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Fast Talk: Tire-cheating's drag on the sport
Here’s the latest edition of Fast Talk, a DirtonDirt.com feature appearing each Monday and sponsored by Out-Pace Racing Products. Staffers Michael Rigsby, Todd Turner and Joshua Joiner gather weekly for a roundtable discussion about who’s hot, who’s not and other issues regarding Dirt Late Model racing. Eldora Speedway announcer Dustin Jarrett is subbing for Joshua today (edited for clarity and length):
Todd Turner: Off-track controversies regarding tire-cheating penalties took the attention of Dirt Late Model racing last week, so let’s tackle that first, if nothing else to get an unsavory topic out of the way. Tires failing lab tests and triggering disqualifications is nothing new in recent seasons, but $20,000 paydays — pending appeals — will be stripped from Jason Feger after his World of Outlaws victory at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway and Jimmy Owens after his NDRL triumph at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo. That big money, along with a spate of four total disqualifications announced during a month-long stretch, has heightened attention to the problem.
Let’s look at this from a couple of angles, first with its impact on the sport. Is this dire? A bump in the road? Just the latest cheating scandal that will be something else in five year’s time? Will fans gets sick of wondering if they driver they saw win will be DQ’d two weeks later?
Dustin Jarrett: It's dire. It's absolutely dire. It's been going on for years, and everyone knows that. But it's just now coming into the spotlight because of the sport's top drivers getting caught (some of them over and over again).
It used to be guys would dope their tires in qualifying and the heat race to get a better starting spot in the feature. But now that everyone has caught onto to that tactic, it's simply not enough and the envelope is getting pushed with everyone attempting to do it "under the radar" so to speak. The fact that more guys are getting caught shouldn't be a surprise to anymore, sadly.
Michael Rigsby: I guess my answer to your question is: all of the above. I guess my word for it at this point is exhausting ... and sad. (OK, OK, I know that's two words). I, like most people, thought that it might be something similar to traction control in the late '90s where it would come, then go, and then things would be fine again. But it seems like this is a problem that at least for the time being we're stuck with.
I had a long conversation with a Dirt Late Model driver today who told me, more than anything, it's taken a lot of the fun out of the sport for him recently. And I think it's trending that way for a lot of people. It's certainly making it harder to get excited about the sport we love when a cloud is hanging over it a bit. We can, and will, pull through it, but right now — ugh — that’s the word I use to describe the tire situation.
TT: I think what I hate about it most is the affect on reputations and relationships of people that, in essence, are putting their honesty on the line. And we as media, fans, friends and competitors try to suss out the truth. It just leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. What’s worst for you guys?
MR: I totally agree Todd. My biggest issue is that it creates this heightened he said/he said situation where you really wonder sometimes where the truth lies on the spectrum. The bottom line for fans is that they'll never have access to any of that information, so their first reaction may be to just throw up their hands and say “forget it.” I had a fan email me this week and say he was taking a week off from Dirt Late Model racing, “because right now there was just too much gray area with everything.” That's not what we want at all.
DJ: As a fan, it takes something away from the actual race. People leave the track not really knowing who won. It's frustrating beyond words. This a sport built on the relationships of fans and drivers. Autograph sessions, postrace parties, T-shirt sales ... the level of trust the fans have in the sport is fading quickly. Nobody knows who to believe. Do you believe the driver? Do you believe the lab? Do you believe the sanctioning body? Our sport needs all the young blood and new fans it can get. To try and describe this is confusing, frustrating, and annoying all wrapped up into one.
TT: What about any solutions other than lab testing? The most drastic, as I reported about in a piece we'll publish later today, would be requiring teams to buy fresh tires at the track before every race. Or are we to the point where we ask Hoosier and American Racer to participate with something in the manufacturing process that would more easily reveal if tires have had chemicals added?
DJ: I guess, for me, that's the most frustrating part. What is the solution? I don't really have an answer. I don’t think anybody does and that's why this topic comes up again and again. Forcing drivers to buy tires at the track seems like a potential band-aid, but this is a gashing wound. But if you do that, you'll run off the weekend warriors more than they've already been run off.
