Lap Cars in ROMCO

[Bar2248]

YOur always going to have lapped cars, in every division,

Some times it might be you, somtimes its others, its all part of the experience,

 

ANd im sure that if i would have been recked in that deal i would be saying take the slow cars out, but next week i might just be that slow car, and someone else will be yelling a meto get out of the way.

[gasman]

You missed the whole point Bradley. Some of these guys do not belong in a super late model. Being a lap down is not the issue here. Letting anyone on the track for a race does nothing but lower the quality of the race. This guy was 5 laps down 39 laps into the race. Noone even wanted to practice when he was out there. The sad part is, guys like that wont even come back now. He screws up the whole race and gets out of town. Is that fair to the guys who race every race? The series is shorting themselves when they dont set some standards for starting the race. I dont care how much money someone has or does not have, If you cant run at a speed that is close to the pack, go home, we dont need you on the track wrecking someone or worse, getting someone killed. SAFETY BEFORE MONEY.

[Dirt Track Girl]

I understand lap cars and I don't have anything against them because one week their car may be running good and the next week the set up is off. I don't think lap cars are the problem. The problem is letting drivers in a series that is considered a higher class when you have never raced before in any series.

I am a rookie racer and I have started at the bottom and will work my way up as time goes by. If someone had said they would put me in a late model knowing that I had never raced in my life I would have refused because safety not only for myself but other drivers takes precedent over ego any day. Then there are drivers that have raced before but still don't have the experience they need under their belt to move to a higher class and do. These kinds of situations are what causes accidents that could have been prevented. Here's just an idea. The pure stocks are considered a rookie class (which is what I am) but maybe each class should have a rookie class in it before they can move up. Something to think about. Thanks for listening.

[Kathy]

Maybe I am missing the point also, but looking at the times that Romco has posted on there web page the slowest was 16.5-- and the fastest was 14.8-- set by a few drivers.

 

That is less than a 2 seconds difference. On a short track that is a blink of an eye.

 

I really did watch the race--for the most part. I had walked away when the yellow with Eddy and Brandon happened. So, I can not say anything about what happened there.

 

Could whoever you are talking about have been having trouble with his car?

 

I don't think it would fair to send someone home just because they are less than 2 seconds off the fast time. Unless you were over your limit on how many you allow to run of course. But, I think that number is pretty high. I think we started 32 at the Big Shot last year.

 

I do think that all the drivers should try and pay more attention to the flags and especially the lapped cars. And don't all the Romco cars have radio contact with a spotter? Maybe the spotter told the driver to go which ever way he went. Which turned out to be the wrong way obviously.

 

Not trying to start an arguement here, just putting in my thoughts on this subject.

 

[racerjim2]

I think all the ROMCO cars havs radios is that not what the spotter is for?

[Bar2248]

Kathy, you have a point, but the wreck happend so fast there was no wheres to go. I started having my tire go down, and i had fallen back about 2 car lengths and when eddy and brandon checked up i still almost hit the car that had spun out. I agree with maybe adding a rule of 3 spins your out, and romco said that in the drivers meeting, no one spun 3 times, and no one was way off the pace.

 

Now if someone is 4 seconds off we got problems, but if he is staying high out of the groove and out of the way then there is no problem. The problem is when the lapped cars start racing for position and don't move when the leader is behind them. Get to racin hard and spin out or block the leader etc... but no one want's to go a lap down. Shoot i almost went a lap down in SA the first race (half a car from it and yellow came out) I ended up finishing 6th in that race because i stayed infront of Brandon.

[fishracer]

The problem that ROMCO I believe has is that local tracks do not have a true feeder program that makes moving from one class to another without major expense and therefore when a racer wants to move up they basically have no place to go. The local tracks also have an upper class that basically is a super latemodel look alike and the track has let the expenses for the racer get out of hand, therefore they figure if I am going to spend this much on racing then I might as well go race with ROMCO. Unfortunately by the time they get into buying the chassis they have run low on funds and end up using engine parts or the engine from their local racer, which are not the caliber needed to compete with the 550-600hp needed to compete with the top 10 teams. Therefore you have a large backfield. Is any series out there going to say hey, don't give me your entry fee and your pit pass funds. Heck no they are not. The unfortunate fact is that those back markers drop like flies and blow their funds and then they setting there with an investment they can't run anywhere but ROMCO. Racing has then lost out both the funds and a race teams enthusiasm. Maybe that is why the local tracks are hurting on car count to. I think the Houston track is maybe on the right track with their local latemodels. A super latemodel chassis with a detuned motor, what a concept, you give a team to move up to something fast, tuneable and give them an opportunity to learn before they graduate up to more horsepower and expense. What a concept again. I believe if you took out all the back markers in ROMCO you would only have about 8-10 teams running and that isn't much of a show seeing who can spend the most money and beat a big field of uncompetitive cars. This is not the racers fault, it is the sanctioning bodies fault for letting the expenses get out of control. A healthy race series is dependent on the rules governing body making rules that promote close competition from the front to the back of the field. Unfortunatley this is a business minded effort and the some series are like someone said, run by racers or race fans with no business knowledge.

[Bandit]

Fishracer, I agree with what you are saying when it comes to the rules for the feeder series. TSRS is a great series to run before running ROMCO, but you can not step up and use the same car. To buy a slightly used chassis for either series is close to the same as long as your using basic components. So why not go ahead and run ROMCO if your going to invest in a good car? On the other hand I also know why TSRS runs the rules they do; they are in-line with current track limited late rules. There would have to be some type of phaseing period when you could run both types of chassis untill the stock snout/over slung type cars are phased out.

[Jason]

8-10 cars that are competitive? I easily see 15 different cars that could win on any given night given the right circumstances.

[fishracer]

If you want a good idea of the difference go to SA and time the top 8-9 cars then time the following cars there is a big difference(not qualifiying times) and then see the big gaps between them. This will not work as easy as lets say Kyle, HOuston or CC because its just a big blur of activity, just as it looks to the fans and at these tracks the lack of horsepower is not as apparent. Also when the sanctioning body starts measures to control cost the first guys to complain are the top 10. It is sad that no one has combined the chassis of a Super Late Model with the motor of a TSRS car. Wow what a series that would be with a 450hp motor and lowering the car weight to 2800lb they would probably be within a half a second of the standard super latemodel but without the expense of the motor. Also the fans would love it because you could throw a blanket over that top 10 or more cars. Think about it they might even have to have a B-main. As overheard by one of the current front runners several years ago when asked about running a more limited series, the response was(not joking) I can't spend enough money for what I know about. Thats sad.