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Now with all that out of the way.....Let's make some laps!
With all the debating going on throughout the various racing forums , I decided to post some interesting ideas that myself and others have come up with to improve modified racing .So here goes ;
1. TIRES - Hoosier should design a tire that will last for 150 laps . Each Team would be allowed only two sets per race . The set you practice on would be used as your pit stop change set . This would not only reduce teams tire bills, but also their fuel bills as they would probably not run as many practice laps .
2. CRATE ENGINES - ALL teams would be required to run the same engines . and to make things even more interesting ALL the Modified Tours would use these same engines . This way the R.O.C.,TVMRS,and the Whelen Tours would all have the same motors and would ALL be on a level playing field, thus making ALL Modifieds able to compete on any of the Tours.
3.QUALIFYING - This idea came from a post at ModSeriesScene , but I Modified it just a bit . The idea was for the Thompson 300 , but I would like to see it used at ALL Modified events.Each car would run three laps , like at the All Star race , with a mandantory pit stop during those laps . this would add just a bit of excitement to those BORING Time Trials .
Well that is enough insanity for now , PLEASE let me know what you think . Believe me you will not be the first to tell me I am nuts.
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NASCAR MODIFIEDS...WHERE IT ALL BEGAN. LET'S REMIND NASCAR OF THEIR ROOTS.
While I understand your points for the most part, I have a question: Why make the tires last the whole race and then make a pit stop part of qualifying? My reasoning is that if it's not part of the race (pit stops) why make it part of the qualifying. The teams that have money and/or more full time help (paid or not) will have an even bigger advantage over the less funded / less full time help teams.
I linked to a site this week from NJ with some great old pictures of the '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s and while I admit I'm an old timer, the old coupes and Pintos, Vegas, Gremlins... cars had a lot more personality than the 3 or 4 cookie cutter bodies now a days. The only place where aero plays a major role is NHIS (but it does also play a smaller part anywhere bigger than Waterford), so the 150 lap tires, crate engines and some type of retro bodies would not only make it more affordable but bring back the individualism (sp?). Those who remember watching Freddy in the Bi-Centenial Vega banging with Buggsy in the Wood Chopper Special and Bobby Santos in the Stump Jumper... The racing was very similar to now but the cars and drivers had personalities (other than nicknames like Big Head, lol) and to me were more special than the different paint job same body tour cars of today. Maybe that could bring some more popularity to the Tour Cars.
I will admit that I am staying home to watch Bristol tonight rather than watch the follow the leader race I witnessed at Waterford earlier this year. For the money they get they need a better product. No passing + no personality = no fans, at least IMHO.
Spd If you read as little closer(see part 1 TIRES) you will see that I also included pitstops in the race . The concept is to use the tires you practice on as your change set . Instead of buying a new set for the pitstop . I would have to agree with you on the "cookie cutter' bodies . I also grew up during the change from coupes , to pintos , to cavaliers . Today all the cars do look pretty much the same , with the exception of a few inovative ideas here and there . But this is pretty much the case in ALL racing divisions today .
Thanx for taking the time to respond .
-- Edited by WhelenModifiedTour at 13:41, 2005-08-27
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NASCAR MODIFIEDS...WHERE IT ALL BEGAN. LET'S REMIND NASCAR OF THEIR ROOTS.
Thanks Eggs, I understand the spare set concept but if they last 150 laos why give up the track position?
Do you remember the old days of Coupes with fuel injected big blocks running at Thompson? Man, that was special back then. They may have not been as fast as the Mods of today but you had to build them from the ground up and he who was smarter went faster. Now a days it is buy everything and send it back to the builder when it gets wrecked. And now if someone is faster than everyone else, well, he must be cheating, because everyone has the same equipment, at least that is the whinning you hear. Sorry to rant.
You folks do a great job on here and I finally decided to add my $.o2.
Well WMT, here goes with my thoughts on your "crazy ideas".
Tires: Tire bill is a killer for sure. Some sort of better limit on how many can be purchased per event would be a good idea. I think the TVMRS has a pretty neat deal to keep the rubber bill down maybe that should be looked at.
Engines: Dont know if the crate engine is the way to go with the Tour or not but it would definitly bring the cost of motor's back down to earth. ( Definitly think it should be looked into soon in the SK Mods) But at least get the motors closer to each other. The WMT and the TVMRS motors are pretty close to the same, but the ROC Mods are in a whole different direction, and I am not saying it's a bad direction, it's kinda old school their motor rule where the WMT went "Cupish" with the 18 degree heads several years back.
