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Post by scrappy ron on Feb 6, 2014 19:56:15 GMT -5
It seem like every one is giving up on rwd figure 8. What do we need to do to save it? What can we really do? the cars are out of hand's for the guys that use to run and every one says there are to hard to find but most junk yard will still sell the cars and give them out. the car are still out there sure most of the really good stuff is gone but there is still tons of ok car floting around. the biggest thing is to get the local guys back in to it. The guys that don't travel but just do this one or two times a year. That brings there familys to watch and cars to race. Every one would be happy. Whats really happing is the small town guys show up and hit a car they is so plated they kill there car on it or piss the guy off in that car they come back around and hit them and kill there car. It makes them not want to come back. when ppl are putting over 10gs in there car why does some one that has less the 1000 what to do this. Every one I know whats me to stop but I love this sport and i want to save it.
The other big thing is getting kids doing this again I am 27 and there isn't a ton of ppl my age doing this not like it use to be when it started. It seem like every one just want to build mud trucks. Well not me I want to race and bump ppl and have a good time. But when some A hole just about kills your car in 1 hit because you hit him in the intersection and it doesn't even put a scrach on his car BTW he slid into me i was allmost stoped It makes you sick to your stumic looking at all your hard work messed up when you didn't ever hert his car a little bit. know one what to deal with that any more so they quit or is cost way to much.
really what do we need to happin? We need it to happen now. Its almost gone soon enuff at lest in MI it will be gone. And don't say it wont I know for sure I see it happing the fairs them selfs are getting sick of no cars showing up.
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Post by scrappy ron on Feb 6, 2014 20:04:24 GMT -5
I know some ppl will think is am just b****ing but this is what ever one i know is saying and why they are stoping racing.
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Post by teamdirtsi1 on Feb 6, 2014 20:25:04 GMT -5
Theres still plenty of cars showing up at shows, but it all depends on the promorter. Most guys will stick to one promoter. Dont know where your from but looks like MI somewhere. Go to a USA show in Farwell and youll see about 30 or more big cars at every show the l y do there ( around 5 a year i think). However a lot of guys started going to small cars cause of cost. You can put half as much money into a small car and be just as tough as a 10k big car and still run a full season in one car. I for one dont have deep pockets so ill stick to the small cars and be happy. Plus the smallcars have better pay outs these days.
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Post by scrappy ron on Feb 6, 2014 20:36:23 GMT -5
I run usa and we had 10 cars the 1st night and 7 cars the 2nd nigh in masson. 15 the 1st night in fowlerville and 8 the next night. ever 30 isn't that grate and i am only counting rwd thats whats going away the fastes and thats what we need to save.
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imnumber19
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ALL TIME DERBY KING!!!!
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Post by imnumber19 on Feb 6, 2014 20:37:43 GMT -5
I moved out of Michigan going on 8 years ago so I don't know what has been going on except for what I read here and from a friend that still lives there and watches them. I agree with what you say when someone trashes someone else's car just because of a hit in the X or they break your axle in the corners. It's BS and the promoter should park the driver. Another thing is the car builds are way out of hand. Quit skinning cars with plate. When I first started racing if you didn't win your heat you got to go to the consi but when I moved you either win, get second or third or go home. Really sucked to spend $30 to enter and break in your heat then go home, very discouraging to the newbies. The cars are out there, you don't need a mid 70's GM mid sized car to compete, a box or round ford is just as good.
I've been able to talk 1 promotor into putting on a few races over the years but it was 3hrs away from my house and only twice a year. He retired and the year where it would have been the best turn out the new guy refused to have one. Read some of my recent post/threads and you'll see the southern mentality on figure 8 racing and why it's dying.
I have 3 figure 8 cars I built to let people run and spent a ton of money to try to get them started down here. I don't know what else to do, I can't put on the shows myself.
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Post by teamdirtsi1 on Feb 6, 2014 20:43:07 GMT -5
I know up here in the northern areas a lot of the locals got old and hung it up. However there are more and more younger guys showing up, but they start in small cars and work their way to a big car. It all really comes down to cost and traveling expenses. Then theres that thing call autocross, off road, enduro whatever you wanna call it taking a lot of cars away too. I my self will run both. The autocroos is where UMS is spending there money. USA is trying to stay with figure 8's but for how long. I mean whats gonna happen after Sonny hangs it up?
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imnumber19
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ALL TIME DERBY KING!!!!
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Post by imnumber19 on Feb 6, 2014 20:49:57 GMT -5
Is Goike still around? Does the Yale lions club still do the spring and fall race?
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m16
Heat Winner
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Post by m16 on Feb 7, 2014 6:03:46 GMT -5
Is Goike still around? Does the Yale lions club still do the spring and fall race? Yes, yes.
