Citrus County Speedway cancels remainder of season….

[modfan]

Many Good points made about this situation. I hope Mr. Laplant's health improves. But with that being said lets not forget that no one has mentioned sponsors who invested in Racers with the intention that there car was going to be racing at there local track. Restaurants in town that served many after the races. Local motels that sold rooms when we had traveling shows come to town. Racers building cars for next season. Loyal fans who now have lost there racing venue. Of course many things could have been done differently, that is always the case. If the current management finds it to stressful to run the operation, why not approach the fair board about selling the remainder of the lease to someone willing to take it over. I believe that too much damage has already been done for Gary to ever win back good faith, and trust in the racing community at CCS. There are certainly individuals out there who could bring CCS back to life. Any good business man knows when the ship is sinking. Being obstinate because of ego or pride will not save or make any money!

[modfan]

Solution

Horrible news. I hope Mr Laplant is feeling better. With that being said I would like to point out that. No one has mentioned sponsors who just got shafted. Local restaurants who served racers and fans after the program. Local motels who catered to racers when we had a traveling show come to visit And what about the fans? This is just my opinion and nothing more. If the current management finds it to stressful to run the operation, why not ask the fair board if the remainder of the lease can be sold to another party who is interested to bring CCS back to its racers and fans. Any good business man knows if the ship is sinking get off before it is to late. I believe far to much damage has already been done for Mr. Laplant to ever win back the trust of fans and racers alike in this community. Waiting for months to see if everything is now ok certainly is not the solution. Time for pride and ego to be put to bed, and no more moey wasted.

[OWM94]

Gary is now 2 for 2, in tracks that he ran, shutting down. Its a shame

[bowlegs]

Off topic a bit, but I just read that Gresham in GA will not open in 2015 unless someone buys or leases the track. Phew, asphalt racing in GA is hurting.

[katlizy]

I am going to admit this right off the bat.. I didn't read every post in this thread. I just want to tell you all (yes I said YOU ALL), that we do not visit race tracks every week anymore. Some of you dislike me because of my views on the TBARA.. So I am sure you dont care.. But allow me to tell you this...

As a fan, looking in from the outside, all you ppl do is whine and bitch because you aren't getting your way. Admittedly, I was/am guilty of the same. The difference between you and me tho, is I have nothing to lose and you stand to lose more.

Regardless of what Gary said or did, your bitching and trashing led to him closing the track.

So let's count.. How many tracks are not running this year, or under performing due to personality conflicts and lack of attendance??? Two. That's two too many. Suck it up, strap in and drive.

Stop acting like a bunch of middle school girls who's feelings are hurt. Follow the rules, and do the right thing. SUPPORT your local track, so ppl like me will support you.

I've met some nice pplnat the track, and here.. But I just spent my racing budget on a old Monte that I am going to restore and drive.

Let me know when the races are real.. Maybe I will visit.

[kendo]

So let's count.. How many tracks are not running this year, or under performing due to personality conflicts and lack of attendance??? Two. That's two too many. .

You forgot Putnam County Speedway

[OldSchool+]

Kat,

Congrats on the Monte Carlo! I have some old GM iron myself.

Let's say you decide to turn it into a street stock. No car shows, no vacations, no college fund for the kids, because it is all going into a cage, wheels, locked rear end, motor, and on and on and...on.

You will lose money every single week, even if you do well, which you probably won't for years.

Further, let's say you feel "wronged" by the track you chose to run at. Your wheelbase is off 3/4", or you got under a guy, he cut down, contact, and you go to the back, etc.

Are you going to go back out of a sense of duty to the track?

As a fan, you know that if the car count drops and drops and/or the show is slow, or if you routinely do not agree with the "track calls", you may very well decide to work on the Monte Carlo in the garage or watch a re-run of Michael Waltrip on "dancing" with the...

A Promoter, by definition, promotes an event or track. It is all encompassing. Money, advertising, excitement, all rest on his or her shoulders.

Like racers, some promoters are more successful than others. Doesn't make them a bad guy, just means they need to move on to another entreprenurial idea, and someone else hopefully will step up.

It is all really quite self levelling.

[Matt Albee]

You forgot Putnam County Speedway

From what i've read, Putnam is another example of people leasing a race track with no money to operate it.

[katlizy]

Kat,

Congrats on the Monte Carlo! I have some old GM iron myself.

Let's say you decide to turn it into a street stock. No car shows, no vacations, no college fund for the kids, because it is all going into a cage, wheels, locked rear end, motor, and on and on and...on.

You will lose money every single week, even if you do well, which you probably won't for years.

Further, let's say you feel "wronged" by the track you chose to run at. Your wheelbase is off 3/4", or you got under a guy, he cut down, contact, and you go to the back, etc.

