Is It Time To Take Latemodel Racing to the Next Level

[In The Gas]

Is iit time to take late model racing to the next level with 1 series that pays a minimum $30 K to win a night and $3K to start a feature? I think we are ready for this if the big sponsor is there. There seems to be enough fans to support it and surely a TV affiliate to cover it.

[Centeroff]

Now now, your going to offend the multi millionaire promoters out there. If you look in the stands and do a rough estimate of the people times 50$ and in the pits with food you could say an average of 75$ a head. The Lucas series especially is big enough to draw a tv crowd. These boys run for 10-12k each week and that’s what the winner gets. They have been paying that since the 70s. Up the purses before we have to tell our grandchildren how cool super late models used to be.

[MI Dirt Fan]

The smallest of chances I ever get to go to a race track I'm there for the racing not the food.

[Krooser]

As long as the fans want to pay more for the same old-same old it might work.

[Shiny Side Up 18]

Be careful what you wish for. There's a racing series that at one time, had a rabid following, but decided to take it to the "next level". They sat down with a couple major networks and hammered out a big TV deal. A couple years later, it's title sponsor of over 30 years left, and was replaced by a telecommunications company that wanted to take the series to the "next level" to directly compete with the stick-and-ball sports. They persuaded them to abandon the way they had determined their champion in favor of a glitzy new "postseason" gimmick that played a large part in running off it's aging core fanbase, in favor of attracting younger fans. A lot of those younger fans go to the races dressed up as empty seats. What was that racing series called? I think it was called.............................NASCAR.

[93Nelson]

if it ain't broke, don't fix it....

[mcarter815]

Just be happy with the next decade or two of racing that is left before it becomes just a club sport.

[TheJet-09]

I'm not sure why some think putting more money up front is what racing needs. So you'll need even more $ and resources to try and be competitive, and in turn will have even fewer cars than we do now?

Look at your weekly car counts so far this year...

And before you say this isn't about weekly racing, where do you think most if not all of those guys on tour nowadays came from? Or where will our drivers of tomorrow come from? Or if you can't get fans to come out for a weekly show (i.e. cheaper admission), how are you going to get them to ante up for these big purse races?

[Centeroff]

You had to have misunderstood the example. These guys that place out of the top 5 lose money most weeks. The track promotion can afford to pay these guys more money. Clint Bowyer is a multi millionaire and stated that if he lost his sponsors he wouldn’t float the bill. I guarantee it cost a million dollars or more to run a full Lucas oil schedule. The diesel fuel just getting there, tires, fuel, 12k motor freshens, tires, oil, paid help, graphics, sheet metal, shocks and on and on and on. If it wasn’t for the cars and teams in the pits there would be no a$$es in the seats. They could up the purse and pay better deeper through the field and they would still make a killing. I bet Tony Stewart makes well over a million dollars at both the world and the dream. This group putting on the dirt million seems to understand the sport. I guess why up the purses when the boys show up for what they are paying now? Hats off to the Hillbilly 100 group for upping the purse. These men and women work hard and they deserve more than 800-1000$ to run 12th

[golddirt]

No it is as simple as that , no

[flagone]

Centeroff you are very wrong. Promoters are on a razor thin margin. All these tracks are closing for a reason. Even when a track does great on a special event they likely lose much of it with the weekly show. Thus why many tracks have become special events only. The "eco-system" of racing as a whole is very delicate right now and has been for years.

[bleedblue55]

Centeroff you are very wrong.

Recurring problem

[turnleftandgasit]

As much as I love FALS ramping up their special show schedule, I have also heard of fans grumblings that it is to many and they can't/won't spend the extra money that they require. I have joked in the past about it being hard to travel for a race because FALS has so many great specials, well to some those specials are forcing them into not going to as many races.

