I agree. Keeping your race track a secret is a real dumb marketing strategy.
Don Nerone, where in the north is racing season 10-12 weeks long? Typical racing season up there is 20-25 weeks long, with some pushing to 30. And given the amount of tracks in proximity, and the fact that some tracks run two nights a week plus midweek specials saying that fans are “looking for more shows” isn’t exactly accurate. Lets just talk basic math. Every track in Florida runs Saturday night, so even if you go to the race track every single Saturday night of the year you only get to see 52 races. If you live in central PA or NY you could easily see more than that. Some central PA sprint teams who are running 80 races a year, and they can clearly only be in one place at a time…so…next reason please?
Maybe this is exactly why these southern promoters don’t learn anything from the successful tracks in the north, they don’t even bother to pay attention.
[QUOTE=OldSchool+;148131]One can never tell. Stranger things have happened…
Phil may not need any more problems![/QUOTE]
Ehhh I’m not worried about anyone giving me issues. I just like to say what I think/feel. More people should try it rather than put their cars on jack stands and stop going to tracks. ;)
[QUOTE=OldSchool+;148129]“Don Nerone, where in the north is racing season 10-12 weeks long?”–Luke
Capitol Speedway, Willow Alaska, is approx 15 weeks long.
[/QUOTE]
Good to know!
So far this week the northeast mods have raced at Granby on Monday, Drummond on Tuesday, and tonight is crazy 8’s at I-88 speedway in NY. And you want to talk about making it worth the trip! Tonight at I-88 the feature is 48 laps for $8,888 to win, $1,488 for 5th, $888 for tenth and $388 to start the feature. The winner of the B-MAIN will get paid 888$, or he can forgo that and transfer to the feature to run for the big bucks. Oh and the entry fee? 15 bucks. Fifteen, and no stupid tires and fuel requirement!
Plus $1,359 in lap money. And I can’t even list all of the special contingency awards here otherwise people will get annoyed. But a small example:
Top finisher on Hoosier tires gets a free tire, plus one random driver who doesn’t make the main gets a free tire.
Top passing points in each heat race gets $88.
All drivers who DNQ get free car entry to the next STSS race at Accord.
Hard luck award gets a complete set of bumpers and rub rails
5th place gets a free wheel
Hard Charger gets an extra $288…and it goes on and on. When is the last time a track offered anything like that down here?
[QUOTE=luke81;148144]
All drivers who DNQ get free car entry to the next STSS race at Accord.
?[/QUOTE]
And Accord races Friday nights.
Again,comparing north to south is apples to oranges…There simply isn’t any $$ down here.If you cant afford tires on Saturday night,you wont be buying and racing them on Wednesday.
[QUOTE=Frasson118;148081]Seekonk Speedway in Mass. is doing a Wed show with 45 Modifieds entered, $10,000 to win, $1000 to the B-Main winner, and tons of bonuses like longest tow.
THATS a SHOW.
I will never get why Fla doesn’t even TRY.[/QUOTE]
Do you think 10g to win might play a bigger role in drawing cars and fans than say 1000 or 2000 to win? Jimmy McKinley spoke of a mid week show at Midvale Ohio on the 4th of July week.Now Jimmy I hate to tell you but the ARCA gold cup late models (which are outlaw late models like the Main Event series,and who are running a combined race later this season at Toledo Speedway)drew only 18 late models to Flat Rock Michigan a week ago Saturday.Difference? $1000 to win at Flat Rock.Toledo the night before had 17.As far as I know same payout.Now the crowds in the stands were both good (Toledo runs on Friday)and admission wasn’t cheap.Sixteen bucks at Flat Rock for triple 50s for the 3 divisions running that night with no heats and a fireworks show after.Toledo was 17 bucks for a 75 lap late model feature plus 2 other divisions with heats.The fans aren’t stupid.Low payout translates to low car count.No advertising other than social media or half audible announcements on the track PA system translates to no butts in seats but track promoters continue the same old tried and true system of throw open the gates and we will be packed.(and if we’re not we will have our press person say we were)I think the long and short of it is this,no matter what day you choose to race on.PAY SOME DAMN MONEY!!!And if you cant or are unwilling to than try this.Drop the Super lates from your race card on a regular or even semi-regular basis.Build up a class such as open wheel mods or trucks or even mod-minis but start giving them more than a 500 or 1000 dollar to win show.Pay them a little better than you are now and more will come out.Toledo Speedway runs only 4 late model shows the entire season.Lorain only 1 main event show.Thats it.Sandusky,same as Lorain.Lorains open wheel mods are running on 8 inch tires.22 of them last Saturday night.Bad fast and damn entertaining.Crowd was decent despite the presence of rain all evening.Im not sure what the Main Event cars paid out at Lorain on Saturday but Im sure it was more than 1000 to win and they had 23 in the pits.They had 22 open wheel mods qualify as well that night.Lesson to me is pay out some money or if you cant or wont build up your undercard.
