Night at the 1/4 mile dirt oval

There was a thread recently about what FWD car would make a good roundy round car. Lots of interesting bench racing. It made me realize that I've lived in the south for 12 years and I hadn't gone to any of the local dirt ovals. The closest one is 20 miles away and there's at least two other ones within an hour. Missing this suddenly seemed wrong, something that needed to be fixed. So I did.
Last night my 8 year old son and I went to the Gator Motorplex just north of Willis Texas. It's a 1/4 mile banked dirt oval that runs races every Saturday night. They run a variety of stock classes (that I haven't figured out) dirt modifieds and dirt midgets. I wasn't expecting a whole lot out of the evening other than saying that I tried it, but quite frankly, it was spectacular. There were between 7 at 19 cars in each class and I'm pretty sure that everyone who ran qualifying and didn't break made the feature. Qualifying was an hour long and at the half hour intermission they invited all the kids down for games and prizes. The cement grandstands could seat quite a lot of people but there was somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 spectators providing an opportunity to sit about wherever we wanted. The feature events were 20 laps long and there was an amazing amount of racecraft involved. Different lines as the track changed, diving inside for a shorter line, outside to get drive off the corner, you could watch it all happen. The racing was also very clean, there were a few bumps to be sure and one unlucky guy did a gentle roll when he tried to catch a spin, he should have just let it go. You could watch the cars and see the ones that were tight or loose on corner entry. The cars that were behaving badly were slow, those that were behaving well were fast.
I know that road racers and autocrossers have a tendency to look down on circle track racing and I'm as guilty as the next guy. I still won't watch NASCAR on tv, but here's the thing, there is no way that these guys were having less fun than a parking lot full of autocrossers. The racing was close and everything was run well, and this was about as backwoods as I can imagine a track being. Ever. The races drew spectators and treated them well which is more than I can say for the SCCA national road race that my son and I attended earlier in the year. This racing is cheap, it's close, and it happens every weekend. Not once a month, not 6 or 8 times a year scattered all over the country, but every single weekend. Put your money down for a car and you can drive until you run out of money or you're sick of it. I'm hugely impressed with the opportunity to race, and race often. My son could race here at 13, cheaper than karts with more track time. The engineering is different, but no less interesting.
Sorry this post is so long but I'm just blown away by the whole experience. We'll go back and watch the races again, and I'll be giving serious thought to getting a car in the future. I like this, a lot.

I agree, dirt track racing is a lot of fun to watch I have a 1/2 mile and a 1/3 mile track within 15 minutes of my house. Unfortunatelt, all of the attention goes to the high buck modifieds. The street stock and minis are just fillers while the modifieds adjust their cars.. Still they are fun to watch.

At this track the "stock" cars are a much bigger deal than the modifieds. The midgets are probably the biggest filler but by god do they look like fun. Or absolutely terrifying, I'm not sure. The pure stock class was the biggest one, though not necessarily the best racing. There if you took the slowest 7 or 8 guys off the track it would have been better, but everyone has to start somewhere I suppose, and I'd likely be the slow guy if I start. I think money is an issue and there just aren't enough guys that can afford to run in the faster classes. My son is already plotting to get a ton of time on grandpas go kart in the dirt this summer so he can get a leg up for when he turns 13.

In reply to mazdeuce:

This sounds great, and great for you and your son.

Did they run a 4 cyl. or FWD class?

Good old short track stock car racing. For a spectator, there really isn't much better entertainment bang for the buck.

I went to Phoenix a few years ago to the Cup race, and found myself profoundly confused as to why I had been so much more excited at the season finale SLM race at our local track than I was there. I figure its because I have so much more emotion invested in the local track- I helped build it, I've been on the operating executive, and I knew the two guys that were fighting tooth and nail for the championship that year.

If the opportunity is there, pay the extra and go in the pits. Talk to the guys about their cars. They love talking about them. They are a friendly bunch, especially the entry level guys. Most are they just for the fun. Ask about any cars for sale. There is always someone selling one who has upgraded or just decided to move on.

My second year of racing my brother finally came to a race to watch. By the end of the night he was already talking to someone about buying a car. Within two weeks he was racing.

I love me some short track dirt racing but I'm not much of a spectator anymore. Pits, crew or photographing from inside turn four used to do it for me but the temptation to build and drive is too much so I stay away... the smells, the great noise.. ya know.

Consensus has it you could build decent Street Stock for around $10K but when top running teams are running $15K engines w/ 3 generations of family support and set up it's hard to want to commit to a build.

I may hit a few races this year anyway

HappyJack wrote: If the opportunity is there, pay the extra and go in the pits. Talk to the guys about their cars. They love talking about them. They are a friendly bunch, especially the entry level guys. Most are they just for the fun. Ask about any cars for sale. There is always someone selling one who has upgraded or just decided to move on.

