track closings

[pierceFAN]

friendship...swainsboro...lasalle...all recent track closings amung others...but then you have a track like fairbury that thrives...Ive always thought if a track bumped up the weekly pay like fairbury has...they would get the money back in car counts...and with increased car counts come increase fan counts which in turn means all around more revenue...but fairbury was successful before the purse increase...so why are these tracks closing? swainsboro posted they average over 100 cars a night with an average adult attendance of 2500...with 30 nights of racing...my family ran kankakee speedway when I was a kid...the grandstands there hold about 2000 people...so in my mind i imagine the grandstands being packed plus 500 more since they average 2500...thats a great weekly average...i think most tracks would be happy with that...swainsboro has had the same owners for 19 years...they had to know what theyre doing or they wouldnt have made it that long...so why are these tracks closing? greedy owners? poor management? when we had the track, it wasnt our main source of income...do most track owners rely on track income as a primary source of income?

[kazual]

Been thinking about this, don’t know anything about Swainsboro or Friendship and not a lot more on LaSalle. But my concern is with the amount of rain outs or, at least a reduced schedule, that so many tracks have endured this year. One Iowa track says they’ve lost five of six events, others are in similar situations. In particular if you’re a promoter that is operating on borrowed money the cash flow has to be there consistently to survive week to week. And if a promoter is looking at a track as their sole source of income you best be very good at what you do. Many promoters own multiple businesses any more. I’m afraid the number of closings could get larger going forward.

[SLIDING SIDEWAYS]

Friendship says they couldnt make any $. I have been there numerous times for super races. That place has changed hands in the past. It changed to pavement and that went dry in no time.

[flagone]

North Georgia cancelled all of their remaining races this week also.

[Trax53]

North Georgia shut down their website domain...

[Cardirt0]

Someone that use to run a track. (no name) once said to me, My son said we need to make some money . I said Condos to him, i love racing but if i want to make money this place be up for sale next day.

[champion24]

N Ga has been packed at times, and almost empty other times! Now we haven't been much lately! A few years ago, we went to a Friday show(maybe $3k for Supers) with decent car counts but only 100ish folks in the stands!!

[weatherman85]

The post I read on FB said North Ga was just shutting down their Thursday shows. Still planned on running the shows scheduled for Saturdays. Great track when prepped right. Till this day, this track is still where I think supers visibly looked faster than anywhere else I've been. Maybe not actually time/speed wise, but to my eyes, they were FLYING.

[weatherman85]

They also said their website was hacked and that's the reason that it is down. Working on getting it back up and running.

[badacefaist19]

Paging Dale McDowell...

[Barbecueboy]

I've seen a track pretty close to me start thriving again with its change of ownership ....lakeview sc.

They have done a real nice job freshening up the place and mixing in some really good unique events , specials and good mix of divisions each week.....the track work they have done has improved the racing and all the new upgrades in the bleachers with seating, good pa etc has been a great addition to a legendary southeastern track that was getting kind of tired and that's no slam against the previous longtime owners just a hats off to the new ones.

making racers and fans happy ain't easy but they are doing a pretty good job of both.

[Mason87]

Yea bbqboy I've heard the same about Lakeview. My dad and I are heading down there this weekend to check it out.

[Barbecueboy]

Not sure what all they are doing out there this weekend, I think it's just a normal show .......the last couple times I've been to a regular show over there the pure stocks and sportsman divisions were great racing.

Not sure how everyone feels about those mini late models and mini mods but they race pretty good around there too.....can't wait to see the ultimate guys roll in with the supers, haven't seen any of them race there in a very long time.

[dirtcrazy4u]

Anyone that borrows money to run a race track is not going to survive.

[RayCook53fan]

The post I read on FB said North Ga was just shutting down their Thursday shows. Still planned on running the shows scheduled for Saturdays. Great track when prepped right. Till this day, this track is still where I think supers visibly looked faster than anywhere else I've been. Maybe not actually time/speed wise, but to my eyes, they were FLYING.

No doubt. When the cars enter turn 3 when the track is fast and you're standing right there its unbelievable.

[bgood14]

The lack of regular weekly racing and weekly racers and fans is what the biggest problem with dirt track racing in general today.
there was a time when weekly Saturday night races were packed and everyone came to see their favorite local drivers.
now it seems everyone wants to only follow so called big shows and touring drivers and the support for local shows is fading, also the cost to race locally is out of control. then add to that the options of other ways people are spending their time and money and I predict you will see more and more dirt tracks closing in the coming years.

