pavement- we are down to 5 tracks

[Phil Jacques]

PJ, If you had a hot dog stand, and the hot dogs got to be "gourmet", and the cost went to $10, but they were better than your competition's, and you sold more--would that be good?

If he then started selling $10 hot dogs, but his clientele could not afford them and he went out of business, leaving you as one of only five hot dog stands in the state, would you perceive that to be "better"?

Would you cut the price of the dogs solely so he could sell some too, and it would be more convenient for his dog chompers?

Not if you wanted to make more money and buy a fancy boat, sir.

Your analogies make my brain hurt dude... Stop justifying failure. Tracks either need to get this under control now while they still have some cars, or it's over. It's that simple.

[OldSchool+]

Or, go have a hot dog, mebbe it will come to you!

Here is Jacques Brain:

Am 'splainin' capitalism sir, and it is brutal. But I don't believe they have asphalt tracks in the Ukraine, the logical extension of hot dog stands taking care of each other.

[Phil Jacques]

Or, go have a hot dog, mebbe it will come to you!

Here is Jacques Brain:

Am 'splainin' capitalism sir, and it is brutal. But I don't believe they have asphalt tracks in the Ukraine, the logical extension of hot dog stands taking care of each other.

Smh... You just don't get it. And never will...

[OldSchool+]

And I think the world of you, but I feel the same.

Look, the track operators are in it for themselves. And they always will be unless they "see" something in it for them. Don't you think they know your drill? Clearly they have dismissed it.

And the only way to "fix" it is guvment intervention, but they will want emission controls on the race cars, and an electric class, and admission will triple to to increased taxes so the poor parts of the state can have racing too.

The whole thing will fall on it's face, and they will have "tried", and it will all go away and turnips be planted in the fields where the tracks were. Forever.

It is not conjecture, it is fact. Look at big oil, or coal, or Detroit for goodness sakes. Look at what most folks gave up their '64 Riviera for. All due to "help" from Big Muther.

Again, be thankful young grasshoppa, you are one of the last generations to enjoy racing as we know it.

And stop drinking the NE coolaid, it is full of anti-freeze, you know...

[egspeedway]

Today people are more and more becoming oriented towards indoor activities for entertainment. Outdoor enthusiasts are more participants than spectators. Given that racing MUST do something to get people to come outside. Restructuring your schedules to eliminate the brutally hot and rainy months and run split seasons will help you deal with the weather. Secondly the tracks need to kiss and make up because the only hope for decent fields will be cooperative scheduling of the various classes. I wish them luck as what all of us are telling them has been said before it is up to them to listen

[OldSchool+]

EG--Good point.

If they could figure out some fancy new deal for your freakin' cell phone/lifeline and have it only available at the short tracks, they would mob the place.

[Phil Jacques]

I can't... I just can't... I give up. You are making my brain hurt with your ridiculous statements. You have fallen off the wagon bad this time...

You know what I am thankful for? The fact that my tracks understand that you have to communicate and work together and avoid stepping on each others toes to be successful. They understand that we are as important to them, as they are to us. I am thankful that they are willing to work with the racers and listen to their ideas to help the community thrive and grow. And for that reason, we have fans and cars.

The minute you are in this for yourself and only yourself, you have already failed. It's 2015, not 1975. Times change, and you need to get with the times.

[Roger Mashburn]

The only pavement option I have left near me is New Smyrna and outside of SpeedWeeks and the Governor's Cup I have a hard time getting any of my casual race fan friends to go. Why? Car counts. I don't think it would matter if the modifieds were the headline class, if there were 20 + of them to make it look like a big deal. I'd gladly go once a month for a big modified show as the headliner, blend them all together to get the car count up. When was the last time you heard a promoter say, "man, we had 30 modifieds and no fans in the stands..." Same goes for sportsman.

I still think that the Andersons way of blending all the late models together was the way to go.

When I took my family to SpeedWeeks at New Smyrna their favorie race was the ACT cars. Why? A lot of them and close racing.

