THR not having TSRS Series in 2004

[Truck99]

I think that Bandit and a couple others may have the best point on this topic. I'm not anti TSRS by any means. If you look back, our Street Stock team was the only one to show up at a TSRS show last year to host the kiddy rides. We've always enjoyed working with Mary Ann, both at THR and when helping TSRS. At the same time, I worry about the well being of our home track, THR. Unlike some teams, we really don't want to travel to other tracks to race, and we want to see THR do well. It is for these reasons that I've chimed in on these discussions, sometimes favoring the track's perspective.

 

As I think about the point Bandit made, I think the same holds true for the Street Stock class. There are probably less than 10 cars that race every week. The remaining cars that make up each weekly field vary from week to week. The only difference is that the Street Stocks have a larger pool to draw from.

 

Maybe all of the local classes would benefit from a regular night off during the month with the gap being filled by a touring class. I'd rather see a different touring class each week than have all of them show up at once. This way, maybe each local class could rotate weeks off. Of course, for this to work, TSRS would have to be one of those touring series. I know this may be a scheduling nightmare, but it's just another thought among many.

 

cs

[Guest Mary Ann Naumann]

My goodness, what a long week, LOL. Trust me, I enjoy the feed back here. This is like a big brain storming get together on racing. There has to be some good come from all of this. OK, I LOVE RACING! Since I was 7 years old watching my dad, the late Jake Wallace, SS car #9 run his car, I have loved racing!

 

Alvin Stewart along with his former wife Lisa, had one of the most successful short tracks around Texas for nearly 15 years. One of the smartest things he ever did for local racing when his Super Stocks (LLM) car count was down was take his Hobby Stock cars and move them into the Street Stock class and the Street Stocks (his biggest car count) became the Super Stocks (LLM)! (which might I add, is where the majority of race cars came from when THR opened) Now, do not misunderstand me, it was time for a new track to come to Austin and a fine one did, THR. Although, tracks MUST have an affordable lower end class of cars to bring in the next generation of racers! THR did have one, but now it does not. One of the most fun classes of cars I ever raced in was the Cruisers @ THR, now you talk about fun, if you listened hard enough, you could hear Kim and me laughing the entire race! All I have to say is Stop trying reinvent the wheel!

THRs biggest class is the street stocks

Look at what has worked in the past. Look at the car count of the SS @ THR, what do the fans really come to see other than the big shows with the traveling series? They love the Street Stocks, they have the biggest car counts and the most crashes. You can say the fans hate the yellows & I have to agree, but they like the crashes, just not waiting on the cleanup it takes. Want to make a good business decision for local racing, my opinion is make the Street Stock class the weekly premier class & book the touring series with them, there are plenty of them out there and then the fans get more for their money.

 

There comes a time when racers will want to move up and that is what TSRS has made available, traveling, competing, racing at different tracks along with their local track and along with that, having time for their families outside of racing. Say what you want, feel what you do, but TSRS will not go away! There may be those that choose not to have us, for whatever reason, they will loose, these are some of the most professional group of drivers & crews around and they deserve to be seen throughout Texas!

[RodneyRodriguez]

I agree, in many years of watching this stuff, that trend never changes. The premier level class begins to lose cars and eventually

the mid level class is boosted into that role. There may be some rule

changes to accompany that but it seems in this case @ THR that really

isn't needed.

The TIDA now ROMCO series was created because of this type of sitation, The then-Late Models were drawing low car counts and before long there was no class... as Mary Ann has done, Mr. Upchurch with some help form others saved this class by setting them up in their own deal.

Who knows how this will all work out, I do hope some of the TSRS cars do come to run with the Premier Mineral Late Model class @ SAS

if SAS does indeed come up with a way to allow this. With people given a year to build Roadrunner cars and the Sportsman class already doing well, this could make for some really good action in San Antonio.

[ChuckLicata]

Well said, Rodney (Outlaw 22)...

 

Good to see things are well in Luling/Leander/Lockhart/Lincoln for you..

(inside joke)

[HORSEPOWER]

i mean the same 2 or 3 guys crash every week. i would rather sit and watch a tsrs than sit and watch a local show at sas.

That's just racing. If you didn't attend this years SAS weekly shows, you missed some of the best racing ever. Every weekend we had 4 to 6 cars bumper to bumper, they were all evenly matched, and anyone of them could have won. Remember this is all green flag racing, eventhough it was 40 laps and half the car count of TSRS, that gives the one's trying to make there way up to the front enough time to get around the other. The only problem with TSRS was the yellows, which I know will improve next year, I can't stand yellow flag racing, that takes the racing part out of it and laps run out, I'd like to see more green lap racing. The point is who likes to see yellow flag racing. I hope the best for the TSRS, it is a great series in the making and hope our local tracks know that we enjoy seeing big touring shows also.

