Elaine and I went to Owosso Speedway last night for Kids Bike Night and we were pleasently surprised at the nice car count and the diversity of cars in the Modifieds division.

20 Mods were on hand with representation from SEVERAL different race tracks and at least 11 track champions in the field, over 1/2 of the cars that took the green flag is either a Defending Track Champion or a Past Track Champion somewhere!

The battle between home track favorite; 9-Time and Defending Track Champion, Bill Luckhurst (Owosso Speedway Points Leader), Chuck Silva (Dixie Motor Speedway Points Leader and Defending Track Champion), and Todd Matheson (Whittemore Speedway Points Leader) was some of the best racing seen all season long!

Luckhurst won over Matheson and Silva. John Forsythe II was fourth over a pretty impressive Terry Trost, who completed the Top Five.

Chris (MyOpinion) will have the complete results and race recap later today.


Which leads me into this statement, the three different drivers representing three different tracks in that very entertaining Modified Feature represent the SAME THREE TRACKS that are a part of my Proposed Short Track Auto Racing Series (S.T.A.R.S.) for Late Models and Modifieds!!!!

At Whittemore last night, Ryan Ostrander, who has a bounty on his head after dominating all season, held off drivers like Mark Welch (Feature winner at BOTH Owosso and Dixie), as well as 16 other cars to win.

18 total were in attendance! Andy Hess (superfast_86) from Whittemore can hopefully fill us in on who all was there.


The two questions I have are:

1. What, if any, changes did teams have to make to go run at either Owosso (Modifieds) or Whittemore (Late Models)?

2. After physically seeing the possibilities first hand at Owosso in that Modifieds Feature and if someone were willing to put this all together and make S.T.A.R.S. a reality, who would seriously come and support the whole concept and the ideas that we've talked about over the last week and half?

I would try to support you the best I could Matt

Matt,

As you are well aware there is another group trying to start a traveling series from the West side.

I'm located more West than East and would support both when the travel distance makes since.

Owosso would fit into this distance, but not sure about A/C or Whittimore. Spartan, Springport, Kazoo, Berlin and Galesburg do fit this travel distance.

You asked me a question about getting CARQUEST involved as a potential sponsor, but I can tell you, Corp has this money tied up with the Hendricks group and I don't see this happening.

Gov

15 of our current registered drivers: Ostrander, Wiltse, Hottois, Hottois JR., Burtch, Letienne, Haskins, Freel, Hardy, Skowronski, Murphy, Balicic, Doutre JR., Schalk, Inman.

3 new drivers: Welch, Brown, Sorget.

Andy
Looks like a strong field of Late Models at Whittemore on Saturday. Now add in about 6-8 Owosso cars and another 6-8 Dixie cars and we're talking at least a 30-car field fighting for 24 spots in a S.T.A.R.S. Late Model race at Whittemore in 2009!

Dan
Yes i'm aware of the other group. If I were to do this, I wouldn't start that big, the 3 tracks I have in mind utilizing a 10-race schedule is perfect for the first season for everything i'd want to do.

THE EVANS AND WEIGEL RACING TEAM WOULD SUPPORT THIS SERIES NEXT YEAR AS I WILL HAVE 2 MODIFIEDS OUT AGAIN NEXT YEAR WITH ME AND MY SON DOING THE DRIVING DUTIES.I THINK IT WOULD BE A GREAT IDEA TO DO A SERIES LIKE THIS,HOPE EVERYTHING WORKS OUT AND YOU CAN PUT A DEAL TOGETHER BETWEEN THESE TRACKS, THANKS,FRANK EVANS JR.

Matt:

I am going to play devils advocate here. I am not trying to urinate on your deal but just wanted to bring something forward for you to consider and to start working with.

From a promoters standpoint and if I was a promoter I would be asking myself right now " I am pulling in 18 to 20 mods right now ( from the tracks you mentioned ). I could probably increase that with a couple specials, tweaking the rules and by treating my drivers with respect ( like Jeff is doing now ). So if my car counts are good, why do I want to pay out to a series for a few more cars ? What are you going to give me to cover my increased costs for a series race ? "

It's just something to think about because I know this is going through a couple promoters heads right now. The hardest thing with any series is not selling it to the divers but selling it to the promoters and getting a commitment out of them. It all has to make sense on a calculator and promoters can ill afford to pay out to a series and risk losing money if the front gate or back gate doesn't live up to expectations. You can ask Lackey, Varney or anyone else who has recently had a series and they will tell you, getting race dates is real rough these days.

Just food for thought and nothing more. Like I said before I don't have a dog in this fight. Just trying to hand out some helpful information.

Chris

You're right Chris, the days of a traveling series just showing up and expecting the place to be standing room only are long gone.

Promoting a Traveling Series is a tough task to begin with, but with cooperation and working together, it's entirely possible.

Making this attractive for a weekly Promoter is the biggest challenge, no question about it. But I feel we're on the right path if we can get the three tracks in question to cooperate for the greater good of the sport. That right there is the first and most important step!