[pierceFAN]

I think tracks need to change their format a bit....unfortunately...gone are the days of the weekly super late model racer...the cost has just gotten so high that you almost have to travel to the bigger paying shows...as far as the weekly racing goes... the crate class...in my opinion...should be the headliners...they are more affordable therefore more people can afford to buy them thus supporting the weekly racing....now I'm a diehard late model guy....as most of us are...that's why I would bring in as many touring series throughout the year as I could...

[jog49]

I just don't notice the 20 and 30 year olds at the tracks anymore in the grandstands. I see that age group in the pits as crewmen, etc. but not in any quantity where the future supporters of racing should be.

[nc mudcat]

...... I predict you will see more and more dirt tracks closing in the coming years.

Just curious, you say dirt tracks; is that because you only follow dirt tracks, or is it because asphalt tracks are holding on? One thing I see over and over, with few exceptions: asphalt tracks in my area seem to start on time, and run the program thru without intermissions, extra long cautions, etc. Local show or big show, they seem to get it done. Why then, do dirt tracks struggle with getting you in and out? Wythe is an exception, as they seem to know how to get it done, but most dirt tracks seem to struggle with this, again, at least in my area.

The asphalt tracks in my area seem to be doing well. Caraway is down to nothing, but has been for a long long time. Ace shut down for awhile but is going again and drawing pretty good crowds. The standby tracks, SoBo, Hickory, Langley, etc. are all doing pretty well, and Motor Mile even opened back up this year. Bowman Gray is thriving, but they always do and always will, simply due to the entertainment value.

[bgood14]

yes there are more dirt tracks in my area then asphalt tracks and I honestly do not know how the attendance of both fans and racers is at the asphalt tracks.
I know lots of race fans that only follow or attend the so called big shows or specials these days and would never think of going to a regular show.

[TerryM]

friendship...swainsboro...lasalle...all recent track closings amung others...but then you have a track like fairbury that thrives...Ive always thought if a track bumped up the weekly pay like fairbury has...they would get the money back in car counts...and with increased car counts come increase fan counts which in turn means all around more revenue...but fairbury was successful before the purse increase...so why are these tracks closing? swainsboro posted they average over 100 cars a night with an average adult attendance of 2500...with 30 nights of racing...my family ran kankakee speedway when I was a kid...the grandstands there hold about 2000 people...so in my mind i imagine the grandstands being packed plus 500 more since they average 2500...thats a great weekly average...i think most tracks would be happy with that...swainsboro has had the same owners for 19 years...they had to know what theyre doing or they wouldnt have made it that long...so why are these tracks closing? greedy owners? poor management? when we had the track, it wasnt our main source of income...do most track owners rely on track income as a primary source of income?
Those Swainsboro figures are not even close to accurate. Not in the five years I've been around the place.

[pierceFAN]

Those Swainsboro figures are not even close to accurate. Not in the five years I've been around the place.

I was wondering...that's the info they have on their web page...I thought those were pretty stout numbers

[WisWildManFan]

Lasalle closes same week fairbury has a free general admission.

[Crossbones]

I just don't notice the 20 and 30 year olds at the tracks anymore in the grandstands. I see that age group in the pits as crewmen, etc. but not in any quantity where the future supporters of racing should be.

We are living in the end days of auto racing. People just don't like watching cars go in circles anymore, young people especially (they aren't even in to road racing). Our culture and way of life is way different than 40 years ago. It might last 20 more years and it could be all over.

[Krooser]

No one is promoting....that's the simple answer.

No advertising, no billboards, no posters at every local business, no fan friendly events....

This past Friday I got inducted into the Hall if Fame at one of the tracks I ran years ago.

Great racing but the joint was empty. Decent car count because two other tracks rained out.

The promoter made some enemies with his payoffs and pit fees and lost a bunch of drivers.

His only advertising is FB....that won't work.

[flagone]

No disrespect Krooser but you can't lump everyone into that category. I have seen plenty of promoters doing a good job of promoting and still not drawing the cars and crowds he needs to survive. And its a vicious cycle. If I can't draw people and cars enough to afford to do all the extra advertising then that just means I have to do less of that or close the doors. Its a cultural paradigm shift. People just don't want to spend the time racing like they once did. I know a lot of people blame costs but I honestly believe a lot of people use that as an excuse rather than admitting they don't want to do all of the work needed to race. People pick up the phone and call someone when they have a minor car or home repair nowadays. People just don't want to get their hands dirty like in generations past.

