When is enough enough

[3 wide]

Has anybody noticed the entry fees for Sunday night at duck river 125 for supers 100 for 2 barrels paying 1000 to win 100 for crates paying 1200 to win and entry fee for lower classes too and then 40 dollar pit gate no wonder they don't get no cars and this is not a sanctioned race.

[old fan]

no entry fees is the only way and 40 for pit pass that's robbery

[champion24]

Those cars can roll down to Rome!

[WVRACEFAN]

$35-$45 pit passes are becoming normal. Which sucks but is reality.

[In The Gas]

As I said in another post regarding entry fee. A car should never, no matter what race or series be charged an entry fee. Drivers/Car Owners are what puts on the show so how can a promoter charge them to race. The cost of putting a car together and getting to the race is expensive enough without paying an entry fee.
The unpopular answer is to pass this cost onto the spectators.
On the same note, If I was a promoter I would not hold a Super Latemodel race for less than $3K. This way I'm pretty sure that if I put a good track together the racers and the fans will want to come back. Paying $1K or $1500 to win for a Super Latemodel race is a joke. This is what they paid them 20 years ago. On another note, I'm not a promoter so I will quit typing. Good luck promoters, you have a tough road ahead.

[dirtdobber45]

Thats why you have local sponsers to help out with the cost of payouts etc. At least thats what Ive always thought. I can understand if it was a big sanction race but not for weeklys. Sounds like theres some greed involved which turns into low car and fan count then you have tracks closing cause they just cant figure out why noone is showing up....sad

[old fan]

As I said in another post regarding entry fee. A car should never, no matter what race or series be charged an entry fee. Drivers/Car Owners are what puts on the show so how can a promoter charge them to race. The cost of putting a car together and getting to the race is expensive enough without paying an entry fee. The unpopular answer is to pass this cost onto the spectators. On the same note, If I was a promoter I would not hold a Super Latemodel race for less than $3K. This way I'm pretty sure that if I put a good track together the racers and the fans will want to come back. Paying $1K or $1500 to win for a Super Latemodel race is a joke. This is what they paid them 20 years ago. On another note, I'm not a promoter so I will quit typing. Good luck promoters, you have a tough road ahead.

I take it you don't live in the Midwest I 've been to tracks that paid 2k to win 3 nights straight and had 50cars plus 80 plus mods for just a little more always a great show

[ImCryn2]

$35-$45 pit passes are becoming normal. Which sucks but is reality.

I have very rarely missed a race in the last 30 years, but after having to pay a $45 pit pass for a $12,000 to win lucas show, I won't be attending any more races at that track. I can go to eldora and watch a $100,000 to win show for less than that. (3 day pit pass for $93 or a friday/saturday pit pass for $69)

[3 wide]

They have got the entry fee for crates and 2 barrels at 10 percent of the purse that is unbelievable no it's not the Midwest. It's duck river speedway in Tennessee

[old fan]

that is a crime and to have 3 classes of lates wth is that all about

[kidrock]

I have very rarely missed a race in the last 30 years, but after having to pay a $45 pit pass for a $12,000 to win lucas show, I won't be attending any more races at that track. I can go to eldora and watch a $100,000 to win show for less than that. (3 day pit pass for $93 or a friday/saturday pit pass for $69)

How many tracks do you have that are close to you and what's the distance?

What I'm getting at if your local track closes how far will you have to drive to go see a race

I will say 45.00 does seem a little steep.

[MI Dirt Fan]

The UMP tracks here couldn't pull the LM's. Can barely pull the mods now.

[Bob Hubbard]

Do the math ..... Than see if the numbers match .... Look at how many pay thru the gate vs the track cost of operation .... Figure in all the weekly shows .....Does the track put money back in the track ? Remember the track owner has to make a living too ... The further north , the less weekly shows .....Sometimes I wonder how a track makes it ....

[AnonymousNate]

$35-$45 pit passes are becoming normal. Which sucks but is reality.

aye we gets to save 5 at Peoria and spoon.... think its still only 30 for both...

