A figurative line is being drawn by a few Sprint Car drivers around the country, and it has nothing to do with sand. To be accurate, it’s more about the wing.
Brent Marks got things started when he put a line through the Hoosier Tire sticker on his wing before the World of Outlaws event at Devil’s Bowl Speedway. He took it a step further when he ripped off the Hoosier neckband after climbing up on the cage for the ceremonial Victory Lane snapshot.
The move was in response to Hoosier Tire’s release of another price hike. As for the visual effect of Marks’ protest, it heightened awareness to an already heated situation that flared up to a wild-fire level on social media.
I understand the frustration of Marks and other teams. The cost of tires has increased roughly 30 percent over the last year and could have a strong negative impact on the economics of the 2022 racing season. But to the people calling for an open tire rule or another company to join the mix … there is no help on the horizon.
Nobody is coming to the rescue.
It’s short-sighted to think that another company like Goodyear, American Racer, or even Firestone could swoop in and save the day. Each one has glaring issues that prevent them from entering the mix.
Let’s start with Goodyear. According to sources, the Ohio company has no interest in getting back into Sprint Car racing after not having its contract renewed for the 2013 season. Besides, NASCAR is their main focus and a much bigger fish.
American Racer seems like a viable option to the keyboard warriors. They are heavily involved in Modified racing and were a popular choice with various Sprint Car drivers in the central Pennsylvania region at one time.
Those days ceased to exist when tire rules started to be implemented. It doesn’t mean American Racer doesn’t want to return, but it should be noted that they are smaller than Hoosier and lack the resources to get back in the game at this point.
That brings us to Firestone or any other company looking to put its foot in the dirt-track racing cash register. The problem is that they don’t have the appropriate molds needed to produce a Sprint Car tire, and it would take in the neighborhood of two years to get such a program off the ground.
In other words, it’s Hoosier or bust.
Maybe a better approach is a rule change or minor tweak to help the situation. There have been rumors of a wicker bill change to unhook the cars, which according to some theories, could slow down tire wear and make a right rear last longer.
I have no idea if it’s true or not, but one prominent series and a couple of tracks have looked at the possibility of going to a one-inch wicker bill over the regular two-inch rule. After talking to the series, however, they have decided to shelf the initiative until next year due to a lack of firm data saying the rule will have a positive impact.
You can’t really blame them. The season has started, and you don’t want to make a change mid-stream. Maybe it gets reviewed again if times get desperate, but right now, we are back to square one.
So, Hoosier is the only viable choice, and it will likely stay that way for the foreseeable future. Regardless of the manufacturer, they would struggle with the same issues, which is transportation costs, getting product, and competition from other industries to put a work force in place.
Sprint Car racing has to hope the issues facing Hoosier improve, and costs come down or level off. That might not even be enough to satisfy supply and demand during the Summer months when the sport is at its peak.
Promoters might have to take action. It’s possible that a track might have to cancel a weekly show in order to have enough supply to hold a premier event that maximizes earning’s potential.
Then again, maybe it all works out and no races are lost. But one thing is for certain, nobody wearing a red cape is riding in on a white horse to fix all the problems. That only happens in cartoons and comic books.