State of the division

[Ka$h25]

What happened this season? This has gone from one of the strongest divisions the past few years to 9 cars starting this week and one of those 9 being done for the season now. Only 7 cars have started all 11 races.

My most notable question marks- and I may have missed something that was detrimental to their seasons -but what happened to the 60, 73 and 95? I recall the 95 going out for the feature a couple weeks ago and pulling off before the drop of the green. Not sure what happened there. Was the car at the track Saturday? Any practice laps? Obviously the 5 and 17x have a lot of work to do and it makes sense to save it for the winter.

It's just sad because this is the closest this division has been in points in a long time. The 89 is right there and the 43/5 are even within striking distance. But with so few cars starting it's gonna be tough to make up any ground.

[BigRed99]

Supposedly the 95 had no brakes and that's why she pulled off. Don't know where the 33 and 60 have been...heard the 96 might be back for the last one.

[Fine Line]

Actually, out of all the "Saturday Divisions" the Late Models are the best with 10 drivers starting all "7" events we had with a total of 21 different drivers. Blunderbusts have 12 drivers starting all events with 31 different drivers, Chargers have 7 drivers starting all events with 21 different drivers, Legends had 9 drivers starting all events with 47 different drivers, Sadly the Modifieds only had 6 drivers start all events with 50 different drivers & the Figure 8's had 4 start all events with 18 different drivers. So with this info, hopefully the Late Models will get more shows next season. Half of all the drivers that showed up made all the starts, I hope that counts for something. As for the other divisions I am sure that the economy is playing a huge part in keeping the cars away. The Figure 8's seem to be on a surge as of late with new drivers showing up and the division is looking up. Good Luck to all racers in the final 2 shows of the 2011 season and hope for more races next season.

[TTOR]

It's an Ironic swap of fortunes for the latemodels and chargers it seems. I saw that both the 42 and the 95 had for sale signs on them, I had just assumed that either her car sold or she kept it off the track to preserve it's condition. It also looked like the 42 was just riding during the last race. But that's just a complete guess.

[Lugnuts]

95 & 42

I believe the problem here is probably the economy. Lets not forget that both of these drivers both also run in the truck division. There are drivers in other divisions that probably aren't doing to well in the sponsorship area and can't or havn't been there every week. These two drivers and there father are fielding 5 cars/trucks. Maybe it has come to a point were they can no longer afford to do it. The add in the classifieds say must sell for both cars so I guess it has come to a point that money is tight. JMO.

I am also surprised that the Fortins can field 3 modifieds.

I wouldn't be surprised if next year the fields are even lighter. Sad to think that this may be the beginning of the end. I for one hope not. I don't know how much longer the Cromartys are going to able keep things going.

[greggforce01]

I bet the biggest issue is the economy, it's hard to get sponsors and secondly there is no payout. It is complete robbery that these guys get $200 to win for the night when they are spending at least $500 for tires, gas, etc. Perhaps if the owners increased the winnings, there would be more cars.

[quickmc73]

actually if you purchased 4 tires, fuel,track entry fee and welding fee,not including the transportation costs your day will cost you $700.i have spent this amount practically every saturday night in the charger division for WHAT!$200 SMUCKS!THE PAYOUTS ARE PURE ROBBERY AND IF YOU ADD IN THE BOGUS OFFICIALS(NOT ALL OF THEM)its impossible to fathem that i have been doing this for as long as i have!those costs and the damage costs make it evident that i will not return to riverhead unless payouts are substantial and respect from the officials are equal.i have set sights on different tracks that have shown much more respect for thier competors.id rather travel and enjoy racing then drive to the end of the expressway and despise the whole night of rip off racing!

[96 Charger]

Unfortunately, I will not have my car fixed in time for the end of this season.

[fisherman]

actually if you purchased 4 tires, fuel,track entry fee and welding fee,not including the transportation costs your day will cost you $700.i have spent this amount practically every saturday night in the charger division for WHAT!$200 SMUCKS!THE PAYOUTS ARE PURE ROBBERY AND IF YOU ADD IN THE BOGUS OFFICIALS(NOT ALL OF THEM)its impossible to fathem that i have been doing this for as long as i have!those costs and the damage costs make it evident that i will not return to riverhead unless payouts are substantial and respect from the officials are equal.i have set sights on different tracks that have shown much more respect for thier competors.id rather travel and enjoy racing then drive to the end of the expressway and despise the whole night of rip off racing!

ah this the reason some of us have left

[Lugnuts]

Unfortunately, I don't think payouts will change anytime soon. When car counts were higher and the powers to be were making more money both from cars in the pits and fuller stands they wouldn't increase the payouts, why in the world would you think they would consider it now.

They had the chance to add a division this past weekend and didn't do that either. You never know it may have brought in few more dolloars from cars and fans. Pretty sad that the car counts were what they were. An added division would have been an added bonus as far as I am concerned. As I said eariler, this is not a good thing, I think this may be the beginning of the end, lets hope not.

I think the racers, car owners and the people directly involved need to sit down over the winter and develop a plan that might work for all. Maybe an ammicable solution could be reached. I know its not going to work in these economic times if guys have to constantly take money out of there pockets to race.

I know many have said you don't race on short track to make money, you do it for the love of the sport. This may be true but between sponsors and payouts it would be nice to at least break even most of the time. I realize this may not happen alll the time, ie: if you tear things up preety bad etc. But i think most could deal with that once in a while.

[Gravel]

I haven't been to the track all year. A shame, but from what I've heard, Track officials have lost control and have not EARNED the respect from the drivers/pit crew/ race teams. Saturday night will be my last race there. But I would gladly return as an official if the time was right.

[fisherman]

I haven't been to the track all year. A shame, but from what I've heard, Track officials have lost control and have not EARNED the respect from the drivers/pit crew/ race teams. Saturday night will be my last race there. But I would gladly return as an official if the time was right.

how many times have they turned you down gravel lol

[avenger21]

Congrats EIGHTY-ONE on your fourth consecutive championship!