleed asphalt racing. Find a slm racer there that owns his or her own car there and you'll see someone that runs in the back. Kenseth ran the Nielson cars. Wimmer ran the Gunderman stuff...etc... The best thing to come down the road for the "owner,driver" is the ASA crate late model. A way out idea might have been for USRA SLM's to convert to the ASA rules and join them as the Southwest division of ASA.....nvm...crazyness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hray Posted December 22, 2006 Report Share Posted December 22, 2006 Pacecar, you are suggesting exactly what Terry Dickerson said he was going to do when he was introduced as the new owner of ROMCO at the Holiday Inn in San Marcos. Evidently it's harder to do than he/we thought. Turbo D, Join HMP-----never!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Definitive Posted December 22, 2006 Report Share Posted December 22, 2006 Who said anything about HMP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landlord Posted December 22, 2006 Report Share Posted December 22, 2006 hray,What do you have against HMP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racer Duck Posted December 22, 2006 Report Share Posted December 22, 2006 Any time something is limited, the cost will go up. It's as true in racing as it is in stamp collecting. It just so happens that racers will always be looking for ways to improve on the limitation. That's why they race!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandit Posted December 22, 2006 Report Share Posted December 22, 2006 I was a crate hater at one time, but after running one for a season I fully support the program. With the lighter weight they are about as fast and I think the racing is better. Sure there is alot of talk about this guy did this to his motor or you have to have it rebuilt to competative, but I just have not seen that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97car Posted December 22, 2006 Report Share Posted December 22, 2006 Maybe they should look at the Midwest ASA super late model series rules they seem to accomadate quite a few engine combinations,their rules don't look too bad other then typical asphalt racing rules which has too many rules anyway,oh yes other then the ABC body rule also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hray Posted December 22, 2006 Report Share Posted December 22, 2006 hray,What do you have against HMP? I was saying that tongue-in-cheek. Guess I should have put a little smilie face behind it. Anyone who knows me knows I fully support HMP. I was referencing some who wouldn't support HMP if they had the most successful foremat known to man. note the smilie face Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landlord Posted December 23, 2006 Report Share Posted December 23, 2006 HMP and Kyle are fine facilities.I can't imagine why anybody would not want to race at either one.From what I have heard SAS and CC are nice tracks too.Whats the{bad blood}or{past history} that keeps these tracks from working with each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelracewriter Posted December 23, 2006 Report Share Posted December 23, 2006 Sounds like the Super Late Model is right next to the 'Hair Band'....wherever that retirement home is. Careful now Turbo..........that one cuts to the quick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanAugustus Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 Well heres the deal; Aint no SLM guy going to want to change motors and go to another class for two reasons. One they are not going to be able to sell their SLM motor if there are no SLM series to run them in. They become $15,000+ paper weights and I dont think thats going to happen. Secondly If all youve ran is a SLM than ur not gonna want to go to a slower class. Thats like racing a Mustang and the being told you have to race a PINTO. LOL That aint going to happen either. This is JMO but im sure others would agree at to least to some extent. sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97car Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 Exactly how sealed is a crate engine? Can you take a valve cover off to adjust valves or change a bent pushrod at the track?Or do you have to send it to the rebuilder every time something like this occurs?I see on the dirt track series that either the 602 or 604 can be run with the cheaper getting between 150 and 200lb weight break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khoneycutt Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 Sean you are dead wrong about SLM guys changing motors and slowing down the cars. The combination of tires and crate engines turn the same lap times as SLM in Houston and are actually faster at the end of the race. By the way most of the HMP Pro late model drivers have the $20K paper weights in the garage and running crates. The ones that were allowed to run the SLM motor last year from what I understand are all changing to the crates next year. If you think I am wrong on the lap times just got to mylaps.com. Also look at the registered drivers in the Pro Latemodel class and most fo them were in the list of SLM cars from previous years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudpacker Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 Why not let them run with the big motors then? Because the lap times may be close in qualifying but they do not have any pep in traffic.\ PS That sounds like a good challenge race Khoneycutt, same rules except motor, Old USRA motors VS HMP crates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiTech Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 Well heres the deal; Aint no SLM guy going to want to change motors and go to another class for two reasons. One they are not going to be able to sell their SLM motor if there are no SLM series to run them in. They become $15,000+ paper weights and I dont think thats going to happen. Secondly If all youve ran is a SLM than ur not gonna want to go to a slower class. Thats like racing a Mustang and the being told you have to race a PINTO. LOL That aint going to happen either. This is JMO but im sure others would agree at to least to some extent. sean Thats like racing a mustang and being told you have to race pinto ..your a funny guy . lol try it sean .a pinto just may suprise you .in fact it has a mustang body on it but its really a pinto .and that car holds the track record at sas in tps last year so watch what your saying . oh btw some of those so called mustangs and other bodied fords have a pinto chassis under them .just to clear that up .lol.. there are a few drivers out there that have gone to so called slower classes and are having a blast ..we went from 16 second to 17 seconds years ago and had more fun .soooooooooooooo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landlord Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 The difference in the pole times at the snowball derby between the SLM and the PLM was less than .3 of a second.