racing and fairs

[Boneman]

I visited Amsoil Speedway in Superior WI last week. The track is located on the local fairgrounds, and as luck would have it, the fair was going on too. This was a Friday night racing show: backbone divisions with lots of local drivers, but the addition of the fair food vendors, the rides and the extra buzz made for a fine night at the track. They had a good solid crowd too, and the perfect weather had to help.

What would happen if more tracks hosted fairs? Amsoil Speedway is on the main drag and in the middle of town, so the visibility was high. I know that many of the ride vendors are looking for a place to set up, and usually pay a little for the privilege. Wouldn't this work for tracks that have some traffic going by? Tracks like Citrus, 4-17, New Smyrna and Volusia. I bet the idea of rides and racing would pull in some new fans.

Side note: there was a concert stage not 100 yards from the track, and naturally there was a live show going on. Bad idea! It must have sounded terrible with the racecar noise mixed in.

[OldSchool+]

Sounds like a great idea, but I do not think it would work down here every weekend.

Maybe for big races--heck, maybe it would work well in the winter time (off season) when the fairs are "down" anyway.

ps--Careful around the bearded "lady".

[Renegade Racing Fuels]

Citrus County Speedway is part of the County Fairgrounds. The track closes during the Fair, i imagine because not enough parking for both at the same time.

USAC and IMCA were always racing at County and State Fairs. I watched USAC Stock Cars and IMCA Sprint Cars for years at the State Fair. That doesn't happen as much now days, the Fair tracks are often used for other things. And i'm sure decibel ratings enter into it too.

[kendo]

Years ago when I raced Orange County Speedway in NY the track had the fair around the 4th of July.With the races,rides,fireworks,and addition of a double points night the air was always filled with electricity and the place was packed.

[Boneman]

Make the race fair an annual event, certainly not a weekly one.

Since this was a county fair, there was a tractor show on Saturday morning (remember....Wisconsin), a tractor pull on Saturday night, and two demo derbies on Sunday, one for kids, another for adults.

I attended on a Friday night, and they had just raced 4 days before on Tuesday night.

It was interesting because this track would plug the upcoming shows at other local tracks like Proctor, MN. Not sure, but it sounds like they are all WISSOTA members, so they must cooperate to get the maximum benefit out of their short season.

[Groundpounder]

This idea has been done many times. Look no farther than Tampa, the State Fair at Plant Field hosted IMCA sprints for many years as did the new fairgrounds on I-4. The Champ cars ran with the state fairs I know at least in Illinois and Wisconsin in the 60's as well. In Oklahoma City and Tulsa, their super-modifieds ran with the state fairs. Most races today are figured to be stand alone events. I bet the fair boards would want a hefty sanction fee to do this today. Nice thought...
BTW, the state fairs are hanging on but truly dying in today's world just like the circus did. In Tampa at times the state fair is a fairly dangerous place to be!
Products are brought to market and introduced different ways.

[zerofor]

In today's world it isn't something most fair boards are gung ho about. There are a couple dirt tracks in Ohio that are at county fairgrounds. Fremont Speedway and Attica Speedway.There used to be more but as the eighty's arrived and Insurance rates raised most fair boards had no patience to give half the fair proceeds to an insurance company. Noise restrictions didn't help as towns grew.In today's world it would be a tough sell to a fair board.In the Midwest most of those existing tracks that once did hold stock car or sprint and midget races are used solely for the original form of horsepower, with a sulky behind it.Giddy up.

[Circledude]

I remember when the OHIO State Fair held a I believe a USAC midget race during the fair on the horse track. Was pretty cool to see when I was there. Did you ever go to see this Eric?

[OldSchool+]

Unfortunately, I think the demographic that attends the fair is (was) the same as the stock car races, and it is down also.

Barnum & Bailey (yes, it is a circus, but still...) has closed. Still, together they might be more successful than separate, especially in Boneman's once-a-year-special-deal format.

Ironically, I would think that a stock car crowd would bring more money to the Citrus County fair, but it is their call. An easy call to reverse, also.

And NSS has both the room and the Volusia County Fairgrounds--and the fair already there once a year--right down highway 44, so they could probably send up some attractions with relatively little effort.

Showtime would be another great venue, they may have room on the dragstrip for a small setup, I dunno. They already have Yoho and "The Greatest Show on Earth!".

And Bithlo? Drifters and bumper cars? Why not?!

[OldSchool+]

Actually, think about a fair and the Daytona Antique Auto Racing Association (DAARA)--anywhere!

In fact, that combination may even draw enough locals (that is, folks from a 40 mile radius) to make it worthwhile for everyone involved at Bronson.

That would be cool, no doubt.

[zerofor]

I remember when the OHIO State Fair held a I believe a USAC midget race during the fair on the horse track. Was pretty cool to see when I was there. Did you ever go to see this Eric?

No but I remember when they had them there.I remember back in the 1970s when the Clark County Fair in Springfield Ohio had stock car events on Sunday afternoons and Larry Moore made the place his personal ATM and then he would haul ass for Columbus put on the pavement tires and double his days profits.I think in Florida the idea of a fairgrounds race has a little better odds than up in the Midwest since I don't think harness racing is the big deal down here that it is up there. I think the idea of a small carnival set up at a track on a race weekend is a better shot but space may be an issue for parking and I'm sure any traveling carnival operator would want it to be a highly visible high traffic location. But just think about it.Come early for the rides,stay late for the races.Columbus Motor Speedway in their last fifteen years of operation leased the speedway grounds to the Village of Obetz for the village to have parking for the zucchini festival which was held in a park behind the pit area.The races were moved up four hours and general admission to the races was free that afternoon. After the races there was a free concert at the festival.Travis Tritt,Joan Jett ,Clint Black were a few of the annual free concert. The Speedway would be pretty much packed that day and remember,it was a win-win deal for the speedway. The village had probably already paid them more than their net proceeds normally would have been and they had all that extra concession and souvenir sales.Plus the added benefit of exposing more people (especially young families) to something that may bring them back again.