What's going on here?

[enjenjo]

I have been out of racing for some time, and have not attended much in the last 15 years or so. I have gone to a few this year, and noticed some big changes.

Drag racing. You see very few people in the spectator stands at most races today. And the car counts are generally about 100 or less. Also the people doing it, for the most part, are the same ones that were racing thirty years ago.

Circle track racing. I see a similar situation. Last friday at Toledo Speedway, for their regular show, if it wasn't for the comped tickets, there wouldn't have been 100 spectators. Most heat races started with 6 or 7 cars, the largest field they had was the feature, which started 12 cars, 6 of which had no chance of winning. The total car count for three classes was less than 100.

Dirt track racing. The local dirt track used to run two shows a week, now they only have one show. They have dropped the sprints, and Modifieds because of low car counts. And the street stock, and late model classes they are running, have steadily dropping car counts.

Even the demo derby this year at the fair could not fill the field, they were about 20 cars short.

So what is the problem? What's the solution? I'm open to opinions from anyone.

[58 Yeoman]

I don't know about your area as far as demo derbys are concerned, but here it might as well be fixed.  You get a couple buddy's who gang up on everyone else, while not hitting themselves too hard, so it seemed like the same people were always winning.  And, it wasn't because they had the best cars or were the best drivers.  No fun there.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

interesting question.  On the TV if I see some drag racing , the stands are usually near empty.


On NHRA races that Hughes Performance has cars entered......... my ticket cost will be reimbursed, so I only pay for the wife.  Yet ,  I do not go because the ticket price is near 50 bucks for one day of races.

On the flip side of that ........ we are very busy with race trannys and converters during race season!

[tom36]

I think that money is probably one the reasons. To be competitive in just about any sports equals mass quantities of money.  On the spectator side it also costs money to get in-- probably making for bigger purses but not a cheap evening out with the family. So it's a vicious cycle, expensive gate = smaller purse=less cars competing.  Also the big NASCAR events are live on tv for more or less free.  Even street rodding isn't the homebuilt with used parts thing it used to be.  Just my $.02  Tom..

[HotRodLadyCrusr]

I agree with the money thing.  When the econmy is down it effects everything.  I'm afraid without the parents taking this generation to the events that the next generation of racer just won't be there.

[moparrodder]

Frank, In our area it seems like it's also the money issue and sometimes bad promotors that all they care about is money in their pocket and don't care about the racers safety all that much. The more money ya have to spend makes you a winner on race night and the reall true race drivers that are in it for the love and fun are tired of all the crap of promotors playing favorits and are droping out till things get better .hopefully soon.  Bill

[ONE37TUDOR]

Can't speak for whats happening today but for me I drove circle track cars for 14 seasons and it finally got to the  point that I was spending more effort on sponsorship than on the car. I just got tired of chasing the dollars it took to compete.
In my opinion the big downside to the current popularity of Nascar is that it leaves very little for anyone else. It is the big gorilla pounding all the other forms of racing into a back seat position. It may not all be intentional on their part but that is the effect none the less.
Years ago a local racer could attract some local dollars from some of the national product suppliers but today all that effort goes to NASCAR. A local racer can, in most cases, only expect to pick up support from local businesses and then usually because of a friendship or relation at the company. Today in a soft economy most of those businesses have to be more careful of their dollars.
How can it be fixed? Wish I knew? There are several profitable small time operations in different parts of the country maybe someone could take a serious look at some of them and find a formula that works?

[Crosley.In.AZ]

something popped into my head..... about the money issue


Out here at this end of the country people are spending money like water on off road stuff IE; sand rails & the related support vehicles.  Motorhomes , trailers , diesel tow rigs......

35 - 60k $$ in  a sand rail is a regular thing now.

[EMSjunkie]

I hafta agree on the money end........its geting harder and harder to find decent sponsorship these days, business owners aren't willing to pony up the kind of money they did a few years back, some of them tell me the money just isn't there anymore

it costs more now to build a competitive car than it did "back in the day"
alot of working stiffs like myself, can't afford the necessities, such as fuel, pit passes, etc. just to get to the track, then if something goes sour, which in dirt track racing, it always does, they can't affors to fix it.

I dunno whats gonna happen, but it can't be good :?