MR: I fully admit that I don't know the pitfalls of every solution. For instance, you pitch the "buy them at the track" idea to some folks, and you can come up with 100 people who hate that idea, and 100 people who love it for totally different reasons. Every solution has a counter-problem, and so on and so forth.
DJ: I think you're second solution might be the best answer, Todd. But how far away are we from the technology that allows us to see if a tire has been chemically altered? And how does it differentiate between substances?
TT: Now on to a more palatable discussion on the racetrack: What a wild finish at Duck River Raceway Park in Sunday’s World of Outlaws race. Eric Wells led the final three laps after the top three drivers — race-dominating Josh Richards, Scott James and Rick Eckert — were caught up in a frontstretch scramble triggered by lapped traffic. It reminded me a little of Donnie Moran’s long-ago, last-lap victory at Cherokee Speedway when the top three cars wrecked, allowing the fourth-running car to win. Quite dramatic at the Duck, wasn’t it?
DJ: It was wild, indeed. I hated to see the top three go down like that, but enjoyed it for Eric Wells. He's been on the verge of a breakthrough win for a few years now, so it's nice to see him finally get that big payday. Duck River is just a fun track in general — a tight, racy bullring that always seems to provide end-of-the-race drama. It's no surprise that one ended the way it did. The fans were the big winners in that show.
MR: I'm sure some of the World of Outlaws drivers were licking their wounds after a late-Sunday night at the racetrack, but I for one am really happy that DuckTona is back on the national touring scene. And while it was late, and frustrating, kudos to Bob and Cathy Harris for having the gumption to stick it through on a rain-plagued weekend.
And what a dramatic finish?! I guess it was fitting for the way the night went.
TT: Any thoughts about other special events the last weekend in April? Michigan’s Jeep Van Wormer, now a part-time racer, won his first race since 2011 on the Sunoco American Late Model Series, and a seldom-seen racer, Oklahoma’s Raymond Merrill, topped MARS and MLRA foes in a home-state victory. Also third-generation driver Trever Feathers of Winchester, Va., broke through for his first Three State Flyers circuit victory. Those or others jump out at you?
MR: Hard not to see the irony of the Jason Feger win at Farmer City. To return to the place he was just disqualified from and get a win was pretty amazing. He mentioned it might have been more emotional than the first one. Missouri’s Brad Looney proves he's still really good in that region by grabbing a a victory in Muskogee, Okla.
DJ: Trever Feathers is going to be good. Heck, he's already good. He races in an area that's full of top-notch talent week in and week out, so that makes his win at Potomac even more impressive. As for Jeep Van Wormer, it's just amazing to see him run a partial schedule and be as fast out of the box as he is. He has a second and a first in his first two races of the year, both of which boasted solid fields of cars.
TT: Let’s wrap up with a look toward next weekend that includes doubleheaders for both national tours with the World of Outlaws in Georgia at Lavonia and Swainsboro, while the Lucas Oil Series makes its traditional swing to Tri-City and Paducah. What will you be looking for at these events?
DJ: I think you might see series non-regulars win three or maybe even all four of those races. The WoO Southern swing strikes me as an area where a regional hotshoe could sneak in and grab a victory. As for the Lucas shows, we all know how well Billy Moyer runs at Tri-City and Paducah.
TT: For me, the UMP flavor of the Lucas Oil double-dip is great, and it's always good to get to see Georgia continued to get a taste of national touring races. For so long Georgia was at the heart of the Hav-A-Tampa Dirt Racing Series.
MR: Look at those Tri-City and Paducah events last year — at or near 50 cars and just monster fields — really one of the best one-off weekends of the year that wasn't a crown jewel. You'll see that again with Babb, Feger, Shirley, Carrier, and the other St. Louis-area guys being there with the UMP and Lucas bunch. I have a keen eye on Lavonia on Friday for the Outlaws. First-ever series stops always intrigue me, and I want to see how that racetrack holds up and races. You didn't ask for predictions but I'll give 'em: Moyer sweeps Lucas, Lanigan sweeps the Outlaws.
