Gary London in the NSSN

[Lucky161]

"..... What made the modifieds so great is that they were powerful but far from easy to handle. The drivers had to make them work. There were dozens of great modified drivers back then. Many raced for a living.

The cars were backyard/garage built. Mostly junk parts were used and many owners built their own engines. A first rate modified could be put on the track for $4000. Will Cagle told me that it cost him about $100 a night to race in those days.

Then it all started to go away. A handful of business people began building and selling chassis. Tubular frames from sprint car designs were used.

In the 70s, many modifieds were bought, not built. Then engine builders came on the scene. Soon the price of modifieds went up five times. Now a turnkey car is more than $40,000.

Trouble is, there is no way the purses could be brought up to pay for them. Guys with their homemade cars couldnt' keep up. They started dropping out of the sport in droves. Tracks that had more than 40 cars in the pits were lucky to get 30. It hurts to read in a regional newspaper when the track reporter says, "a fine field of 25 cars competed tonight."

This means no one has to race to get into the feature. The heats which used to be exciting are now warm up sessions. As years have gone on the modified fields are dwindling and tracks are disappearing.

Fans are paying to see a far inferior show then (sic) they used to with fewer cars in the pits. These manufactured cars handle so well that anyone can drive them and many races have no passing. ...."

 

Substitute any class for modifieds including your favorite and see if it fits.

[PAPosse]

It's true - when I go back "home" now, the car counts are a lot lower than they used to be. I remember 45 Modifieds, 43 Sportsman, and 50-60 street stocks showing up at the track I'd go to every week. All competing for 24-car starting fields in 30 and 20 lap features....the heats were amazing. No time trials either. One track in Grandview, PA was known to get 70-80 cars or more in ONE DIVISION on a REGULAR Saturday Night.

 

Now, as I said in another post, more is not always better - but nowadays these tracks are lucky to get 25 cars.

[sprintsrule]

More classes is "NOT" better. It causes small fields in each class and very boring features. I ran in a class where we had to qualify through the heats just to be in the feature. Thirty plus cars every night. The promoter listened to a couple of guys that said the show would be better if the cars were faster. He opened up the tire rule and a little engine rule and at the end of the next year there were six cars left.

 

Three classes period. An entry level class where all you do is throw in a cage and go race. A middle class with totally different looking cars but still pretty limited rules. A faster class that looks completely different than the others but where a guy can build his own engine in his garage and be competitive. As a fan I can not tell the difference between 15 or 16 second laps but it sure costs the racers a lot of money for that extra second. If there are twenty cars racing close together I have trouble telling the difference between a 15 or 17 second lap because the racing is so exciting. I will not go watch the races when there are nine classes because I know it will last too late for my kids (and me) so it is not enjoyable. If you take the beautiful late model bodies and put them on cars that are much more limited, you still have beautiful cars but probably have about fifteen more of them.

 

Promoters: please run fewer classes that have the better car counts so the races can be over at a decent time. That way I can take my kids in the pits to meet the racers. The way I got hooked in racing was meeting the drivers after the races and sitting in their cars. . Then I bugged my parents to take me to the races because I had somebody to root for. The cars I got to sit in that were still all hot and smelled like clutch, brake and rubber were better than any stick and ball game I ever saw. Today kids do not get that experience unless they can stay up until 1:00 AM.