[hucktyson]

Centeroff you are right about a lot of things but not this, other than eldora tracks aren’t making much money and if tony invested all of the eldora money in the market from 2004 to now I bet he’d be further ahead with zero effort. Tracks are not big money makers. If you starting paying 30 to win and 3 to start teams would just spend double

[No_Weak_Links]

Centeroff you are very wrong. Promoters are on a razor thin margin. All these tracks are closing for a reason. Even when a track does great on a special event they likely lose much of it with the weekly show. Thus why many tracks have become special events only. The "eco-system" of racing as a whole is very delicate right now and has been for years.I can promise you this is correct. People have some misconceptions that track owners/promoters are rich and are just hoarding up money for themselves. People have no idea how many fans/cars it takes to break even on a weekly show. People have no idea of they money spent and the hours worked at the track the other 6 days a week. They just walk into the gates on raceday and see a bunch of people and say "dang they are making a killing."

[Kromulous]

Please dont water down DLM Racing by getting rid of the "Backward" "Hillybilly" people. These people are what i enjoy the most, their authentic, they love racing, and our Country. Last think i want to see at my local dirt tracks is a bunch of dam yuppies that think this is beneath them.

Thats exactley where Nascar went wrong, years ago, they ran out all the characters, and no one wants to watch a bunch of pretty rich boys running in circles, and talking how thankful they are to all their sponsors, blah blah blah.

[Pennsboro23]

Please dont water down DLM Racing by getting rid of the "Backward" "Hillybilly" people. These people are what i enjoy the most, their authentic, they love racing, and our Country. Last think i want to see at my local dirt tracks is a bunch of dam yuppies that think this is beneath them.

Thats exactley where Nascar went wrong, years ago, they ran out all the characters, and no one wants to watch a bunch of pretty rich boys running in circles, and talking how thankful they are to all their sponsors, blah blah blah.

Agreed, we don't need to head towards NASCAR's direction even though we have in a lot of ways. Some good, some not so good.

[Kwd1253]

I'm not sure why some think putting more money up front is what racing needs. So you'll need even more $ and resources to try and be competitive, and in turn will have even fewer cars than we do now?

Look at your weekly car counts so far this year...

And before you say this isn't about weekly racing, where do you think most if not all of those guys on tour nowadays came from? Or where will our drivers of tomorrow come from? Or if you can't get fans to come out for a weekly show (i.e. cheaper admission), how are you going to get them to ante up for these big purse races?

Agree to this.. more tracks while close their doors not having the weekly shows. Super late model cost go up even more. Because everyone going have more money blow one parts. Then they ask for more sponsors because it cost so much.



Is iit time to take late model racing to the next level with 1 series that pays a minimum $30 K to win a night and $3K to start a feature? I think we are ready for this if the big sponsor is there. There seems to be enough fans to support it and surely a TV affiliate to cover it.

10-15k a lot of money for one night of racing. Put that extra 15-20k in the back of the field winnings. Heck big sponsors really want help put that money in to regional series that need more money. What Lucas has close to 60 races, that over 1 million extra in just first place winnings.

Oh lot people complain about ticket prices now. That going double the prices of tickets. $60-80 for one night, pit pass $75-90 a person. I mean if like to pay nascar ticket prices. Oh I can see it now when a family of four pays $240 for one night and they have train race that night lol.

[fryefan]

Is iit time to take late model racing to the next level with 1 series that pays a minimum $30 K to win a night and $3K to start a feature? I think we are ready for this if the big sponsor is there. There seems to be enough fans to support it and surely a TV affiliate to cover it.

That would not be good for the sport.

[mskdorf]

I would love to see a series that paid the mentioned payout. Maybe scheduled the way the NDRL did a while back. I don't think they would be sustainable doing 60 shows a year. 20 might be a good number and see how the TV deal goes from there.

[mskdorf]

I'm really looking forward to the Show Me live on Memorial Day weekend.

[CageFaraday]

Is iit time to take late model racing to the next level with 1 series that pays a minimum $30 K to win a night and $3K to start a feature? I think we are ready for this if the big sponsor is there. There seems to be enough fans to support it and surely a TV affiliate to cover it.

The LAST thing DLM racing needs is a singular group controlling things, its bad in government and its bad in motorsports. We need the NDRL to come back and shake things up. Monopolies are bad ideas every time. The answer is a resounding, NO.