[Gary]

The lack of regular weekly racing and weekly racers and fans is what the biggest problem with dirt track racing in general today.
there was a time when weekly Saturday night races were packed and everyone came to see their favorite local drivers.
now it seems everyone wants to only follow so called big shows and touring drivers and the support for local shows is fading, also the cost to race locally is out of control. then add to that the options of other ways people are spending their time and money and I predict you will see more and more dirt tracks closing in the coming years.
Sad but true. There are way too many dirt tracks running around the area of my home track. Back in 2010 when we started to go weekly, they always had a full field (24) of Super Late Models and Modified cars with B-Mains from time to time. Now, it's a struggle to get 14 or more; I know that's the trend at a lot of tracks with the Late Models and regular Modified cars. The amount of fans that go to the weekly shows has dropped a lot in the past 9 years too. I see a lot more tracks going away soon.

[Paradox28]

Theres also some "I wanna pay next to nothing to get in but I want you to show me the race of the year every week and pay huge purses so all the drivers come" that goes on. That and most people won't offer to lend a hand or try to help out in any way. Something as small as people who just leave their trash laying wherever they sat...people have no respect outside of themselves for the most part and it shows in participation

[chupp n bloomer fan]

No disrespect Krooser but you can't lump everyone into that category. I have seen plenty of promoters doing a good job of promoting and still not drawing the cars and crowds he needs to survive. And its a vicious cycle. If I can't draw people and cars enough to afford to do all the extra advertising then that just means I have to do less of that or close the doors. Its a cultural paradigm shift. People just don't want to spend the time racing like they once did. I know a lot of people blame costs but I honestly believe a lot of people use that as an excuse rather than admitting they don't want to do all of the work needed to race. People pick up the phone and call someone when they have a minor car or home repair nowadays. People just don't want to get their hands dirty like in generations past.Good post. And some will admit they are just done putting in the time and effort to do it. Cars these days, there is a lot of stuff you just can’t do. There are modules, computers, and stuff that is just in impossible places for you to fix it. I do as much as I can myself. Hubs and bearings, rotors, pads, oil changes, sensors, control arms, etc. What really scares me is everything is going turbo. Looking at Certified Pre Owned European cars and an Infiniti and other than the Infiniti finding parts not at the dealer looks sketchy. Hopefully it changes, because that’ll probably hinder me from getting one. I’m not spending thousands on a job that would cost me a few hundred through Rock Auto.

But, twin turboed V6’s or in-line 6’s sound rather nice:)

[chupp n bloomer fan]

We are living in the end days of auto racing. People just don't like watching cars go in circles anymore, young people especially (they aren't even in to road racing). Our culture and way of life is way different than 40 years ago. It might last 20 more years and it could be all over.It depends where ya are too. Some of it is bad tracks, some is just so much other stuff to do, and the cars are just different than the race cars. Except road racing, them cars are the only ones like todays cars.

Personally, NASCRAP needs to start getting with today’s technology.

And with the work week, there’s doing stuff around the house and relaxing with family. And that usually means not going to the race track. I honestly go 2-3 times a year now. Just other things to do and at times I just don’t wanna go. Nothing worse than taking the time and money to go and seeing a crappy non prepped track and good cars.

[AllenK]

Amen to that. I spent the mid-nineties through the mid 2000s going to the races pretty much every Saturday night,and taking many,many,many trips out of state to do so. Going to Eldora for the Dream was my big vacation for many years.

I've been once since 2010. I still love to follow it,but the higher gas prices and crapshoots as to what kind of race you would get to see led me to step it way back. Older age also. My family that raced stepped back also. I enjoyed the trips more than the racing many times. I love to travel and just look at stuff,and we always tried to pick out a good place to eat wherever we went.

It sure is easier and cheaper to watch highlights on DOD,YT,FB or wherever these days. I sure hope more people don't become like me.

[mcarter815]

Theres also some "I wanna pay next to nothing to get in but I want you to show me the race of the year every week and pay huge purses so all the drivers come" that goes on. That and most people won't offer to lend a hand or try to help out in any way. Something as small as people who just leave their trash laying wherever they sat...people have no respect outside of themselves for the most part and it shows in participation

Part of the trash issue is that tracks around here don’t have nearly enough trash cans.

