Pros racing Loretta Lynns

Wasn't it like two years ago when Durnham and Brown were running laptimes faster then the pro sport class at LL? I saw a livestream of that race, so fast

I just looked up the results from the 2020 +25 class. Rough guess is there are 5 guys that have scored points, 10 guys with their pro license, 10 more that held it previously.

I'll use two names in specific of guys I know personally that raced plus 25 last year.

Travis Stitcher from Colorado: the dude absolutely rips. Had his pro license mid '10's, may have qualified once or twice. Life happened, and he quit racing for several years. Comes back and wants to compete with fast people. Is not fast enough to race outdoors competitively, way faster than an average local vet guy. What class is he supposed to race? 450 pro sport? Last year when we raced at the LL regional in Iowa, he didn't have the throttle control and grace to make it in the 450 class without slamming, because he was several years off the gate. Talent, yes. Rust would prevent it.

Giancarlo Clouser, of Illinois. Gio trains (and works) at Albertson's 7 days a week and is a holeshot artist. He's never held a pro card, is 25-28 years old, and very competitive in the pro class locally. He is extremely solid, but just a tick off the pace from qualifying into LL in 450 pro sport last year.

Travis went 18-17-DNS
Gio with 35-23-29

Both these guys race the pro class locally and make money every time they show up for Sunday. Does that mean they are disqualified, because they are fast? By comparison to Scharer, Wentland, Vonlinger, Loberg, etc, they are midpack fodder. Without +25, they're essentially classless. Those four guys could make it into pro sport and be competitive, but have no desire to race the kids with less brains than throttle. They're looking to go race and have a good time with similar dudes, the same exact thing the complainers in here want for themselves. But because they're fast, they're cherry pickers? There is not a problem here. There are just a lot of really fuckin' fast guys that want to go back to the ranch for sake of nostalgia and to have a good time. If you can't make it in, go buy a bigger truck or something.

I understand your logic and I respect your opinion and what youve accomplished. However, you're wording it as if im saying to eliminate any place for them. I'm not. +25 Vet Pro. I'd love to watch that class at loretta's. It'd fill up like any other. Call me a complainer all you want but if you go around asking vet guys you'll probably see there's loads that would agree with what im saying. Step outside the fast guy clique and the chatter is a little different.

I still love ya man. But Loretta’s ain’t “fun” it’s serious. lol. Fun for me is the Ohio battle series. But Loretta’s....that just resonates in a different area of my brain. More so fits the accomplishing mindset mkre than the fun. That’s probably why we can’t agree on this topic.

By the way.....The holeshot was 96 at Ponca....Not Loretta’s. And I peaked early.....

Now Back on topic.

What difference does it make? Amateur racers do it for the challenge, the competition and to see where they stack up. A $15 trophy shouldn't matter.

I did a desert race last year where Mike Metzger showed up and raced in my 40+ class. I'm definitely not winning if that happens, but it's fun to see where I stack up against somebody like that.

That same $15 dollar amateur trophy shouldn’t matter to an ex pro even less...

It doesn't they just want to race.

World Vet Nationals comes to mind