[brsteg]

I don't know that the $30K to win and $3K to start deal makes it.

If I were either WoO or Lucas I would not sanction any 2 day show that didn't pay at minimum of $25,000 to win though.

[NormP]

Everyone says the problem is the purse being too top heavy, so I have a surefire way to bring back the best racing we've seen in thirty years.

A series where you have a 24 car field, with $3000 to start, but the purse money is spread all the way through the field with the winner getting a nice fat $3023 for taking the checkers!! I'm no accountant but even with the difficult math I think the payout would look something like this:

1. $3023
2. $3022
3. $3021
4. $3020
5. $3019
6. $3018
7. $3017
8. $3016
9. $3015
10. $3014
11. $3013
12. $3012
13. $3011
14. $3010
15. $3009
16. $3008
17. $3007
18. $3006
19. $3005
20. $3004
21. $3003
22. $3002
23. $3001
24. $3000

[BTExpress]

The WoO currently has 16 full time drivers and the LOLMS has 14.....so 30 drivers are following a national tour. If you have only had one series, no matter what it pays to win, I guarantee that number would be cut in half. Keep like it is in my opinion.

[Clayton_Wetter]

Everyone says the problem is the purse being too top heavy, so I have a surefire way to bring back the best racing we've seen in thirty years.

A series where you have a 24 car field, with $3000 to start, but the purse money is spread all the way through the field with the winner getting a nice fat $3023 for taking the checkers!! I'm no accountant but even with the difficult math I think the payout would look something like this:

1. $3023
2. $3022
3. $3021
4. $3020
5. $3019
6. $3018
7. $3017
8. $3016
9. $3015
10. $3014
11. $3013
12. $3012
13. $3011
14. $3010
15. $3009
16. $3008
17. $3007
18. $3006
19. $3005
20. $3004
21. $3003
22. $3002
23. $3001
24. $3000

Sounds like a great formula for a train race and head out for the next train race!!! hahaha No mud, no dents, and no errors!!!

[Kwd1253]

I would love to see a series that paid the mentioned payout. Maybe scheduled the way the NDRL did a while back. I don't think they would be sustainable doing 60 shows a year. 20 might be a good number and see how the TV deal goes from there.

You almost have that now between woo and lucas. You have about 7 events pay 20-25k, 11 events pay any where from 30-100k.

[NormP]

Sounds like a great formula for a train race and head out for the next train race!!! hahaha No mud, no dents, and no errors!!!

Oh no, the bad racing isn't due to track prep or cost of a car, it's top heavy purses. Who wants to race for a chance to win 20K or 50K or 100k? That's just crazy. We need a series where everyone gets paid about the same no matter how he performs. Racers don't want to come out unless everyone is paid throughout the field. That's why racers are staying home!! Just ask the 4m experts.

[Josh Bayko]

You almost have that now between woo and lucas. You have about 7 events pay 20-25k, 11 events pay any where from 30-100k.

There was some discussions about cosanctioning a couple of those races a few years back, but it never did happen, and now the circumstances that would have allowed it to happen are no more. It’s kind of a shame.

[MC92]

For a $10,000 WoO race the total purse for the field is $50,000. That’s just for supers, that’s not including support classes and paying your track staff and other expenses. And I had also heard the WoO sprint car purse is $100,000. Now that’s ridiculous.

[Illtsate32]

I dont know how well the promoters are doing but to me they are like contractors I work for according to them none of them has ever made any money ,they not gonna come out and tell you ya man I made a killing. As far as weekly racing lm racing is all but dead, the aftermarket manufacturers have taken care of that. Nobody in there right mind will spend 100,000 + on a car to win a 1000 feature, except a select rich few who then dominate and then act like they are great...thats whats going on people are p*ss poor tired of it, bored of it and stopped showing up...