You beat me to it. At a lot of tracks, the pits is where it's at. Something you might not expect to see is that teams that race against each other, will often help each other out, or when somebody pulls off with a flat, drivers and crews from other teams will run over to your pit to help out. I've been saying it for a long time, there's a lot more to dirt oval than a bunch of hillbilly's running around in circles. Sure would be nice to read an article about it in the mag

Zomby Woof wrote: Sure would be nice to read an article about it in the mag

QFT

There wasn't a FWD class at the track which was the only thing I was disappointed about. There are a few for sale locally on Craigslist so one of the local tracks must run them, just a matter of figuring out where if I decide that's what I want to do. Pit passes are $25 and I'll most certainly head down there to mingle and get to know what's going on and what I need to know to race.
I was impressed by the general race safety at the track. Full fire suits and neck restraints are required. Though there were a lot of neck rolls, at least half of the drivers I saw were wearing a HANS type device. Some of these guys are wearing $2k in safety gear in a car that not worth a hell of a lot more than that (checking local prices). The safety bummer was every support 4 wheeler being ridden by people wearing shorts, t shirts and no helmets. Yea, they're not driving too fast, but it still looked like an accident waiting to happen, repeatedly.
I'm pretty sure that being truly competitive takes something like a spec miata level of time/money. The upside is that you have races with a payout every single weekend. For a smaller amount of money in the car, you still get real honest to goodness cheap wheel to wheel racing, again, every weekend, and close to home. I keep wondering how much work it would be to square up the suspension on one of the stock class cars to run autocrosses for fun if the mood strikes. It's not that much stuff to switch around, is it?

I love the dirt ovals; I only go once or twice a year, but it's a great time. I've been going since I was a kid, and I have a lot of fond memories. A lot of tracks run demo derbies once or twice a year; your son will love seeing that (and you will too).

In all honesty, the only other racing I enjoy watching is rally.

I talked to a guy last night who ran modifieds. As someone else mentioned, some teams pour a ton of money into their cars, so remaining competitive is not cheap. He said that he spends about $200 a night on fuel, and tires do not last long. Each track requires a different suspension setup, so he had a nice supply of shocks and springs. While the cost per night may be high, I doubt that any other wheel-to-wheel racing is cheaper per mile.

As a first time spectator to dirt oval, my advise in advance would have been to bring some good eye protection, like shop glasses, to keep the dirt out of your eyes and plan enough time to get the kids (an yourself) in the shower before they go to bed.
My typical experiences in the past in dry weather is a good caking of real dirt and grime.

When I was on vacation in VT with my family when I was younger, like early high school, we stopped by a local dirt oval. It was smaller than the one from the original post, but still a decent size. It was seriously the most fun I've ever had at a car event, and I wasn't even driving. They had a Neon spec race, a "mullet" spec race (Camaros, Mustangs, Firebirds etc, all from the '80s), some midgets, and then a "Run What You Brung" event, which was just about the funniest thing I've ever seen. There was a two-car race between two '88 Toyota Camrys, one of which rolled when he caught one tire on the turf and lost it. A race between three work trucks, two of which still had ladders on them. A race between a retired FedEx truck and a delivery truck from a local bakery. Combine all that with goofy announcers, prizes, cheap burgers, and friendly locals, and it was a very fun evening.

I just read the rules. I've run classes similar to all of their street/hobby and pure stock classes. You should be able to build a pretty competitive pure stock for not a lot of money, and it will be a fast car.

The real lives at these tracks. Rear cars. Real drivers. Real races. NASCAR can suck it.

It was a sad day when the local track here closed. The people that built houses around it complained about the noise.

They used to run a 4cyl stock class that was a hoot. Two guys used to fight for the win just about every weekend. One in a Ford Pinto, the other was a VW Rabbit. I wanted to run so bad, but was broke at the time. By the time I could afford it, the track was gone. The next closest track is 2+ hours away. If there was a still a local track, I might have never got into autocross.

Even short paved tracks are fun to go watch, like any oval you can see the whole track, the competition and fighting for position is close, no one is pacing themselves because its not a long haul endurance race like a full blown Nascar event.

The one my uncle worked at when I was a kid had an X through the middle, and the final event every weekend was a figure 8 race! Why dont they do that in Nascar lol

Zomby Woof wrote: I just read the rules. I've run classes similar to all of their street/hobby and pure stock classes. You should be able to build a pretty competitive pure stock for not a lot of money, and it will be a fast car.

They sure looked fast, even the pure stock class. The higher stock classes really scooted off the corner when they hooked up. They look like they'd be a blast to drive.
I assume the same advice applies to these as any other race car, buy your first car built and go from there? I'm having a hard time not thinking about turning left. I'm really glad that I ordered a full face SA2010 helmet for autocross on Friday. I decided to spend the extra $120 as a hedge that I might do something that had stricter requirements than autocross in the next 5-10 years. It looks like I'm already in for my first piece of gear. Sweet.