[TUTY]

Is a tough deal at most tracks SW Minnesota, NW Iowa, SE South Dakota area. When 3 or 4 tracks are running the same classes basically on the same nights within 60-75 miles of each other it doesn't work. The smaller tracks are making $1000 one week and losing $500 the next week which isn't very appealing to anyone. Husets Speedway (Badlands) in Brandon SD has been closed for two years and Chucky Cheese wants over $9 million for it. Jackson Motorplex has had millions put into it and it's tough to make any money there. It's just a tough deal for all.

[obamaracing#1]

Anyone else feel car counts have been down as well?

[Clayton_Wetter]

Because of too many promoters creating/offering too many classes, the car counts in late models and other classes have dropped really bad in a lot of places. So the effort of trying to create a lot of pit income is winding up backfiring in a lot of places.

Purses and rising expenses of course aren't helping either and with poor track prep and long drug out programs at tracks with so many classes.

[Clayton_Wetter]

Amen to that. I spent the mid-nineties through the mid 2000s going to the races pretty much every Saturday night,and taking many,many,many trips out of state to do so. Going to Eldora for the Dream was my big vacation for many years.

I've been once since 2010. I still love to follow it,but the higher gas prices and crapshoots as to what kind of race you would get to see led me to step it way back. Older age also. My family that raced stepped back also. I enjoyed the trips more than the racing many times. I love to travel and just look at stuff,and we always tried to pick out a good place to eat wherever we went.

It sure is easier and cheaper to watch highlights on DOD,YT,FB or wherever these days. I sure hope more people don't become like me.

Sorry but I'm there also. I still want to go but 35 years of getting burnt by some poor racing works at your enthusiasm. I don't like to drive 250 miles to see a dry slick train race.

[fastford]

No one is promoting....that's the simple answer.

No advertising, no billboards, no posters at every local business, no fan friendly events....

This past Friday I got inducted into the Hall if Fame at one of the tracks I ran years ago.

Great racing but the joint was empty. Decent car count because two other tracks rained out.

The promoter made some enemies with his payoffs and pit fees and lost a bunch of drivers.

His only advertising is FB....that won't work.

congrats on your induction krooser , thats a big honor , i was telling some one at TST sat night exactly what your talking about , hardly no promotion , and i also believe you have to give the folks in the stands something extra ever now and then , use to , the tracks would get out and hustle up merchandise from local businesses and have drawings through out the night and give it away , i dont think we even do a 50/50 anymore , IDK what the answer is but sometimes some lessons from the past can help........

[SLIDING SIDEWAYS]

I believe friendship wont be closed for to long. Dont know the out come but think someone will reopen it

[backspace]

No one is promoting....that's the simple answer.

No advertising, no billboards, no posters at every local business, no fan friendly events....

This past Friday I got inducted into the Hall if Fame at one of the tracks I ran years ago.

Great racing but the joint was empty. Decent car count because two other tracks rained out.

The promoter made some enemies with his payoffs and pit fees and lost a bunch of drivers.

His only advertising is FB....that won't work.

You are so correct,,,where I am from you never know when or who is going to race what night...

[backspace]

Local track charges $12 to get in gate and only has 48 cars total for 5 classes,,,,most people will go to another track to spend $12 and see a show where more cars and late models are also there,,,If it wasn't for Facebook,,you wouldn't know anything...poor promotions are everywhere

[Barbecueboy]

Not trying to be a smart ass for once, but what are you doing to promote local racing? ......and I say that for all of us.

I talk about racing to a lot of people that don't realize dirt track racing exists reasonably close by.... Every time there is a special for one of the classes or a series that may come pretty close by I try and tell people about it or invite them to go with us and watch a race.

We the fans,drivers, sponsors etc bare some of the burden to promote ourselves and our sport to some degree......even if it's just a mention, an invite or pause for a minute to explain what heat races are to a newcomer:)

True enough about the poor promoters , but that shoe doesn't fit on all feet.........the good and great ones exist and we all know who most of them are.

[Clayton_Wetter]

How do you promote extreme dust, train racing, and racing all night? And be honest!!! hahahahaaha

[SLIDING SIDEWAYS]

How do you promote extreme dust, train racing, and racing all night? And be honest!!! hahahahaaha

Good point BED WETTER!

[Clayton_Wetter]

Good point BED WETTER! No problem POOPING SIDEWAYS!!!!

[AllenK]

Sorry but I'm there also. I still want to go but 35 years of getting burnt by some poor racing works at your enthusiasm. I don't like to drive 250 miles to see a dry slick train race.

Absolutely not. I got tired of tracks that were supposed to be a sure thing for good racing producing train races almost every time. Enthusiasm wanes over time when you get burned over and over.