Just puttin it out there, I really think SMS needs to bring back the local Late Model & Sprint Car divisions like it used to have. I know things change as promoters come & go, but these 2 classes have always had a local weekly series. The big "touring series" coming around once or twice a year does not appeal to me as a race fan. Somebody REALLY needs to get the LM & Sprints back on a local level. I would think a lot of the racers would support it without having the expense of going out of town every weekend & fans would start filling the stands back up to see the weekly "big boys". Just my observation & opinion from both sides of the fence. Also on a side note, it would be nice to get some kind of update on a SMS website.

With 10 or 12 locals, they still drew 16 - 20 cars. The one series I really enjoyed the most was the Bandit Sprints. They had a lot of races at SMS & always brought big crowds. Not really sure why the Bandit Series came to an end, but it would really be great to see it make a return.

Don't get me wrong, I like the winged sprints too. The King of the West in Tulare next Saturday should be good, that's where I plan to be. Then later in the year in Ventura, can't wait for that one. We always showed up at SMS when the World of Outlaws used to run there, good times. I would just like to see something like the Bandits return & bring some of the sprint car action back to SMS. They always put on a great show.

The days of the local "big" car shows I think are over...  the cost is just to much....IF you could get a limited late model class maybe, but that's almost what the Super Streets are now.... also, how can you expect to get a class going at a local track when they can't get a full field of mini stocks....or actually any stocks.....its the economy....regardless what the dickweed in the white house tells us, there aren't any jobs to be had that pay well enough to support a race car.

formercrewguy wrote on 07/21/14 at 6:40pm:



Well, actually a sunflower....but hey....

mudslinger47 wrote on 07/20/14 at 10:56pm:

So what you are telling me is, it is cheaper to run out of town every weekend? OK, if you say so my little sunflowerslinger. I think part of the problem of low counts is because of the touring divisions & not having very many local races. Who wants to invest in a car to race it 2 - 6 times a year at the local speedway? A $60,000 racecar at that. Bring back the local divisions & I bet the car counts will start going back up, along with the right track promoter to run it. And, instead of trying to pay out for 6 divisions in one night, maybe try paying out to 3 like it used to be. Tulare had 2 divisions this past weekend. Races started at 7 & were done by10. Got to see some awesome racing as well, very well run track I must say. Oh & the super streets the same thing as limited late models, not even close. Nothing on those chassis are the same as a LM, they just look like um. One more thing, you really shouldn't bad mouth the President you help put in office, that's not nice.

Garlic Bronco wrote on 07/29/14 at 7:26am:

Woah there bucking garlic bronco. I was just givin good ole Duane a hard time, lol. I didn't vote for the dickweed either.

So....Duane....are you ASSuming he voted for Obama? I bet he didn't.

dusty1 wrote on 08/17/14 at 2:02pm:



Open 4bbl- 3,000 lbs with drum brakes

There I fixed it for you..........

I just popped on here to get rid of some stuff I have. And right under the classifieds is this thread. The problem is the racers, the problem has always been the racers. SMS had a weekly Sprint, LM, S.S. For years but the racers always wanted more. They wanted rules like the touring cars so when the touring cars came to town they run up front with the big boys. They have bent the rules in favor of the touring cars not the local cars. And that has killed local guys all of them. What has been done in the last 12 years has set back west coast dirt racing at least 20 years. Doug Fort protected racers from themselves, since his passing. Local Upper class racing at SMS  is dead D-E-A-D!!!!!! Guys now are putting more money in there SS engine than the old late model rules. Remember the A-B-C motors, That was competive racing touring guys came to town the GOOD local guys made the main. Same with the sprints I remember a few local weekly sprint guys running towards the front of a "touring" sprint show. The racers killed it not the Promoters. This there a Magic bullet, NO. Right now IMCA guys are spending more than a LM or Sprint guy was back when there was ABC motors or IMCA sprints. IMCA MODS and Sport MODS are the new upper weekly class. There a car a guy run with locally and travel with and feels he can compete with.

I can agree with some of that, but it takes two to tango. I have seen promoters run off lots of racers because of all sorts of things. It seems to me that, the "new age" promoter is now focused on making their money off of the racers instead of focusing on making money by filling the grandstands. That is just my observation & opinion. That's like charging actors to play a role in a movie & if it hits big, then they get a good payout. Think we would have any actors left? I think not.