I think we all need to get together for a bg old fashioned group hug :o, KAOS cars are what they are nothing more and nothing less. I don't think you will see a duoble feature night of these guys anytime soon but what the hell give them a break. If you don't like them the track has set it up so you can go home at any point they are on. I applaud these guys for the work and effort they put into thier gig. They will realise the work that is involved is very demanding and to "move-up" would take even more dedication. I think they deserve our support just like any other division does, and I know I would do anything I could for any division that needed something including KAOS cars. So you guys keep it ;D
Entry of the car name, filling out registration
Purchasing a vehicle
Interpet the rules, apply these to the your car
Fabricate, prepare the car.
Associate with a list of suppliers for items and equipment needed.
Attempt the sponsorship deal.
Organize and haul car to track
Show up on practice days with pit equipment and crew organized.
Take vehicle through tech.
Attend drivers meeting, Q and A
Learn line up and scoring.
Learn the use of flags and race day procedures
Among all other divisions and their schedules and procedures for the day.
A series of on track experiences (starter, anouncers, flags, fans,boos and cheers)
The thrill of a win, the agony of defeat.
Knowing the amount of work needed to do it all over next week.
The wind down and bench racing.
Entry level with something to learn - yes
Driving school for a SS, Truck, Mod or LateModel no
She is what she is and at least a great way to learn the experience of the pits at Delaware.
I'll chime in on the chaos cars... and while I'm at it, talk a little bit about KOH, which I think is very closely linked.
Maybe as a journalist, I'm a bit spoiled because I am at Delaware for almost every event for the year, as well as getting the opportunity to travel to a large number of other tracks during the year.
To be honest, I haven't watched a KOH in a few years, as I'm usually doing interviews that I need for stories so I can get out of there as soon as the KOH is over. I get to see so much professional and semi-professional motorsports during the year, that a guy taking a hot lap in the family mini-van doesn't really turn my crankshaft.
That being said, I have a 7-year old son who goes to the races with me pretty much every Friday. Last Friday night, all he could talk about was the Chaos Cars. If that is the target audience of the speedway, then they hit it on the head!
After the races, continuing with that same 7-year old, he had to tag along with me to see Jamie Cox's OWM, and both of Steven Richmond's rides, but his mind was one track. He just wanted a good look at the 'Snotrod'!
When it comes to KOH, again, while I don't 'get it', I do notice that on KOH nights the top of the hill is PACKED, and it's not just a coincidence why those extra people show up. I tend to refer to that as the 'bloodthirsty savage factor', as many are there for one reason, and that is the hope of seeing a Mustang or some other quick import in a waded mess against the concrete wall.
Delaware did a survey years ago (while Tony Novotny was still the promotor), and they found that their 'average' fan goes to the track about three times a year, and on any given night those 'average' fan numbers far exceed the 'diehards'. While I can appreciate that many that are on this board are like myself who go every week, those 'average' fans make up a tremendous bulk of the crowd, and that's a fact. Delaware Speedway, or any racetrack for that matter have to cater more to the fans that come out three or four times a year, trying to get them to come out more then they do catering to the folks that are there every week, as the fans that are there weekly are coming almost regardless of what goes on.
Hence the 'freak show' factor of the Chaos Cars, or the KOH, which are run at the end of the night. Delaware has done this in an attempt to 'please' the real race fans. If you don't want to watch, and think they are a waste of time, then you are free to leave after the final 'real' feature of the evening. Even when they cater to the 'freak show' crowd, they still keep the meat and potatoes of those regular fans in mind.
The biggest problem with Stock Car Racing over the past several years (NASCAR included) is that they have stopped marketing directly to the future generation of fans. With all the 'Fast and Furious' movies and cars that have hit the stage over the past several years, that genre and the import cars have started to steal a tremendous amount of the younger demographics away from Stock Car Racing, because of the way they have marketed those types of cars / shows (not to mention Drifting, Time Attack, etc.),
The Chaos Cars are for the kids first, and as an added entertainment value for everyone after that (even giving me a few occassional giggles along the way -what can I say, my son has got me watching them now) . That has to be the logic behind them, especially due to the fact that they have names rather than numbers on them, giving them all a little personality. Even the frontstretch entrance with theme music is a selling point of the division, as the track keeps trying to grow them on the spectators. Are we going to see the pilot of the 'Bush Bomb' in a Late Model anytime soon? Probably not, but at the same time, never say never.
That being said, the driver that debuted 'Born Again' last weekend was looking for tips and some assistance online on this forum last week before he hit the track, and quite frankly, though he may never be part of the 'regular' Friday night divisions, he's already taken the appropriate steps to get involved and hit the track. Maybe he will gain the knowledge and experience during a Chaos Car and someday be driving a Truck / Enduro / Super Stock at some point down the road, but from a budget perspective, a Chaos Car is a very low cost way to get into the sport and go racing on Friday nights. Is it 'real' racing - no! Is it still racing... well, if you have to get there first to be the winner, than that's a race, no matter how you slice it.
+1 Mr. Maudsley
Entry of the car name, filling out registration
Purchasing a vehicle
Interpet the rules, apply these to the your car
Fabricate, prepare the car.All that applies to horse racing if you replace car with horse. Or dogs or the ironman triathalon for that matter.
Doesn't make it racing for the oval track unless you think that maybe they should run horses too. Then I can't help you any.
Want to tour the pits and see what a race team does, go visit one and hang out with them. Want to race a car at the track bring a race car not Mr.Bean or Pee Wee Herman's car.
I guess I need to spell it out. My post refered to all the entry level experience one gets from the chaos division. I pointed out that it does not prepare you to drive a circle track car! It's also not a comment on the type of racing so please don't read that into it.
Again, she is what she is.