I like the way you think.Originally Posted by TimmyZ1
There going to be fine I'm a fan of this little series called Indycar, Perhaps you've heard of it? Well anyways I've been hearing this all the time about us and were still going strong.
Being a Southerner of Irish extraction, I'm kind of a sucker for lost causes.....
"Duty is the most sublime word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less" - R.E.Lee
I've been following modifieds since I saw my first IMCA show, at Winchester many moons ago. They've run at our Fairgrounds track several times.
Three best shows I've ever seen there:
NASCAR Whelen Modified Series (I actually called that one--I was hoarse when it was over and still have the announcer's guide)
ICAR Modifieds
USAC Sprints
That I am an open wheel enthusiast has nothing to do with it. The racing was wheel to wheel, the drivers were talented, and the fields were full.
The grandstands, on the other hand, were not. All I can do is shake my head. We still run a modified division on our big track, and our crowds love it, but it may be eight years too late.
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The twice yearly visit is the "new normal" given the post-2008 racing world - series like the Mod tour that used to run 20-25 races are now running 15. In the 1990's and early 2000's, the mods ran four-plus times a year at Loudon. Also, modifieds (North or South) do not run at Martinsville anymore for the last few years - which is just unbelievable given the racing and the crowds.
(IMHO, the trouble for race tracks today is that they have put all their eggs in one basket and are only open two weekends a year. No connection to weekly or regional racing at all. Part of what made seeing Cup and Indycar races at Loudon [and others] cool in the past was that it was the big guys running on the local, hometown track. I think it is another factor in Nascar's and Indycar's gradual decline is their isolation from the normal race fan and the lower series, to the detriment of both...)
Don't even get me started on that particular form of blasphemy!
Walter Cronkite voice: "Everything is as it was....and YOU ARE THERE!"
Which I was....
If you have never been to a NASCAR modified race, you are missing some of the best racing in this country!
Modifieds arent going anywhere anytime soon.
They may stop calling them NASCAR modifieds someday but someone will find enough tracks to run a travelling series under a different name
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He is faster than everyone
Quicker than the blinking of an eye
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Aren't the Valenti cars they run in New England similar?
http://www.modifiedracingseries.com/
Im not up on the New England racing scene but judging from the pictures on that web page and the names in the results, Id say they are identical to NASCAR modifieds. There could be some minor differences in the rule books but they are the same animal
Same cars, a lot of guys bounce between the leagues.
I imagine NASCAR has some sort of rule about skipping a Whelen race to run with another series on the same day
By definition, multiple is more than one. I just usually reserve the term for more than that. Unless you are Vincent van Gogh, the number of Cup races at New Hampshire is equal to the number of ears that you have.
Last edited by flatlander_48; 07-20-2012 at 08:41 PM.
Since the tour is drastically reduced from it's glory days, there's plenty of weekends where there's not a conflict.
There are alternative local and regional modified tours to NASCAR. Best racing I've ever seen are mods on flat black top. It's also not about spec, because frankly there's not a ton difference in the cars. It's about costs. Modifieds were fine when they ran the small bull rings. Same for series like Busch North and the old Weekly Racing Series. NASCAR has tried to nationalize these series, and it's been a failure. In the process, they have killed off countless local short tracks. They run things from Daytona, and have no grasp on anything outside their walls.
Wanker!
The fact that you can be pretty competitive in a 10 year old Troyer speaks to that...
Thats that difference between dirt and asphalt
Those asphalt chassis can last few years and years if dont wad it up too many times. I ran into a guy at my local dirt track that raced asphalt modifieds in New Jersey 20+ years ago. Dont know him personally but I recognized him so we chatted for a few minutes.
He told me his son is racing one of his old modifieds at Bowman Gray now. That car has to be 15-20 years old
Any insight into tire cost? That's usually the biggest line item.
Travel distance example 200 miles each way, 400 miles / 5mpg = 80 gals x $4 = $320 in diesel fuel
Crew expenses, etc
I think if you total all the costs 4 grand is not greatly exaggerating.
"Turn right to go left" Doc Hudson
Poor wording on my part.
I do believe a car owner when he says $4000 a night.
I was just saying its unbelieveable at how expesnive its gotten.
I think they have to buy their own racing fuel too.
Probably 4 to 6 new tires for each race Theres over $1000 right there
Each weekend costs more when every race is 150 or 200 laps too
It could be that he divided his yearly expenses by the # of races too.
One good wreck could cost $10,000 or more and that has to be budgeted in.
Wreck at Thomspon and you can figure the whole car is junk
That's because they put on the very best racing the sanctioning body has to offer.
sort of like the Mighty Mites putting on a better show before the Rangers hit the ice.That's because they put on the very best racing the sanctioning body has to offer.
And in some particular situations, Modifieds were faster than the Cup cars. Can't have that...That's because they put on the very best racing the sanctioning body has to offer.
Depending on the who and where, tires can be $800/set or so. (Cup tires are $1650 a set) Another couple hundred for race fuel. Pit pases, tow fuel, food, any crew expense. Hauler lease, shop, etc. There are racers running shifter karts nationally spending 3-4 grand a weekend (though it's 2-3 days) and the modifieds are usually a one night show. It costs about a grand or so a weekend for club racing, not counting tires. When I ran hobby stocks it was a couple hundred a race weekend with pit passes and fuel, not counting tires but that class ran street tires. It's all relative but at any level I wouldn't call racing cheap.
They run restrictor plates at NHMS.
I dont know what it means but the mods run a restrictor there and typically put on the best show of the weekend.
But the cup cars ran a restrictor there one time and Jeff Burton led every lap in what many would claim to be the worst NASCAR race ever
Sorry for not being clear. I meant that they had to SLOW the modifieds - too fast! I LOVE the modifieds! - NASCAR's best division!
And I was at that Jeff Burton race, and the one in 2001, where NHIS was the season finale - history making both!
As I remember it was stated as a safety precaution, but I'm pretty sure their times were quicker than the Cup cars before they added the plates...
The Modifieds were actually faster with the plates than the Cup cars were without them at first. The Mods first raced at Loudon in 1990 and the first Cup race there was not until 1993. However, as the technology(engines and suspensions) increased in Cup they surpassed the Modifeds in speed after a few years. They did indeed add the plates as a safety precaution for the Mods at that track as well as Richmond and Nazareth. When they added the Loudon to the Modified schedule many people thought this was a really really bad idea. This was during the rash of fatal wrecks in the pavement Modifieds from the 80's and early 90's. I was at the "grand opening" Busch Series race there in 1990 and some people were talking about how afraid they were for the Modified Tour guys to be running a track that size. The modifeds were scheduled to run a tripleheader a month or so after the Busch race along with the Busch North Series and the short lived Sportsman Series that ran mainly Charlotte. Sometime between the time the race was scheduled and the actual race, they had one of Modified Tour drivers test with both the plate and without. He said going with the plates was probably the safest option. Running a plate there is not exactly like Talladega and Daytona. You really have to let of the gas and brake hard. On a side note, they actually had an exibition race with about 4 ISMA Supermodifieds before a Busch race a couple years after the track opened. I think they found out there were tire problems and never scheduled a points race at the track.
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