|
Home »
Blogs »
Troy Harrison's Blog
Sunday, September 14, 2008 Posted by Troy Harrison at 05:40:36 PM
Ever since I started posting about racing costs, I've had people asking me what I would do - or what rules I would make - to cut costs for short track racers. I've already talked, at length, about my opinion that rear suspensions are one of the biggest ways to cut costs, so I'll leave that alone. There is, however, one other way to really impact racers' costs. Ready? Here it is - get back to the junkyards.. . . read more
Thursday, September 11, 2008 Posted by Troy Harrison at 01:00:28 PM
Yep, it's true. NASCAR is finally making me mad as hell. Now, look - I've been a NASCAR fan since birth. Went to Daytona as a kid. Stuck up for them during the Dale Earnhardt death investigation. Swallowed the Car of Tomorrow as a necessary change for the sport. But if what I think is going to happen, actually happens, I've had it.. . . read more
Friday, September 05, 2008 Posted by Troy Harrison at 02:26:45 PM
I just watched the Racinboys CMS show with the "unretired" Tom Charles. I was mostly interested in what Tom had to say regarding his own racing program and costs, and I wasn't disappointed. I've known Tom for some years now, and I've always found him to be a keen observer of the sport, as well as a good competitor.. . . read more
Tuesday, August 05, 2008 Posted by Troy Harrison at 03:33:42 PM
Maybe we need a new car.
It seems that, every 20 years or so, short track racing reinvents itself, and out of that reinvention comes a new "A" division car that becomes the core of weekly racing in the USA. When weekly racing first got a foothold, it did so in the '30s and '40s with Midgets. At first, Midgets were fairly inexpensive cars to build, on rail frames with outboard boat engines or V8-60 Ford engines. Simple, racy, and fairly inexpensive, the Midgets drew crowds that weekly racing has yet to match; up to 60,000 watched weekly shows at Soldier Field in Chicago, for instance.. . . read more
Friday, August 01, 2008 Posted by Troy Harrison at 04:25:31 PM
Well, in the second part of my look at the state of short track racing and the economy, I must first start by acknowledging a change from my previous blog. In it, I commented that the only track to shut down this year was Dallas County Speedway. Well, it now appears that DCS will reopen in September after the Bolivar Speedway season ends. Since we're now into August, I have to think that any track headed for closure would have done so. So - all the hand wringing over tracks closing forever seems to be a bit premature - as it always is.. . . read more
Wednesday, July 16, 2008 Posted by Troy Harrison at 10:45:00 AM
A few weeks ago, I was on the Saturday radio show and Kirk, Scott, and I were discussing the effect that the economy is having/will have on short track racing. Kirk made the comment that, in his opinion, the tracks that survive will be the tracks that "cut expenses and overhead to the bone, and go into a survival mode." At the time, I disagreed, but couldn't quite form up my thoughts as to why. Now, I have. Over the next few weeks, this blog will focus on the current state of the economy, the current state of short track racing, and the future of our sport. When I say "our sport," I'm talking about racing on short ovals, asphalt and dirt, open and closed wheel. NASCAR, IRL, ALMS, road racing, etc. can take care of themselves.. . . read more
Thursday, June 26, 2008 Posted by Troy Harrison at 10:48:43 AM
No, this post isn't about the NASCAR lawsuit. I'm talking about a kind of diversity that the politicos will never care about - but one that I think race fans really do. I'm talking about the fact that when you go to the races now, every frickin' car looks the same! How boring is that?. . . read more
Friday, June 13, 2008 Posted by Troy Harrison at 10:32:58 PM
First and foremost, I should say that, although this blog is inspired by Scotty Martin and CMS, it is not about Scotty Martin and CMS. Rather, it is about the nature of entry-level, so called "low dollar" classes, why they exist, and why some of them, well, die.. . . read more
Monday, June 09, 2008 Posted by Troy Harrison at 12:17:50 PM
Those of you who know me know that I can sometimes be hard on various segments of the racing community, including racing promoters and the Indy Racing League. Let's put all that aside for a moment, because one of the truly great moments in the history of racing promotion (in my opinion, anyway) happened in conjunction with the recent IRL event at the Texas Motor Speedway.. . . read more
Sunday, June 08, 2008 Posted by Troy Harrison at 12:53:34 PM
I know, I know - gas prices are horrible right now, and they are having real effect on the economy. I don't enjoy paying $4 a gallon any more than the rest of you. Personally, I don't think this will last forever; a big part of what's driving prices up is a speculative bubble by futures traders, not unlike the past dot-com bubble and real estate bubble. There will be a market correction by the end of the year.. . . read more
Wednesday, June 04, 2008 Posted by Troy Harrison at 03:25:57 PM
Tonight (hopefully, the weather may or may not cooperate), the Prelude to the Dream will roll off at Eldora. 25,000 people will watch it live, and hundreds of thousands more will do so on pay per view. Some may debate this, but the Prelude has become the biggest thing in dirt late model racing - at least as far as the national motorsports community is concerned. Promotion for the Prelude dominated prerace shows for last week's NASCAR races, and Tony Stewart has set a goal of raising $1 million for the Victory Junction Gang Camp this year. All of this is great.. . . read more
Saturday, May 31, 2008 Posted by Troy Harrison at 11:45:08 AM
So, as was made public a couple of weeks ago, Heartland Park Topeka is losing the SCCA Runoffs. That's got to be a big kick in the groin to track owner Ray Irwin, who had the Runoffs as one of his big goals upon purchasing the track. To get the Runoffs, he spent millions first on new facilities (scoring tower, media center, tech building), and then, after complaints, on reconfiguring the track for higher speeds.. . . read more
|
All Times are CDT Tuesday, Oct 7th[06:00 pm] "Wide Open" on Hot Talk 1510 KCTE [07:00 pm] I-35 Speedway Show on RacinBoys.com [07:40 pm] KCIR Show Friday, Oct 10th[03:00 pm] Scott and Kirk join Kevin Kietzman on Sports Radio 810 WHB Saturday, Oct 11th[07:00 am] "Track Talk" presented by Kenny's Tile on Sports Radio 810 WHB
|
