Just a quick question.

[Teds Race Tours]

Does anybody know why there has never been(to my knowledge) an enduro race run on the figure 8 course at Riverhead? I think if you put about 35-40 cars out there at a time, it would be entertaining.

[The Bullfather]

I've been saying that for years, Ted, by the way can I be in your circle of friends list? Anyway, I think if you bring in a low budget class like a 8 cly enduro with a roll cage (that is most important) and run the 8, It just might help bring the numbers up in the weekly 8 class down the road.

[W. J.]

A regular roll cage wouldn't be suffucient, and someone WOULD end up hurt.

Yes, it would be interesting, but I think the cost of building in the proper safety equipment would keep the car count way down. A car of any type running on that course needs lot and lots of side bracing, and you won't get many to go the cost for a car that might just get wrecked beyond all repair.

[art11758]

At Islip there were the "crazy eights" which were close. At Riverhead about ten years ago there were smash to pass figure eight races as part of the track "demo championship" IIRC. When I was traveling with figure eight cars, there were some pretty scary looking cars that showed up at the Speedrome for the three hour race. Itty bitty bars with some kind of boiler plate on the drivers door. The original figure eight cars were pretty close to the enduro cars of today. The idea was inexpensive "stock" cars which explained the sheer numbers of them. Naturally with time and "technology" things have gotten to where we are now. 310 and Rick remember what I'm talking about.

[tstiles]

i would bet the farm it is because of the drivers door at the intersection . you need a reinforced drivers door. regular enduros dont have that . jmo

[310fig8]

Exactly right Art. You could wreck the car one week and have a new one ready for the following week. Basically the only things that weren't "stock" in the early days were safety matters ie the full cage and seats. The cars were 6 cyls. and not built for speed.

[The Bullfather]

That's why I say they need a roll cage or roll bars in place for safety. How safe were the samsh to pass? Was everything re-enforced?? I saw some on video, some cars took some hard hits, ie Speedo didn't care too much from what I viewed.

[Teds Race Tours]

The main reason I posted this question, is I remember how exciting the 24 car starting field at Islip was. Small track, and the leaders were catching the back of the pack literally in 2 or 3 laps at the x. The Current Figure 8 division, while having some good racing, doesn't come close to capturing that full field magic from way back when. Been waiting for years for a full field of cars, and I guess the cost of "Real Racecars" is prohibiting that from ever happening.

It would be nice to have a figure 8 division in the form of an enduro type(I.E. a cheaper car, and maybe a full field)that might even be replacable from week to week if need be. Sure, there maybe would be extra work putting in safety equipment not totally essential for the oval races, but I think in the long run, it could to some extremely entertaining racing.

[Ka$h25]

If I'm not mistaken, I believe Slim Jim got introduced to the division from some success in the smash to pass race. So goes to show it could indeed be effective in attracting new drivers.

[art11758]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWEmY_T5ljA

A great little track I never did get to.....

[Teds Race Tours]

Nice find there Art. Got to Da Pahk about 5 times, but never got to see a race on the figure 8 course. Thanks.

[W. J.]

Maybe an 'SK type" fig-8 division, going back to using 6's (V-6)?

[rydogg97]

would be fun as long as all saftey rules are followed.im sure that would draw a full field.[24 or 25 cars].i enjoy the figs now as i always have since i was a kid!!

[WEEZER]

I was at that riverside park race, the fig 8 race was a qualifier for the enduro race later that night. The die hard enduro guys from the head where there (tom sullivan, tom walkoliak i believe) just to name a few. The fig 8 qualifier made no sense but was fun to watch.
As for a stock fig 8 race at riverhead with replaceable cars, what kind of car are you talking about? It certainly can't be a v8 type car as there is'nt to many around these days. Unfortunatly, as with the demos, it'll be all 4/6 cyl racing.

[randomrodder]

The Figure 8 qualifying races were some of the best racing there was at Islip Speedway back in the day. OK, I might be exaggerating it a bit, but not by much. Only the Mods put on a better show then the 6 cylinder Figure 8 heat and consi races.

[art11758]

With regard to what type of cars? Make it affordable. What ever is plentiful at the time. If it is hondas and subarus, thats what it will be. Simple, affordable, makes participation easy. If first timers are easily overwhelmed, it won't have the appeal of "hey maybe I will try that". And after all, it has to be fun to watch. Ever see the 4 cylinder cars at Thunder Road in Vt.? It is insane and the crowd goes nuts not for the racing so much as the mayhem. That will pack the stands. (They are still pushing that family entertainment angle aren't they?) Mendlesohn knew it, everybody loves mayhem.

[RickFigure8]

That's so true Art, my first car had the stock dash, firewalls, and floor. It was basically cut off the roof and drop in a cage, except my car had the chassis plated from both firewalls to the bumpers with quarter inch plate, lol. Hey Bill, you must have been big buck, I still had a stock 66 mustang seat in my car up till 1982, lol. We didn't put a fuel cell in my car until 81 when I ran the car at Wall and New Egypt. Originally it had a WV Beetle tank, and I changed to a Datsun tank when I put the mustang body on it.
I agree it would be so much better with a full field. I'd love to see enough cars to be able to start 24 again. I think it would be hard to come up with a good motor, type of car for a stock division. A full cage and probably a full chassis would be needed. We go through the turns slower than on the oval and I think a 4cyl car would be really slow coming off the corners. But everyone would be equal so maybe that's the way to go. I'm not sure how the engines would take the abuse they'd get. The 230, 250, and 225's with the cast heads used to be pretty hard to kill. I know more than once I saw 250 on the temp gauge, lol. Well it's looking like we should have a few more cars for next year so hopefully it will be better.

[W. J.]

With the proliferation of V-6's in today's street cars, maybe that would be the way to go to make these cars affordable again. With a good (read -competitive) V-8 engine costing North of $10,000, something has to be done to make the numbers go up. They could sell their V-8's to other divisions.

[art11758]

Well that whole "engines costing the economic output of a small country" thing could be fixed with little effort. I don't think anyone wants to though.

[Teds Race Tours]

If somebody ran a V6 in the Fig 8's, would they receive any kind of weight break, or is the minimum weight the min weight regardless?

[top row crew]

with the late models gone, all figure eight drivers to the guillitine area ur next.:cheers::cheers::cheers:

[RickFigure8]

I believe most, if not all our cars have standard cages, with nothing special done to the drivers side. The 8 car is a standard canadian stock car products cage. I have a feeling it would cost close to the same amount to do up a V6, and who knows how long it would last. There was really only one car last year that was not competitive. A few cars had an edge but after that it was pretty even. I'm sure some of them did not have big buck engines and were able to run fairly well. As Tom has said, if we could get to a full field and the feature was dropped back to a 15 lap race I think the outcome could be totally different. More cars to have to pass to get from the rear to the front and 5 less laps to do it.