Too bad. I guess the days of short track racing as a hobby are long gone…
Seems like Robert Hart would insist via contract that the tour mods race at NSS each Speedweek. He’s a NASCAR track now, he should have a little pull. And if NASCAR even remotely cared about NSS putting on a good show with the tour mods, it would be a points paying race.
Now here’s the part of this I don’t get. NASCAR should welcome all the exposure it can get for the tour mods. NASCAR has a sanctioned short track, a very well known short track with huge history with the tour mods, right down the road from it’s headquarters. The tour mods racing at NSS wouldn’t cost NASCAR a dime, and its free exposure. NASCAR demands ( don’t you doubt it ) that the tour mods show up for it’s Battle in the Parking Lot. Yet they allow the tour mods to turn around and go right back up north once the silliness at the track apron is over. They can tell the tour mods to stay, they can make the week long racing at NSS points paying races. Yet they don’t.
True, but the tour mods ALWAYS raced at NSS before during Speedweeks, and the payouts were pretty much the same, what’s changed. How can it make economic sense for any of those guys who didn’t finish in the top 5 at DIS to turn right around and head back home when there’s the chance to race where they’ve always raced right down the road. There’s just got to be more to this story.
[B][I]Some racers will just not race for pocket change. It’s that simple.
I remember couple years ago, Bloomquist was parked at a track that was paying 3000 to win, and then the day after it was 5K, 7K and the Grand Finale was 10K. At the 3K to win, the car stayed in the trailer in the track parking lot.
A point race for the Whelen Mods has a $50,000//60,000 purse(approx), what’s the purse at NSS? Some guys will protect what they have, being afraid that if they go race for cheaper, their regular purses might take a hit. We cannot blame them. Expensive toy to play with.[/I][/B]
I dont see Nascrap doin NSS.
A-Most fans wont go,its NOT Daytona
B-You CANT put that many cars in there.
C-NSS will scheldule trucks and Pure stocks with them and a total of 10 will
show up
D-Each yellow at NSS is twice as long as Nascrap
E-Daytona put up 20,000 for the Mods, NSS will have to do the same
That isnt goin to happen.
F-Fox sports 1 or whatever its called would have to go to a Short Track,If
noticed,THAT DOESNT HAPPEN ANYMORE
G-I beleive the Die hards for NSS just refuses to see the light.
Rob
[QUOTE=Matt Albee;141576]Seems like Robert Hart would insist via contract that the tour mods race at NSS each Speedweek. He’s a NASCAR track now, he should have a little pull. And if NASCAR even remotely cared about NSS putting on a good show with the tour mods, it would be a points paying race.
Now here’s the part of this I don’t get. NASCAR should welcome all the exposure it can get for the tour mods. NASCAR has a sanctioned short track, a very well known short track with huge history with the tour mods, right down the road from it’s headquarters. The tour mods racing at NSS wouldn’t cost NASCAR a dime, and its free exposure. NASCAR demands ( don’t you doubt it ) that the tour mods show up for it’s Battle in the Parking Lot. Yet they allow the tour mods to turn around and go right back up north once the silliness at the track apron is over. They can tell the tour mods to stay, they can make the week long racing at NSS points paying races. Yet they don’t.[/QUOTE]
As I said in an earlier post, Speedweeks is not about NASCAR it is all about the France families need for more $$$. NASCAR has in essence violated its own rules about competing events to please the France family. Mr. Hart is deserving of sainthood for his dedication to our sport through thick and thin. Just look at how long he has put up with the Orlando debacle.
You’re right about the France family. And NASCAR is about Cup racing, not about tour mods, so they don’t make any more than token attempts at marketing the mods.
On the other hand, look at what the Dirt Series and WOO does at Volusia. They could both just lay out used tires in a local parking lot and have a “race”. But instead they use a local race track to showcase their cars and drivers during Speedweeks. Yes, I know Dirt owns Volusia. And the reason they own it is because they were smart enough to make sure they had a place to showcase their stars in front of the huge crowds that come to Daytona each year. Marketing 101.
