sail panels

[Casper60]

This is either a love them or hate them topic, but I'm just curious what people would think about seeing them on the sportsman cars? Personally I'd like to see something different, and they are certainly an easy option. Obviously they would work at some tracks better than others, but would they be feasible as a weekly deal or maybe a few specials through the year?

[Sunny]

I am not a fan - on a Sporstman or a modified, but you know that.

It would seem to me that having them on an underpower motor - IE: 602 crate motor - would defeat the purpose.

If you mean throw them on an open class to be able to tell the difference between the cars - absolutely. Some of those opens are running small block levels.

I would rather see them mandatory on a modified after this new chassis builders seminar they are scheduled to have, instead of narrowing and lengthening the chassis and making them less safe for drivers.

[old man]

I am not a fan either but understand their use. The Sportsman class is suppose to be a lower cost class (lol) why add more? The 602 class cars beat and bang a lot so why add more body to have to fix? Would not like to see them in our opens either--If we are to look like a mod than be a mod.
just my two cents as a car owner
Dave

[ask0329]

I'm not a fan of them at all. They make the cars look awful. From my understanding they tighten a car up? With the parity of the sportsman class I would think you would want to go in the other direction and loosen the cars up. That would then put more emphasis on setup and driving. But I suppose tightening them up is doing the same concept just on the other end of the spectrum.

IMO to make the sportsman look different than the mods theres two simple things that can be done. 1. get rid of the spoilers. That costs nothing. Slightly changes the look and would take away down force.  If a driver wants to move up, they still have their spoiler. 2. Go with the plastic MD3 or Dominator noses that IMCA style mods run and Larry Wight had on his car a few years ago. This would really change up the look allot at a pretty affordable cost. They are $150 new and heck I bought two of them used for $50. They are really durable and a driver could again move up with little or no cost by putting their metal nose back on. Phase this in over maybe 2 years. It would not drastically change the look of the car but enough to differentiate them from the mods.

[Casper60]

An extra $100 for sail panels isn't going to set anyone back to the point where they quit racing, cost should be a non factor. They require no more work than a set of windows, in fact if they get bent up, they are a lot easier to straighten out than a window, a lot less work.

It really has nothing to do with trying to make them look different, especially at a track that only has one modified class. It's more of a functionality deal. The thought of doing something different than the same boring bs we do year after year makes the thought interesting to me. I don't have any issues with the current bodies, it would just be nice to mix it up.

[itchypav]

Part of the problem with going sail panels on the Sportsman is there are many places in NY that have the Mods using sail panels.

[dirttrackrocker]

I don't like them on any modified.

[Casper60]

I know i-88 does, Woodhull, Black Rock... who else?

I'm not really along the thought process that all tracks should go to them. There are tracks where the sportsman are the only mod class they run (Batavia, Freedom, Skyline...) where they could be an option. Weekly would be cool, but even some specials from time to time to change things up a bit.

Grit Series had a race last year, but didn't do it again this season for some reason.

[Casper60]

And like I said, people either like them or hate them. If you don't like them, you're not going to like them on any car, so it doesn't really matter what is said... lol

[itchypav]

They were on the mods at Thunder Mountain last weekend, Penn Can had them, seen them at I-88.

I have only been to 1 place that had them on Sportsman and that was 5 mile.

[matt_s86]

I've often thought Raceway 5 would be a good place to run them weekly, where like you said sportsman is the only modified class, plus the field of cars is typically strictly local.  If you're a track that relies on drawing cars from all over that race multiple times a week, I'm not sure it'd be a great decision.  Done as a gimmick "outlaw" night once in a while could be cool.

[itchypav]

You are right about the either you like them or don't. It's that way for a lot of things and it can be a tough sell to change for sure.

[Casper60]

Forgot about Thunder.... Didn't count Penn Can because it's in PA, but it's close enough, So yeah, there are a few track running them where it wouldn't make sense as a weekly deal for the sportsman cars.

Matt, Exactly. Most tracks have their weekly locals and very rarely get guys that travel a lot other than specials. I think they would be great on a track like Batavia. I tried them this past week at Skyline and couldn't believe how much better the car was with them. I think a short track like that would benefit from them.

[firemanracer17]

I think they should be on mods and only mods. I know I have brought new people to the track and that is how they could tell the difference between the mods and sportsman.

[BigFeet13]

As a fan, I hate them. As a crew member, they're great. Especially when we dealt with a chronic loose condition.