[B][I]A new series is born.
Have you heard this one lately? Every promoters, racers and race fan did. They pop up everywhere. Like flowers, a couple of new series seems to show up every spring in every corner of North America, only to disappear at season end. It seems that every time there are more than a certain amount of cars in existence of one particular class or a car is use at more than one track, a new series pops up. This article does not apply to the well establish, long term series but more to these particular ?pop up? series, how they come up, what happens with them, if they are good and necessary for our local race tracks.
These series are a big opportunity for the ?would like to be? promoters who do not own a race track and cannot afford one. They go out, pick up a sponsor?s brand name with a nice story on how they will change the face of stock car racing forever, set up a big press conference, gather up 20 some racers from the area, start a series and resell these same local racers at their home track for three time the price. It?s funny how history repeats itself. We?ve all seen it happen over and over again. What a waste of time, effort, money, and sometimes a (some) very good sponsor(s). Somebody said somewhere in time:? he who does not know history is doomed to repeat the same mistakes?.
To start with, a series which respect itself should use Top of the line classes of cars and be filled in majority with Elite drivers & teams. Big bucks teams and talented//professional drivers all the way. There is no need for a ticket price increase for a Super Stock or Mini Stock series races filled with neighbourhood weekly racers. There?s nothing wrong with those but the paying fans are here tonight to see something ?different?. The series should have enough cars on hand for a full field, and it helps to have some Top Notch teams from your area in that race to stir the competition. Remember fans will pay more tonight, they are expecting and entitled to more. There?s no need to ask the fans to pay more for the same amount or quality of cars as your regular weekly program. Next, it should also have their whole complete staff. This leaves less room for controversy. It should have enough top notch teams//drivers to make a competitive race, in other word, at least a good 35 to 40% of the field should be able to win on any given day. A quick check on last few events results can give you an accurate rate on that subject. These are the minimum acceptable basics for a series whose suppose to amaze your fans tonight.
A series will normally advertise itself with big promises, like, but not limited to: the show of the year, 40+ cars expected, the most competitive field ever, and the best of the best in every aspect. And some of them really are. But, more often than not, fans get out of their night of excitement kind of disappointed. Why?
First, the ticket price is often over inflated. But, you?re all pump up, you buy it anyway, no strike. The promoter has almost no choice because of the high price tag attached to those series. Remember, you?ll see the show of the year tonight!!! So let?s get in anyway, just to figure out, right after you bought your ticket and walked in, that there are only 17 series cars on pit lane! And this is a half mile paved track with a 150 laps feature?Strike one of disappointment. Then goes time trial, fastest qualifier is .268 faster than second place who is .171 faster than third and so on. Now, you just figure out how exciting this race will be. Strike two. So you tell your friend: we?re here anyway, let?s go have some food, bang! The price is upgraded this week, series? in town, remember! Strike three. And it keeps on going disappointment after disappointment. Only two well known racers in the whole field, fastest car starts on the pole, leads every single lap and win. Wow! What a show?.Not good for nobody. The weekly classes save the night, again. Looks familiar!!!
So what?s wrong with that picture? Many times, these so called series are filled with weekly racing budget racers thinking that with the bigger purses, they can afford all the expenses of traveling, fuel, tire, motel, restaurant, entry fees, pit passes, licences, and so on. And beside the price of the race car, the traveling expenses are close to the same being a mini something class or a full blown late model or open wheel machine. Quickly, they find out they are outspending themselves and pretty soon, they quit. But the series keep going, with fewer and fewer cars. Some racers who keep going cannot afford all the right equipments, so they are less competitive, and only the top 3 to 5 teams pick up all top purses, and the field spreads thin more and more. Now, the new series? promoter is at the mercy of racers, sometime has to look the other way, bribes the ?stars? under the table, let some tech issues slips through the system, and the cream turn sour. Expectation of greatness goes down the drain. And the fan, again, picks up the tab of disappointment. That?s often what happens with many of these new series, big expectation, disappointing results.
Are they good for the sport in general, history says beside a selected minority, they don?t do justice to anybody. The only thing they really do is take your local racers (heroes) away, thin your local racers support, put another player in the regional area, leads to expenses increase at local tracks, decrease car count, affect fan count, and so on. One reality of life is racers like to chase dreams, and a new series is the best dream a racer can have. The new series? promoter will promise heaven, big sponsors, humongous purses, point fund you only see in major league, anything to get the racers to join the club. If it looks too good to be true, it?s normally not, but they will fall for it anyway. Glamour and stardom are very attracting. And the worst part of it, is after they have gone there and went flat broke, they just quit racing altogether. So a small advice learned through experience, to local racers across North America: before you commit to these dream series, sit down and count, and count everything. And if this new promoter is promising more than a well known series, be careful. Keep in mind this guy is new in the business, may be he forgot something down the line.
Are they a necessity? A lot of promoters will rely on those to make a financial hit. Let?s bring in so and so series and make a big profit. It would be nice for promoters if it would be always true. Some well establish series will bring in what they claim, but they are more, and sometime real expensive, so some promoter will rely on the new born, cheaper baby. It may work tonight but down the line, if you make your weekly fan mad at you, it will hurt you more than you might have expected. Time would say that beside the long lasting one, no more of these ?pop up? series should see daylight. If you look at different web site of different states or provinces, some places there are more series than race tracks. Something wrong here! So, unless they are structured and operated by solid promoters, well funded by reputable corporation and does not suck all the weekly racers away, promoters as well as racers should think twice before committing to the new series.
How to prevent the new series booming? Talk to your neighbour race tracks about it. A series with no race tracks to race will go away like the sun does every evening. Or, offer the new series? promoter to lease the race track for the night he wants to come, see what he says!!! They should all step on it, according to their speeches; you?re supposed to make the financial hit of the season, right? If they don?t, there you have your answer on the assurance of making big bucks tonight. And, less series in the area means more weekly racers at your local race track.
In conclusion, a good night of weekly racing where fans can meet their friends, and support their local heroes is still hard to beat. It?s easier on fans wallet, the risks for promoters are lowers and community commitments are better. So before you step in both feet, as a promoter or racers in one of those series, think again. Weekly racing is what made stock car racing what it is today. There?s nothing wrong with a couple of major events during the season, but weekly racing industry has to be careful not to squeeze the fans as well as racers too much, these ?series? race night are expensive for everybody. And like sugar, a little bit is good but too much can easily turn to dislike.
This will be it for this feature event.
Andr?
PS: And don?t forget to support your local short track![/I][/B]