This is something that is literally starting from scratch. Gone are the old ways of doing things, but we can take what we've learned over the years and apply new ideas to those old concepts and come up with something new that drivers, fans, teams, even officials can get excited about and in the end restore that passion for this sport we all have (or in some cases, used to have)

I have my own ideas on how to promote the Short Track Auto Racing Series (STARS) Late Models and Modifieds, i'd like to hear from fellow members of the MSTRC on how YOU think this could / should be promoted in the three general areas?

If it were me promoting a STARS race at Owosso, I would highlight our guys (Bill Luckhurst, John Forsythe II, Laci Donnert, etc.) against "Them" (The Dixie/Whittemore guys or the outsiders). Build up the local drivers the fans know, while also bringing up the possibility of an outsider coming in and taking the Owosso money.

How about this:

Future S.T.A.R.S. Program, either the series purchases an older modified or convinces a chassis builder with an older version of their car that they aren't using and gets a sponsor engine. nothing too top notch to cause suspicion just a good solid starter car and a reliable base engine. Now the car would of course be lettered to reflect all of the series' sponsors to give them track time as well as mic time. Further this car could be used for appearances, car shows and other valuable marketing oppurtunities for the series and better yet the sponsors of this series.

Now here is the twist. The series operates this car and at every S.T.A.R.S race the driver that won the Bomber or pure stock main the previous week at that track or that set Bomber or Pure stock fast time that night one way or the other. This driver gets a ride in the STARS house car for that night's races to show their metal against the best in the area. I'd go with the week befores winner because it would give that driver a chance to practice with the car and their crew an oppurtunity to make wedge, toe and camber adjustments.

Imagine the field that you had envisioned and throw a kid like Lonnie Saumier in the mix.

A decent idea that I think sponsors would buy and I know fans would love. Promoters could look to have more bombers in the pits the week before too fighting for a chance like that.

I know what you meant Jake, but Lonnie races a PLM every Saturday night too!

Remember my locale brotha!! Might have to limit it to guys that don't race in higher divisions in that case.

I like the "US vs THEM" concept.

Owosso stars against Dixie and Whittmore
Same theory could be applied when the series visits the other two tracks.

Blue Collar Racing....The Local Stars against the Traveling Invaders.

What else have we got....

Maybe try and get the sponsors to put up a "bonus" (money, goods/services, etc.) for the Points leader in that track's regular division, if he can win the STARS race?

Like say, STARS Late Models come to Owosso, Dave Bigos would be racing for a bonus, because he is Owosso's point leader. Could add a bit of intrigue and build up support for the local guys as well.

Matt regarding the ASA series at Dixie the 15th are they running the show that night or is Mike

Chris
Each track could carry a bonus if a regular at that track wins the Feature. Pretty cool idea.


Kasierfan
You'd have to ask someone from the series for sure, but I do believe they are renting the track for that race. At least that has been the norm for most of the season.

Matt one possible way to go the promoters is to guarantee x number of cars increase from there norm. If they know they will get more cars and can get a guarantee from the series this will happen than they know this too will increase the front gate. I also like the thought of giving away a few tickets to locals non racers for each show. This will pump up the cash in the consessions. (an old Jane trick on nights it looked like rain.)

That's the general idea, 10-12 regulars from said track, plus 8-10 dedicated "travelers", and maybe 6-8 others for a solid 24-30 cars per division is my goal!

I know those 10-12 regulars from each track would obviously change when we go to each track.


This is an idea i've been throwing around;

In addition to each series race being a S.T.A.R.S. points event, would anyone object to giving the said tracks regulars 50 points added to their weekly points standings for attending a S.T.A.R.S. race? Similar to what Spartan does for their Sunday shows?

A "track regular" would be a team that has made at least one appearance at the tracks weekly shows prior to the S.T.A.R.S. event.

Thoughts....

Most series contracts have a clause in it that deals with this. The promoter pays for the show based on XX number of cars. If the series has less, then
$ XXX number of dollars is subtracted from the contract price.

The series contracts, for the most part are pretty well spelled out and are straight forward. Most deal with outside issues such as weather, car counts etc. marketing, advertising, etc. Promoters need these guarantees these days to keep from going broke on special events / series. Promoters can still get hammered though if they pay out a lot for a show and it produces few fans and the car counts are not good.

Chris

Yeah I know how all of that works from the weekly track days, my ICEMAN days, and my time in the ASA Late Model Series.

I would be disappointed if I couldn't guarantee 20 cars per division. I think with the ideas that are being put into place and some other things in the works, I feel that a minimum of 20 cars per division is a very reasonable goal for the two series', even in its first year.

Should there be an "Outsider" bonus for a driver who doesn't race at either of the three tracks?

I like a "Farthest Traveler" award. With the geography of the three tracks, someone from say, Gaylord could win that and we wouldn't even have to consider an "outsider"

Owosso and Whittemore do this if i'm not mistaken.

Are you talking like a "Farthest traveller" Award?

Yes a Farthest Traveler Award for the driver who makes the longest haul to get to each race.

Again the possibilities are endless....

Would Lexington Park, Maryland be far enough? LOL.

Should be far enough .....

Earlier this season at Owosso we had a mod show up from somewhere in Missouri.