Vance

[slocrow]

I don't know about the round-D-round but as far as drag racing, well, no gassers, no muscle cars, no reasonable priced factory hot rods, no cheap factory racing parts, no more $100 cars to soup-up, I think keeps Joe Racer and the spectators from building for and going to the track. It's just too expensive anymore especially a purpose built competitive car not to mention the spec admission. Remember when you had to buy a pit pass? Now it's part of the price, at least where I recently been.

40 Years ago we would improve our daily driver and then race it at the track on weekends. If something broke, you'd fix it the evenings, or the next weekend and your buddy drove you to work.
Stock classes were big and got you hooked. Super stock, gassers & modified production were next and you picked a class you liked to watch or could afford to compete in while sharing the expense with buddies or club members.
The stands were full because people actually wanted to see which car was faster or came to watch a local favorite do battle.

What ruined drag racing for me was when the game changed to consistency from horsepower to weight, for stockers and cubes to weight for modifieds.
Who would ever have believed that someone would actually hit the breaks during a race. Can't ya just see the jockey pulling up Dan Patch in the last 100 feet because he's afraid of "breaking out".
Heck, why do you need another car next to you? It would certainly be safer to run one at a time. Pick a number and see how close to it you can come, in say 5 passes. The one who's the clostest, is top eliminator.  :evil:

Well that's my rant an thought's.................Frank

[Dave]

What were they running at Toledo :?:  The reason I ask is they seem to pack the place for the arca and open wheel shows. I myself havent helped the oval tracks in quite a few years because I tend to only go to the good events. WoO, auto value sprints, etc. Ticket prices are a minimum of 25 bucks for the good events so im not traveling and paying a high price to watch the local latemodel or 360 sprint show. Im going to the bigger venues. I may be going to Tony Stewerts Eldora Speedway next weekend for the 4 crown midgets sprints and modifieds and they dont even pack the place for that. Im sure ill be at Berlin in Marne Michigan the 30th weather permitting for the last race of the year for me and im only going cause its a sprint ,midget and super modified show. At least gas has come down but even though I only want to spend the bucks when im sure im going to see the kind of show i want to see gas has never been a consideration. Im a race fan and I go.
Dave

[enjenjo]

What were they running at Toledo

Late models on the half mile, street stocks, and bangers on the quarter mile.

[SKR8PN]

SloCrow pretty much nailed it................. Money's tight,No new AFFORDABLE high performance cars to play with.....bracket racing at the drags has killed the view for the spectators. It is GREAT fun for the racer but...........
I'm sure glad I don't own a dragstrip or a roundy round track

What really gets me is the announcement that we are getting a NEW DRAG STRIP here in Mansfield    Mansfield Motorsports in conjuction with IHRA,is going to have a new track ready for the WORLD FINAL next fall    I am THRILLED to have a track this close(2 miles)but my gosh.........
We already have Dragway 42,Norwalk Raceway Park,National Trails,Pacemakers,and a couple of other tracks all within a few hours drive.........WHO is going to be competing at this new track,or ANY of the tracks for that matter???
I have also noticed the LOWER car counts.....the same people racing that were doing it YEARS ago..........and I have been out of racing for 20+ years

[unklian]

Racers are their own worst enemy.Always have been.

You see Jr Dragsters with huge enclosed airconditioned trailers,
6 spare motors,computers,and complete spare cars;
go kart,and Formula Ford racers with full time mechanics and huge shops;
local racers shipping motors by air as if they were a F1 team;
Carbon Fiber everywhere,everything painted in Team Colors
and everyone with matching Team Uniforms;
of course it costs a lot of money.

Why ?  
It's all driven by Ego,and people who think they can
buy their way into the big time series.

-------------
I saw a quote in Stock Car Magazine many years ago:
"Anyone with Chrome wheels on their trailer,
has no business complaining about the high cost of racing".

[Inprimer]

something popped into my head..... about the money issue


Out here at this end of the country people are spending money like water on off road stuff IE; sand rails & the related support vehicles.  Motorhomes , trailers , diesel tow rigs......

35 - 60k $$ in  a sand rail is a regular thing now.

Hey Tony, there is a shop in Lake Havasu that builds sand rails mostly nNorthstar  motors and such ,yea, 50k is a starting point