[Matt Albee]

Today people are more and more becoming oriented towards indoor activities for entertainment. Outdoor enthusiasts are more participants than spectators. Given that racing MUST do something to get people to come outside. Restructuring your schedules to eliminate the brutally hot and rainy months and run split seasons will help you deal with the weather. Secondly the tracks need to kiss and make up because the only hope for decent fields will be cooperative scheduling of the various classes. I wish them luck as what all of us are telling them has been said before it is up to them to listen

I'm not convinced that closing the doors in the summer is the answer. For one thing, I've never missed a race because of the summer heat. And I wasn't alone in the stands. Most drag strips don't close in the summer, and their car count never seems to suffer very much. There's more to the downturn in fan counts each summer that the heat. Because that's a fairly recent phenomenon.
Tracks joining forces is really more of a fantasy we tell ourselves than an actual reality. At least in Florida. Phil might weigh in with examples from the northeast, but it just doesn't happen in Florida. NSS and nascar can't even cooperate on scheduling.

[OldSchool+]

"You know what I am thankful for? The fact that my tracks understand that you have to communicate and work together and avoid stepping on each others toes to be successful. They understand that we are as important to them, as they are to us. I am thankful that they are willing to work with the racers and listen to their ideas to help the community thrive and grow. And for that reason, we have fans and cars."--Pie Indaskyee

Phil, sincerely, am glad your tracks see it that way. In fact, each of them see a net-net positive for themselves. But, it still comes down to a handful of individuals, and as yet, they don't see it that way down here.

It is like the old joke "How many shrinks does it take to change a light bulb?" Answer: "Just one, but it has to want to change".

Roger--agreed, but how...? The only way I see to accommodate that is by making the slowest cars as fast as the fast ones with weight or etc., and of course the fast guys don't want that. As yet no one has mandated anything, probably afraid that the fast guys will stay home leaving them with...nothing.

[Phil Jacques]

"You know what I am thankful for? The fact that my tracks understand that you have to communicate and work together and avoid stepping on each others toes to be successful. They understand that we are as important to them, as they are to us. I am thankful that they are willing to work with the racers and listen to their ideas to help the community thrive and grow. And for that reason, we have fans and cars."--Pie Indaskyee

Phil, sincerely, am glad your tracks see it that way. In fact, each of them see a net-net positive for themselves. But, it still comes down to a handful of individuals, and as yet, they don't see it that way down here.

Until they understand it, they will continue to tumble out of control down the hill... The edge of the cliff is fast approaching. They better find something to grab a hold of before they fall off the edge into oblivion.

[OldSchool+]

Or what?

Or nothing, sir.

So fix up that beautiful racecar, and race on the tracks with all the competition, and let this deal go.

For the only difference in the real world is your own happiness, Phil.

Now, go smell a rose or something!

[Phil Jacques]

Or what?

Or nothing, sir.

So fix up that beautiful racecar, and race on the tracks with all the competition, and let this deal go.

For the only difference in the real world is your own happiness, Phil.

Now, go smell a rose or something!

Or nothing is right. Because if nothing is done to at least try to fix what is essentially irreparable right now, there will be nothing to "OR" about because it will be gone... I already said it once. On this current path, 10 years and FL will have no active weekly tracks.

[OldSchool+]

Plenty of folks will lose a child between now and then (heaven forbid, but it will happen).

And it will be what it will be, just like most things in life, and precisely like 100% of things that are not totally in one's own control.

That is why working on cars is so rewarding. It is time consuming, it is expensive, but you can in fact fix them.

[Phil Jacques]

There you go with the justification again... These tracks CAN be fixed. There are plenty of racers in FL and plenty of fans. They have to admit there is a problem first. It's like a recovering alcoholic. You have to admit you have a problem first, to recover. These tracks all have a problem, even Showtime despite the fact that things are working (for now) there. The sooner you guys stop making excuses and justifying the problem, the sooner it will be able to be repaired. It's like the guy driving down the road, that hears a noise in his wheel bearing, so he turns the radio up louder.