Recently there have been some comments in the media about facilities at race tracks that have caught my eye. Most recently my friend Joe Vanhoose of the Ocala Star-Banner asked his readers to tell him what they expected from a racing facility. Some potential new fans walk into their local track and immediately determine that the place as a dump, and looking at the facilities at some tracks I can see why.
But sometimes you have to look deeper than what you see to understand what is actually there. And interestingly enough, if you go into a race track that is lacking in decent facilities and ask the fans what they think, the answers tend to be about the racing rather than the facilities. Am I the only one that can see the irony in that? New and modern facilities look nice, but if the racing is not what the fans expect then the rest is all window dressing.
So what can track owners do to upgrade their perception in the community and attract new fans to come and see some racing? Most prefer to offer incentives, giveaways, special prices, and free passes, in order to attract new fans. But what would happen if a track owner with deep pockets were to build a totally up to date and exceptional racing facility?
Would it translate into more fans in the stands and more cars on the track? And what do fans expect when they walk into a racing facility anyway? Is it good food, clean and modern restrooms, a comfortable seat, or maybe all of the above?
How about NONE of the above?
There are three things other than the racing that fans typically complain about at local speedways, and those are the seating, the bathrooms, and the concession stands. I have been to sports stadiums of all types all across the nation, and I have discovered that some of the nicest looking facilities sometimes have the most rustic basic framework.
For example, a few years ago I visited a sports stadium for a football game and was amazed to see how modern the stadium was and yet the restrooms were circa 1950. You certainly can not judge a book by it’s cover, can you? But when it comes to local speedways, when you arrive at the place you usually see exactly what you get. A place in dire need of an upgrade has a very hard time hiding that fact.
If you are one to venture to local race tracks anywhere in the United States, then you are likely to have placed your posterior on a wide range of seating. This is because depending on the track the accommodations for the fans can vary widely, and many times the fans quickly discover that comfort usually does not enter the equation. And while some tracks have modernized their facilities over the years, some have remained as they were decades ago. As far as seating goes, very little has changed since the 1950’s.
The typical local speedway, be it a dirt track or asphalt, usually offers a grandstand that is mostly bleacher seating. Bleachers are open stands, with or without steps to ease you up and down, that are open underneath and consist of either wooden or metal benches mounted on a steel framework. Some configurations are better than others, but just about all are a liability problem waiting to happen and very difficult to negotiate for some people.
Whether it is at high school football stadiums or at race tracks, I have seen too many accidents on bleachers, usually involving older people or young children. And I know from experience that bleachers have a limiting effect as to who will come to see events at your facility.
Typically older folks shy away from bleachers because they are hard to get around on. One older gentleman I spoke with one night at Ocala Speedway told me that he would love to go to races at speedways in surrounding areas, but that most had bleacher seating and he could not deal with it. And I admit that sometimes I cringe watching an older person attempting to find a seat in bleachers. The last thing one wants to see is that person take a potentially severe fall.
For the price that you pay for a ticket to see a NASCAR Nextel Cup race you might expect something halfway decent to place your rump on for the duration of the event, but again comfort is not part of the equation. Depending on which tracks you visit, and also depending on the price of the ticket, you can have air conditioned comfort with theater seating, or a bare, wooden bench with nails sticking out of it.
Without naming the track, the seat I had at one NASCAR event that I attended was so bad that I abandoned it in favor of standing at the rail at the top of the stands. It consisted of a metal chair (much like a folding chair but without legs) bolted to a wooden set of risers mounted on a steel framework. The seat itself was rusty and bent, and the back was broken as well. To lean back against the backrest caused you to have to sit almost sideways, and many of the other seats in that area had similar problems.
I understand that since my visit there this particular track has had an extensive upgrade, so hopefully those seats were replaced. But it goes to show that the price you pay to see the event does not necessarily translate into comfortable seating arrangements.
By far the preferred type of seating for me that is more commonly found are the aluminum grandstands. While these are expensive to install, they are durable and last longer with less maintenance. But most importantly, they are far more comfortable for the fans who use them, plus they are more accessible to persons with limitations than bleacher type seating. Some speedways in Florida have installed this type of seating and the fans certainly appreciate it. But again, some tracks simply are unwilling to fork over the money, or can not afford to do so. It would be nice to walk into any local speedway and find a nice expanse of modern stadium seating, but unfortunately not all speedway owners can afford it or are willing to fork over the money for it.