I tend to agree with Nerone that Florida’s season is so long that the midweek race does not really seem as desirable. Couple that with our scheduling races every weekend during the rainy season and people are just not willing to chance a midweek show and have to deal with work the next day not to mention dealing with midweek child care issues etc. If our racing season was as short as the north’s I suspect we would embrace the concept. Yes some midweek shows have worked but they have generally involved holidays. I just do not see the density of cars and fans to make this a workable option in Florida.
I’ve been to a lot of midweeks shows and preferred them to Saturday night shows simply because the racing was better. Yeah, they’re special shows. Since they’re held midweek, they can draw ALL cars to their track. Racing is Florida, even special series like UDLMCS, run Saturday nights and drivers have to decide whether it’s advantageous to go run the series or stay at their home track and run for points and local money. I think the UDLMCS along with a support class running midweek shows could draw more cars if they paid more money. If they have a similar payout to the Saturday night shows, they won’t get people to travel. Midweek shows can work, as long as they’re special shows and have a decent purse. IMO
Bingo,In the north you have about 20 race weekends.You miss none of them.You have 7-8 long cold months to think about it and be prepared.Because of the short season everyone races for points.You see the same racers at their home track every weekend.I know of countless racers from the northeast that have not missed a race in 30+ years.A few mid week shows just adds to their fun.Heck,alot of them end up here in February.
When you have weekly dedicated racers,simple to add a mid week show with extra cash on the line to entice a bunch more to show up.
On the contrary,because of the long racing season Florida racers show up at the track when ever it suits them or the wallet…Alot of the time it is a different track week to week.You can by a ticket to the track and never know what drivers will show up.Tough to establish a fan base or print a weekly racing program without a group of dedicated racers.
Because of our long season point racing in Florida is for the most part a joke as well. At the track level few point championships are really worth committing to. The travelling series may or may not be worthwhile. There have been track champions crowned who have not won a heat race much less a feature. Given that, they really are meaningless. Teams with competitive cars and drivers hunt and seek purses not points. Once again given the length of our seasons it is not financially rewarding to chase points.
The bottom 3 rows suck so no one ever really sits there anyway, many people stood up on the midway multiple rows deep rather than sit at the bottom.
I am sure the star studded field of groundpounders had a little bit to do with the crowd… But like I said before… Waterford runs Wednesday nights for some lower division stuff… X cars, Super X, Legends, Bandeleros… And at $8/head they usually pack the place pretty full. If a weekday show is done right, it can work. Just have to break everyone out of the habit of Saturdays.
“Again,comparing north to south is apples to oranges…There simply isn’t any $$ down here.”–Kendo
Yep, that is the literal fact, Jack. We don’t have any apples.
I would suggest that the whole racing world goes around with money from outside of racing. That is, Tony Stewart’s non Eldora $$ is being poured into the dirt track, Northern Tour cars often have a wealthy benefactor, and so on.
The “Money Sponsors” cannot own a football team, but they can chomp a cigar in the pits or the tower and be the big wheel. And that is great and I certainly am happy for them.
But there are fewer of them in Florida, which is kind of a tourist trap, transitory state. Once I heard that there is more than one person leaving this state for every two coming in.
The expenses are close, but the pay is not. And so it goes.
Why does Showtime do so well? Is it because of Yoho’s promoting/people skills? Certainly to some extent, but moreso the staggering amount of cash he brings to the table.
Northerners: We love ya, bring $10k & we will throw Wednesday night shows. Like up north, they may make money and they may not, so bring extra money!
disclaimer–This post is certainly not intended to hurt folks from up north feelings–y’all got it going on. It’s just cold up there half the time…
You know, the “apples to oranges” comment comment cracks me up… Sure, there is more money up here. You are right… But think about something else… Costs of EVERYTHING are much higher here also… So if you really sit down and look at things, it averages out pretty close to equally… When I first moved back up here, I was making $50k yr on paper… Which would be a very healthy wage in FL… But once I figured in taxes, insurance, escalated costs of life in general, etc… I found that at my $35k yr wage when I was down there, I actually brought home MORE money living in Florida… The same will be said 100% for almost any working class american from North to South I could almost promise you.
Contrary to what you guys seem to continue to say, there IS money in Florida… You just have to put in the effort to go find and get it. It’s there, trust me… Do you actually comprehend the amount of work that went into putting on 3, $10,000 to win open modified races this year? James Schafer pounded the pavement, visited numerous tracks, connected with big corporations such as Red Roof Inn and others and did a TON of leg work to get all the money together.
If promoters in FL put in more effort than it seems some of them do, you guys could also have big races like this with good car counts etc.
OldSchool, you claim we “got it going on” but that’s not 100% true. There are major struggles up here just as there are down there. It’s no different north to south. What it REALLY boils down to is a few things. Tracks and promoters willing to go the extra mile to make things happen, costs being under control with intelligently written rules (yes I am referring to tires and fuel which are biggest weekly expenses for all of us) and Fans. Those 3 things can work with each other to fix their own problems.
Do I have all the answers? HELL NO, but I will tell you 100% what I have noticed is wrong over the years. /rant
Certainly to some extent, but moreso the staggering amount of cash he brings to the table.