Track Championships

It's time for some feedback and interaction here at Puttin' On A Show and the question I pose to you is simple:  Has the prestige of winning a Late Model track championship lost some of its luster?

I'm honestly not sure, which is why I'm asking you.  I think, in some of the lower divisions, winning a track title means the world to a lot of those guys.  But, on the Dirt Late Model side of things, with the races themselves paying basically the same thing they did 20 years ago - and with five times as many regional series as there were then - I'm just not 100% convinced that winning a track championship still means as much as it did at one time.

Maybe I'm wrong in that thinking.  I mean, after all, some tracks have really upped the ante when it comes to their Late Model title hunt.  Oakshade Raceway, located just north of Wauseon, OH, pays a hefty $8,000 to its Late Model champ.  Other tracks, however, simply pay out a standard feature purse for their drivers at the season-ending awards banquet.  And, on the extreme low end, some tracks didn't even have a banquet last season to recognize the drivers who supported them all year long.

So, with all this in mind, I want your feedback to the question:  Has the prestige of winning a Late Model track championship lost some of its luster?

Responses can be posted below.

Five Weekend Afterthoughts 8/27/12

1.  Skyline Speedway in Stewart, OH is in some hot water with both fans and drivers for advertising their admission (or should I say "addmition") prices as $15 GA/$30 Pits for Friday's "Sarah Bond Tribute" race, only to raise those prices to $20 GA/$40 Pits when folks arrived at the gate.  Rumors of an organized boycott are running rampant, I just hope it doesn't happen at this weekend's Greg Schilling Memorial, a Modified race that pays tribute to one of the late "good guys" in the sport.  The "thanks" for this laughable photo goes out to sprint car driver Mitch Harble, who saw this sign (that, obviously, a four-year-old wrote) and opted not to give the promoter his money after the false advertisement.  For that, Mr. Harble is certainly commended.

2.  Congrats are in order for Rusty Schlenk who nabbed his 100th career victory over the weekend.  The win came, notably, at his home track, Oakshade Raceway, where Schlenk has all but wrapped up his fifth career track championship.  This weekend, Oakshade hosts double features for the Sunoco ALMS Late Models.

3.  The decision to cancel Friday's WoO Late Model show in Winchester, VA due to rain (or lack thereof) certainly hit a sour note for a few of their drivers.  Shortly after the announcement was made Kent Robinson tweeted "...'Rained out' tonight in VA. It never rained and probably won't. They just didn't want to race" and, later in the evening, Clint Smith tweeted "Still waiting on some rain in Winchester VA to justify u being called off none yet though".  Clint continued his humor Sunday morning by tweeting "We are sorry to announce but due to all the rain we have had this morning in Winchester VA the 2013 race has been canceled".  Funny stuff from the world Twitter.

4.  Ryan Missler won an eventful A-Main Saturday night at Attica to help him wrap up his fourth straight Attica Raceway Park Late Model championship.  The race wasn't without its drama as fellow title contender Mike Bores led early on before breaking under a lap 11 caution.  In addition, Missler withstood several challenges from both Ky Harper and 11th-starting Garrett Krummert (both of whom would spin while challenging for the lead) en route to the race win.  Rumor has it Attica - who led all Friday night tracks in Ohio with an average of 29.7 Late Models per race going into Friday's show - will up their purse for the UMP-sanctioned division in 2013.

5.  The announcement was made last week that West Virginia Motor Speedway is set to reopen next month.  Unfortunately, it won't be the "completely redesigned" WVMS that was originally worked on and in the blueprints.  Instead, the track simply built a new turns three and four, thus condensing the huge track down to a big 4/10 mile.  Of course, I'll reserve my final judgement until racing actually happens, I can't help but wonder what kind of racing we'll see with, essentially, shorter straights but the same long, sweeping corners.  As always, I hope for nothing but the best for all involved with this project.

BONUS #6 - Limaland's entire racing program was finished shortly after 9:30pm Friday night.  I've always said the 1/4-mile track located just west of Lima, OH is one of the most well-run shows in the country, and that show further proved my point!