Are you going to go back out of a sense of duty to the track?

As a fan, you know that if the car count drops and drops and/or the show is slow, or if you routinely do not agree with the "track calls", you may very well decide to work on the Monte Carlo in the garage or watch a re-run of Michael Waltrip on "dancing" with the...

A Promoter, by definition, promotes an event or track. It is all encompassing. Money, advertising, excitement, all rest on his or her shoulders.

Like racers, some promoters are more successful than others. Doesn't make them a bad guy, just means they need to move on to another entreprenurial idea, and someone else hopefully will step up.

It is all really quite self levelling.

Nope.. no race car.. for my enjoyment only...

Now.. if say I did meet your hypothetical above... if I chose mms ot to go to a track..i sure cant bitch about the consequences of my decision. Its my decision and I must own my role in the outcome.


Have a good day guys!!

[Matt Albee]

I am going to admit this right off the bat.. I didn't read every post in this thread. I just want to tell you all (yes I said YOU ALL), that we do not visit race tracks every week anymore. Some of you dislike me because of my views on the TBARA.. So I am sure you dont care.. But allow me to tell you this...

As a fan, looking in from the outside, all you ppl do is whine and bitch because you aren't getting your way. Admittedly, I was/am guilty of the same. The difference between you and me tho, is I have nothing to lose and you stand to lose more.

Regardless of what Gary said or did, your bitching and trashing led to him closing the track.

So let's count.. How many tracks are not running this year, or under performing due to personality conflicts and lack of attendance??? Two. That's two too many. Suck it up, strap in and drive.

Stop acting like a bunch of middle school girls who's feelings are hurt. Follow the rules, and do the right thing. SUPPORT your local track, so ppl like me will support you.

I've met some nice pplnat the track, and here.. But I just spent my racing budget on a old Monte that I am going to restore and drive.

Let me know when the races are real.. Maybe I will visit.

It seems that people put a lot more faith in message boards than they probably deserve. The idea of complaining on a message board shutting down a race track is pretty far fetched. I don't imagine that negative reviews help a track at all, but i doubt they caused Gary to shut the doors.
But you bring up an interesting point. Are message board complaints by fans something that should be stopped or at least censored? Should the fans keep complaints to themselves so Gary or any other promoter won't close their track down?
And should racers not be allowed to post their complaints? Just shut up and race? The situation at Citrus IS NOT caused by disgruntled racers. It isn't even caused by gruntled racers. It's caused by the the track promoter/Gary not doing a very good job. Need proof. Look back over the history of Citrus. Big car counts, big fan counts, far fewer complaints by fans and racers. Not zero complaints, but far fewer. What changed? The track was leased by Gary.
I don't think the complaints and bitching about Citrus are what caused the track to close. No body takes Nathan seriously. But successful tracks have lot's of complaints, they just know how to deal with them the right way.

[Matt Albee]

Nope.. no race car.. for my enjoyment only...

Now.. if say I did meet your hypothetical above... if I chose mms ot to go to a track..i sure cant bitch about the consequences of my decision. Its my decision and I must own my role in the outcome.


Have a good day guys!!

Come to Desoto, best show around.

[Phil Jacques]

It seems that people put a lot more faith in message boards than they probably deserve. The idea of complaining on a message board shutting down a race track is pretty far fetched. I don't imagine that negative reviews help a track at all, but i doubt they caused Gary to shut the doors.
But you bring up an interesting point. Are message board complaints by fans something that should be stopped or at least censored? Should the fans keep complaints to themselves so Gary or any other promoter won't close their track down?
And should racers not be allowed to post their complaints? Just shut up and race? The situation at Citrus IS NOT caused by disgruntled racers. It isn't even caused by gruntled racers. It's caused by the the track promoter/Gary not doing a very good job. Need proof. Look back over the history of Citrus. Big car counts, big fan counts, far fewer complaints by fans and racers. Not zero complaints, but far fewer. What changed? The track was leased by Gary.
I don't think the complaints and bitching about Citrus are what caused the track to close. No body takes Nathan seriously. But successful tracks have lot's of complaints, they just know how to deal with them the right way.

http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pb...ORTS/140709893 (It can and has happened recently)

Before social media, if someone was angry, they would pick up the phone, make a phone call person to person and hash it out and resolve the problem if it could be resolved. Today, people would rather hide behind a fake forum name, or post on social media to avoid person to person conflict. In my eyes it's a cowardly way to go about things.

I will and have contacted tracks directly due to issues I have faced over the years. If you be a man, you get treated like a man. If you disagree, then agree to disagree and move on. There is never any positive result from tearing down an individual person or a facility in public media where they may not even see it and have a chance to defend themselves. Whether you want to believe it or not, it does hurt both sides of the argument.