Qualifying: Heat races period. Time trials bore fans to death. Now that's the fan in me speaking, if I were a WMT crew member,owner,driver I probably wouldn't be saying that.
I believe in other series they have tire rules like in Hooter Pro Cup you could buy 3 sets per race. And if you did not use them, you left them with the tire truck and the next race you could either race them or exchange them if that track required (per Goodyear & Pro Cup) a different compond. You bought them from the tire truck and could only mount and size them in a impound area one set at a time. You got one set for practice, one set to qualify on and on set for spares during the race. The cars were impounded immediately following time trials and the ONLY thing you could do prior to the race was adjust air pressure. If you even took tape off the grill you went to the back of the pack. That was cool because it let you just worry about the race set-up and not have to worry about a seperate qualifing set-up. All these things helped keep cost down. And the Pro Cup Tour paid much better than NASCAR Busch North. You made more for finishing 6th then you received for finishing 3rd in NASCAR and the officials were very fair for all.
If you go to a crate motor I personally don't like that. I am a Blue Oval fan and when the ASA went to the Bow Tie crate motor I totally was turned off by them and don't miss them now. I did watch them when they ran all brands but after the motor rule I did not. It is just starting to be interesting in the Busch series now that there are Dodges & Fords running with the Chevys.
Like I said earlier, let them be more personal. The average NASCAR fan can identify with the Cup guys due to their uniqueness (sp?) like Stewart & Orange Home Depot, Gordon & the Flamin' Rainbow Dupont, Jr & Bud, Busch & Miller (just practicing, lol), Kennseth & Yellow DeWalt. In the old days most of the top Mods were special or different in some way, coupes, coaches, Covairs, Falcons, Valiants, Pintos, Vegas, Gremlins, Wood Chopper, Stump Jumper, Evans & his Orange Pintos, the Mystic Missle (which is still around) Bolhers ole Blue #3 (and for us old guys, the Bi-centenial Vega). I go to a tour race now and they look like someone only had 3 or 4 different models and just painted them a little different and I really don't know what they are susposed to resemble in most cases and find it hard to relate. At least the late Models & Pro Stocks resemble something.
If they can try to control the costs a little more for the competitors, get more passing into the races to add entertainment value and give the fans some way to identify with the different teams they could make the tour much better.
They can also control costs by clamping down on a few individuals who think they have a special pass to win at any cost. They are doing better then the regular SK shows but still there is a lot of money being spent on repairs that are not warrented.
Sorry to rant but I would love to see the Mod Tour back on top and get more TV time. Right now I don't even like to spend the extra money to watch them.
Yeah Open I definitely agree with the heat races . I actually believe alot of WMT would favor them as well . Time Trials are just a plain pain in the a**. Glad to see most people agree with my tire concept . As for the motors , I definitely agree with the idea of doing something with the SK Mods . And yes good ole NASCAR had to make the WMT go to 18 degrees . I would LOVE to see the day when EVERY NASCAR Modified was the same . Kind of like when you and I first started going to races .
Thanx for taking time out of your busy schedule to respond .
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NASCAR MODIFIEDS...WHERE IT ALL BEGAN. LET'S REMIND NASCAR OF THEIR ROOTS.
Impounding is done on the Whelen Tour also - just not always for some unknown reason.
How about a Crate Motor from each manufacturer? As long as they all neet certain specs. On the Whelen Tour ( and in most Mod division) not many teams use motors other than Chevy .The only thing that represents the "manufacturer" is the tin . And the only stock tin on any Modified is the roof. Yes there are a few Ford engines but not many . It would be nice if all the "Fords" were actually Ford powered , the "Pontiacs" Pontiac powered , and the "Dodges" Dodge powered . but as of now that is just NOT the case.
I totally agree with the body style comment . This area needs to be looked into . The problem is , some of the "Big Dollar" teams have already been going to the wind tunnel . This is something we definitely DO NO need on the Tour or with ANY Modified division.But I do agree the cars all look way too much alike , although so do most other divisions .
I believe that EVERY team on each Tour should have their own color . Sort of like the IROC Series . Fans then would be easily able to spot their favorites just by looking for a certain color.
And the winning at all cost comment is unfortunately very true . The biggest problem here is that too many drivers are just showing up with their suit and helmet , and jumping into someone elses car . I bet if they had to pay the bills things would be a bit different .
Thanx again for responding , definitely some good points .
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NASCAR MODIFIEDS...WHERE IT ALL BEGAN. LET'S REMIND NASCAR OF THEIR ROOTS.
but I would love to see the Mod Tour back on top and get more TV time. Right now I don't even like to spend the extra money to watch them.
