2007 Proposed Rule Changes


In the ever-changing field of the entertainment business (yes, race tracks are in that category), we must continuously make changes, that will help to keep the fans entertained, as well as keeping the entertainers (our weekly drivers) operating at a competitive and cost effective manor. With that being stated, we are announcing the 2007 rules changes, some re-alignment of our existing classes, and the introduction of a new class for 2007. This release is coming out early in September, so to give our weekly teams as much notice as possible, for the up-coming season. Remember, you only have about 200 days until the Intimidator 100, on April 14th, 2007.

Our goal for 2007 is to have four different classes that will each have their own identity, allowing the average person in the stands to differentiate between the classes of cars. We of course want our rocket-ship outlaw bodied cars, as well as wanting a class of template bodied cars that will resemble what many people in the stands watch on Sundays in Nextel Cup races. We want to have an open wheel class of cars that will run with us weekly, as well as the tuff looking street stock cars to get out there and mix it up with one another. Below are the basic rule changes for our four classes of cars, for the up-coming 2007 season.

Late Models We have looked carefully at combining the Super Lates and Limited Lates, during the last two Super Shoe events. We have seen that by adding some weight and by having a smaller tire on the Supers, have equalized the two classes very closely. The minimal change that either the Supers or Limiteds would have to make, tells us that we probably had two classes of cars that were too close to one another, anyway. Below are listed the finer points of the 2007 Late Model Rules:

Weight(before the feature) 2700lb for cast iron heads and 2800lb for aluminum heads and/or dry sumps.
Body Measurements will be the same as the SLM are now
6” spoiler, 40” to top of spoiler, 1” rear facing lip
Tires will be announced after some more on track testing is completed by our drivers. The tire will be a Hoosier economy tire, and will either be 8” or 9” in width. We will continue impounding our tires, and will allow two tires to be purchased each night.
The race format will go something as follows: Lock in the top 18 cars from qualifying, and take the top 6 cars from 20 lap last chance race (s), for a starting field of 24 cars.
The A Feature Payoff will be: $900-700-600-500-450-400-350-325-300-275-250 to start. All non transfer cars will collect $175.



Modifieds That’s right, we are going to be having the wild and wooly open wheelers as a weekly class in 2007. For you prospective drivers, you can log onto www.usamodifieds.com and download their rules, as we are not going to try and re-invent the wheel, and will be using their widely accepted modified rules package. There will be a couple additional rules for our weekly Modifieds, with the first one being noise. These cars are too damn loud for a weekly class, and the Schoenfeld 5 or 6” long muffler will not make it. Schoenfeld makes the same diameter muffler that is 11” long, and that will be the very minimum size muffler that is allowed. We will not allow mirrors or radios. We will be running the same Hoosier 970 tire, but we will be implementing our weekly impound rules for the Mods. Our weekly payout for the mods will be as follows: $600-450-350-325-300-275-250-225-200-175-150 to start.

Sportsman (New Name for this class?) Our Sportsman class has turned into one of the strongest most competitive weekly classes we have. Besides for our run-away body designs, the rest of the rules package came together well. New for 2007 will be the inception of the ABC approved template bodies. All cars will run an ABC approved template body, which means no homemade bodies, down-force bodies, or straight sides and fenders. We will be using full sets of templates, to insure that these bodies remain stock appearing. This will be a great looking class, these bodies are super sharp! Kalamazoo Speedway and M-40 are in negotiations with Five Star Bodies and Lane Automotive, for a discount coupon for our drivers, that will go towards a complete Five Star template body, purchased from any authorized Motor State dealer. Stay tuned for this announcement…. We are also looking at “Grand-fathering” some of our older Limited Late Model cars, that may want to move down to the Sportsman Class. Some lower budget teams have expressed interest in this, and we will do our best to allow this to happen, without a great deal of cost involved. Contact Gary at the office if you have interest in this. Besides the new body rules, the rest of the rules for the most part will remain un-changed. The payoff will be the same $400 to win and $100 to start as it is now.