I agree 100% that complaints have to be dealt with the correct way in order to be productive, and yeah, I get the whole it's a free country and people can say what they want, when they want, where they want. That's all fine and dandy, but you have to think about the negative repercussions it can have on everybody as a whole, not just you or the track individually. The complaints need to be given in the proper way too. I am fine with people voicing displeasure. It's human nature to kind of let loose when you are angry about something, but we really have to be careful as a community right now. Short Track racing across the country is on shaky ground. It's very sad with tracks such as Gresham and Citrus closing and others laying dormant. This is why I keep saying, we have to do our best to put forth effort to be part of the solution and not the problem.

I don't have all the answers, and nor does any one person on this board or on Facebook or anything, but I do know the future of this sport is in our hands whether you want to see that or not. It's sadly a real slippery slope when it comes to all this. It can really go either way just gotta know that anything you or me or anyone says can be taken out of context really easily in this world today and have very negative impacts.

[OldSchool+]

Perhaps another way to put it:

Be openly supportive of any tracks that you "like".

BTW, Yoho is again offering an extra $10k to the pole sitter of the upcoming Eddie Braun Modified race if he starts in the back. That is a good thing.

Be constructive if there is something that you did not like --and provide a solution.

The 'net has also been a help. I can check tracks sites to see who is racing what, or to print directions, and so forth.

There are bigger problems than social media today. Tracks always came and went. Now we have regulations out the wazoo, and a public interested in other things--social media among them (say what?).

Like go carts and slot car racing, it is becoming a niche sport/hobby, and I am just glad that I got to be part of the heyday, and still am able to watch some great racing today.

[Matt Albee]

Thanks for that link Phil. Interesting reading. My point in the earlier post was that complaints on message boards are not going to lead to a track closing down, unless those complaints are largely legitimate. And the Baer Field story is a case in point. The promoter fails to consider, even for a moment, that it was his decisions, his rules, his way of doing business, that were responsible for the decline in racers and fans. In his view, it had to be the trashing of his track on social media that was responsible. Oh, and the fact that he was forced to implement a new rule mandated by the insurance company. Now maybe the trash talk on the internet swayed some people. But 500 people??? No, i don't think so. I think that track was just like Citrus and countless other tracks across the country. The track owner/promoter just isn't very good at his job.
As far as social media being the bad boy, i've gotten involved in thousands of bashing sessions in the grandstands over the years. It doesn't take the internet to get a discussion going, 20 people get together in the stands at every track in the country and discuss problems or bitch about unfair officiating. And the following week, the discussion gets even bigger. Ever hear any booing at tracks during driver introductions or after a driver is/or isn't sent to the back after an incident? That didn't require any input from social media at all.
I also see a lot of complaints regarding people using fake names on message boards. I really don't know what difference that could make. Nathan posts things that i don't agree with. And if he used the name Joe Smith, i still wouldn't agree. Rick B. post things that irritate people all the time. If the very same posts were made by DramaQueen48, they wouldn't be any better or worse.

[Phil Jacques]

Perhaps another way to put it:

Be openly supportive of any tracks that you "like".

BTW, Yoho is again offering an extra $10k to the pole sitter of the upcoming Eddie Braun Modified race if he starts in the back. That is a good thing.

Be constructive if there is something that you did not like --and provide a solution.

The 'net has also been a help. I can check tracks sites to see who is racing what, or to print directions, and so forth.

There are bigger problems than social media today. Tracks always came and went. Now we have regulations out the wazoo, and a public interested in other things--social media among them (say what?).

Like go carts and slot car racing, it is becoming a niche sport/hobby, and I am just glad that I got to be part of the heyday, and still am able to watch some great racing today.

I envy you greatly regarding being part of the sports "heyday". I am extremely passionate about this sport and feel sometimes like I missed out on it's best days which is disappointing. I hear so many great old stories from friends here and there talking about how racing "use to be" and huge fields of cars and standing room only crowds and I go to all my local tracks every week here and anywhere I can, and I look at the fields of cars and crowds in the stands and wonder "what can be done to help this"... It's part of the reason I came to this board... To pass off my ideas and if they help it's wonderful.


"Be openly supportive of any tracks that you "like"." - I attend 3-4 tracks a week during race season. If I could get to more, I would. There are tracks I don't like and have been treated poorly at yet I still support them and hope for better days. Because the FL tracks all (for some reason) run Saturdays exclusively, the fan base gets pretty spread out across the state each Saturday. I wish that tracks down there would adapt a scheduling idea similar to what we run up here as far as running some tracks Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday etc. I think it would be much healthier for everyone... There is always the possibility that it wouldn't help or work at all, but it never hurts to start experimenting and see what happens.