Because of the pandemic, a lot of us are watching races online and, during a sprint car event, the street stock support class took a long time to complete.
Because of the pandemic, a lot of us are watching races online and, during one particular sprint car event, the street stock support class was taking a long time to complete because of seemingly unending cautions.
When it was announced over the PA system that, if one more caution came out, the race would end with a green-white-checkered finish, the crowd at the track applauded loudly.
You know it‘s taking too long when the live at the track crowd is getting restless.
I mention the “at the track” crowd because, if you are at the track you can get up and go to the restroom or shop the merchandise trailers, or even carry on a conversation with people sitting around you while the support class is on the track or if the event is being delayed for any reason.
When you are at home watching online, especially if you are watching by yourself and the clock is ticking away and it is getting late into the night, any long-running support class, or any delay in the program, seems exaggerated and longer then it may actually be.
But, as I said, when the onsite crowd is getting restless, you know the delay is way too long.
On the night the crowd applauded to the announced shortening of the street stock race, I tweeted how the crowd reacted and it got a debate started about whether there is a need or not for a support class at what I call a “national” event.
As a co-promoter of a WoO race, which is run on a weeknight, I have always been opposed to running a support class at our event. Yes, a support class can generate extra money, but I feel it‘s more important to run a single class, especially when we are talking about the Outlaws, which arguably has the best winged sprint car drivers and teams in the world.
Here in Ohio we are lucky to have many great 410 sprint car teams and we have enough cars to fill an entire night of racing.
I realize that there are many places around the country that don‘t have that luxury and a WoO race might not get enough cars to run more than just a couple heat races, a dash and the A-Main. On those occasions, a support class may be warranted to give the fans their money‘s worth.
I‘ve had fans tell me that, when they go to a WoO sprint car race, they want to see sprint cars racing and nothing else. In a perfect world, on the nights where a WoO sprint car show has a low 410 car count and a support class is needed, the support class would be another form of open-wheel cars, whether it is midgets or micros, because the majority of the crowds at a sprint car race are open-wheel fans.
The problem is that the World of Outlaws travels to so many areas where there are no midgets, micros, or other type of open-wheel cars to make up the support class, so the support class is often times some sort of street stock or modified division.
I want to be very clear: I am not saying that street stocks or modifieds can‘t put on a good show; I am saying that a lot of times the support class is filled with drivers with limited experience and they tend to bring out a lot of cautions, which delays the program.
The same can be said for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and the Lucas Oil Late Model Series shows, as well. When late model fans pay to see the national stars, they generally don‘t want to sit through endless caution laps of a support class, especially if that support class isn‘t similar to a late model.
Imagine going to see a certain genre or type of movie and several times throughout that movie they stop the show that you came to see and show parts of a complete different type of movie or, even worse, multiple movies (like multiple support classes at a big event). No one would put up with that.
I‘ve had fans tell me they‘d rather see two sets of heat races run, or an extra qualifying event on the nights when car counts are low, than watch a support class.
But the teams generally don‘t like the double heat race format, because it‘s more wear and tear on equipment.
There are those who feel that a support class is needed to fill the time between races while teams prepare their cars for the next race. At a dirt track, there is almost always the need to do at least a little track prep at some point throughout the night and that can be done while teams are getting their cars ready.
The Supercross motorcycle series does a lot of grooming of the track between qualifying races and they crank the music up and fill the time entertaining the crowd in many different ways.
With no support class, you can also control the time and pacing of the event. If you need to speed the show up due to weather concerns, or for any reason, you can do that. If you need to slow it down to give folks a restroom break or a concession stand visit, or give the teams more time to prepare, you can do that too.
The majority of people I‘ve spoken with, who pay to see major events, have told me they would rather see the down time filled with driver interviews, giveaways, T-shirt cannons shooting shirts into the stands, or drivers throwing Frisbees than having to sit through a long, drawn-out support class or – even worse – multiple support classes!