Reality Check (soap box)

[sheldon kinser jr]

frasson

you mack a vary vary good point. but if they can't do it should the fans have to pay for it by sitting there watching yellow flag after yellow flag??

lucky for me my car wasn't running right so i went to the back and watched every els get run over becouse no one wanted to settle down and race.

I have a new set of heads and my car is running this week but i may still go to the back to see if they want to race or just junk cars.

I am not saying anyone is better then another the hole class needs to settle down and race.

[dnsno]

Only if...

...someone could decyfer all the ideas and suggestions from all this input we would be bumfuzzeled as to what track to go to for our racing fix.

Here's my twelve cents worth (cost of living increase);
Maximum division's racing per week, four. Maybe five.
Have some kind of half time show. Like a roll over contest (almost everybody like's those). Have a car slam into another one on the front stretch (that's fun to watch, I don't care who you are). You don't need to do it every weekend.
If you don't have a front wheel drive class, start one. Keep it under PURE STOCK ONLY rules and give somebody a chance to get into racing at a cheap as possible way.
Start a mini stock class that don't pull no punches about the rules. KEEP IT that way. That goes for your V8 division also. They use to be a low dollor way to get into racing. What happened?

If a driver takes the feature green but ends up brakeing on the first lap, atleast give him a pit entry pass for the next time he comes to race. He will probebly bring a couple of friends back with him.

Grandstand seating should'nt be more than ten or twelve dollors.

Look how many people you have on the "payroll". Who does what.

Don't go up on food price's unless you absolutly have too.
Throw out some T shirts and bumper stickers once and awhile.

We can extend this thread into a Guinness Book of Records with all of our ideas. The bottom line is we need each other to help keep this sport alive.

[1wildfastgirl24]

frasson

you mack a vary vary good point. but if they can't do it should the fans have to pay for it by sitting there watching yellow flag after yellow flag??

lucky for me my car wasn't running right so i went to the back and watched every els get run over becouse no one wanted to settle down and race.

I have a new set of heads and my car is running this week but i may still go to the back to see if they want to race or just junk cars.

I am not saying anyone is better then another the hole class needs to settle down and race.

You got that right!!...I agree with ya 100%

[ovalracer44]

I agree with him though - not generally the "most watched" class.

Not any more, but we used to be. At most tracks the racing was the best in the ministock division. I remember back in 200 when I ran at oglethorpe there were so many ministocks there were two 20 car mains. After they were over, half the fans would leave. Streets and latemodels were snoozers. Most tracks are not big enough for the big cars to get a good race going. Its like the legends cars. I remember many races in which i might have the lead one lap, but be 3rd of 4th the next. Latemodels and streets usually need a good .4 or bigger track to really get racy. If anyone wants any proof go to myrtle beach speedway or the fairgrounds track in nashville.

[Joe]

I'll see you Friday, Sheldon. I am always up for a truce. Slab 17, Coke in hand. Look for the North Wilkesboro Speedway hat.

[sgmpman]

Joe, I have to disagree with you. A promoters first objective is the drivers. Then the fans. Without drivers you have no fans. Build the car count, be fair, no favortism. Don't load top with pay. Backmarkers need money to get to the track to. Then the fans will come. It is hard enough with the way money is now. All tracks might suffer some this year.

[georgep]

Joe, I have to disagree with you. A promoters first objective is the drivers. Then the fans. Without drivers you have no fans. Build the car count, be fair, no favortism. Don't load top with pay. Backmarkers need money to get to the track to. Then the fans will come. It is hard enough with the way money is now. All tracks might suffer some this year.

Agree on the drivers. THE ONLY way to get the back markers is to kill the Dolly Parton Purse.
You pay $1,000.00 to win and last gets $25.00. Not good.
You can offset the money movement with goodies to the winner, A tire, not a set just one, Tools, Gloves for the crew those type of things then Pay $750.00 to win and get last up to at least their pit fees.
If the track is tight on pennies then can GIVE last place a FREE pit pass for next week.
There are many ways to make more people happy than just paying the top teams more money.
We had a track that pitched the modified and ran just the Sportsmen cars and back then Late Models, today they would be a street stock. They took the Modified purse and spred it our over the sportsmen field. THey where LOADED every week with 50 cars looking for 24 spots. The stands changed to people following the sportsmen cars and the crowd just kept growing. There are ways to make it you just have to take a chance.

[sgmpman]

In another post I put up about late models I went into lower cost to the drivers.Tires!!!! So many tracks try and make money on tires. Funny, Mize preached when I talked to him how tracks should not be into tires bus. They are in racing bus. He had a rule package in north said teams only bought 7 to 8 tires a year. 16 race season. Car count avg 26. Now, you sell tires every week at over 100 a tire and have 9 to 10 cars can afford it. Or do you sell 7 to 8 a year per team and have 26 to 30 show everyweek. Purse was 800 to win 175 to start.

