OSW Well this speaks volumes.

[scottgarrity07]

Oh yeah, and it's $50 to get into the pits and $44 to the stands tonight... TAKE MY MONEY PLEASE! I'll post some pics tomorrow

Well you know what they say. You get what you pay for!

Oh crap. Mid week show. No one will be there!

[OldSchool+]

Scott,

Seriously, if you could magically move that whole show to a Wednesday afternoon at, say, Citrus or Auburndale at those prices, what kind of turn out do you think there would be?

[scottgarrity07]

Here's another question that I expect will be ignored.

Since NSS has NASCAR sanctioning now why not schedule a Whelen Southern Modified Tour event early or late in the year? The World Series Tour Types are drawing less and less cars. A points paying Tour event with a full field would be every bit as exciting as the Thompson event Philthy posted....

[Phil Jacques]

Honestly, that show itself with WMT cars on tap... 33 of them at that, would draw a decent crowd at any FL track any day you ran it. I PROMISE. Big car counts, big purses, big everything. It's pure entertainment from start to beginning.

As far as intermission, there is the ignorance again. What are the people who don't have a need to leave the stands going to do? Sit there and stare off into space out of boredom? Think about what you are saying here. It's an intermission from the regular action.

[Phil Jacques]

Here's another question that I expect will be ignored.

Since NSS has NASCAR sanctioning now why not schedule a Whelen Southern Modified Tour event early or late in the year? The World Series Tour Types are drawing less and less cars. A points paying Tour event with a full field would be every bit as exciting as the Thompson event Philthy posted....

You think the Hart's would be willing to spend the 40K required to bring the tour there? I am honestly shocked they spent the money to bring in K&N... I bet that doesn't last much longer either.

[OldSchool+]

Short of a NASCAR or IMSA event, which draws more mainstream types due to national popularity, do you believe any short track show will draw $44 in Florida on a Wednesday--let's say evening, it's too hot in the middle of the day (you know, the opposite of your snow thing)?

[Phil Jacques]

Short of a NASCAR or IMSA event, which draws more mainstream types due to national popularity, do you believe any short track show will draw $44 in Florida on a Wednesday--let's say evening, it's too hot in the middle of the day (you know, the opposite of your snow thing)?

Well, right off the bat, let's knock 10% off that $44 because that is a TAX that the state of Connecticut requires all entertainment venues to charge. So we will start off at $39.50. Still pretty expensive by FL standards. But wait, there's more! It costs roughly $80k for TSMP to bring in the Northern WMT cars for one event. TWICE what it costs in FL... So let's chop the ticket price in half now and round it to the nearest dollar... So there it is... $20 per ticket is all they really need to charge max and I think anyone anywhere would pay $20 for good solid entertainment such as a NASCAR Tour race. Bowman Gray charges $12 for their Southern Tour races.

This is something I keep trying to get through to you OS... Just because we have "more money" here, doesn't mean much. Costs are almost doubled in many cases compared to down there so in the end it comes pretty close to evening out in the end.

[OldSchool+]

Phil,

Okay, round them up, send them to Bithlo on a Friday night, and I will be there with a crisp $20 bill and as many friends and relatives as possible.

[Phil Jacques]

Phil,

Okay, round them up, send them to Bithlo on a Friday night, and I will be there with a crisp $20 bill and as many friends and relatives as possible.

Would love to man... I would love nothing more than to hear Ben Dodge come over the PA system at ANY FL track and say "BY THE GRACE OF GOD AND 600 HORSEPOWER!"

[scottgarrity07]

You think the Hart's would be willing to spend the 40K required to bring the tour there? I am honestly shocked they spent the money to bring in K&N... I bet that doesn't last much longer either.

K&N show was a money maker, I bet. With the increased admission and good crowd it had to be. And it was worth it with the K&N and ACT doubleheader.

I wonder if NASCAR's sanctioning fee is as high for the NSWMT as it is for the NWMT. The purses are much lower, maybe the sanctioning fee too?

Here's a novel idea to ignore. Bring in the Southern Mod Tour on the first Sat nite of the World Series. All the NE cars that come for the WS can run too. Bill it as North vs South. The Southern Mod guys will have to come if they're running for points. That should ensure a full field. Make it an Open Wheeled Madness night and have a 50 for OWM and the Winged Sprints too. No way it's not a full house. The by-product of this would be that maybe some of the Southern Mod teams would stick around for a few of the week's Tour Type events.

Nah, makes too much sense...

[kendo]

Phil is right. Due to a combination of bad, lazy and cheap practices the show has gotten boring and that's the major reason for the poor crowds here. Entertainment is what people are seeking. Here's a list of how to improve that for everyone's amusement since I expect zero tracks to actually do it.

Handicap the fields. Even with a small field there will be passing. Only takes third grade math skills.

Put two announcers in the booth so that people can listen to an interesting conversation instead of a carnival barker. Require mufflers so the crowd can hear them.

Have something going on to entertain people between races.

Make the show tight. Constant action. Out the pit gate, green next time by, checker and off the track on the backstretch. Obviously Winners interviews.

Traction treatment in the outside groove. Two wide racing is exciting. One groove root off the bottom causing stupid yellows is boring.

Run heats, can time trials.

Encourage good looking race cars. Offer "Best Appearing" awards. Make people give a crap about what their car looks like. If it looks like junk it ain't appealing.

There is mucho competition for people's entertainment dollar these days. In FL there is more than anywhere. Give the people something exciting to watch and they will come.

Ok end of rant. Every track can officially ignore this post (as I'm sure they will).

Non of that means anything if you only have 6 cars in a class...

[OldSchool+]

I suggested bracket racing as a way to instantly increase car count, but that was shot down. And that is okay.

Otherwise, prize money increases car count (usually...).

But Desoto has got Bobby Diehl on the deal (increasing car count), and he has achieved initial success.

I have heard two announcers and that is not a positive for me... but a decent idea nonetheless.

[scottgarrity07]

Would love to man... I would love nothing more than to hear Ben Dodge come over the PA system at ANY FL track and say "BY THE GRACE OF GOD AND 600 HORSEPOWER!"

He used to be hired by NSS to call the Tour Type races. On another note, Ben is the best promoter I have seen ANYWHERE. All those suggestions I wrote on how to "entertain" I learned from him when he ran Riverside Park Speedway. (except the traction treatment). The Park didn't need it. Best natural 2 groove track I ever seen.

His best two lines I'll never forget. "Trouble now!" and "Literally!"

[scottgarrity07]

I have heard two announcers and that is not a positive for me... but a decent idea nonetheless.

If you heard two GOOD announcers that work off of each other it would change your mind. And no disrespect intended to Mr. Anges and Mr. Westerman. They do an excellent job. But a "conversation" is much more riveting. Maybe Philthy can post a link to something with Ben Dodge and Matt Buckler announcing and you will see what I mean.

In the mean time here's an interesting read:


http://speed51.com/ken-squier-though...k-racing-icon/

[kendo]

I have heard rumors, that they may still hold special event stock car events there still with temporary barriers. If that's true, it's at least not a total loss. Either way, at least it's not a Walmart...

Kinda like when Blockbuster Video added video games and popcorn before they totally disappeared from the landscape...