(and that is on a half mile track)The rest of the field in both classes could have raced together.True the lap times at HMP are even,to me the advantage that the SLM has at HMP is off the corners for the teams that had it figured out.The pro cars had to make it up in the corners.I do believe if the SLM would have been allowed to run in the pro class again this year that they would have made cam changes(to make the most of the 7200 chip) and would have had more of an advantage off the corners.The SLM guys maybe can't get much for their motors all together,but if they would take them apart they can sell them in pieces and at least be able to get something for them.One other thought, a used 1 year old crate motor brings almost as much money as a brand new one.When is the last time any of you guys bought a motor,raced it for a whole season and got 80% of your money back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txtom Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 Exactly how sealed is a crate engine? Can you take a valve cover off to adjust valves or change a bent pushrod at the track?Or do you have to send it to the rebuilder every time something like this occurs? Kevin, You can get in the valve covers to change the springs. They are real little springs, so changing them is a common thing. The things that are sealed and can't be legally taken off are the intake, cylinder heads, oil pan, or the front timing cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 No SLM race at TMS? But ...... but .......... but what's Leilani to do, aw geez! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REBELRACER Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 Secondly If all youve ran is a SLM than ur not gonna want to go to a slower class. better than the car just sitting on the stands in the garage......... but what's Leilani to do, aw geez thought i saw somewhere that she is going to try and run arca.......showed she was approved to run daytona in arca......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanAugustus Posted December 28, 2006 Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 I wasnt necessarly meaning the PLM but anyway. As for the mustang pinto comparison I wasnt refering to racecars it was more geared toward street/ I agree with ya rebel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiTech Posted December 28, 2006 Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 I wasnt necessarly meaning the PLM but anyway. As for the mustang pinto comparison I wasnt refering to racecars it was more geared toward street/ I agree with ya rebel gotcha . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudpacker Posted December 28, 2006 Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 December 28, 2006 Wrong Kind of Diversity- Leilani Munter is Not Ready for the ARCA Series By Dennis Michelsen Last week Leilani Munter wrote an article on NASCAR.com talking about her recent test at Daytona International Speedway in an ARCA car. I was in shock! What has Munter done so far in stockcars to convince anyone that she is ready for Daytona? Last season she campaigned with great financial and technical backing in the ASA Late Model Series. Munter's performance was less than stellar but now she gets a shot at the ultimate ARCA race at the world's premier stockcar track. Why? Because she can bring the necessary sponsor dollars to the table! This is the wrong kind of diversity when someone gets promoted based on her gender and sponsor appeal rather than talent. ASA Late Model Series 2006 It was exciting to see Leilani Munter's name on the entry list when I headed down to the famed Hickory Motor Speedway last season. With two daughters I have always thought the sport of stockcar racing should be open to everyone based on talent not based on their sex or race. Diversity is a good thing because it is the right thing! But drivers should prove they have the talent to compete at one level before getting the promotion to the next higher level. In 2006 Leilani Munter's best finish was 15th in the South Division. Munter's best finish in an ASA North Division race was 14th at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. On several occasions she required a sponsor exemption to make the field. The final race of the year showed just how far back she is from the rest of the ASA Late Model drivers. At the tricky 0.596-mile high-banked Motor City Motorplex Leilani Munter qualified 57th out of 57 drivers taking time. She was 1.4 seconds slower than the pole winner and almost a full second slower than the speed needed to qualify for the race! Munter had the advantage of Bill Davis Racing support but couldn't compete at the ASA Late Model Series level. Yet despite these lackluster results she is getting a shot at the ARCA race in Daytona in 2007. Daytona Testing Leilani Munter was one of a record seventy-seven drivers taking practice laps at Daytona International Speedway from December 15-17 to shake down their cars in advance of Speed Weeks 2007. Her top speed was the forty-seventh best among those posting speeds. Her best time was over 4mph slower than Josh Wise who posted the best time of the three-day test session. This was not bad for a newcomer to such a large track. Also at Daytona the key to speed is the car more than the driver. But shouldn't a driver show that they could compete successfully at the lower levels before getting a shot at the big time? It is not as if there aren't better-qualified drivers out there that deserve a chance! More Deserving Drivers If you are looking for drivers to fit the diversity mold you don't have to look far to find drivers more deserving than Leilani Munter. Last season in the ASA Late Model North division a young lady from Redding, Iowa competed against Munter on several occasions. Allison Quick posted two top fives and four top tens in ASA Late Model action. At Hawkeye Downs when she raced against Leilani Munter, Quick finished fifth while Munter came home in fourteenth place. At Nashville Quick was the only woman driver to qualify for the prestigious All American 400 while Munter qualified fifty-seventh and slowest. But since Allison Quick doesn't have the exposure afforded to her that Munter gets through her writing at NASCAR.com, you can forget this talented young driver getting the same chance. Leilani Munter is a fantastic spokesperson for racing. Her interaction with kids at the track on behalf of her sponsor is wonderful. But based on her results in the ASA Late Model Series last season she appears to be way over her head attempting to race in the ARCA race at Daytona. Perhaps she will be better suited to driving bigger tracks than small tracks. But I have a feeling this promotion is only because she has a sponsor willing to pay to get her in the seat because of the publicity it brings them via the website she writes for and not her driving ability. While she deserves the chance like anyone else to compete, her lack of success could hurt the chances of more deserving drivers. The whole concept of diversity in NASCAR gets dealt a blow if drivers that have not proven themselves at one level get promoted based on sponsorship dollars being available for someone of their gender or race. When they fail despite having proper financial backing they hurt the chances of deserving drivers that have proven they have the talent to compete! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbotoddie Posted December 28, 2006 Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 Howdy guys To add to what Larry said, SLM owner/drivers aren't going to go and drop $6-7k on a crate, the work to accomodate it in the car and then change bodies as well without some kind of promise their will be places to race. One problem the SLMs have is that the tracks aren't begging for them. Yes, the crate reduces some of the expenses but travel and motel costs aren't any cheaper and the most recent SLM purses probably don't cover an SLM teams travel, motel and tire costs, let alone any damage or wear and tear costs I wish I had an answer but I have already felt the outdated car costs with the change of the Nascar rules to allow straight rail cars and now crates. Wouldn't be an issue if money wasn't but like many, I am my sponsor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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