Pure Stocks Kalamazoo Speedway has always had a premium entry-level class of cars, and this years Pure Stocks certainly lived up to that billing. We are in desperate need of two changes for this class on 2007. The first one would be that we will have a much more stock looking body on our cars next year. We will assist you with this next year, as we will give you several measurements for you to go by, when hanging the sides of your bodies. The other need we have for this class is to slow you guys down. We will achieve a lot of this, by going to the Hoosier 790, instead of the 880. The smaller tire will take away the need to spend extra money on your engines, and should allow some outsiders to come in and better compete. Pay for the 2007 Pure Stocks will remain the same $200 to win and $60 to start.

One general rule to look at for all classes in 2007 would be “SAFETY”! It is time for you drivers to take a serious look at your helmet & seatbelt dates, the mounting of your belts and seat, your safety apparel that you wear to protect yourself, and the general condition and construction of your cock-pit area. This is something that is grossly over looked, and a few major accidents at the end of the season at neighboring tracks should have opened your eyes a bit, it did ours. Also when you get you cars lettered up next spring, you need to order 16 sets of decals, 2” tall of your car number, for your wheels. The tire barn will not change any wheels/tires that do not have your cars number on them. This will help us to better keep track of your impounded tires and wheels, as well as keeping an eye on any cars that may be switching around tires on different cars during the night.

What is your weekly impound rule in the mod class? Thanks

mod4,

As I understand, all 4 will be impounded. This is done to control soaking that has gotten out of hand at many tracks.

I have not heard what the limit on tires will be each week, but SLM can only buy 2 tires per week.

The, Governor

I can't afford to leave 4 good tires at any race track. I would only race at the Zoo here and there, they can't expect race teams to leave tires at the race track for 3-4 weeks at a time.

So if they impound tires from week 1, then only allow 2 tires a week does that mean that you have to run every week to run there at all? I can see right away that this isn't gonna work with my work(travel) schedule at all.

With what I've been hearing about Dixie this week, I'm happy that they are trying to curb soaking, but I'd much rather just see a durometer vs tire temp rule. You can inforce that with a heat gun and a durometer at any time during the day. If I have to buy 2x as many tires to run kzoo a few times, I'm not gonna have the choice. Even the way that AC was trying to do it by making you run the same tires in qualifying, heat, and the feature, I would believe that if any track could successfully tech that it would be kzoo.

I've always loved going to kzoo, and I said that if they had mods we would drive all the way from Flint to race there... but this makes it tougher. If I only ran 1 track 1 night a week, the impound would be fine... but... we dont.

I hate to be negative when we are getting another great track to race at, but another $708 on the first night for stuff I can only use at kzoo is a tough pill to swallow. (wheels $280/4 + tires $428/4 = $708) That's without having any spares. If I could buy 4 tires, that would be fine, then I can at least burn them up on Fridays and buy 4 more tires in a few weeks when I could afford to go to kzoo again.

My point is not that this should make it right for me, but I'm really worried that this will lock out a lot of people.

They must be thinking that they can get enough regulars in the mod class to not have a problem with losing a few travelers that don't want to bank tires. This has been in effect for a few years for all kzoo classes and it hasn't seemed to have any problems.

-Steve

It isn't a problem IF you plan on being a regular.

Guys like Gavin and Joe aren't going to invest that kind of money. To me, that is going to be as popular as the MMA tire rules and fees. But I guess if you can get enough drivers to commit to being there every week in a mod, and not want to travel, then yeah, it'll work out great.

I wish them luck, mods there regularly will make for some great racing.

Big Ed

why not allow soaking ? saves ya money in the
long run , can use tires a few runs longer
only reason they don't want ya to soak is then
you got to buy new tires , soaking is lots cheaper
and if everybody was allowed it wouldn't be
cheating would it ?

Dick

I don't work for K-Zoo, just work on an SLM team that runs there. As for tire impound they have done it for a few years now. I'm betting the mod impound will be the same as the LLM was this year, NOT FACT JUST A GUESS. Here is the 2006 LLM, Sportsman and Pure Stock impound rules.

