Starters on Sprints

BigRightRear · **Posted:** Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:03 am

this is why I am glad I live in sprint car country and stock cars are relegated to support status.

the way they poke around the track when they are "racing" is a bigger waste of time than any push truck situation I have ever seen...short of the rocket scientists at Fayetteville Speedway (NC - ASCS Race) who got the push truck stuck in the muddy bottom of 2 and needed a tractor to pull it out all the while the cars idled around the speedway - causing an 8 lap heat race to NEED A FUEL STOP!

thought I'd never see anything that stupid until of course the Wild Child caused multiple yellows / work area trips during a WoO event at the Grove...and as Buzzkill said..."that was wild".

John H · **Joined:** Thu Nov 18, 2010 9:24 pm **Posts:** 152

It seems as though some tracks want to cut down the lengths of their shows and make a more efficently run night. It is also apparent that the sprint divisions take more time to get organized and lined up. I have a couple of questions. First, why do you have to have engine starts then turn around and have a warm up session? Second, how do most teams fire up their cars at the shop during the week?

JOEDARRAH · **Joined:** Sat Apr 25, 2009 12:42 pm **Posts:** 414

It really doesn't take that much time to do the push off, Heat in motors is so that the MOTOR is up to temp hot laps is to test the car and track. You have to push the car to start no matter where you are actually someone had gotten killed a few years ago starting a car at home.

John H · **Joined:** Thu Nov 18, 2010 9:24 pm **Posts:** 152

JOEDARRAH wrote:

It really doesn't take that much time to do the push off, Heat in motors is so that the MOTOR is up to temp hot laps is to test the car and track. You have to push the car to start no matter where you are actually someone had gotten killed a few years ago starting a car at home.

Thanks for your response Joe. I guess because I am not much of a sprint car fan I see area's that I feel are wasting time, but I guess all divisions (except Late Models :laughing7:

) have their issues. I just can't justify the engine starts then turning around and having warm-ups.
Just combine them together and give them a couple more laps in the beginning. It would end up saving alot of time.

JOEDARRAH · **Joined:** Sat Apr 25, 2009 12:42 pm **Posts:** 414

when you start the car to get heat in motor a lot more is checked at that time so this time is crucial to the life of the engine and safety of the driver. if a track is managed right this would only be a minor distraction

Duane · **Joined:** Fri May 08, 2009 1:06 pm **Posts:** 284

Stew said it!! :cheers2:

Buildy · **Posted:** Tue Dec 13, 2011 1:26 pm

Agreed!

Leave em like they are.

lefty · **Joined:** Thu Feb 02, 2006 6:52 pm **Posts:** 25649

John H wrote:

JOEDARRAH wrote:

It really doesn't take that much time to do the push off, Heat in motors is so that the MOTOR is up to temp hot laps is to test the car and track. You have to push the car to start no matter where you are actually someone had gotten killed a few years ago starting a car at home.

Thanks for your response Joe. I guess because I am not much of a sprint car fan I see area's that I feel are wasting time, but I guess all divisions (except Late Models :laughing7:

) have their issues. I just can't justify the engine starts then turning around and having warm-ups.
Just combine them together and give them a couple more laps in the beginning. It would end up saving alot of time.

Your late models have to do the same thing, they just don't require the push off to get the engine fired. I guess it would save time if they didn't sit in the pits to warm their engine and check everything is ok before hot laps too.

Or just get there 20 minutes later and you can just skip watching them do this. :idea:

John H · **Joined:** Thu Nov 18, 2010 9:24 pm **Posts:** 152

longtimefan · **Joined:** Fri Feb 03, 2006 10:12 am **Posts:** 1268

If the races start close to the advertised time I'm not sure it matters what happens up until that time.

62xracer · **Joined:** Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:18 pm **Posts:** 196

To answer John's question about how teams start sprints at home:either push them like at the track,or,a lot of teams have starters that attach to the lower shaft of the rear.Cover off,no gears,they work fine,lots of guys use them.

BigRightRear · **Posted:** Tue Dec 13, 2011 6:58 pm

the sprint car world can survive without impatient late model fans who seem to have little problem sitting thru 100 laps of spin outs and work area visits!

bschriver11 · **Joined:** Sat Oct 11, 2008 11:51 pm **Posts:** 228

A push truck is a "starter" !! :yessss:

CH_88 · **Joined:** Mon Mar 17, 2008 8:16 am **Posts:** 679

If someone doesn't like sprint cars for whatever reason then I have a simple solution: don't watch them. No ones arm gets twisted to sit there and watch engine starts. There are plenty of things to do at the track besides sitting there with your eyes glued to the speedway. Personally, I like engine starts. They don't take up any extra time because they do it before the racing is scheduled to start anyhow. Now if racing is scheduled to start at 7:00pm and they wait until then to push them off for engine starts, then one could say the program is being held up but that simply isn't the case. Engine starts take place well before the scheduled start.

Cobra · **Joined:** Thu Feb 02, 2006 4:39 pm **Posts:** 626

The biggest waste of time is the pace car doing numerous laps before the sprints even move from their pits...Then we sit through half a dozen slow laps followed by at least 1 "buzz the RR lap".

The actual time to fire the cars is the least amount of time taken in lining them up !

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Starters on Sprints

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