Why don't more people run dirt?

[VMS Motorsports]

Was bored today, so I logged onto USLCi's website and did a count of cars in the 3 Legends track styles. I knew the asphalt would outnumber the dirt by quite a bit, but I didn't think there would be that much of a discrepancy...there are even more road course Legends than dirt, that surprised me. I'd love to run a road course, but the closest one to me is in Ohio, and I'll be trying asphalt for the first time this year.  Now I know about 10% of it can be explained away because of people that race more than one surface, but I am just curious why there is such a huge difference. 

Any asphalt folks want to weigh in on why you choose asphalt over dirt?
This isn't meant to be a thread to bash one style or the other, if it gets that way, I'll shut it down, was just curious as to reasons.

As of 6/15, drivers that have run an INEX sancioned race:

Dirt-111
Road Course-136
Asphalt-857

[Winterracing]

Well for me i know that i've always raced asphalt and have never raced on dirt of any kind.  I normally would try dirt however in New England we don't have many dirt tracks and none that run legends.  I would think the high numbers of asphalt might be because down south there seem to be more asphalt racing then dirt racing.  I would have thought though that at least there would be more dirt racers then road racers. 

Dan
www.winterracing.net

[NJRacer510]

I race both but this year I have been doing so much asphalt I just haven't had the time to put towards dirt racing. My brother has only raced dirt but he hasn't been out on the track yet this year due to his son running a Bandolero and they only race on asphalt. My brother is planning to get on dirt soon with either the Klascar Tour or Central Pa Series and even Accord Speedway which runs Legends as a bi-weekly division.

Personally I like both asphalt and dirt which I had the pleasure of racing both national events last year. I like asphalt because of the speed and instant reaction time with the cars while racing. I like dirt because its more forgiving, you are racing the track as well as other drivers, sliding around, and car control. I don't think one is better than the other but its just preference.

Todd

[igotmylegend]

Dirt is way to hard on these cars, and when I say hard I mean they beat the crap out of them. And as far as setup on dirt you can't tell one change from another. Last year I threw a ton of changes at it and I still sucked. Now on asphalt  I take a pound of air out of the R/R and its lose for 5 laps, I take some camber out and it pushed like a dump truck, asphalt is a lot more fun for guys who want to make a change and know how the car reacts to it.

[Schmitt20]

I have always raced on dirt but I would like to try asphalt. It just seems like dirt is more fun to drive on and it's more challenging and more entertaining to watch but thats my personal opinion. I disagree with Vince6.  I can make a 1 pound change and it makes a huge difference. It depends on how the track is to determine how much adjustment. One night the track might be tacky and you think you have it setup perfect but the next week could be dry slick and your setup totally sucks. I like the challenge of making the change to the car from a heat to feature. Again thats personal opinion. I have never ran on asphalt so I can't say that it's not a challenge cause I'm sure it is. In the end any racing is fun.

[igotmylegend]

For you guys that can get it done on dirt,  i say go for it.  Its a lot harder then it looks.

[ethan54]

Started on dirt, 15min from the track we race at weekly, and love it. Agree with others i've always wanted to try asphalt and had plans to earlier in the year until i had to put $700 towards dirt tires. I had plans to run asphalt every other week and planned on getting some federals but money was too tight at the time. I'll probably mount some of my old bfg's and maybe try and make the slinger race or possibly a night or two at madison. It does surprise me though how low the dirt counts are this year...

[justfreaky]

Racers here on the site are pretty evenly split between dirt and pavement. The minority are the road racers.

As for me, I started out on paved tracks in Washington. Would like to play in the dirt sometime!

Steve

[Bigmil]

Having just gotten into racing last year I am wanting to try everything.  But Legend Cars in my area only race asphalt (except for one unsanctioned "run what you brung" dirt track several hours away).  I am willing to drive and routinly trek 2-3 hours each way to the tracks each weekend.  There just isn't any sanctioned tracks in my area.  Plus now with two different tires I can't justify spending the money for a full dirt set of tires for the chance at one dirt race or two a year.

I would like to try and road race too, but that is even further out there.
Jim, you mentioned Legends road racing in Ohio?  I'm in Ohio and pay attention to all the Legend Series in the surrounding States and I have never seen any Legend Road Races on any schedules?  Where are you talking about?

I have been working on our series promoter to run Asphalt and Dirt in our series (similar to the Michigan Legend Series) but he hasen't been able to secure any new tracks.

[VMS Motorsports]

I would have sworn there was a road course in Ohio that ran Legends, but just checked, and don't see anything within 1000 miles of me.
Sorry to get ya all excited there Gerad

[01MRMTransAm]

I personally am primarily on asphalt because its what is local. Dirt is 3 hours away. We do have a dirt track right next to our asphalt track now, but my buddy and I are the only two of the 20-ish regular asphalt cars and drivers we have that will cross over. So we have to depend on the guys from 3 hours away to come up and play just for us to have a show.

[JGRacing]

Part of it is the fact that legends cars started on pavement and that has been a focus of  600.  That is where they have focused on promoting the sport.  Also, I am thinking that a lot of dirt tracks have legends racers without licenses.  That number seems really low, so there are probably racers who do not want to pay the money to register.  I would imagine that the license deal is more closely monitored out East than it is at dirt tracks in middle America (and Canada).  I do believe that there are more asphalt racers and a big part of that is probably due to what tracks are close as other people are also saying.  Here is the midwest, we do not have much in the way of asphalt tracks, and even fewer that run legends.  I am dying to try pavement one of these days when I have the time.  Having one tire for both surfaces would sure help with crossing over, but as we have seen over the years, one tire without cutting is not realistic.      

[justfreaky]

The BFG was probably a lot closer to a crossover type tire than the Federal. The Federal tire has a nice tread for pavement but not a block type tread that dirt tires seem to like.
JMHO

Steve

[VMS Motorsports]

Maybe I'm way off base here, but I would like to try the American Racer on asphalt.
They are stickier than _________________! (insert inappropriate reference here)

[justfreaky]

So are many of the DOT approved tires from say Hoosier. A dirt track tire and a paved track tire have different tread patterns and /or are cut or grooved differently.

Steve