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Post by scrappy ron on Feb 7, 2014 7:11:00 GMT -5
It's cool you can run so meany races if it wasn't for guys like you we wouldn't have any cars showing up. What do you think needs to change because something does? What do we need to get the guys back that don't travail to every race because that's who we need to come back if this sport is to go on and they aren't building tank cars to come do one or two races a year.
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Post by wahlracing96 on Feb 8, 2014 0:23:29 GMT -5
Couple reasons I can b.s. up: 1. Wayyyy too many options for races these days, within 30 miles of my house, there's probably 20-races each year alone, so why travel any further? 2. Small car classes, cars are cheaper and easier to build for new drivers. 3. More drivers "retiring" than getting into it; none of my friends will try it because it's "too much work", but I think they just get overwhelmed watching all the extra stuff I do that's not exactly necessary. Personally, if I think the figure 8, bump n run builds get too out of hand, I'll just say screw it and build full-size derby cars; their rules are still pretty well "limited weld" which is a happy medium. I could build a competitive derby car in about two-weeks. At least that way I'll know before I get there I'm wrecking that sucker that night!
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Post by scrappy ron on Feb 9, 2014 0:52:27 GMT -5
I keep hearing what's wrong with rwd what do we need to do to fix it? I know for sure the fair in my home town is looking to try something else because there isn't enuff cars showing up.
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imnumber19
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ALL TIME DERBY KING!!!!
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Post by imnumber19 on Feb 10, 2014 21:56:30 GMT -5
Sooo..... Any ideas besides build cars for other people that don't want to or can't? Who is sonny and what shows does he promote? Problems I ran into when I was starting figure 8. 1) No schedule, didn't know when or where races were. (Promoters fault) 2) Breaking axles ( limited budget/inexperienced -my fault) 3) Drivers door hits (azz holes) 4) shitty carbs that cut out around the corners ( my fault)
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Post by teamdirtsi1 on Feb 10, 2014 23:36:22 GMT -5
Sonny is the head honco of USA demo derby. These days you can get on the internet and look at USA and Unique Motorsports websites and see there race schedule. A lot of times it tells you when, where, and what the pay out is before you even make the trip to the track. Everybody has there ups and downs with any promotor out there. As far as you sayin driver door hits both Sonny ( USA ) and Jim ( UMS ) are doing there best at eliminating that but you gotta draw the line some where. Im mean a full out pedal to the metal drivers door is un called for but a love tap they both generally let slide.
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Post by bigblocker17x on Feb 11, 2014 11:13:36 GMT -5
I thought shortly this would be a problem here in wc Illinois then we brought the wire class back and it started out with 5 cars the first night, I was one of them and I was 16 now after 2 years its gotten to 2 heats of 10 to 12 cars and a 14ish car feature in stronghurst. our last night in stronghurst there was 99+ cars. maybe you guys should come down here and run. theres trucks, small trucks/minivans compacts wire class and the outlaw class but there may be a split in the outlaw class because the welded dirt track cars with race car motors that can barely hold an idle are killing the stock chassis and sheet metal cars. I would do any thing for derbying and I try to build my friends cars because its what I love doing I just wish I could be able to run more than 2 shows a year but its because I don't have the money for cars parts and gas entry fees etc. because there are 8+ shows here locally and even more if I could travel. I don't have much money and I built an 87 cutlass full weld car last year and realized in my first race I didn't have what it takes to run full weld yet money and equipment wise I ended up getting a concussion some cuts and my back hurts almost daily because of how rough it was, I had 2000 of my money in that car that I busted my azz to get and I got to run 2 races last year before I had to almost fully rebuild and plate my car. I think its the money that's killing it. because I had some friends watch me run wire and now we have 3 to 6 cars going this year just from us. pretty much underbuilt and over excited at its best.
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imnumber19
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Post by imnumber19 on Feb 11, 2014 22:16:24 GMT -5
The door hits I'm talking about are the ones where the driver uses my dd as a way to navigate the turn without slowing down. Sounds like they got the schedule fixed. Maybe two classes are the fix needed, or allow trucks. I always thought truck figure eights would be cool. I think a wire class is too extreme one way. I think the perfect car build rules are weld the frame seams. Plate the humps, plate the s-curve at firewall, bar across core support with bars going to in front of a arms and down to the frame. No wider the the width of the frame. Wire mesh the grill area, no pointed bumpers. Plate the drivers door and repair rips in body with like automotive sheet metal only. (Ex old hoods, roofs, trunk lid, fenders, ect...) 1st place goes to A main 2nd place goes to B main third and slower go to consi. Winner of consi goes to back of the line A 2nd goes to B main.
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