Back in the 70's there were not quite as many tracks running against each other and cars and engines were built at home in the garage. Here's a photo at Fairbury in the 70's on a regular saturday night with approx. 4,000 in attendance.Once Factory built cars and professionally built engines came into play, drivers needed more money to keep going so tracks increased payouts as they could afford to. Gate prices increased, and families became busier and busier with kids activities and the fans slowly started staying home, It's no one's fault..... but the only people that seem to be attending weekly nowdays are the die hard fans. The casual fans still attend the specials and thats when you see larger attendance. If you want to fill the stands weekly again it has to be cheaper than it currently is. Just look at the crowds on $5.00 nights and tell me admission prices don't matter.
Last edited by STICKERDUDE; 03-01-2015 at 09:25 PM.
MMSA-Monster mini stock series, is a 4-cylinder racing series that runs in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia and they have 18 races on their schedule for 2015 and everyone of them pays at least $1,500 to win.
Yeah and?? I'm pretty sure he was referring to Atomic about being a premier track in a state that still runs SLMs every single week and the old promoter at Atomic was a buffoon!
Back in the 70's there were not quite as many tracks running against each other and cars and engines were built at home in the garage. Here's a photo at Fairbury in the 70's on a regular saturday night with approx. 4,000 in attendance.Once Factory built cars and professionally built engines came into play, drivers needed more money to keep going so tracks increased payouts as they could afford to. Gate prices increased, and families became busier and busier with kids activities and the fans slowly started staying home, It's no one's fault..... but the only people that seem to be attending weekly nowdays are the die hard fans. The casual fans still attend the specials and thats when you see larger attendance. If you want to fill the stands weekly again it has to be cheaper than it currently is. Just look at the crowds on $5.00 nights and tell me admission prices don't matter.
I can agree with everything you posted but,i think the attendance has more to do with the 'interest' of motorsports nowadays vs. the ticket price.
Just go to a movie theater on a weekend,they pay 20$ for a bucket of popcorn with a Soda.
I have 3 son in laws,and 5 grandsons.Not ONE of then will even stand in my shop to hear my racecar fire up.Not ONE has an interest at all Not even their parents! But if a ball game is on they are GLUED to the TV.Their parents spend 1000's every season on equipment,tickets,and running them every direction to either play or attend.
I also think part of the problem is the promotions of racing.You pick up a news paper and see 3 or 4 pages of ballgame highlights.No pictures of a car upside down,or who even races in that area.
I would bet 9 out of ten young kids doesn't even know their is race tracks anywhere near them.
It's gonna get worse too.The youngin's are wired different than the old days.They don't come home from school,change clothes,and go to dad's garage to work on a car.They lay on the living room floor playing Xbox until ball practice starts.
Small town tracks...It's a dying breed imo.
An exception to the small crowds has to be FALS,and maybe a few more,but that place truly amazes me with it's VERY dedicated fan base.I might be Bias,but it's the truth.So far,they still got it going on for the way times are nowdays,especially for being in the middle of nowhere.
I can agree with everything you posted but,i think the attendance has more to do with the 'interest' of motorsports nowadays vs. the ticket price.
Just go to a movie theater on a weekend,they pay 20$ for a bucket of popcorn with a Soda.
I have 3 son in laws,and 5 grandsons.Not ONE of then will even stand in my shop to hear my racecar fire up.Not ONE has an interest at all Not even their parents! But if a ball game is on they are GLUED to the TV.Their parents spend 1000's every season on equipment,tickets,and running them every direction to either play or attend.
I also think part of the problem is the promotions of racing.You pick up a news paper and see 3 or 4 pages of ballgame highlights.No pictures of a car upside down,or who even races in that area.
I would bet 9 out of ten young kids doesn't even know their is race tracks anywhere near them.
It's gonna get worse too.The youngin's are wired different than the old days.They don't come home from school,change clothes,and go to dad's garage to work on a car.They lay on the living room floor playing Xbox until ball practice starts.
Small town tracks...It's a dying breed imo.
An exception to the small crowds has to be FALS,and maybe a few more,but that place truly amazes me with it's VERY dedicated fan base.I might be Bias,but it's the truth.So far,they still got it going on for the way times are nowdays,especially for being in the middle of nowhere.
You are right about the news papers not having any local racing new or pictures from the local races... Heck I can remember when I was a kid picking up the news paper on a Monday and there it was the local racing news with pictures of all the feature winners from the weekends racing events.... But all we see in the news now is lebron this or how this players in trouble blah blah blah.... Or we read about nascar..... I know it will never happen but I wanna pick up my news paper and see some dirt racing news lol.... Thank god for DoD and National Speed Sport News...,
When I was growing up there was very little sports til you was a junior in high school. Now they stick a ball bat in their hand at 2 years old and don't let up on them til they are 22. Seven days a week year round. By the time Saturday night roles around the average family is too broke to do anything else and if they can afford it they are too tired to go to the races. Thats the reason I will never support kids sports.
Alot of the tracks down south pay the same they did 30+ years ago..my old home track still gets as many if not more than we did back then.. The only thing I can say is the people who have the track now spend money on every aspect of the track and make sure everyone who pulls through the gate is treated like they are happy to have you there..
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Originally Posted by HoosierDirtFan
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