Robert Hart CAN’T insist on a Tour Mod date. He can request one, and if approved, he has to write a big check for the contract. And from what I understand, it’s a pretty fat check.
It comes down to money… NASCAR gets their money up-front, and Hart gets to hope he gets enough fans and sponsors to get paid back. It’s a huge gamble.
The way a track employee put it to me was “K&N is about half the money, and they bring TV contracts with them”. The Mods get VERY little TV time, and their appeal is more regional than it is national.
NASCAR cares nothing about tradition, or even common good for them & their member tracks… they care about CASH.
True, Robert Hart would have to request a date and NASCAR would have to approve it. But wouldn’t you think it’s in NASCARs’ interest to have the tour mods at NSS every year? Or put another way, whats the downside for NASCAR or Hart or the tour mod racers in having the tour mods race at NSS during Speedweeks?
I’m still waiting for someone to post a reason why, when absolutely nothing changed, the tour mods raced at NSS in 2012 just the way they had for years, but totally abandoned NSS in 2013 and apparently in 2014. Same track, same purse, same rules, same schedule, same tv and news coverage. Only obvious changes, NSS became a NASCAR track, which should have been a good thing for the tour mods. And NASCAR stole one of the NSS nights to showcase the mods at the track apron.
But it’s done, looks like the tour mod races at NSS during Speedweeks are a thing of the past and now I have one less reason to go to Speedweeks.
I was pleasantly surprised to see 17 tour mods last night.
14 skinny tire mods.
All in all it was a good show.
Matt… I’m not seeing these huge differences from the past that you’re seeing.
The Mods that come to New Smyrna have NEVER been NASCAR sanctioned, and have brought the same amount of cars as in years past, with the exception of dropping the S-K Mods that ran with them.
They started the week with 14 I believe, had 17 last night (slight improvement), and I know of at least 3 more cars already in the pits that didn’t run last night. 20 cars isn’t a horrible field.
As for nascar’s ‘best interest’, that’s purely a dollars & cents issue. As a publicly traded corporation, they have to show PROFIT from their endevours, not tradition or common sense.
Yes New Smyrna lost a night if racing (which I doubt breaks the hearts of the track employees mind, as they get a much needed break), but they GAINED a National touring series and a TV package. They’ve never had either one before.
Nobody would love to see the Richie Evans race become a full-point Tour show more than me, but I also understand why it would be a huge gamble of Robert Harts money. My hope is that somehow NSS can hook up with a major sponsor that could make this a reality.
I don’t see Daytona building a ‘real’ track on their property, and the grandstands are being dimantled, so I don’t know where Daytona is gonna be able to continue this event.
Last I knew, NASCAR doesn’t own one square inch of New Smyrna Speedway, and has ZERO financial interest in it. They are the sanctioning body and that’s about it. They get their check from the track, wish you luck, and head straight to the bank to deposit your check.
The one thing that encourages me though, is that the K&N race looked very successful at the front gate… better crowd than I’d seen in years. It probably made a decent profit from that night, and maybe it was enough for them to think ‘maybe we CAN pull this off’. If they didn’t make money with K&N, they will lose their asses with Tour Mods.
And losing a boatload of money has never been on Robert Harts ‘to-do’ list.
A good strong sponsorship (maybe Jegs?) might put it over the top, and make this a reality, but if every dime would have to come out of Roberts pocket first… I wouldn’t hold my breath.
We weren’t really talking about this years race, the biggest issue was the year before when virtually the entire field of mods packed up after the " Apron " and went home instead of racing for the rest of the week at NSS.
Concerning this year, i’m glad to see some of them are back at NSS. Certainly not all if they only had 17, but a step in the right direction.
I haven’t been over this year, we’re thinking about coming over for the trucks at the Speedway and I hope we can get to NSS the following night.