Orlando fix stupid

[Matt Albee]

Certain cars put fans in the stands, lower/lesser class cars do not.
A survey of fans on which cars they're there to see would of course be a bit skewed towards that particular show. If the track is running all lower/lesser classes that night i'd say it's likely the fans are going to say they came to watch those cars and classes. But the survey won't take very long, there's only going to be 100 or so people to interview. Take that survey on a night when SLM or OWM or sprints are running and you'll get a completely different answer, and from a larger crowd.
Fans want speed, sound, color, and some level of mechanical sophistication. And the fans are showing up for the headline classes. But for reasons we've discussed many times, the cars aren't showing up. So after driving an hour or two for a SLM or OWM race and finding that only six cars bothered to show, or half of the cars are just field fillers, the fans feel they've been burned for the last time and find something else to do next weekend.
So fans aren't going to show up to watch only lower/lesser classes in any meaningful numbers, and the poor racer participation and very poor promoting of the headline classes are leaving fans feeling their favorite sport is dead.
Time for a re-think of the entire sport.

[UREZ2PASS]

If you survey the drivers that have quit racing, you will find a common issue that can't be fixed. They all have a few reasons but there is one or two in common.

Here's a hint - you can't fix stupid and money don't grow on trees.

I'll start a new thread to see why people quit racing just to see what is said.

[Matt Albee]

Here's a better survey. Why did you start racing? Because you liked cars? Because you wanted to go fast? Because you could make money at it. Because......
I started stock car racing because I loved fast cars and the noise fast cars made. I toured the back rows of used car lots until I found a good candidate for a stock car. Put a roll cage in it, added the best engine machine work I could afford, bought a set of race tires that almost bankrupted me, and went racing. I worked hard to learn what would make the car faster, I spent whatever money I had available on the car and getting to the races. I towed it to the track with a chain until I was able to afford a single axle car trailer.
The reason for this trip down memory lane, is I think that's why most people started racing, and that's how they started. Mind you i'm talking before 1980 or so.
So what's changed.

[Winger]

Like Jerry, I would not be interested in a support class only show. But I've watched the fans in the stands. You can count on people leaving the stands at the end of each feature class. These are the ones who came to see their family or friends race. You don't see many leave when the headline classes are finished. My father used to. LOL Anyway, I was shooting at Citrus one night and they ran some of their regular classes and then the sprint cars came out. I watched a mass exodus from the stands. I couldn't believe it.

[Bill Barstow]

Get off the dirt thing. What are us guys with asphalt cars suppose to do with our cars then. Everyone says it's cheaper to run a dirt car. Has anyone seen the engine out of a dirt car after about half the season of eating dirt? Not to mention all the suspension parts. And chassis are only good for maybe, maybe 2 seasons after all the flexing they do. I've worked on a dirt car before and it's not fun. A lot of cleaning and maintaince every week. Makes a good show, but not cheaper to run.

I run 2 dirt cars cheaper that i ran 1 asphalt car.

[Edm]

Nothing like beating a dead horse. Words have been spoken upon deaf ears for the last 10 years on this board. But since we are on the subject Mike hit the nail on the head.

Shorten the points season, run Saturday nights during the fall, winter and early spring......... or keep going and have a rain out nearly every Friday night during the summer.

[kletus]

lesser cars lesser crowds ????????????

If you think lesser cars don't bring in a crowd go to Eau Galle tonight and watch the 4 cylinder junk run. I'll bet you there will be more fans there than at a brighthouse SLM race. I will try to get a count from the Mgmt tonight and we will see.

[victory10]

I have lived my entire life up north & I have no idea where everyone is thinking the car counts are so much larger then down here. Every single track we have in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio are all alot shorter on count then they used to be. They are also short on the fan count as well. In all the years I have been around there is 2 things that are and have hurt or flat killed racing and that is (A) the expenses are through the roof anymore & that might not be an issue except for the second reason which is (B) the economy that everyone keeps saying has or is improving which is complete BS. It is nothing like it was 8-10 years ago & has a long way to go before it is. Jobs are still being lost, people are forced to cut alot of, if not all, of the fat (recreational activities) out of thier finances. The ones with cars sitting cant afford to get them out, give them much needed make-overs & go racing when it costs them 4x what it used to & the ones who love to go watch the races simply cannot afford it for whatever the reason be it job loss or cost of living exspenses going higher and higher.

I can tell you this, up north there have been a few places who have taken the risk of cutting the costs on the pit and grandstand sides to attempt to help everyone afford to go racing. When someone says that thier track is right on track with the average compared to other tracks do not get it. What it will take or does take is being the one to step out and away from the normal or the average & get the costs down. Drop the gate & food prices on both sides, have several different packages or specials throughout the year where a family can go to the track for less that a $50 bill total. Cut the slab rental fees, entry fees, tire & fuel expenses as I realize there has to be some money made on then 2 things but the gouging is rediculous. Cost of tires and fuel are out of this world compared to up north. Racing fuel is in the $7.00 range versus $9.00 down here. Tires are $100.00 each versus $115-$120.00 each down here. I guess my point is, be the one to step up and be the different track who leaves the average & do things different. Drop the pit passes $5.00, drop the gate prices $3-5, no slab rental fee, fuel at $7.50, tires at $100.00 with no mount, dismount fees & the biggest one of them all would be to come up with rules that allow any car to be legal. One thing that has been done up north to get more cars, and has worked very well, is they have adapted to what they call an ABC class. that class consists of limited lates, sportsmans, street stocks, pro stocks all combined. the rules are very simple with weight penalties for some things & they divide the class up by times and run 2-3 features depending on count. The more high tech sportsmans, limited lates type cars are the A group, street stocks, pro stocks are the B group, etc, etc. This opens the door for endless possibility's and leaves no excuse or reason a guy cant run or that could keep a car from coming to race in fear of being illegal. Then they still had the super lates, modifieds, 4 cylinders & front wheel drive classes. I do agree with the super long season & would almost think if it was the desire to run that long then to divide the season into 2 parts with a 4-6 week break between the 2 so guys could get stuff redone.