[Centeroff]

I’m 100% right on this one flagone. No offense but your associated with a smaller series with Lucas oil gate prices. I was in the marketing and promotion business for several years in boxing only and you would be surprised what a little advertising in the particular town, a couple free tickets for family, gas money and a free hotel room (which I had donated by the hotel) would do to get the fan favorite fighters. Eldora packs the stands because of the fine facility’s it offers. The hillbilly 100 packs those old bleachers tight because of the location. If WOO and Lucas would combine resources it would be genius. Combine large purses and the best in the business with nice facilities and you will make money. Also they have too many races for the series. In Tennessee Friday and Kentucky Saturday. I can’t count the times I’ve heard, well I would go but I don’t want to drive all that way for a 50 lap feature. Combine both series and have 1 race per weekend that lasts 2 days. A nice camping area that is clean and ran correctly will make thousands alone. Sponsors want real advertisement which involves a TV deal. Who wants to sponsor 10k for one night of racing where 5 thousand people see their name? Selling Sponsorship deals isn’t easy that way. In 10 years you will see. Every late model chassis will have a Chevrolet crate under the hood. In the last 10 years the cost to race has doubled and in 10 years it will double again. Not many men can afford that jump

[WWilliams52]

I think drivers and tracks need to be more involved in social media/multimedia considering it is relatively cost free and requires minimal work. That doesn't necessarily mean getting rid of the "Old way of doing things" but simply adopting to the new times in an attempt to grow the sport/track/individual as a whole. Someone like Booby Pierce could turn his social medias into another source of revenue if he adopted youtube and used the others more effectively. Imagine being able to present a portfolio to a potential sponsor highlighting his total reach(People at the track, Facebook, twitter, Instagram, etc..) It would be a domino effect..... Growth of individual brand... More sponsors willing to join the sport.... more push and pull promoters have to acquire sponsors for events to pay more/upgrade facilities. And of course all of this is easier said than done... But as a recent marketing graduate I see plenty of drivers who miss use their social medias and do not maximize their potential.

[play4kps]

The last thing dirt late model racing is any big series to grow, thats what wrecked the sport now! 99% of the drivers cant afford to change chassis at the drop of a hat, thousands of dollars on shock packages, Anybody who thinks these tracks other than Eldora have all this disposable income, needs to do the math at the gate.A lot of tracks have to make the purse up at the back gate now. 30 dollar pit pass on a normal night. Car counts are shrinking at an alarming rate, the last thing we need to do is throw more money at Bloomquist, Clint Boyer racing, Josh and Mark Richards to name a few. the one thing this will insure is the rich get richer and the cost to be competitive will skyrocket!

[play4kps]

Im going to say this. The 100,000 dollar first place money for the dream is the biggest waste of money on the planet. You could pay 50,000 to win and you not lose one car. Why waste the money, put in towards a 10,000 to win consolation race, or a big modified race on the show, With the car count dwindling for the dream , another race or two that night is not too much.

[Centeroff]

That’s what I’m saying. You have to crawl before you walk. Someone could promote the elite drivers in one specific series. If a better product is available the few with the big sponsors will buy it anyway. Average equipment and decent bankroll won’t cut it anyway so let the elite teams get what they deserve. If a special talent comes along and dominates the regional series races he gets hired by the big sponsor teams and takes the old bulls seat. Floyd Mayweather made over 100 million twice and he had to start out 0-0. When your 50-0 you earn your big paydays. The 100k at the dream is why it’s the dream. You can’t cut the purse of the highest paying race in our sport. That makes the dream the nightmare. Tony promotes it as such and that is why the drivers, teams and fans get so amped up.

[golddirt]

With lack of a lot of weekly late models drivers there is not a place for them to learn to crawl so who will replace the the old bulls? Why is it that sprints are everywhere? Two things hurt lates more than anything imo, drivers doing it for a living and they don't build there own stuff anymore

[play4kps]

The charm of dirt late model racing is the small time or regional guy winning a race against the big timers that come in. Thats what fills the stands, Look at eldora, people love Jeep and Matt Miller, Chris Ferguson down south, The Boggs and Conleys in southern ohio, Spangler and Marcoulier in Michigan. Thats what gives the sport charm. The same high dollar guys winning race after race will kill a lot of interest in the sport. And why would we want to discourage any new driver from investing in this great but dying sport. I mean look at the foolish attacks on Schlenk, the guy runs competitive on a shoestring budget, wants to chase a dream and gets ridiculed, people like Rusty are a dying breed to this sport and this sport would be a whole lot better if there were a lot more Rusty Schlenks out there.

