[Ed Wright]

I ran a roundy round car on dirt through the '80s. Non Of the guys I ever ran onto we're the innovators we race. It is more car than engine. Most everybody had cookie cutter cars, store bought engines. And usually two, many had as many as three, spares in the trailers. It wasn't hard to make all the power you could put on the ground. It's dirt, remember. Two and three 50 lap race nights a week, reliability and car handling and drivers are the big deals. We had winged sprint cars (World of Outlaws rules), usually 1/4 mile or 3/8th mile tracks. How fast it would go around the corners had much more to do with lap times than straight away speeds. Driver and car meant more than the engine. I always did my own engines. Never had had a problem keeping up with the money guys. Hiring the right driver was the really big deal.
People in the stands were mostly locals coming out to see if Bubba was going to beat Billy Bob this week, or if Jim Bob was going to sneak in. The local points chase was a big deal. My car won three championships in a row at Tulsa. Finally got so expensive car counts went in the dumper. Saw the same people about every week. That track has been closed for several years now.
Can't really compare it to what we do.