A-Dale FUPS thoughts

[sport603]

Don Nerone

Jerry I don't know Don Personally but I do remember the USA series back in the early to mid 90's being some the best super late model races I have seen. If I remember right they were 100 green flag laps, and every race was loaded with good cars, and crowds across the state. Aside from the Florida Pro Series the USA was one of the tops. Not supporting anyone just stating what I remember about his old series.

[Matt Albee]

Ho little u know
60s driver Saramana speedway
70s car owner mod sportsman SLM dirt and pavment
78-79 president of southern mod
In the 80s
81-83 killed the closed for years Golden Gate Bad one there
85-87 Desoto speedway some of the best years they had. some of the best I ever did
87-89 Orlando Speedworld still the best years they ever had.
89-91 Lakeland interstate speedway Been closed for 15 years Had real good crouds and car counts
Took over the lease of the closed Alburndale Speedway. Record crouds and car counts
92 worked for east bay as teq man Doubled the car count that year
93 Sold the USA series to Hooters Became USAR
USAR did 46 live TV 200 lap SLM races Sure you know that story
97 worked for 2 dirt tracks in Tenn--Also race drictor for a series in Ga not good years
98 worked at the closed for years ST Agustine for 6 months did great but got fired
99 New Smyrna speedway till 2007
Lake city in 2008 a total falure.

Ok Jerry it your turn to tell us what u got for experance
Promoter of a bbq that You get in free and eat for free and draws a few 100 people. Buy the way I think it great but not the same as running a race.
A lot of people think ur the race professor.
You have been a great fan of racing but you have no experance .
Siting in the stands and gulping a few beers and going home to your keybord don't get it for the people in the know.
Most of then humor you because the are still trying to sell tickets..Im not.
If im the killer of tracks you are the killer of fans.
Rick u can move this now ..Iget it sorry

Don62

Which school did you attend to learn race promoting Don? Or did you just fall in to it like all promoters do. There's nothing magic about being a race promoter. Racing experience helps, but there are a number of successful race track promoters who went right from fans to promoters. The people who took over Volusia have no experience at all from what I've read, but they sure seem to be doing a good job.
How much race experience does it take to walk out of a track at the end of the night realizing you wish you'd have found a better way to spend your money. Don, you have no more insight into what makes a successful track or series than Jerry does. Or anyone on this board.

[shorttrackcar1]

I think the years that those tracks did well was just luck at that time. people were interested in racing and they came. I don't think it had to do with don or anybody else the payouts were no better then today. its a wave up and down how many of you can remember guys that tried racing that were no names there cars ran in the back couldn't figure how to go fast. or just didn't have the money the other guys had . so those guys gave up sold there cars and the car counts went down the fans come out and got tired every week watching the same one or two guys win a 6 car races that's is what has happen to racing . now this is where I thought that fascar was getting smart when they brought the 602 crate motor to run the only thing they screwed up on was it should have been crate motor only. no built motors with light weight cranks and acid ported heads and intake and other parts that no tech would find with out a total tear down. this way they could have tech all the same and everyone would have been on even ground I would come back racing if they had a crate class only I could afford that . just my thoughts .

[Matt Albee]

In fairness, i'll have to say that I enjoyed Don's Sunbelt Series every time they ran at Lakeland. Very competitive, lots of great cars and trucks, good racing.

[shorttrackcar1]

so who's fault was the demise of the sunbelt series ?

[Don Nerone]

so who's fault was the demise of the sunbelt series ?

The purse was $16,900 and most of the tracks didn't want to pay that. When Lakeland closed that left NSS only. That is not a tour.
When I quit Anderson put them all together agin with a $10,600 purse.
The fups purse was $11,000 when they started and now is back to $16,000.
Do you see a pattern here.

I see a sponsor fixing this in the near future. 10 races in florida at 5 different tracks ..


don62.

[Matt Albee]

Well we might all be in for a lesson how to make a race track work. Jimmy Cope has the best chance of anyone in a long time. He knows the business from several sides. And he knows a lot of people, so bringing in racers ( or even getting a series going ) shouldn't be a problem. And, he builds race engines and race cars so the rules at Desoto should be pretty well thought out.

[Old Sunshine Fan]

I'd love to see someone pick up the peices and get it together... BUT, have nothing to do with FUPS nor Aub... After this past season... shame on them...screwing people around...if someone steps back into that circus and gets screwed again...Shame on that person...and I agree, Jimmy Cope has been down that road (well, MANY roads) and he knows what it's all about..He knows what it feels like when you get suspended and have to pay a fine (when it's not your fault)... he stood his ground and NEVER went back... Good for him....OSF

[rmac]

MONEY!!!!!!!!!! The answer to everything is money, track money, racer money, fan money. That is what will solve the problem.More payout, more sponsor money and a better deal for the fans.

[tccaz]

[QUOTE=rmac;137508]MONEY!!!!!!!!!! The answer to everything is money, track money, racer money, fan money. That is what will solve the problem.More payout, more sponsor money and a better deal for the fans.[/QU


Where will all this money come from?