As far as watching the races & making them more exciting goes, the biggest issue down here is that the way race line ups are determined is rediculous. There is no need for 4 hours of hot lapping. Instead cut it down, then qualify the cars & line them all up with the fastest cars at the back to the slowest ones being up front. As for the sandbagging issues, thats an easy resolution because you allow either a tenth or maybe even a zero tolerance on going over your time. This will stop that real quick when guys realize its not worth toying with and taking the chance when they lead the race, win the race only to find out they went over their time and got DQ'd or went over and got the black flag or was put to the tail on the first caution. The full inverst will make for ALOT better racing for the fans.

I have alot of info to give if anyone ever wants to sit down and talk as far as track owners/operators goes. I would be more than willing to offer up alot of things that are done up north as well as several things that could definately point things in a new and different direction compared to how it is now, which does not seem to be working any longer.

[Matt Albee]

The costs of going racing have been discussed at length on this and other sites. I still can't really believe that pit entry costs of $35 instead of $25 are going to keep anybody from racing. I know that tire prices and fuel prices are probably different across the country, but I imagine that's due to regional differences in pricing, freight, etc and brand names.
Front gate ticket prices are very important in getting people to come out to the races. Anything over $10 per person is just not going to fly anymore. I don't think food prices really matter very much either as long as you feel you get the most for your money. A $2 burger for $5 isn't going to make you feel that way. A $5 or $6 burger for $5 shouldn't bring any complaints at all.
The idea of combining rules and classes works. Works very well in fact. Take a guess how many Florida tracks have done it so far. ZERO. Probably because northerners don't know what they're doing. Or Florida is a different market. Or that only works at certain tracks. Plug in your excuse.
Most track owners and or track employees read these boards, yet so far just about nothing that's been discussed has really been implemented. Combining all classes into one with universal rules ( along with including imports and electronics) is the only thing that's going to save short track racing in Florida.

[Matt Albee]

Speaking of Orlando, curious to see if things were improving over there i searched for Orlando race results from Friday night on this site. Nothing. I searched on line at the Orlando newspaper for OSW race results. No race results from OSW. I didn't have much luck finding race announcements either. I don't see how keeping the track a complete secret is going to help it grow.
As I said in my above post, I know for a fact that track personnel from OSW read this site, I guess they just ignore all of the ideas to improve things.

[palmbayer]

500 + people paid $10 Saturday night to watch 31 junker cars race in a cow pasture.
......no grandstands and restrooms are port o lets
..... BEST track food ANYWHERE !!!
.....the $500 to win purse was supplied by....get this....LOCAL BUSINESSES .....the $310 from car entry was paid through the field.

.....all 31 of us KNOW WE ARE ENTERTAINERS FIRST !!!....racers second.

once again, during the week, this place is a cow pasture.

Maybe you guys are taking racing too serious. KISS.....Keep It Simple Stupid.

Melbourne Motorsports Park.

[palmbayer]

500 + people paid $10 Saturday night to watch 31 junker cars race in a cow pasture.
......no grandstands and restrooms are port o lets
..... BEST track food ANYWHERE !!!
.....the $500 to win purse was supplied by....get this....LOCAL BUSINESSES .....the $310 from car entry was paid through the field.

.....all 31 of us KNOW WE ARE ENTERTAINERS FIRST !!!....racers second.

once again, during the week, this place is a cow pasture.

Maybe you guys are taking racing too serious. KISS.....Keep It Simple Stupid.

Melbourne Motorsports Park.

[palmbayer]

A note to my post above......
These guys really are busting there ass's and spending good $$$ trying to get a good racing surface. Front wheel drive cars tear the hell out of ANY dirt track.

[modracer#8]

500 + people paid $10 Saturday night to watch 31 junker cars race in a cow pasture.
......no grandstands and restrooms are port o lets
..... BEST track food ANYWHERE !!!
.....the $500 to win purse was supplied by....get this....LOCAL BUSINESSES .....the $310 from car entry was paid through the field.

.....all 31 of us KNOW WE ARE ENTERTAINERS FIRST !!!....racers second.

once again, during the week, this place is a cow pasture.

Maybe you guys are taking racing too serious. KISS.....Keep It Simple Stupid.

Melbourne Motorsports Park.

ok if I understand this right the 500 people paid 10.00 that's 5,000 dollars . then the local businesses paid the winner 500.00 to win . then 310.00 divided up by 30 cars so they got paid like 10.30 to race in a cow pasture now this is just off the top of my head.

[palmbayer]

ok if I understand this right the 500 people paid 10.00 that's 5,000 dollars . then the local businesses paid the winner 500.00 to win . then 310.00 divided up by 30 cars so they got paid like 10.30 to race in a cow pasture now this is just off the top of my head.

close.....I would guess that the 3 heat race winners and the winner of the "last chance" race got paid along with the top 3 ??? in the feature. The $310 went to them. Was there more ?? ...Don't know. Point is, the track is making money and paying bills off the front gate......what a concept.

The guy took a chance and built this place. I'm having a blast !!! Hope he makes a fortune.