2010 Dirt Nationals

[JGRacing]

Springfield Raceway in Springfield Missouri has the Legends Car Dirt Nationals on their schedule for October 15th and 16th and I saw a mention of it in another press release from the track.  Finally one in my back yard now that I have a car (or 4 hours from it, but close enough).  

[VMS Motorsports]

Finally? Werent they in Missouri in 2007 and 2008?
I'm not complaining, nice easy haul for me too, I'll be there with both cars, good lord willing and the creek don't rise, or however the saying goes

[bback58]

The 2006 Dirt Nationals was at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO and the 2007 Nationals were at Midway Speedway in Lebanon, MO.   It was great that they were within reasonable driving distance for us.  Our ND group had 7 guys make the trip both years and we had a blast.  I wasn't about to tow all the way to the east coast the last couple of years, even though I knew I would miss out on some fun times.

[VMS Motorsports]

Better go buy your car back!

[JGRacing]

Jim, Previous years do not count since I did not have a legends car then.  This one will not count either if something happens to the car and I am not able to run.   

It is hard to get more central in the U.S. than Missouri.  Hoping for a good turnout.  For anyone who went to Midway a few years ago, Springfield is just a little over an hour down highway 44 from there. 

Springfield is a nice 1/4 mile banked track and usually has multiple grooves.  It will make for some good racing.   

[NJRacer510]

It is about anywhere from a 16 to 18 hour drive for drivers in Pa and NJ. I don't know how many people you will get to drive out that far. Last season in NC many people from the Northeast did not want to travel down to NC for two reasons. 1st was the distance and 2nd was racing dirt during the day sucks. After this past season's national event I will have to say the car count wont be great because of the horrible officiating by Inex and their poor judgement with track conditions. According to 600Racing the biggest Dirt Nationals with car count was in 2008 at Big Diamond Speedway in Pa.

I think the Nationals should be held where the most cars are, if you look at 600Racing/USLegends website throughout the season 75% of the dirt drivers are from the Northeast, Mostly PA. The other 25% is made of people from MO,NC, TX, and a few other states. I would say Lincoln Speedway in Pa would probably be the best location for a dirt national event.

Depending on how the season goes we may consider driving that far for a National Event but if the starting times are any earlier than 6 or 7pm I would have to say no. I dont want to drive 18 hours to race a dry track because Inex doesnt want to be up late at night. Also, if Inex will be running the show that would be another reason for us not to drive that far, they should let the track run the show. Many incidents that occured at the nationals in NC were caused by Inex trying to run the races like an asphalt show and you just simply cant do that.

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to be negative here I am just stating the facts.

[IraceLegends77]

I still vote for Eldora.........

[Racinjj]

I love you east coasters, dont worry their are plenty of Legends cars in the Midwest.  I made the 14 hour drive to PA for the 2008 Nationals, along with about 10 other midwesterners.  Some years its reasonably close to home, some not.  

Maybe I will have to keep my car and take home some of the cash from the Nationals.  We can only hope that they are planning to pump that purse up too.

[VMS Motorsports]

Todd,
Not sure where your negativity comes from, and definately dont see the source on this particular issue.
Nationals were in NC last year, and in PA in 2008 as stated.
As far as having it where the racers are, you better be careful what you wish for. In looking at the final dirt  standings on 600's website,
the top 30 in each division look like this:
Masters: 21 of the top 30 in points were from what I would consider the Midwest (MO,IL,MN,WI,IN,SD,ND,UT).
Pro: 15 of the top 30 from the Midwest
Semi-Pro: 21 of the top 30 from the Midwest.
60% of the top 30 drivers per INEX points came from these 8 states. Not saying points is the only factor, and I'm sure there are many who will disagree with my reasoning,  but it looks like the Nationals are centrally located, and easier for everyone to get to.  Sure, its not in your backyard this time, but nobodys making you make the trip.

Looks like they are putting it where the drivers are, youre wish came true  

[JGRacing]

Hopefully having the Nationals near Charlotte last year was a learning experience for 600.  Cannot imagine that having cars bouncing through craters did not leave an impression.  Hearing about dirt races from another state over the years and actually coming face to face with what can happen to a dirt track are two different things. 