[BJ Cavin]

The situation with tires is bad to say the least. The teams that can afford it will buy several sets for practice, qualifying, and for the race. Those that can't, won't. The net result is the teams with the money to purchase the tires have a huge advantage over the teams that can't afford all of that expense. At least with dirt it's not nearly as much of an issue most of the time, so that's a good thing. I personally dislike the idea of tracks requiring racers to purchase tires and fuel in order to race. To me it seems like yet another wat to stick it to the drivers who already are spending too much cash. Having the freedom to get your tires and fuel wherever you wish creates competition and therefore possibly lower prices, while requiring the drivers to purchase it from one outlet does not.

[Winger]

The situation with tires is bad to say the least. The teams that can afford it will buy several sets for practice, qualifying, and for the race. Those that can't, won't. The net result is the teams with the money to purchase the tires have a huge advantage over the teams that can't afford all of that expense. At least with dirt it's not nearly as much of an issue most of the time, so that's a good thing. I personally dislike the idea of tracks requiring racers to purchase tires and fuel in order to race. To me it seems like yet another wat to stick it to the drivers who already are spending too much cash. Having the freedom to get your tires and fuel wherever you wish creates competition and therefore possibly lower prices, while requiring the drivers to purchase it from one outlet does not.

I have to agree with almost everything you said. However, I have to point out that tires on dirt can be a HUGE issue. Even more than on asphalt, I believe. I think most weekly dirt tracks have a handle on the situation now. I can remember "money" teams would come in to a race with every possible tire and compound combination you could imagine. I've seen Brett Hearn win several extra distance races by pitting with just a handful of laps left to put on a soft tire. He would then charge to the lead to win a race in which he hadn't been a factor in previously. Several years ago "DIRT" implemented a tire rule that essentially abolished this practice. However, you can still see it being done with Late Models that have the open tire rule. Of course now they have the chemical tire treatments that they are trying to deal with.

[sgmpman]

I have done some more looking into these tires and called the Dave Ehret guy in Ohio. He had one of these tires had a 1,000 laps. He said the tires do not break in till about the second race. Now what if you said every car can purchase 8 tires beginning of the year. When race night comes all 4 tires are stenciled. Next race you can only put on 2 new tires. According to him you want have to buy anymore. He said the tires get better as you go. One thing he pointed out tho was payoff. With the combo of not having to buy tires every week and go low end payout guys could afford to race. He did say that Mize was pretty scrict on tech. If a new car came in out of line he would add weight and told them to fix it before next race. He did say there was cars from 4 total states ran there. Oh, Pa, In, Mich, and some from Ky came up in 2006. Fan count went good. Chasisdude, it was also said Mize wanted to keep weekly and owner booted it for 2007. One of the reasons Mize left Mansfield. It was also said over 60 late models had registered to run for 2007. could you imagine 60 late models or even 40 for weekly. Get the hot dogs ready cuz the fans would come.

[chassisdude]

SGMPMAN, if you ever talk to those guys again tell them both I said hi and thanks for some great racing at Mansfield.........

[Pun33]

hey is another part of the sad truth
When I was a kid, if my brother and I saw a "race car", anything from a demo car to a latemodel, we turned , looked and got excited about it. I drive down the road with the car on the trailer and 7 out of 10 kids never even look. Many of them are just not interested in it, X box and rap have taken over country and racing, hell try to get kids to play outside!?!?!?! Single parent homes, lack of money, bad promoters/owners, crate motors, drifting/street racing so many things have added to the down fall over the short track
maybe it will all come full circle or maybe the dinosures will die

[georgep]

hey is another part of the sad truth
When I was a kid, if my brother and I saw a "race car", anything from a demo car to a latemodel, we turned , looked and got excited about it. I drive down the road with the car on the trailer and 7 out of 10 kids never even look. Many of them are just not interested in it, X box and rap have taken over country and racing, hell try to get kids to play outside!?!?!?! Single parent homes, lack of money, bad promoters/owners, crate motors, drifting/street racing so many things have added to the down fall over the short track
maybe it will all come full circle or maybe the dinosures will die

That is so true. NOPI, Drifting, TOKYO drify and the rice rocker revolution has killed short tracks period.
Another thing is the enclosed trailer thing. Security requires you to have one or get ripped off. My dad and I back in the 1950's would make a U-Turn to follow a race car to see where ther track was. Today when we take to modfied on the open trailer people ask where can we see this type of car race. Put it in the BOX and nobody knows about it at all.
Is there an answer to all this? Not realy since the HIGH money teams will always be heard over the budget racer.
Remeber: "You got to have MONEY to run with the BIG DOGS" but if the budget cars do not make it then no BUTTS in the seats and the BIG DOGS get to eat alone and for very little food.
Heck, sell all your high dolla stuff, buy a vintage and come play with DAARA and enjoy racing again.

[andre]

I like this one too:

Primadonna racers, non-racefan friendly formats, gate openers instead of track operators, scam artists acting like race promoters, dirtsphalt chasing surfaces, price gouge admission prices, weak track prep, $35,000 engines, top heavy race purses, minority benefiting racing industry, mega downforce DLM bodies, too many tire compounds and $300,000 haulers ruined DLM racing!!!!

It comes from 4m.net, guest: Czar of dirt

André