Incentives for racecars to return

[Todd McCreary]

No body wants to race because they cannot beat him or even compete with him. Its sad to say, hes a great guy but the playing field needs to be leveled.

what they used to do in the olden days was offer a bounty on him. if he finishes on the lead lap, pay a bonus to the guy who beats him.

i was going to say "full field invert by points", but if he's already starting in the back that's not going to accomplish anything ... except make a fan out of me.



I think there is alot of good ideas out there and we as racers just need to set down and get things going.

and now is the time of year when these things should be getting hammered out. the beginning of Speedweeks is the absolute latest that any Fla track should be issuing it's current season rulebook. for advertising and marketing purposes to the race teams if nothing else.

if done professionally, the next years book would be available by the beginning of Dec and whatever show was being run for Speedweeks would abide by the current year rule book ( the 2009 Speedweeks classes would abide by the 2009 rules ) instead of last years book.



Have pay increments correlated to car count

this is for the fans, not the racers but have the feature lap increments correlated to car count.

there is no point in a 20 lap race for a 5 car field. unless this is a novel approach to curing insomnia.

[ALASKA54]

Has anyone tried this

This would probably only work in Florida.
Start the season off in January, go thru April.
Take off May, June, July and August.
Let NASCAR have there Saturday night shows in May.
Let the fishermen go fishing.
Start the season back up in Sept. and go thru Nov.
Take Dec. off to rebuild cars and tracks.
Let the hunters go hunting.
You wouldn't have to put up with heat and mosquitoes during summer.
You wouldn't have to put up with rain-outs.
Watch the weather and if it looks like it's going to be below 45, cancel that night.
You could start earlier and be home earlier.
Somebodys going to have to change something because it's not working the way it is.

[Edm]

Alaska54, good post. Someone else brought that up at the track too. It gets a little cold in Jan and Feb but starting the shows earlier may help. Those are the months that I wanna see racing the most. We may end up with some Northern folks racing too.

I think Columbia may be onto something with all of the good ol boys up there hunting and fishing.

Mod22, you hit the nail on the head. Racing just plain cost too much in any class. The SSS class is on to something with the crate motors. They cut fuel costs in half. Maybe the Super Stocks should have a fuel rule. It would help their costs as well.

[Edm]

These are all good points but Fla racing is so set in its ways that most of these excellent ideas are pointless.

If you make a fuel rule, they dont sell as much fuel.
Tires, its all about selling tires. 8" grooved Good Years lasted too long. Not selling enough so switch to Hoosier.

My idea is if you get more cars to the track then you sell more. Its all about getting the customer in your door. Thats just common sense, it couldnt possibly work.

[Boneman]

Ed, don't give up. Track owners and managers don't want things to go badly. We'd have to be awfully cynical to believe that. Can we keep the discussion going on how to win back some idle racers? Short-term band aids are perfectly acceptable for this task. How can we get more cars in the next few weeks?

[Benny The Mule]

I would like to add that it would make many people sick if they knew how old Tim's chassis was and how little they spend to race it.

You can hardly imagine wanting to penalize them.

I helped his dad Timmy Todd and brother Mike Todd for a # of years @ OSW and NSS in the 90's.

That family has known how to make low dollar speed for years.

Last year Tim sold his pick-up to build a motor.........that's dedication.

[Edm]

I know Donnies chassis is older too. How about this, give breaks to the slower cars to help bring them up to speed. Do whatever it takes to make the fields more even for better racing.

Boneman, dont think for a second that I will give up. I am very passionate about NOT seeing another track disappear and if some of these owners dont get it together and listen to what fans and drivers want, then that is exactly what will happen.

