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How about saving a real dirt track needing revival? Future doesn't sound very good after the Larson/Flo show. Imagine dirt nationals or XR at this track, would beat the Bristol crowd! Someone finally please buy out the Lovens.https://volunteerspeedway.com/2022/0...teer-speedway/
It will be a shame if somebody don't buy it that could be a great place with a little work.
Flo should buy it since they are the only ones who can make money there.
I think there is more to this story than we are being told??
Largest crowd in 20 years.
Flo leased the track and made money.
Concessions were backed up all night long (due to a lot of the help not showing up)- but should have made $$.
Vic stated that it wasn’t profitable to the track??? If so- it must have been a less than desirable lease agreement?
3 parties involved here: track owners Joe/Phyliss Loven, Promotor Vic Hill (and wife), Flo Sports.
Something just seems strange. I was there and the place was packed. FWIW: I was there for the very first race when the track opened. Dave Burks from Virginia driving #73 Chevelle Laguna won the late model feature.
I've been there 3 times and every time the show started way past the start time. Last time before a Bristol race we left at 12:40 am and they still had 3 features to go. Not sure how regular attendance is. The land off the interstate is gotta be worth a gold mine. Sad if the track can't be saved.
Correction: could have been Danny Burks. Dave& Danny were brothers from Richlands, Va. I can’t remember which was the older brother- thinking it was Danny that won.
I guess there was a 4th partner- Kyle Larson/Tezos ?
As a general rule of thumb: Volunteer & TAZ don’t put cars on the track until the sun starts to go down.
It does make for late starts.
The track has been very successful over the years and a solid staple to the racing community in East Tennessee thru the various owners. After a few years with Joe getting older/burnt out- inconsistency began. No bid $$ races, cancelling races if the weather man said it might rain, ect. The teams and fans never knew if they were going to race or not.
Joe was a hands on type guy- and a race track is like a diary farm- it has to be milked everyday. He had a few groupies that just wanted a title- but no job. The majority of the workload was left to him. He aged/got tired/ had a stroke and to be honest/ didn’t need the money. He was a very successful business owner who always was involved with racing. ( mostly asphalt- NASCAR.
After selling the track to Stallard for a couple years- ownership is back with the Lovens.
Sorry if this has gotten off the original topic for the thread.
Over the years the interstate exit #23 has developed which has made the property desirable for commercial development. (Although much of it is a hillside.
It also makes for great racing most tracks now run so many classes they can't do that without running all night.
We attended the Flo Racing show at Bulls Gap. Just off the top of my head:
*The track didn’t have shirts. My wife and I both planned to buy one, but the track didn’t have any. That’s $50 the track could’ve gotten from us.
*Concessions were cash only. We’d normally hit up an ATM on our way to the track, but we had a hectic trip and forgot this time. That’s another $50 the track could’ve gotten from us.
*50/50 tickets. There wasn’t a single ticket seller other than a little table at the grandstand entrance. We planned to return to the table at some point, but never got a chance. That’s another $20 or more the track could’ve gotten from us.
I want every track to succeed, but don’t complain about not making enough money when you put in very little effort to make more money. There are numerous ways to bring in extra income, and most fans are willing to spend. We had fans all around us talking about the lack of 50/50 ticket sellers. That’s free money for the track. It makes no sense to not take full advantage of it.
One of the quotes from that press release caught my attention;While the Kyle Larson Presents FloRacing Late Model Challenge Powered By Tezos was a great financial success for event promoter FloRacing, it was not for Volunteer Speedway. I know business in business but as someone who deeply cares about our sport, I hope Michael Rigsby can step in here to assist Bulls Gap so it doesn't become a memory.
I am curious as to whether the lease was a flat fee or a % of the gate. Tezos had $$ invested for naming rights.
Maybe just to many people to split the $$ between?
Like my original reply: something just doesn’t make sense on this.