I used to look down on dirt ovals as an avid autocrosser too - until last year. A guy I work with had bought a new car, and had his old Street Stock for sale. Cheap. It's an 80's Monte Carlo chassis, but that's where the stock stuff stops. Aftermarket rear end, control arms, springs, shocks, all tube chassis except for the framerails. Our class runs 350 Chevy motors, ~375 hp.

The first time I drove it - I couldn't wipe the smile off my face for days. Autocross in my shifter kart is a more intense, focused, and concentrated effort for sure; but only for 60 seconds at a time. But, racing wheel to wheel, less than a foot apart, SIDEWAYS ON DIRT is one of the most fun things I've done with my pants on. Plus it's a $25 entry fee and you get paid $50 if you finish the feature race, in any position. I'm convinced it's the best $$ per butt in the seat time in motorsports today.

I think any short track oval racing can be entertaining(dirt or pavement). The key is to have a track that really knows it's about the fans. We have a local track called Thunder Road which does regular thursday night races. I would not be surprised to find out they regularly out draw MLB baseball teams like the Rays, given it is in central Vermont, it doesn't exactly have a huge population base to draw from. The have an enduro every year that puts more than 100 crap cans on the track at once, 3 wide it takes up 3/4 of the track. They only have the green flag, red flag and checkered flag. If your car dies on course, it just becomes another obstacle. It's like Mad Max, meets a Boston traffic jam. They put on a good show every night. You can bring your own beer, and tons of fair food. Hell, even our state's Lt Governor races there.

Ha! I forgot about Cut and Shoot, Texas.

Anywho, circle track racing is two things... Cheap and fun!

Me too for all the above. And for most tracks, stock car racing means STOCK. The idea is to keep it cheap and competitive. I have about 1500.00 into my car, and it's a front runner. The thing about oval racing is it's as much about the fan experience as it is the racing, so if you go to the track in any capacity you are going to have an entertaining night.( except perhaps for the tech guy which I have the misfortune to be this year)

Appleseed wrote: The real lives at these tracks. Rear cars. Real drivers. Real races. NASCAR can suck it.

you know that a lot of these tracks are sanctioned NASCAR tracks, right?

i grew up going to one of the most popular dirt tracks in the state on MN- Grove Creek raceway in Grove City- when i was a kid in the late 70's and early 80's. it was either a 3/8 or 1/2 mile oval with medium banking.. it was a big spectacle every night- before the racing started, they'd line up a bunch of the race cars from all the different classes on the track and pile as many kids as they could in each car around the cage tubing and do a few slow laps like that.. then after all the heat races, they'd have games and stuff on the front stretch for us kids while the racers prepared for the mains.. they had a fully equipped bar and restaurant under the grandstand, so the dads could get all lubed up while the kids played the games and the moms gossiped in the grandstands.. every 4th of July was a HUGE event.

everyone in the stands always left covered in grit, worn out, and with a huge smile on their faces and ringing in their ears. us kids always fell asleep as soon as we got in the car for the ride home, and all we talked about the next day is the racing they watched the night before.

that track shut down about 5 years ago- but they still have a pretty active 1/8 mile drag strip on the property.. the same guy that owns that track owns I94 Speedway in Fergus Falls (20 miles from me), and i'm thinking about seeing if i can take my 3 and 5 year old nieces to their big season opening Mod races this friday to see how they like it. it's only $10 for adults and kids under 12 are free- throw in a few race track hot dogs (the best hot dogs) and a Pepsi or two, and it's still a very cheap night out.

they actually charge for the privilege of walking into the pits these days? that's a bunch of crap.. one of the coolest parts of the whole night has always been wandering around the pits watching the teams put the cars away and talking about the racing.. there is also always the occasional "heated discussion" amongst a couple of the drivers that also makes for some good entertainment when they get physical, but they generally are a very tight knit group of guys that are more than willing to let curious kids look at their bent up and mud covered cars and ask questions- and sometimes they might even let kids sit in the cars and pretend they are racecar drivers- and that's where the next generation of racers comes from..

novaderrik wrote:

they actually charge for the privilege of walking into the pits these days? that's a bunch of crap.. one of the coolest parts of the whole night has always been wandering around the pits watching the teams put the cars away and talking about the racing.. there is also always the occasional "heated discussion" amongst a couple of the drivers that also makes for some good entertainment when they get physical, but they generally are a very tight knit group of guys that are more than willing to let curious kids look at their bent up and mud covered cars and ask questions- and sometimes they might even let kids sit in the cars and pretend they are racecar drivers- and that's where the next generation of racers comes from..

The tracks charge to get into the pits, yes. After the races they open the gates and the fans can walk in.

When I was younger, it was normal to hang out in the pits till midnight- 1 am and most of the cars were still there. Now it seems that teams show up, race, then leave once the car is loaded up.