Unlimited Attrition, Unlimited Expense
03-22-2018, 10:06 PM
#11
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First off I will say that offshore racing is my football/nascar whatever you call it. I have raced p4 and plan on racing again. The unlimited boats are awesome ! But I agree that most people are bored and walking away a couple laps in. Something needs to Change. Everyone in this sport spends a ton of money to do what they love. Unlimited lights it on fire! Unfortunately we need to put on a better show for spectators for this sport to bring a return on our investment. While the big boats look impressive the racing is so so. I’m all for a change but not sure the answer. I don’t see the big money guys staying with “little “ engines long when they can have whatever they want. IMO the victory hulls will dominate with the lower hp. Steve Curtis would dominate the fleet with The old spirit of Norway /spirit of Qatar with the class one n/a Lamborghini engines. How long will MTI put up with that ?
03-23-2018, 07:42 AM
#12
I agree that most people are bored and walking away a couple laps in. Something needs to Change. Everyone in this sport spends a ton of money to do what they love. Unfortunately we need to put on a better show for spectators for this sport to bring a return on our investment.
03-23-2018, 08:20 AM
#13
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So true. For the Clearwater race we anchored about 1/3 of the way down the backstretch, and none of the races held our interest for more than a couple laps. Wake Effects was so far gone by lap 2 or 3 that they could have stopped, dropped lines and caught some grouper for dinner and still won the race. Once the whole field is spaced out by 1/4 mile increments or more, it's over. Nobody cares anymore. Couple that with the fact that nobody really knew what was going on at any given time, its just hard to be that interested as a spectator.
03-23-2018, 08:42 AM
#14
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Endurance racing has always been for the entrants, friends and family plus the occasional big buck sponsor. Compare the spectator count at the 24 Hours of Daytona to the NASCAR 500 a couple weeks later.
03-23-2018, 09:47 AM
#15
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Matt I enjoy your articles and the level/ neutral grounds that you evolk in your writing....
Unlimited by definition is without restriction - everyone learns this by 3rd grade. If promoters announced an 1100hp spec class wherein Race One of the season, the teams chose to migrate to spec class - unlimited would eventually fizzle out like turbine class but unlimited would have always be remembered as the holly grail with greats like Alcone/Gilbreath, Scott and JT, Haggin/Scotty/Mark as well as Bob Bull and a list of others throughout the class history.
A few years ago Bob Bull outran the field on what was talked about being pre-released 1750 and he ran impressively in unlimited class......in 1996 Matt Alcone ran 950hp. In 1998 (I think???), he and Jerry crushed the field so bad with 1300 Sterling's that the field was basically racing for second place because they covered every base in preparation and controlled their attrition in race power of the day.
IMHO, I hope the change does bring more boats to the party and racing regularly.You have to afford the game to play, granted.....Calling the class Unlimited when 4 production Merc HP ranges exceed class max is on a par of high-fiving John Force for racing a 4cylinder KIA - Obviously you would do it b/c it's John Force.. but you WANT to see him run the T/F
Unlimited by definition is without restriction - everyone learns this by 3rd grade. If promoters announced an 1100hp spec class wherein Race One of the season, the teams chose to migrate to spec class - unlimited would eventually fizzle out like turbine class but unlimited would have always be remembered as the holly grail with greats like Alcone/Gilbreath, Scott and JT, Haggin/Scotty/Mark as well as Bob Bull and a list of others throughout the class history.
A few years ago Bob Bull outran the field on what was talked about being pre-released 1750 and he ran impressively in unlimited class......in 1996 Matt Alcone ran 950hp. In 1998 (I think???), he and Jerry crushed the field so bad with 1300 Sterling's that the field was basically racing for second place because they covered every base in preparation and controlled their attrition in race power of the day.
IMHO, I hope the change does bring more boats to the party and racing regularly.You have to afford the game to play, granted.....Calling the class Unlimited when 4 production Merc HP ranges exceed class max is on a par of high-fiving John Force for racing a 4cylinder KIA - Obviously you would do it b/c it's John Force.. but you WANT to see him run the T/F
Thanks for the kind words.
Last edited by Matt Trulio; 03-23-2018 at 09:49 AM.
03-23-2018, 09:49 AM
#17
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Just a thought. Being there is NO reliability in the unlimited class and most don't finish what if you really shortened there mileage to say 25 miles as more of a shoot out. Now that would be a show full of excitement. This would make it way more exciting to watch because it would be over in 15 minutes. Look at it this way. Everyone wants to see the first lap. Then the excitement goes down hill from there. People space out and positions don't change unless someone breaks. We all know the race will last for 45 minutes so peoples attention fades away when the field is so spread out. When was the last time you saw an unlimited boat pass another boat after the 2-3 lap unless someone had a mechanical issue? If you want endurance racing you will hate this idea.
03-23-2018, 11:05 AM
#18
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Everyone seems to agree that the show needs to be improved. The solution is short course sprint races. It brings close competition and keeps the energy of the race up. The traditional "good old days" fans won't like it, but if you want spectators (other than friends and family), that is the way to go.