[rebelracewriter]

2. Touring series based off a weekly class can work, I saw it done when I lived in Ft Worth. Winged Modifieds ran on Friday in Waco, Saturday in Cowtown, and they also travelled under the banner "Texas All-Star Modifieds"

txtom, wasn't this because Walter Stovall ran Cowtown and was part owner of Heart O Texas. I believe it was. I don't know for sure but I believe that Stovall and Gene Adamchek(HOT Owner) created the All-Star Modified series. So you had two guys in charge of two tracks and one series. By the way Walter passed away a week or so ago. But your point is certainly well understood....COOPERATION!

[fishracer]

Wow, the passion is a really flowing. For a few cents more here it is, I believe the TSRS has a great concept but it looks like SAS may even trump both THR and TSRS with its new rules for LM in 2004. Not only will they allow the THR/TSRS cars to run with the existing SAS latemodels but just add 10" tires. You will then give the THR/TSRS cars a real late model feel with the bigger meats. I guarantee once they bolt on those big meats, their going to be hooked just ask Todd McLemore quailfying at 19.40 more than a full second faster than most of the TSRS fast times. The icing on the cake is the BIG BIG BIG points fund available at the end of the season from Nascar. Oh yea, before speedracer gets his 2 cents in. If you win the track championship, you are still in the regional points structure and even the track champion with the lowest cpi in the top tier gets more money than any asphalt track or touring series pays in Texas. So I don't think THR has the trump card.

[dancer52]

Supertx - From the racing I've seen on asphalt & the racing I've seen (& been a part of) on dirt, Dirt Track racing is usually more exciting. There is usually more side by side racing & not just follow the leader. Just my opinion...

 

Slash - Yes there is a traveling bomber series on dirt called the Texas Outlaw Bombers Association (or TOBA). It has been an awesome series to be a part of & has drawn some big car counts. I believe one night for the TOBA cars we had almost 50! Something similar might work on asphalt, but from the asphalt racers I've met, they don't want to travel.

[gundogC3]

BRADLEY JON AND I SAID THE SAME THING. WE WOULD LOVE TO RACE WITH ROMCO AT EVERY TRACK OTHER THAN TMS. IT ALWAYS SEEM TO BE A BIG CROWD THERE!

[Josh42]

amen to that Bradley

[Guest]

hi mary ann like what you wrote i ageed with you i know i have been on both sides of the fence its a team effort to make this work out....I commned you and your staff ^5

If you need help hollar

 

 

Love

 

Ricky

[jp17]

I don' think it was a points issue as much as it was an attendance issue. 10th place marks the last points position for a team that made the effort to attend every race. Granted, three of the top ten also missed at least one race but that appears to be the number they chose. JP

[ChuckLicata]

Now I have an observation. TSRS posted an announcement that the top 10 drivers and car owners are invited to participate in a "Roundtable". Wouldn't you want some of the "bottom 10" to participate too. Your not likely to get as many ideas for change from those who are doing well under the current rules. Or maybe it's best to just have friends in attendance???

HRay,

To follow up on what JP said, I think it's the idea of having the drivers who made an effort to run in each and every single TSRS race this season. And, while I had NO input as to who would be at the meeting, I totally agree with the concept of the Top 10 drivers being at the meeting..

 

As for your comment, "..maybe it's best to just have friends in attendance," let me tell you this. I've already talked to a few of the drivers who will be there, and to Jack Sandefur, who will host the meeting. The feedback is this: The meeting will be a very productive one on both parts--the drivers have some technical issues they'd like TSRS officials to know, and Jack wants to know what's on the drivers' minds. While there will certainly be an "air of cooperation" at the meeting, I'm sure there will be some devil's-advocate discussions that will take place.

 

If we just wanted to host a "feel good" session, then we'd throw a party with no intention on discussing anything. The meeting will be a productive discussion on both sides of the table, and I'm sure both Jack and the drivers will learn more and hopefully come out of the meeting with some good ideas to make TSRS a better series.

[NickHolt]

This thread seems to have run its course since most of the latest posts have virtually nothing to do with the original thread topic. So, I am closing this thread and opening up two threads that were begun in this thread.

 

Bar2248 -- I am starting a new thread about "rubber on the track" that you brought up in this thread.

 

hray -- I am also starting a new thread on the "roundtable" that you brought up in this thread.

 

Thanks to all those who participated in this thread in a a civil, non-bashing manner.

 

Nick Holt

[NickHolt]

I messed things up pretty badly when I attempted to split out some posts that were actually new subjects. As a result of my mess, a couple of posts towards the end of this thread were inadvertently delted as I tried to split them off. I am doubly sorry since I am unable to retrieve the deleted posts.

 

Nick Holt