2006 LIMITED LATES, SPORTSMAN, PURE STOCK TIRE RULES
1. Limited Lates, Sport Stocks, & Pure Stocks will be on the Hoosier 880. Kalamazoo Speedway will have a small inventory of tires that have been test ran for 30 laps. These "Scuffed Tires" will be marked with the original crayon mark size, the tire pressure that was run, the exact amount of laps ran, the corner of the car the tire was run on, and the date the tire was ran. Whenever someone needs to purchase an extra tire, due to a punctured tire, flat spot, ect., these will be the only tires you will choose from. New for 2006 - On the last Saturday of each month, all teams will have the option of purchasing 2 tires for that night, instead of just one tire. This will help teams balance out their rotation for the next 4 events.
2. All race tires must be purchased from the Speedway. You may purchase practice tires if needed.
3. On the first night of racing, you will be allowed to purchase 6 tires, which will make up your racing rotation. After the first night, you will be allowed to purchase a maximum of 1 tire a night. Your "rotation" may not exceed six tires in the impound area at any given time. Each time you purchase a new tire, one of the six tires you have in the impound area must be removed from your racing rotation. Any driver that is not present at the opening night of racing, will be allowed to purchase up to 6 tires, but one of the tires to be raced on that night will be purchased from the scuffed tire inventory.
4. When the pits open, you may pick up your six tires and take them to your car. All 6 race tires will remain in plain site at all times. No race tires will be allowed in the back of an enclosed trailer, in the back of a pickup or van, or covered up. They must remain in plain site! Any tire(s) purchased for a said week, must be bought before the start of that nights feature. Any tire(s) purchased after the feature, will be recorded as your tire(s) for the following week.
5. Any race tires not returned to the impound area after your Feature, will be deemed ineligible for future use in a drivers "rotation". At your next appearance, if a driver does not have at least 3 tires in impound, they must purchase tires from the scuffed tire inventory to make up their race tires for that event. There will be 2-3 weeks (championship races) where you will be allowed to purchase 2 tires.
6. In the event of an accident during a heat race, if a driver cuts a tire, he will be allowed to purchase another tire from the scuffed tire inventory or use one of his remaining tires from their race tire rotation. This will be closely monitored by the officials.
7. Any tire changed during the Feature will be impounded and broke down to check for soak. Tires will not be changed during a race, unless flat.
8. All tires will be marked on the inside to prevent soaking and all serial numbers will be recorded. Anyone caught soaking or tampering with their tires, will lose all points and money for that nights racing event, and will not be allowed to participate in the next two racing events for that class. Anyone caught attempting to cheat on the tire rotation rules, including switching tires with another driver, will be subject to the same penalty.
9. Tires will be impounded each week to prevent soaking. You will have 15 minutes after the Feature ends to have all tires back to the impound area.
10. Tires may not be shaved or otherwise altered in any manner.
11. Everyone must help enforce these rules. If you see anyone tampering with their tires, it is only hurting all other competitors.

PLEASE CALL IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS - Gary or Sara 269-692-2423 at the speedway office

As for the cost of leaving tires down there, 15x8 Bassett Excel list price for silver is $44.95 and I know that the SLM tires aren't $428 so I would guess that the 980 won't be that much either, AGAIN ONLY A GUESS.

Also remember that K-Zoo pays out 20 spots in the point fund. Last year 20th spot in the LLM got $200, that will almost pay for the 6 wheels in impound. Yes the first night is expensive with buying 6 tires but the payout makes up for that .

As for making soaking legal, ask K-Zoo about that. They did once before and the tire soak ate up the new pavement put down and they had to repave the track after only a few years. It isn't about buying new tires or K-Zoo wouldn't have an impound rule.

K-Zoo has an impound rule on all classes. Spartan has one for the SLM. At Berlin you have to buy 4 new tires each week for the SLM or if you want to run the same tires you have to impound them. I also beleive they have an impound rule for their other classes.

Keith

When Kazoo started the impound rule with tires it received the same skeptism. It has seemed to work well for regulars.
The problem with soaking, it is a environmental nightmare waiting to happen. I don't have first hand knowledge of any track that has been shut down because of this but you can bet it will happen. Where does the soak go? Into the track and ground underneath. Besides, what are the fumes from the various chemicals doing to your brain cells.
It does sound like this is a way for the track to sell tires, but I don't believe that is why the impound is done.
If you have questions or concerns contact Gary at Kalamazoo, he will definately listen to you and explain his thinking on the subject.