[Pennsboro23]

The charm of dirt late model racing is the small time or regional guy winning a race against the big timers that come in. Thats what fills the stands, Look at eldora, people love Jeep and Matt Miller, Chris Ferguson down south, The Boggs and Conleys in southern ohio, Spangler and Marcoulier in Michigan. Thats what gives the sport charm. The same high dollar guys winning race after race will kill a lot of interest in the sport. And why would we want to discourage any new driver from investing in this great but dying sport. I mean look at the foolish attacks on Schlenk, the guy runs competitive on a shoestring budget, wants to chase a dream and gets ridiculed, people like Rusty are a dying breed to this sport and this sport would be a whole lot better if there were a lot more Rusty Schlenks out there.

Hoping to see the underdog win. That's what keeps me going. It rarely happens but when it does, it's a huge deal. Isn't that why we love sports, cheering for the under dog most of the time. I like watching the guy in victory lane who acts like he just won the lottery.

[mickley.28]

Sounds like a great formula for a train race and head out for the next train race!!! hahaha No mud, no dents, and no errors!!!I honestly think that they need to restructure the payout... the same handful of cars win every week because the average guy can’t afford to keep up, beck he can’t even afford to show up which is why car counts are down. If you want to get car counts up raise the starting money and lower the winners pay to offset the cost. If a local show paid $300 to start the average guy could afford to race and car counts would go through the roof... most guys don’t race for the big winners purse or to make money. Most racers race because they just love to race. Your always gonna have wealthy teams buying victories with 100,000 race cars but those are the same teams that don’t need the big payouts and honestly wouldn’t racing be better if those teams decided to quit? Now you have higher car counts with a field of average equipment running door to door instead of a few guys who run away with it and the only door to door action the fans see is when they’re lapping the field.

[RiffRaf67]

Centeroff said:
I can’t count the times I’ve heard, well I would go but I don’t want to drive all that way for a 50 lap feature.

I have NEVER heard anyone say they wouldn't travel for a 50 Lap LM feature. Not in my circle of friends. Never. That lets you see what..., maybe 4 races a year, if thats your prerequisite? Really?

[nc mudcat]

Dirt late model racing went to the "next level" several years back, which lead to the fix we are in now. There will always be a next level, but we can't call it a better level.

[EvelB7]

Alright, I'll add my crazy thought in on this one..... Improve the show and pay the guy who does it! Pay for performance- base what you make on how far you advance. Let the guy who qualifies for the pole choose where he starts, 2nd place choose, etc... Have a 'basic' payoff but bigger rewards for advancing through the field. I tried to get inverts in the south for years, always heard it was 'unfair'. The fair starts in October in Raleigh, racing is entertainment first and foremost, heads up starts make for horrible races and eventually lead to horrible attendance. I raced as long as I could afford it (or until the team I was driving for replaced me), last year was it for me most likely but I still want to see dirt racing outlast the rest.

[chupp n bloomer fan]

Alright, I'll add my crazy thought in on this one..... Improve the show and pay the guy who does it! Pay for performance- base what you make on how far you advance. Let the guy who qualifies for the pole choose where he starts, 2nd place choose, etc... Have a 'basic' payoff but bigger rewards for advancing through the field. I tried to get inverts in the south for years, always heard it was 'unfair'. The fair starts in October in Raleigh, racing is entertainment first and foremost, heads up starts make for horrible races and eventually lead to horrible attendance. I raced as long as I could afford it (or until the team I was driving for replaced me), last year was it for me most likely but I still want to see dirt racing outlast the rest.You from the Portsmouth area??

[Centeroff]

Remember back in the day when a driver at a local track would get hot and track mgmt would pay an extra 1000$ for the bounty. Problem is now, not enough local tracks run supers anymore.