[Front Stretch]

What About

doing something special on general admission once a month . Seniors FREE
Under 25 FREE Drivers families FREE Ladies nite something, just a gimmick! The main objective for me would be to get people in the gate and then they will EAT and DRINK. Once a month, have an autograph - picture taking session (BEFORE THE RACES) where the fans can access their favorite drivers and take pictures with them. The kids would love this!!!!! OR once a month, offer FREE RIDES in a race car to the kids. Pick a division every week and through fan participation, vote on "best looking" car- award a free admission to the winner. It is long past time for track owners to do more than just own the track and expect the drivers to keep paying for everything through the back gate. Fight for the few dollars the working family can now afford to spend, make me want to come to YOUR track and spend MY MONEY!

KEEP TECH FAIR FOR EVERYONE

PLEASE, DO NOT RUN MORE THAN 4-5- DIVISIONS A NIGHT!

PUT A TIME LIMIT ON FEATURES (except special shows)

KEEP INTERMISSIONS SHORT (15- 20 minutes tops)

NEVER FORGET THAT DRIVERS AND FANS ARE PAYING THE BILLS. MAKE US FEEL AS THOUGH YOU REALLY APPRECIATE US SUPPORTING YOUR TRACK!

[modracer22]

I talked to a couple of guys today that have cars sitting and both of them said money and the cost to compete was just to much anymore for what the return is at the pay window. I know tracks are struggling to put people in the stands. Times are tuff but I do look outside the Florida track scene to what other tracks are doing and what there car counts are. th e biggest thing I've seen is making it cheaper on the racers without racers having to spend more money with new rules.
I also agree that the track needs to sit down and start calling racers to see how come the aren't bring there cars out. I can remember Rick Day calling me before every race or just about every race asking me to come out and race. I know Butch and alot of the FASCAR people have outside jobs but it wouldn't take that long to sit down every day and call 10 drivers. You never know that in it's self could bring some drivers back. Like I said there is alot of good ideas out there we as drivers just got to give alittle and figure out what to do but for that to work the track as to get behind us and maybe rethink somethings.

[Sandy Nerone]

I am in agreeance with most everything you guys have said. The economy has us all in a corner. That is one of the reasons for shortening Columbia's schedule, besides the (good ole boys) wanting to hunt and go to their kids football games. For the fans we have cut the price to $10 for adults and $5.00 for Seniors and Students for the balance of the year. We are talking about changing the fuel to a lower octane for the 2009 season which will help in price. Tires are another story...what the tracks have to pay for tires versus what the racer pays is only $10.00 difference and most of that goes to pay the tire people. We don't run more than 5 divisions and we are out of the races by 10 - 11 PM. I myself would love to see the season start early and not race during the summer (heat and rain) maybe that can happen. If the tracks would work together in Florida and run the same rules we each could share the cars and know that the fans would have good shows. One of you mentioned the food at the race tracks, Columbia has very good fresh food and have dropped the prices on some of their items. Know that we feel this economy just as much as you, racers and fans do...It is hard but we are trying our best to stay open, not sell and give racers and fans a place to go.
It still seems as though the politician still give the rich the ability to stay alive while the middle blue collar have to struggle. It would be nice to once in the history of America have a truthful politician. Have a wonderful day and God Bless all of you.

[Edm]

Sandy, thank you for coming on here and being supportive. You menioned food and it made me think of something other then lunch.
Osw wouldnt allow me to bring my fountain drink and sandwhich into the grandstands after paying $20 for what turned out to be a lousy show. The lady in front of me wasnt allowed to bring in her 1/2 full bottle of water.
I think that is a bad call, I can understand not allowing alcohol but a bottle of water. To me that spells out GREED. I dont mind the prices now or even paying more for better food at the track but If I am coming to watch a 4-5 hour show at the track then I believe that I should be allowed to bring in a bottle of water or a snack.

Get some healthy food or at least allow us to bring our food in.

[Fordmen]

Dirt is the answer........

Go to Ocala and take a look. Cars and people have come out of the woodwork. You can run\win on the same four tires ALL year. the cost to run up front is much less. ALL small tracks in Florida would be wise to do as Ocala and put the fun back in what is a hobby for 99.9% of us. SEE YOU ON THE DIRT........................

