25 cars at OSW?

[oldyeller]

Say it ain't so. I can only imagine what the stands looked like. Actually I can imagine -- wood and aluminum. This isn't funny anymore.

[AB195]

you have to be kidding me

say it ain't so, joe. a new low.

[UREZ2PASS]

OSW-

I think it is time to have free admission on the grandstand side until the economy improves or the weekly show has more cars. Use the free admission to get people in the stands and you can make up the difference in concession sales. Fans will not be returning without a decent amount of cars to watch race. Just maybe more cars will race at OSW if the grandstands were full of people. More concession sales could bring in more revenue which could also be used for higher payouts, and that in itself should draw more cars.

It's time to do something drastically different to save the track ! I really don't see how the track can stay open with 25 cars at the weekly show.

[carolwicks]

hmmmmm

if my memory serves me Rusty had free night and that didnt work either. i dont understand how a race track in the middle of all thats fun in Florida and has had some great promoters, can fail so badly... just about everything has been tried...
here's an idea i was told about...
Give the drivers each 100 passes to give out with one condition... they cant give them out at the track... bring in new people. i think the drivers would have a good chance of bringing fans in...
most of the ideas we share have already been tried. in racing hardly anyone ever agree. meetings of track owners doesnt even seem to work. one or more always want to be the top dog. they need to come together with a state wide plan and stick to it... make it affordable for the drivers and the fans and also make it possible for track owners to pay the bills!... i sure dont know the answers. i dont race a car and i dont own a track but i know what i like...and i know that racing in florida needs alot of improvement....all in all i think most of the tracks are really trying and it will take time for it all to fall together. Citrus, auburndale, punta gorda, and ocala seem to be doing very well... hope the others will follow examples and make a comeback. there are 4000 racers and thousands of fans. plenty to go around about 12 tracks! my wish is that every track in florida be successful! it CAN happen! i know some of you wont agree with me and thats sure ok but if you dont agree, just give your thoughts without insult. im just trying to help... i dont know the answers anymore than you do. but at least i care enough to say what i feel.
carolwicks aka oz

[Jane]

That idea was done by Rusty Carol a few years back. We made up tickets for the drivers to give out and the one who brought in the most guests won a prize and then we reversed it and gave tickets to the fans to give out and the fan won something. We did have about 1200 people one night when we did the free admission and the contests with the drivers and fans did work. I think we printed 10,000 tickets for each give-away and some drivers even printed more tickets on their own. Drivers put their names on the back of the tickets to be counted and so did the fans. They had fun and we got alot of new people there that way.

I may not be at Orlando anymore but that does not mean that I don't care and don't want the track to close. I have offered to help get a car show together in Brevard to get some new fans but it is hard to get drivers together much less bring their cars to show off to some hopefully new fans. But I am willing to help if they ever do want to do that.

I know the economy sucks but other tracks get more cars and Orlando is a great track. Guess the only thing to do is keep praying for her and hopefully things will get better.

[Todd McCreary]

if my memory serves me Rusty had free night and that didnt work either.


and we have told you ( and FASCAR ), repeatedly, why that isn't working.


fans will NOT pay to watch a lousy show.

giving them a lousy show for free, only convinces them that they shouldn't come back on a pay night.

Rusty meant well, and he was trying his butt off. but he had the cart before the horse.

and i'm not really sure how much authority the promoter has to fix the fundamental problems at these tracks anyways.

now, we've got this crappy economy on top of everything else....

[carolwicks]

its a catch 22

fans wont come to watch a lousy show... but a late model show costs about $10K or more... so if people dont come how can the track pay? i guess you dont have to have lates for a good show but all the classes need to be paid....
it costs over $1000 for a track just to turn on the lights... then theres food, personnel, mowing, cleaning, taxes, phones, promotionsliability etc etc etc.... there have to be people in the stands to pay the drivers and all the other expenses...OZ

[UREZ2PASS]

Free grandstand admission - many people are at home sitting on the couch watching tv with nothing else to do. They might come on out if they can get in free, and maybe even buy a cold drink and a hamburger. The track can not loose - the seats are empty anyway.

Cheap advertising - drivers that care about the track can do static racecar displays to show off their cars and pass the word about the free admission all the while attracting that possible sponsor. All the track needs to do is have some nice signage made up for the drivers to use at the static displays. Someone might even get their car sponsored by having it out in the public eye. If the grandstands are full of people, it gives the perfect opportunity to gain sponsorship. Empty seats = no advertising for sponsors.

Something has to give - Maybe OSW and the drivers can work together to promote the track, or we will all be at home sitting on the couch very soon.

[carolwicks]

jane...

just talked to rusty for an hour and the three of us are in agreement. ;-) now thats a switch huh?
i remember when he did that... i think 1/2 price might work too...
Punta Gorda is charging $10 for grandstand. our stands have been full and driver count good. linda has been putting results etc in our local papers and people are surprised theres a track in punta gorda...there are ups and downs caused by one thing or another. sometimes its just too hot or too cold out and people stay in... the economy is really bad and thats a huge factor.
getting the word out there is so important. put race track business cards in all automotive places on their counters, all hotels, all hobby shops... get creative... stick it in peoples faces! otherwise they will go to the movies! same price for one hour ... we give about 4 hours of jam packed excitement for the same dollar amount!
jane... you and i have seen it all but i am glad new people are coming on and offering their ideas... at least they care and they should not be discouraged because they might just come up with something that does work. also times change and so do businesses. look at the HUGE changes in NASCAR in the last decade but millions still go. i remember washing diapers by hand and hanging them out to dry. dont do that anymore but kids still poop & pee and we have easier diapers.. everything changes over time.... shut up carol!
carolwicks aka OZ