As far as the track, it is owned and run by Jerry Hoffman who builds modifieds and has been around the sport for a long time.  In the races I ran out there last year, the track was always well maintained.  It is not a flashy facility with giant video screen and suites, but it is a good fun track.   

[JGRacing]

Here is a link to a photographer that is out at Springfield.  It will give you an idea of what the track looks like.

http://www.ryangillmorephotos.com/

[Vern Houseman]

All I can say guys........ as long as nutten happens Ill make the drive I do wish it was in pa too, but it is what it is......I had a great time in n.c last october meet alot of cool people , as I probly will in mo too.  It looks like its around 1100 miles for me wow but we will see. Vern #20

[IraceLegends77]

I like that they move it around.  I do think that a quarter mile track is too small to host the Nationals. The way the points thing is doesn’t really represent the best of Legends drivers. If you have enough money and run a bunch of races with just SOME talent you will finish in the top 10. That point was made this year. I know that the year that we went to MO we had a great time but the field was small. With that said though there hasn’t been a full field the last 3 years in any class. That is why I say insert some money and as Jim said some points or double points and watch the field grow. I don’t know if I will make it out this year because of the time and 1200 mile tow. If I don’t I’m  sure they will have fun and that is really what it is all about, after all we are not making a living at this.

Scott # 77w

[VMS Motorsports]

I think its great that it moves around, although I think it could move a bit more. 2 in a row in MO, then 2 on the East Coast. Should be somewhere different each year, but as Scott said, we're not doing this for a living, so if I go , I go, if not,  life goes on. I am more apt to go when its closer to home, but I had all intentions of going to PA until I destroyed the car in 2008.

[NJRacer510]

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to offend anyone but I am just stating the facts. I wasn't looking at who finished where in points I was looking at the overall amount of drivers per area. According the list, most of the drivers on dirt come from the Northeast so thats why I am saying that. Last year we drove out to Michigan twice to race, we had a good time but while at the track we were the only two dirt racers there. All of the other drivers hated dirt, they even cheered when the one race got rained out. As for driving 18 hours to the dirt nationals, the time doesnt matter to me but if 600Racing was going to run it the way they did this past year I would rather stay home and go to Grandview Speedway. If they announce that they will allow the track to run the show and race at night time then that would be a plus. There was actually over 25 people who decided not to go last year from the Northeast for one simple reason and that was the race times.

I am not being negative but if you only knew the history between us and Krentz you would understand. Last year at the nationals in N.C the track promoter would not speak to Krentz at the end of the weekend. The track promoter wanted to postpone the races until Sunday but Krentz said no, he admitted that if we were to go into Sunday it would have cost 600Racing more money and they didnt want to do that. Also, the head flagger admitted that he was not allowed to throw the caution flag until Krentz said so, you can not do that. The head flagger has to have comeplete control. If 600racing would allow the track to run the event, I am sure the racing would be alot better.

We have had several issues with Krentz and Regan over the past couple years and I dont really care for them much. Just this month we got into it with them because they didn't pay their R&L Carrier bill. We sent my engine down to them and it sat in a warehouse for over a week because they refused to pay R&L what they owed them so R&L was holding my engine hostage. Now I do not know if any other engines were involved but mine sure was. Once they finally paid the bill, R&L delivered my engine to the engine shop.

Also, I would like to let you know because you(VMS) are selling their product. We were interested in running the air filters that you sell which are the R2C filters. The 2010 rulebook states that only K&N or 600Racing filters are legal, we emailed the tech director Scott to check on this rule so we didnt purchase something we are not allowed to run. He emailed us back saying that the R2C filters are in fact illegal. The only filters you are allowed to run are K&N or the stock filters. I just wanted to share this information with you because we were going to buy them but now with Scott telling us that we are going to stick with K&N. I would hate for anyone to get dq'd for something as dumb as the wrong air filter, I personally hate this rule because years ago I was running a Kinser Air Filter until they made me remove it.