[nc mudcat]

I don't see the problem as a lack of supers. This fan wants to see the best racing, whatever class that is. At my local track, 311 Speedway, they can't run supers without dust so bad you can't see. I'll take a good crate race over that any day.

[Clayton_Wetter]

I don't see the problem as a lack of supers. This fan wants to see the best racing, whatever class that is. At my local track, 311 Speedway, they can't run supers without dust so bad you can't see. I'll take a good crate race over that any day.

Maybe watering the track???

[TackyTracker]

at the ratio of new tracks opening up vs the tracks that are closed now I'm going to enjoy the level we are at for as long as I can

[nc mudcat]

Maybe watering the track???

You would think it was that simple. They water. Doesn't matter.

[Centeroff]

That’s not dust! It’s a cloud from the dirt gods that follows JD around. When 3 cars break ahead of you and the leader inside 5 to go it’s your year. He was a 12-13th place car at port Royal and everyone ahead of him broke and he salvaged valuable points. Hope he isn’t having a Jimmy Johnson type of year the year he won his 7th championship. If he keeps the car running and out of the fence he will be hard to catch. His aggressive style always gets him 1 or 2 on the restarts. Zero gotta get rolling boys

[EvelB7]

You from the Portsmouth area??No, North Carolina for the past 26 years, Iowa before that. Always funny that when we pushed for inverts drivers would say 'it wasn't fair' or better yet 'the track is one grooved' (usually one grooved because everyone started exactly where they were time wise, train race). The choose restarts started at Charlotte, tough thing as a driver but actually a very good idea-my idea would just to expand on that and reward people for taking the chance on passing cars.

[UMPDream]

Lets just make this simple. A while back, I remember Kevin Weaver talking about losing his Jimmy Johns deal (Although I think he got it back). It takes a Lucas/WOO team about a $300k operating budget to make it thru one season. Keep in mind, I said Operating (Not what it takes to build the team). With that said, when Harvick won yesterday, and that Jimmy Johns patch was shining bright on his uniform, how much do you think they paid for that? If you want the sport to survive, it first starts with getting big corporations to buy in to the product which means running your team like a Mark Richards, Dunn-Benson etc... That sponsorship deal for Weaver was most likely a very small percentage of what they pay Tony Stewart yet they were so quick to want to take the deal away. In other words, find a way to get more corporations in and then you will see more national and local companies play the game also. And when I say Local, I'm still talking about very large companies when it comes to revenue... Then those same corporations will become series sponsors ($$). There is a ton more to say but the bottom line is this, no race on a National level should pay less than $20k per night with a solid payout throughout the field because as of right now, everyone is losing money. Big Money just to compete....

[W2Racing09]

Here is what I always thought would work well.

25 Races per season, 75-100 laps racing on a Wed. night weekly at prime time (8PM-10PM EST). Broadcast on FS1 or NBCSN. $20k to win, $2k to start (+$1k for contract drivers). 20 drivers under contract to run every show, the remaining four spots could be track discretion based on local points, or the winner of certain races during the season, etc. The payout is good, but the exposure of live TV is also a prize that you could use to bring drivers in for other special events during the season.

The format would be just time trials (that pay a good amount of points, so no sandbagging) with a random invert of 4,6, or 8 and then a feature event 75-100 laps. This format would mean the show would last about two hours which is perfect for live TV. In addition, you would not have heat races to eliminate drivers meaning that you can guarantee to the network that all of your big name drivers will be in every show and won't be eliminated in heats or what not, but you still have the chance for the best local or regional guys to pull off the upset. Also you wouldn't have the track getting used up by all kinds of racing.

In this idea the point fund would be the big prize, not the regular race purses. You could use the TV contract, and TV sponsors to pay a huge point fund of $250k to the champion, $150k to second, etc. all the way back to 20th. Contract drivers would have to run every show in order to qualify for any point money.

The regular show purse wouldn't be crazy so tracks wouldn't have to charge crazy money to the fans, $20-$25 ticket. It is a weeknight, but with the added fans who would start watching the races on live TV every week I think you wouldn't have much of a problem filling up your stands for something like this.