[SeminoleWind]

I've been trying to think of short term fixes as Boneman suggested, he used the word "incentives". Maybe we need to restructure the purse to include "incentives".
-driver who passed the most cars
-last place award
-best wreck of the night
-"Tire Night" 1 free tire to all competitors in a certain division
-Rookie of the Race
-extra money to fast qualifier who elects to start in rear
-drivers wife/girlfriend get in free night
-any driver who finishes feature race, pays no admission if they come back next week
Just a few ideas, some may be good, some may even stink. A lot of the ideas the track could sell as inexpensive advertising. ex. "Best Wreck of the Night" sponsored by Acme Towing.
I've always thought the tracks should cut the monetary purses and replace them with tire or race fuel credits. Let's face it, you deposit that $200.00, fifth place check on Monday and it's usually spent by Tuesday. If there were 2 new tires or 10 gallons of race fuel waiting for you at the track on Saturday, you would have more incentive to go and race.

[calres22]

I am in agreeance with most everything you guys have said. The economy has us all in a corner. That is one of the reasons for shortening Columbia's schedule, besides the (good ole boys) wanting to hunt and go to their kids football games. For the fans we have cut the price to $10 for adults and $5.00 for Seniors and Students for the balance of the year. We are talking about changing the fuel to a lower octane for the 2009 season which will help in price. Tires are another story...what the tracks have to pay for tires versus what the racer pays is only $10.00 difference and most of that goes to pay the tire people. We don't run more than 5 divisions and we are out of the races by 10 - 11 PM. I myself would love to see the season start early and not race during the summer (heat and rain) maybe that can happen. If the tracks would work together in Florida and run the same rules we each could share the cars and know that the fans would have good shows. One of you mentioned the food at the race tracks, Columbia has very good fresh food and have dropped the prices on some of their items. Know that we feel this economy just as much as you, racers and fans do...It is hard but we are trying our best to stay open, not sell and give racers and fans a place to go.
It still seems as though the politician still give the rich the ability to stay alive while the middle blue collar have to struggle. It would be nice to once in the history of America have a truthful politician. Have a wonderful day and God Bless all of you.

Sandy,
Its not so much the markup in the tires, but the need to have 4 new tires every week to be competitive that makes this sport more costly than it has to be. If you have a hard tire that doesnt need replaced every week and speeds stay the same then it is a win-win situation for everyone. According to you, the track does not make that much money off of tires so it would not be detrimental to the track to switch to a harder tire.

Do me a favor. Ask around in the pits and find out how many weeks the drivers have on their left front tire. As a frame of reference, i won a couple of weeks ago with 16 races on my left front. Yes, we run rock hard tires up here in Ohio. Not only does it save money, but it makes the races more competitive.

As a quick fix for getting more cars out, tracks need to think about running heat races. Have a slow and fast heat and invert the entire field in the heats. It would give more people a chance to win, and in reality, thats what we go racing for. It would provide more excitement for fans, and that what they go to the races for. It works up here in Ohio, why wouldnt it work in florida???

[georgep]

Try this one

Boneman was onto it with the First Winners Race. Take the cars that have NOT been in the top three and let them run in a "B" main and then run your "A" main. This only works with a GOOD car count not 4 or 5 in a class.
My cure for the cold is to let Dolly Parton stay at Dollywood and SPREAD the same purse money OUT.
The drop of $20.00 per spot will help the lower places and MIGHT cause somebody NOT to BONZIE on the last lap for $20.00.
See if you can SELL the classes to the fans. How? let the fans BUY a lap for $5.00 or let them buy a race for the night. Maybe NOT the main but even a heat race. This is the REAL reason for the drop the fans are out of touch with the show. I will bet that less than 20% of the stands know what the drivers LOOK LIKE or even SPOKE to one.
You can have a great show WITHOUT paying $2,500.00 to win and $600.00 for 2nd. Just think about it!