Bathrooms are what typically keeps wives and girlfriends away from the speedway, but as a guy I can tell you that certain bathrooms are distasteful to me as well. The absolute worst thing I have ever found at a race track was a men’s room that consisted of one toilet, and a long trough in the concrete floor against the wall with water trickling through it and down a drain in the corner.
Although I despise the wall mounted troughs too, the floor thing reminded me of something you might see in a third world country. I didn’t see the ladies room there, but I was told it was pretty rustic. Thankfully the speedway also had portable facilities provided as well, and the vast majority of fans seemed to prefer standing in line at those to the no line situation in the permanent facilities.
Bathrooms are probably the most expensive thing to modernize at a speedway, and so it is not surprising that at most tracks the facilities date from the 50’s and 60’s, with just enough minor adaptations to keep them functional. Whatever was built there when the track was built, that’s what you get.
So where are some nice bathroom facilities? Two tracks in Florida come to mind. USA International Speedway in Lakeland may have some of the most modern bathroom facilities around.
Ocala Speedway completely rebuilt their bathroom facilities a few years ago and also has a far more comfortable arrangement than most. But when it comes right down to it, I believe cleanliness says far more than what you actually use in speedway restrooms. You can tell which tracks go in with a fire hose for a washdown and which ones really clean and maintain their restrooms.
As far as food is concerned, with today’s health inspections you would think that most tracks have to maintain some degree of cleanliness. But if you think about it, restaurants are constantly being called out for things like rodents, roaches, and unsafe food handling practices, so what is to stop a race track from doing the same? In all honesty I have never gone into a racing facility where I would not eat the food out of fear of contamination. Some tracks have better concession facilities than others, but all seem to maintain a certain degree of cleanliness.
But when it comes to quality and quantity, that is a whole different story. Some places only offer the basics while others offer a huge variety of menu items. The more you offer the more expensive it is to maintain that concession area, so it becomes obvious which tracks are putting an effort into it and which ones are just skimping by. But the final determining factor as to what is offered depends entirely on the fans, because if the fans won’t buy it then the track won’t sell it.
Some tracks have begun going the way of the NASCAR Nextel Cup facilities and allowing in outside vendors. While this takes the responsibility and expense of operating concession stands away from the track, it also brings in a set cash flow because the vendors typically pay a fee to set up and sell. And to be perfectly honest, as a fan I like seeing the outside vendors when I go to a track. Usually the vendors tend to spend more money on the food and offer a greater variety of better quality fare.
So what is the point of this discussion? I am certainly not complaining about speedways which have less modern facilities than others. What I have discovered through visiting a variety of racing facilities over the years is that the “build it and they will come” mentality is a quick way to blow wads of cash and get little in return.
You may build a palace of a racing facility where the fans are offered every comfort imaginable, but if the racing on the track is sub par then the fans will not fill the seats. And to further that point, I have found some of the biggest and most enthusiastic crowds at race tracks with some of the poorest amenities, while the nicer facilities sometimes have more empty seats than filled ones. Race fans want to see good racing and will flock to the track despite some slight discomfort in order to see it, and they won’t bother with tracks where the racing is subpar, regardless of what else the facility offers.
A good example of how facilities mean little can be found in the efforts a few years back by the former owners of Ocala Speedway. In an effort to make the place the best in the state, they literally gutted the place and rebuilt. They constructed completely new bathrooms and concessions areas, totally replaced the bleacher seating with modern aluminum grandstands, put in a top of the line Musco lighting system, installed a state of the art sound system, and repaved and smoothed the racing surface.
What they discovered was that the fans came for a while until they discovered that the racing was the same. The same people were winning the same races and the same favorites were getting away with the same violations of the rules. Gradually the fans migrated back to whatever they were doing away from the track and the crowds dwindled down to nothing again. Modern facilities or not, the fans didn’t come back until new owners and a different way of doing things caught on and the racing changed.
I have spoken with race fans recently who have told me that as long as the racing is good that they will come to the speedway. Of course they like having more comfortable amenities like comfortable seats, clean and modern restrooms, and good food at a good price. But what they really want is good racing that is fair, competitive, and exciting to watch, and the rest of it is all window dressing to them.
And when you think about it, watching a race at a more rustic track sort of adds to the flavor and down home grit that local racing is famous for, so why try and make it more sterile and neat? Good racing is good racing regardless, and the fans have stated that fact loud and clear.
-BJ CAVIN currently announces and writes for Ocala Speedway in Florida. His personal blog is on MySpace.
His Column, “A Closer Look with BJ Cavin†appears on Real Racin USA each Tuesday.