As a side note: This site may seem out of hand at times but without it I would have no idea who the top guns are on the other side of the state. I have had numerous people over the last few years ask me who the guy in the "01" car is because he seems to be an outsider that really has found the groove at Kazoo. It's nice to be able to let them know that his name is Phil Massuch and he's a big gun from the east side and I got my information here.

Thanks
Stan Town

I've also heard that stuff eats the pavement. I've never dealt with it, does anybody know whats in it?

Can 2 different cars share the same set of tires? Obviously not both on the same night.

Thanks Keith, thats the insight I was looking for.

970s at Dixie are $107each, Aero 16lb wheels that I run are $69.99 plus shipping (if required). ($107x6=$642)+($70x6=$420)=$1062

Some more questions, where do the "scuffed tires" come from (who tests them)? Can I show up whenever I want and buy 3 scuffs and a new one? Does the track keep up with the scuff inventory? Do they cost the same price?

Not that this is about me and my team by any stretch, but the only reason I can field more than one car is because I rotate tires between them (and I race on the old stuff). I can't race kzoo every weekend because I travel to much during the week for work, and I have to spend Saturday mornings working on the car sometimes. So leaving that much money at kzoo, where I can't get to it, will prolly break my bank.

Again. I think this is a great method for the classes that don't run anywhere else. I also hope that it doesn't hurt kzoo at all with their car count, cause I'd love to see it be successful there because it's a great thing for our sport.

On soaking, I do agree with Dick (mod19) soaking tires would save me money. I won't do it because I'm not willing to compromise the integrity of people that drive for me.

Keeping in mind that I have never dealt with hard tires, how can soaking tires save money?

After a couple of heat cycles they get hard and are not competitive. So in other words you can bring them back to life instead of throwing them away after 3 nights.

Also, Xylene MSDS: http://hazard.com/msds/mf/cards/file/0086.html

I'm not a chemist, but how does it get into the track if it evaporates at 20*C?

According to a magazine article I read, this stuff is the active ingrediant in tire softener. Some home brews include Xylene, diesel fuel, and some other stuff. Though I agree this is not good stuff to have your kids play with, I should add that this is also the main ingrediant in Klotz and other Octane Boosters that you can smell in the stands sometimes. (So if you can smell it in the stands are you free of it's effects?)

I know I've used it in street cars to increase anti-knock properties of pump gas, it only resulted in a minor learning diability for me (the ability to shut-up and nod my head without thinking something through and researching it).

At least it's not as bad as Dihydrogen Monoxide: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~fds3/index.html

I talked at length with Gary from Kalamazoo yesterday and the tire rule for the Limiteds will be the rule for mods, with the exception, that the 970 will be the tire for the mods.

You do not have to leave your wheels, only tires are required in the impound area.

There is a 95.00 NASCAR sanction fee, if you want the same pit slab each week you can reseve one for 100.00. If not all parking is on slabs with first come first serve for an open one.

Even though the USA rules would be in effect, there would be no USA registration required. The schedule would include at least 2 off nights and will be determined by reviewing the USA shows and Gary would try to work around any big shows they have.

The Limited point payout will be the same for mods, but Gary said he may adjust and pay only back to 15th spot, as the last few guys don't get in a full season anyhow. The point payout total would stay the same as I understood him, so this would raise each spot some.

Limited Lates
POS AWARD
1 $3,000
2 $1,500
3 $1,000
4 $800
5 $700
6 $600
7 $500
8 $400
9 $350
10 $300
11 $250
12 $240
13 $235
14 $230
15 $225
16 $220
17 $215
18 $210
19 $205
20 $200

Gary also runs some larger better paying shows for each class thru the year and I'm sure this would hold true for the mods.

I know when the registration info is available, I will be one of the first to signup.

The, Governor, Dan Logan

What about retsrictor plates for the PS or the 350 carb rule? any of that in the works?

Kalamazoo's 2007 rules

http://www.kalamazoospeedway.com/rules.asp