[W2Racing09]

As I said in another post regarding entry fee. A car should never, no matter what race or series be charged an entry fee. Drivers/Car Owners are what puts on the show so how can a promoter charge them to race. The cost of putting a car together and getting to the race is expensive enough without paying an entry fee.
The unpopular answer is to pass this cost onto the spectators.
On the same note, If I was a promoter I would not hold a Super Latemodel race for less than $3K. This way I'm pretty sure that if I put a good track together the racers and the fans will want to come back. Paying $1K or $1500 to win for a Super Latemodel race is a joke. This is what they paid them 20 years ago. On another note, I'm not a promoter so I will quit typing. Good luck promoters, you have a tough road ahead.

A race track would literally be a charity at that point. As a hardcore fan I WOULD NOT pay $40-$50 to see a $3000 to win LM race. But that is what they would have to charge if they got rid of pit admission and entry fees. I guarantee if you try to charge that at the gate at some track like DRRP or Tazwell you will get almost no fans. Then the track is in a hole again, so they would either go under, or they would start charging the drivers again. Rinse and repeat until we are all playing golf on Saturday night instead of at the track.

On the subject of DRRP, so they should guarantee a $3k to win purse, apparently with no entry fee and no pit admission even after getting exactly zero cars recently? Sounds like an excellent way for the track to risk $15k and go out of business very quickly.

[jog49]

Entry fees started a very long time ago by promoters as a way to help ensure positive money flow. If there should ever be a shortage of funds at the front gate, receipts from the back gate would help defray costs of the event. It proved to be so lucrative that it became the rule rather than the exception.
Race car and driver should get in free, everybody else pays.

[W2Racing09]

Entry fees started a very long time ago by promoters as a way to help ensure positive money flow. If there should ever be a shortage of funds at the front gate, receipts from the back gate would help defray costs of the event. It proved to be so lucrative that it became the rule rather than the exception.
Race car and driver should get in free, everybody else pays.

It isn't so much that it has become lucrative as it has become a necessity. We simply don't have enough fans anymore. Look at pictures from 40 years ago and then look at pictures today. The amount of fans are a fraction of what they used to be. If you charge an extra $10 to each fan at DRRP this weekend it STILL would probably not be enough to even cover all of the lower divisions purses, let alone the SLM race.

Thanks,
Jeff.

[kazual]

Enough is enough when poor management, high gate fees, or the myriad of other bad practices cause race teams to go elsewhere, which causes race fans to stop attending as well. Until that happens some promoters will plod along until they have to institute some major change, which is more often than not closing the doors. There are good promoters out there folks, support em and let the chips fall where they may for the ones that don't get it.

[over4T]

This pit pass/entry fee has been a sore spot with me for years. We don't run Late Models any more due to the lack of races on the West Coast and the cost to do so. Even with the much lower cost of a Super Stock it's ridiculous. A group that runs a couple of tracks around here raised the pit fees this year from $40 for members and $45 for non-members to $50 for the non-members. At $75-100 for a membership with the probability of getting $50 back at the banquet when we aren't points chasers it doesn't make sense. Last year we did the math and had to finish 2nd in the main and win our heat to cover the cost of 2 pit passes and truck fuel to get to the track. Now they don't pay for the heats and it's impossible to even begin to cover the costs of getting there, let alone the costs of the equipment but racers seem to be like Pavlov's dogs...wave a green flag and we'll show up.

[W2Racing09]

I think some of these tracks people are bitching about should post up some financial statements. When you see tracks making less than $10-$15k in profits year after year (some don't even make any profits for all the work they put in prepping the track, promoting, etc.). Maybe at that point people would understand. Bring some fans to the track, there is only so much a promoter can do without the help of racers. When the tracks start to make enough money then the type of stuff you all are suggesting might be able to happen.

To the above poster, I don't know many drivers expecting to make a profit or even break even racing a Street Stock/Super Stock type car. Those divisions are what helps to pay for the purse in the higher up division.

People act like getting to drive a race car is your second job. You are not going to make money at it, you are probably not going to break even. It is your hobby -- and hobbies cost money. I think just about everyone involved in racing is aware of this.

Thanks,
Jeff.