Vic did not want the press release to read the way it did. He didn't lose money. But he could have made more, not knowing there were a number of issues that had to be fixed prior to the race. And the track will not be completely closed this season, just no weekly type of events. The track is for sale if somebody wants to buy it.
MRM
Thanks for clarifying!
This arrangement in many instances is a tough one. The track owner not being the promoter- who is responsible for what $$ to be spent and what is the arrangements between the 2.
The biggest issue this track has, going forward, is location. It’s the same issue many other tracks have had, or currently have. Dixie Speedway down here in Georgia is another example. The track used to sit out in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing around it. Now it sits near a busy interstate exit that looks more like an Atlanta suburb than old Woodstock. This was my first trip to Bulls Gap in probably 15 years. I couldn’t believe what that exit looks like now, compared to when I first started going there around 1990 or so. Everything is building up and out, and the money offered for the land is impossible to turn down. If it’s near an interstate exit, it’s eventually going to get swallowed up. I hope I’m wrong, but history isn’t on our side.Quote:
Originally Posted by MRM
I’m sure Vic broke even, maybe made a couple grand. Flo on the other hand boasts about how it was the biggest single day event in the history of the company (all Flo Sports). That looks bad on flo’s end, racers don’t get a cut of that steaming money and apparently racetracks don’t either. I’m sure that didn’t sit well with Vic and the owners of the track. Greed
Drop Shock
Just a thought: Flo did boast about the biggest audience- but how many were already subscribers before the Volunteer race.
My point is: was there a ton of “NEW $$” created for this race?
Or was it just a large viewing audience from existing subscribers?
There is a difference. I know Rigsby & Shelton watch 4m- would be interesting on their perspective.
As for the future of Bulls Gap- the track is almost 50 years old and to operate as a racing facility-it needs tons of upgrades. Lighting, new speaker system, upgraded restrooms ( the current ones in the grandstands are the original when the track was built- just like TAZ). It would be hard for anyone to purchase the property- do the needed upgrades and make a return on investment as a racetrack.
And for sure: the present owners are not going to spend the $$ needed- when they are trying to sell it. It would be foolish for Vic to spend his $$ also since it’s for sale.
The Earl Baltes book “EARL” goes into great detail about the problems he had with promoting all those different tracks. Problems with bussiness partners, other promotors, sanctioning bodies, proper help needed- so forth and so on.
Those same issues would apply to Bulls Gap under the existing time.
(Or really-any track)
Example: TAZEWELL’s biggest race of the year was the Lucas Oil Race. After being on the schedule since the beginning- it was removed from the Lucas Schedule. We know what Lucas said about it- but the truth is the Lucas drivers hated going there. They had complained for years about the lack of put area, roads in/out, hard on equipment and ect.
The 21k Bill Corum Memorial Race was what track owner Gary Hall came up with as to loosing the Lucas Race.
Things change daily in racing. Lucas / WOO upped their game this year to increased payouts/points funds- then along comes the X-RAY Series with their program.
Jimmy Owens is dropping off Lucas- which Davenport, Richards and others have done. With the highest $$ ever paid out by Lucas- they have the weakest field of touring drivers ever.
The next couple of years is going to be very interesting as to who survives or just says to heck with it and throws in the towel.
Many of the regular touring drivers are getting older and the road grind gets harder.
When Bill Frye quit traveling-he said he loved the sport, the people and the competition- but hated crawling in the hauler to hit the road.(of course living in Arkansas like the Moyers, Wendell Wallace- their road miles were very heavy)
Here is more on the situation:
https://insidedirtracing.com/racing-...ily-at-an-end/
I don’t think it looks bad on Flo’s end at all. They provide a service. It’s up to the consumer to use it or not. No one is being forced to purchase it. And based on the numerous events I’ve attended that were also aired live on Flo (or elsewhere), streaming isn’t hurting live attendance. Not even a little bit. Attendance at most special events is at an all time high. The sport has problems, but Flo isn’t one of them.