[Matt Albee]

[QUOTE=tccaz;137512]

MONEY!!!!!!!!!! The answer to everything is money, track money, racer money, fan money. That is what will solve the problem.More payout, more sponsor money and a better deal for the fans.[/QU


Where will all this money come from?

Same place NASCAR, Indy Car, FI, Rolex ( now Tudor ), ALMS ( now Tudor ), ARCA, NHRA, USAC, World of Outlaws, and many others get theirs from. SPONSORS. Companies who want to reach potential and current customers through advertising. If your series has a purse of $16,000, then go get a sponsor or several sponsors to kick in the money or a least a large share of it. McDonalds, Burger King, Lowes, Home Depot, Bud, Miller, Coors, Bass Pro Shops. They all have local affiliates and obviously think marketing through auto racing is a pretty good idea. So why aren't the local branches of these type of companies getting involved at the short track level ? Maybe because they weren't asked.

[Tim Pafford]

before any sponsor will spend a dollar, they want to know all the demographics, attendance, male, female, races dates, tv, radio, or print coverage to include social media,newspaper,etc..I don't see many big tracks getting an abundance of cash much less the smaller tracks.. when roger Penske cant find funding for sam hornish it means hard times.. local 500 buck sponsors may happen, but 5,000 dollars will be a different story. i talked with a track owner a few days ago who wanted a 40,000 dollars sponsor by mid feb.. my answer was it probably couldn't happen and if it did you would need a month to write the program, set up appointments and then need air travel. hotel and meal money.. then with less than 30 days to race time you probably couldn't do the sponsor a good job,, these type deals need to be worked on at least a year in advance. racing at all levels is in bad shape,, most nascar and nhra tracks are removing seats from their facilities..as older fans quit coming there is nobody to take their place,, a recent study at a local school indicated 70% of their students graduated without ever getting their drivers permit,, we are now in an electronics age for young people who see cars as just a way to get from point a to point b.. without the ability to create new race fans, racers and hopefully sponsors you will continue to see smaller than normal crowds at most events.. sad but true.

[fred23]

Tim is absolutely right on this.......first of all 95% of all advertising or sponsorship for all the companies you just listed are done corporately......the local BK owner will sponsor a 5k or parade or a community event for $500. They actually pay a % of there revenue to the corporate office for marketing......unless the person is a big fan of racing, he/she isn't forking out 10 grand to sponsor a race or track.

I have in the past , even in better times attempted to obtain sponsorship money from well over a 100 companies at local, regional and national levels. It is very difficult, very time consuming and very disheartening. Now I am no PR guru but I spent a lot of money and time putting together proposals and doing research and trying to get in front of the right people. The person has to be a fan first, then you have to prove that the ROI is there, which in local racing is impossible. even in ARCA and the Hooters it was very difficult even with TV. Plus, most people want NASCAR affiliation (at the top level, not local) because that is all they know.

Tracks will figure out their niche and roll with it......some will close, some will adjust their schedules and race 6 months a year and some will maintain the status quo if they are doing well and can substantiate it.....

The big boom in racing is over, if construction picks up, you will see more cars and fans at some tracks.....but I don't see any other major growth until someone changes the formula to get kids and teens interested again......I don't know what that formula is but someone will figure it out......

[Matt Albee]

And yet every minor league ball park, every HS ball park, every 5 K run, every chili cook off is sponsored by one of the above companies. Along with banks and cable tv providers. You know what isn't sponsored by any of those? Most local auto racing tracks and racing series.
If a sponsor can only come up with $500, then get 20 more just like him. This has been talked about on this board before, plenty of times. And it boils down to people going out and selling advertising. Some tracks like NSS are going to have a much easier time of it with the NASCAR name to throw around. But the minor league ball clubs sure seem to be able to do it.

[Tim Pafford]

I`m not sure nss is going to have an easier time selling sponsors with the nascar name as I talked with Robert recently and he told me sponsor sales were down compared to past years.. due to what reason I don't know..i do know nascar tracks are struggling to fill the stands and attract big sponsors,, local business owners can contribute if justifiable in return income. obtaining 20 sponsors can be done but would take weeks or possibly months to do.. once again obtaining sponsorship must start many months in advance to be a success. most tracks are not willing or have the budget to staff a full time marketing person and some are not willing to pay a fair commission price for a good person to sell the sponsor on racing,, there are many good marketing people in florida, but most are selling sponsorship for other sports. baseball/football/basketball, etc., tom clark for example is doing a good job with multiple different style sports. at any rate racing needs everyone helping to sell their sport to the business community, if not the money will continue to go other places.. the nascar name is sure to be a plus if marketed effectively. hopefully humpy wheeler`s speedway benefits will be a help to all short tracks in the near future. this will be one of many ways to help boost short track racing in America plus getting every local fan to contribute to the sport they love!!!