[Rick Williamson]

if my memory serves me Rusty had free night and that didnt work either. i dont understand how a race track in the middle of all thats fun in Florida and has had some great promoters, can fail so badly... just about everything has been tried...
here's an idea i was told about...
Give the drivers each 100 passes to give out with one condition... they cant give them out at the track... bring in new people. i think the drivers would have a good chance of bringing fans in...
most of the ideas we share have already been tried. in racing hardly anyone ever agree. meetings of track owners doesnt even seem to work. one or more always want to be the top dog. they need to come together with a state wide plan and stick to it... make it affordable for the drivers and the fans and also make it possible for track owners to pay the bills!... i sure dont know the answers. i dont race a car and i dont own a track but i know what i like...and i know that racing in florida needs alot of improvement....all in all i think most of the tracks are really trying and it will take time for it all to fall together. Citrus, auburndale, punta gorda, and ocala seem to be doing very well... hope the others will follow examples and make a comeback. there are 4000 racers and thousands of fans. plenty to go around about 12 tracks! my wish is that every track in florida be successful! it CAN happen! i know some of you wont agree with me and thats sure ok but if you dont agree, just give your thoughts without insult. im just trying to help... i dont know the answers anymore than you do. but at least i care enough to say what i feel.
carolwicks aka oz

Oz you MADE the point why this race track isn't working in your own statement. IT'S IN THE MIDDLE OF ALL THOSE FUN THINGS! Another reason poeple don't go is like me. I use to go all the time ( not to Orlando). But 9 months a year every Saturday night gets old. There are other things people like to do. For you people like alot of thoses on here that's not true. But for many more it is. Being hot, cold or rained on and then called, Plus those HARD wooden seats for 4 or 5 hours at a time all get old. And I don't have to stand in line and pay nearly $10.00 for a hamburger and large drink at my house. To go see a Mod or Late car race is about the only races I do go to see anymore. And in these time I'm not the only one.

[UREZ2PASS]

FREE ADMISSION GRANDSTAND SIDE !

Free gets everyone's attention - college students, high school students, and the moms and dads sitting on the couch.

OSW ! GO FOR IT ! You've got nothing to loose.

[tccaz]

FREE doesn't mean anything to a lot of people if they get a crappy show I know if I went and saw 25 cars it would be hard to get me back. I also agree with Rick the LAST THING I WANT TO DO is sit in those nasty dirty stands in 95 degree heat in the middle of the summer to go to any races, it would have to be awfull special to get me to do that, even if it was FREE.

[UREZ2PASS]

Desperate times call for desperate measures. The re-building of the fanbase and racecar entries has to start somewhere. It is well known that both have to exist. Of course, some people will disagree - but everything else has been tried. The track can not survive without fans and racecars. We need to get people off the couches and in the stands.

If you don't like the wooden bleachers, buy a padded seat with a back at Walmart. I think they are about $10. And the heat, it's Florida, it ain't gonna change, and if it does, we've got more to worry about than racing.

[Jane]

Some, that live on Merritt Island and close by, may remember the race shop on 520. I think it was Dara's or something like that. Every weekend she would have one or two racecars in front of her shop to advertise her business and Orlando. I think she even sponsored those cars. People would stop just to look at the racecars up close. My daughter worked there for awhile and so did Jared Allison's wife. She did okay with her business but ended up leaving the area. But she did try to help and she would be at the track every Friday night also.

Put a racecar, two if possible, in front of a business and people will stop. And if there are kids in the car, they will definitely stop. Have a few free tickets to give out and they will come. This I do know because I have seen it work.

Pedie Allison gave away trophys once at McDonald's in Titusville during one of those weekends we had cars there. Kids loved it, Pedie loved it, and those little eyes would lite up when they got that trophy. We also gave them tickets to come to the show and yes, not all came, but quite a few did.

Florida Today use to have weekly race stories, I know because I did them. They were centered on Brevard racers wherever they raced but I always included upcoming events for Orlando and New Smyrna. Then there was the budget cuts for the paper and it was gone. But once, we had two full pages with color photos from Orlando SpeedWorld. That was when Dick Westfall was there and he was thrilled. Cost the track nothing but great advertising.

Yes, Rusty tried alot of things, we all did. The car counts weren't great sometimes but nothing like they are now. There are alot of names missing in the weekly show that use to be there every weekend, rain or shine. Not sure why they are gone but they are gone.

I talk to Rusty alot Carol and he has no clue either on what to do right now. I am glad Punta Gorda is doing well and hopefully they will continue on that track. And I hope Orlando can come back up because I do love that track still. But let's face it, no one has the answer right now. Times are hard for everyone and some can't even afford the gas to get to the track much less pay to get in and eat and drink, good show or bad. All we can do right now is pray things get better for everyone and keep on trying.

[carolwicks]

my point is this jane...

the more people who come on this board and give suggestions, the better. one just might work! and just because something didnt work in 2005 doesnt mean it wont work now. i think having a group discussion with lots of ideas is a good thing. and i hope promoters are paying attention!
as for disney etc... it costs about $70 per person... not $10... most people make disney a couple weekends a yr. that leaves 50 more weekends to do something else. the economy has not hurt disney. its freaking packed every weekend!! and it wouldnt hurt orlando to try some other stuff... maybe monster trucks, circus, rock concert... battle of the bands... just to get people to NOTICE that there is a track. tourists know all about disney etc. but how many know about ORLANDO SPEEDWAY?
please people, keep those suggestions coming. even if they sound bizarre... they might bring people in...
carol aka OZ