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Northwest Racing News
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| Joined: | Thursday Mar 16th, 2006 |
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Posted: Thursday Nov 2nd, 2006 06:05 AM |
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Listen to Northwest Racing News Podcast to hear a candid conversation with Ron Bennit about the 2007 nwtour. Also Kelly Tanner talks about his Grand National plans
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richards157
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| Joined: | Friday Aug 11th, 2006 |
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Posted: Saturday Nov 11th, 2006 10:08 AM |
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there will be a northwest tour for tour type cars in the northwest next year. i was assured that things were in place by ron bennett after a long phone call last night.
joel doellefeld (owner, stateline speedway) and tedd pollock (yakima speedway) will essentially be the owners of the series said mr. bennett who will essentially act as tour director/administrater until someone is hired to hold this position.
tracks solidly on board are of course stateline and yakima. others close to closing deals are south sound, roseburg, twin falls and kalispell. wenatchee has also shown an interest. most were waiting to hear purse amounts and other arrangements that need to be made. purses have just been announced. $22,500 per event with $4,000 to the winner. $400 will be the minimum paid. there will be incentives paid out on a race to race basis. in addition there will be bonuses and additional bonuses paid to drivers who compete in the entire series.
mr. bennett expressed his frustration at everything taking so long to put in place, but was very optimistic at this time that the "new" tour will be a huge success.
many hurdles had to be cleared but things are now solidly in place. there are a few tweaks here and there to be made, but essentially this is now a reality and not some rumor. it is fact.
this will now allow racers with tour type cars to compete as they have in the past within the local region. hopefully the tour and wenatchee will be able to work their schedules out to compliment one another. wenatchee's "big five" series of races and the tour's approximate twelve races would offer a nice seventeen race calendar for tour drivers.
rules will follow the 2006 elite series touring rules with very few exceptions, the biggest being not allowing straigh-rail cars to compete as was allowed last year. but as mr. bennett pointed out, there were no regular tour drivers that competed in a straight-rail car. there will be a few things not required as had been last year. a couple mentioned were doing away with the spindle tethers and not following through on throwing out fuel cells after three years of use.
rules will be set and followed through on for the entire season. there will be no costly adjustment part way through the year which nascar had become notorious for doing. this will help keep costs down for the competitors. mufflers will be required and strict enforcement of a decible limit to be agreed upon will be followed.
mr. bennett and the others involved are hoping that there will be a return to times when the tour "was a little more fun to compete in". too much business and seriousness had crept into the series over the last few years.
this should present lower cost racing with the same excitement that fans are used to. there will be no longer fees charged to join nascar as a driver or a crew member. the cost of these licenses have sky-rocketed over the years.
promoters won't have to pay rights fees to nascar that approached $40,000 pre event. hopefully that savings will have a trickle down affect to admission fees for the fans.
further announcements will be made in the very near future concerning the series. a schedule will be made availble as soon as all agreements with tracks are completed. a series sponsor will also be announced in the very near future.
as mr bennett expressed several times throughout our conversation, "we are not trying to re-invent the wheel, just tweak it here and there".
well, it appears as if the wheel has been tweaked and is pointed in the right direction.
as a tour fan in the northwest i was very optimistic after speaking with a very gracious mr. bennett. he took the time to lay out much of what had been going on over the last few months and was very candid with his explanations. i want to take the time to thank him once again for his time.
northwestracing, you were right. i feel very good about the future state of tour racing in the northwest.
let's hear what everybody has to say about this news. drivers, owners and fans alike.
can't wait for the 2007 racing season.
APRIL 28 WENATCHEE VALLEY SUPER OVAL
MAY 12 OPEN DATE
MAY 26 EPHRATA RACEWAY PARK
JUNE 9 YAKIMA SPEEDWAY
JUNE 30 STATELINE SPEEDWAY
JULY 14 OPEN DATE
JULY 28 WENATCHEE VALLEY SUPER OVAL
AUG 11 STATELINE SPEEDWAY
AUG 25 EPHRATA RACEWAY PARK
SEPT 8 OPEN DATE
SEPT 22 WENATCHEE VALLEY SUPER OVAL
*TENATIVE SCHEDULE AS OF NOV 2ND
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wj98802
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Posted: Sunday Nov 12th, 2006 06:04 AM |
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| Unless they repave and clean the rocks out of the pits I can't see a tour race happening there. its a one groove track for cars with HP. Last edited on Sunday Nov 12th, 2006 06:08 AM by wj98802
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rickt
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Posted: Monday Nov 13th, 2006 03:43 PM |
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I wish em all the luck in the world. They are gonna need it. Hope they can pull it off but see an uphill battle all the way without some serious cost cutting measures. I don't know what the answer is. Nothing said about sanction fees which historically has killed the touring series because of costs to little tracks. The guys at the head of the table have been around for awhile. If anyone can pull it off, they can I would suspect.. Like I said, good luck to them.. Rickt 
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wj98802
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Posted: Tuesday Nov 14th, 2006 02:25 AM |
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| I hope the Tour can survive also. I like Ephrata and the people who run it also, but have doubts that the Tour Cars would race there unless its repaved
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Kelly Hart
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Posted: Tuesday Nov 14th, 2006 03:11 AM |
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In an open letter to the race fans of the Northwest, Joe and Ted announced today that they were unable to secure funding for the proposed new race series. I applaud the parties involved for their efforts to keep the cars of the NW Tour racing in 2007 in some manner.
POST FALLS, IDAHO-- The following is a statement regarding the immediate future of the Northwest Tour issued by Joe Doellefeld, owner and promoter of Stateline Speedway and Ted Pollock, owner of Yakima Speedway:
“Sadly, our inability to secure sufficient venues and race dates to present a season of great racing in the Pacific Northwest has caused us to abandon our desire and plan to continue the Northwest Tour in 2007.
Hopefully, if in the future other opportunities arise, we stand ready to renew our efforts and work with others to see “The Tour” continue.
Our deepest thanks to all who have offered help and encouragement while we tried hard to put the tour together.”
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xingman
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| Joined: | Thursday Jul 14th, 2005 |
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Posted: Tuesday Nov 14th, 2006 02:20 PM |
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Man, that's a bummer.  I was looking forward to seeing the northwest tour come to Roseburg.
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Proud father of Ricky "Hot Rod" Perry
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rickt
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Posted: Tuesday Nov 14th, 2006 02:38 PM |
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Wow! Maybe a little premature on the first release? That sucks. My feeling is that if it does not run next season it probably will not return at all. It needs to continue on a constant to make it. Teams will now be forced to go in a different direction to race next year and I doubt that you could get the group back together without major sponsors/venues/people in place. Sadly it looks like the end of another Northwest era in racing. Support what we have out there folks. It can go away just that fast
Rickt
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We need more Military Appreciation days at Speedways
Lifes tough, it's even tougher if you're stupid...John Wayne
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Northwest Racing News
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Posted: Wednesday Nov 15th, 2006 01:47 AM |
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Lat night I talked with Ron Bennit, Brandon Reil and Johnny Z adout the bad news.
http://www.nwracer.net
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xingman
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Posted: Wednesday Nov 15th, 2006 06:16 AM |
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Northwest Racing News wrote: Lat night I talked with Ron Bennit, Brandon Reil and Johnny Z adout the bad news.
http://www.nwracer.net
Wow! That page doesn't like to load very fast!
In fact, I can't get it to completely load at all.
Last edited on Wednesday Nov 15th, 2006 06:21 AM by xingman
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Proud father of Ricky "Hot Rod" Perry
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