Tracks would be the big thing, probably would be difficult to run live TV from some of these remote tracks. But places like Knoxville, Williams Grove, Rt 66, Charlotte, Eldora, Mansfield, Lucas Oil, Greenwood, Las Vegas, Texas, etc. would be the type of tracks that would be suited to this.

[Josh Bayko]

Here is what I always thought would work well.

25 Races per season, 75-100 laps racing on a Wed. night weekly at prime time (8PM-10PM EST). Broadcast on FS1 or NBCSN. $20k to win, $2k to start (+$1k for contract drivers). 20 drivers under contract to run every show, the remaining four spots could be track discretion based on local points, or the winner of certain races during the season, etc. The payout is good, but the exposure of live TV is also a prize that you could use to bring drivers in for other special events during the season.

The format would be just time trials (that pay a good amount of points, so no sandbagging) with a random invert of 4,6, or 8 and then a feature event 75-100 laps. This format would mean the show would last about two hours which is perfect for live TV. In addition, you would not have heat races to eliminate drivers meaning that you can guarantee to the network that all of your big name drivers will be in every show and won't be eliminated in heats or what not, but you still have the chance for the best local or regional guys to pull off the upset. Also you wouldn't have the track getting used up by all kinds of racing.

In this idea the point fund would be the big prize, not the regular race purses. You could use the TV contract, and TV sponsors to pay a huge point fund of $250k to the champion, $150k to second, etc. all the way back to 20th. Contract drivers would have to run every show in order to qualify for any point money.

The regular show purse wouldn't be crazy so tracks wouldn't have to charge crazy money to the fans, $20-$25 ticket. It is a weeknight, but with the added fans who would start watching the races on live TV every week I think you wouldn't have much of a problem filling up your stands for something like this.

Tracks would be the big thing, probably would be difficult to run live TV from some of these remote tracks. But places like Knoxville, Williams Grove, Rt 66, Charlotte, Eldora, Mansfield, Lucas Oil, Greenwood, Las Vegas, Texas, etc. would be the type of tracks that would be suited to this.

There are no TV contracts. Dirt racing sanctions pay large sums of money to be on TV. For it to be prime time weekly, you're talking tens of millions of dollars over the course of a season.

[Centeroff]

You do not have to pay the tv station to be on tv. That’s what commercials are for. They air the race and sell commercials based off ratings/ how many people are tuning in and not changing the channel.

[Illtsate32]

Not during the week tho...

[W2Racing09]

There are no TV contracts. Dirt racing sanctions pay large sums of money to be on TV. For it to be prime time weekly, you're talking tens of millions of dollars over the course of a season.

In the current format yes, but that is because our format is not conductive to live TV. If the format is tweaked, then it would be possible to sell the product via a TV contract.

All the best drivers in one place, not tape delayed (so dirt fans all over the country would tune in live, where as for the tape delayed shows all of us already know so most don't bother to even watch), at a convenient time that does not conflict with many other events.

It would take a year or two in a spot like MAV TV or something to get it off the ground but if the ratings were even decent it wouldn't be a tough sell. During the hockey season NBCSN has Wed. night rivalry which gets decent ratings of 600k viewers or so, but during the off season for hockey they are airing things such as random figure skating and things like that pulling in some cases less than 80k viewers.

I definitely think big time dirt racing like this would be could pull in better ratings than that. If it could draw 150k-200k regularly I'm sure NBCSN would pay a moderately high licensing fee to run it (by moderately high, I mean it would bring in way more money than ever seen in dirt racing). Even when it isn't super successful these networks are paying good money to cover live sports right now, and something like this would be a logical response to FS1 with NASCAR.

[Josh Bayko]

@Centeroff

Dirt racing sanctions absolutely pay for airtime. They also pay for the TV production. And it’s not anywhere cheap. That’s why it’s always on at odd times during off peak hours, because that time is cheaper.

Besides, TV is a slowly dying medium. Streaming media is the future.