East Bay Closing- Opinions on this?

[HoosierDirtFan]

From Dustin Hughes on Facebook.




If you don’t believe me that Big Shows and Big Corporations isn’t killing weekly racing than you can read it here from the man himself !!! I give weekly dirt track racing five more years tops.

East Bay Raceway Park:

The Story Behind its Final Season

DirtJanuary 3, 2024

Mike Adaskaveg

When East Bay Raceway Park concludes the 2024 season in October, it will close its gates for good. The owner and promoter of the Tampa, Florida, track, Al Varnadore, admitted the decision to sell the facility didn’t make him popular.

“I’m the most hated man in Hillsborough County,” Varnadore said. “The people on the internet are angry — real angry — and some of them from as far away as Iowa are sticking their noses into my business. They come here once a year and don’t see the big picture. The track is losing money — but I went forward with a big schedule for our last season — and I didn’t have to.”

That 2024 schedule begins as it has done for decades, the Winternationals. That starts on January 17 with the Top Gun Sprints as the headliner. The Winternationals features a who’s who of racing divisions and series. Crate Racin’ USA late models. UMP modifieds. Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. High Limit Sprint Car Series. 360 sprint cars.

The season concludes on October 12 with a $50,000-to-win Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race dubbed the “Grand Finale.”

However, in between those bookend events is a weekly racing program, just like at many other oval tracks in the U.S.

“East Bay Raceway Park does not make money in the regular season,” said Varnadore. “We do well in January and February, but the rest of the year it is a struggle to keep the place open.”

The traveling series have also played a role in shrinking profit margins for tracks, according to Varnadore.

“The million-dollar late model drivers are complaining how much they are losing,” Varnadore said. “The series promoters want higher purses. Pay-per-view is great for people who like to sit at home, but the money they are paying isn’t coming back to the racetracks. We can’t have every fan in front of a home TV set — we need to sell hot dogs to survive.”

More than four years ago Varnadore announced the sale of East Bay Raceway Park to The Mosaic Company, a phosphate mining company that owns land neighboring the track.

“When I made the deal with Mosaic, I promised our racers there would be five more years of racing,” Varnadore said. “I wanted to give them plenty of time to decide if they wanted to phase out or race elsewhere.”

Varnadore forecasted the future for where East Bay Raceway Park resides now.

“On November 7, 2024, the 28 acres the track is on changes hands,” said Varnadore. “There will be no more East Bay Raceway Park. It will be another mountain of dirt left over from mining phosphate.”

Al Varnadore also made a prediction for what dirt-track racing will look like.

“Special events will replace weekly racing at most racetracks in five to 10 years,” Varnadore said. “The companies that own the series will need to own the racetracks. They have to be able to pay the purses and do the things it takes to make it all work.”

When the gates finally close on East Bay Raceway Park, it will be a bittersweet moment for Varnadore.

“I just want to relax and spend time with my grandchildren,” said Varnadore. “I worked hard — awfully hard — for 22 years. I won’t rule out that I will still be involved in something racing. I just won’t put myself at risk by investing in a racetrack.”

Al Varnadore, owner and promoter of East Bay Raceway Park.

[Barbecueboy]

Sad but all very true…..thank you east bay for being there for us all throughout the years.

[nc mudcat]

I agree with most of what he said. As for special events replacing weekly racing, that is a scary proposition, in that most tracks running occasionally do not have good track prep, from what I have seen. On asphalt, no problem. On dirt, it's another story.

I am indeed guilty of staying home and watching on TV. I love Floracing, as I can watch hundreds of races each year without leaving the house. As a 60 year-old, I won't go to a track at 5 in the afternoon and stay until 2 in the morning like I once did, so the streaming deal is great for me. I did not go to a single race this past year. I cannot see how that does not hurt race track promoters. Spreading the racing to the world of viewers that might not otherwise see it is a good thing. But if no one comes to the track, they will all fold.

[foxfire2dirtracing]

How can you not agree with Mr. Vonadore?
How many tracks are closing annually ?
How many tracks are being built or reopened?

[foxfire2dirtracing]

Another example:
Post #3 above- NC Mudcat stated he watches hundreds of races per year and didn’t attend any live events.
Flo/DOd is $150 per year. I spend 6k just on Ga/Florida Speedweeks only. Then add another long long list of annual road trips to “special events.” (Lucas Oil/WOO)
As long as I am healthy I will continue. But I totally understand all the reasons to watch from home and cannot criticize anyone for doing so.

[weatherman85]

I agree with the owner and am too guilty of being a streamer. Although not exclusively as I did venture out to some new tracks this past year. Streaming is a double-edged sword. It is great in that I can watch the World 100 or Dream 100 from the comfort of my home. It also allows me to watch/follow series and drivers from across the country that I wouldn't be able to otherwise. Streaming is also bad as in I know of several friends that used to be weekend warriors at our local tracks that now never go in person.

I'm not sure of the best way to fix this. Maybe some sort of black-out local policy like the NFL does for local markets unless an event sells out. Even then though you're going to piss off a lot of people and receive a ton of backlash. I started racing this past year on asphalt at a track that runs on average a biweekly schedule. I have no idea how anyone runs weekly as we literally spend thousands of dollars for $350 - $500 to win features. The "Hobby" racer is dying out as he/she can't keep up as the select few with DEEP pockets continue to throw money at their cars. Still though, I had a blast and am looking forward to this upcoming season. I hope I'm wrong but short track racing as a whole (dirt or asphalt) cannot survive if it continues down this same path.

[dirtcrazy4u]

Well, you need to look up what the promotor of east bay had to say about the jerks at all these streaming services. I for one have said in the big picture the streaming hurts track promotors. I don't disagree with what he believes is the direction of racing. Anybody that is somebody will either be running a series or closing up. Local slm racing in many parts of the country are already on life support. Track owners and promotors are definitely not reaping the benefits of streaming. They themselves are making the money, not the owner/promotors. Get ready because it's coming at a track near you sooner or later. Dustin Hughes posted what the east bay owner had to say on facebook. I don't know how to post it here, look it up.

[manwplan]

two things

1. Streaming services need to come up with a better revenue share plan that works for all parties

2. regular weekly racing should not be streamed live ever. taped delayed and released on Monday for exposure defintely.
black outs won't work because tech savy people will setup VPNs to get around that..

[Pennsboro32]

Local events were dying before streaming gained momentum. Car counts were dropping year by year. I'm lucky to watch 10 late models at my local track for a weekly event, that started ten years ago or more. Cost cost cost.

[jog49]

I'll speak for myself and probably nc mudcat. In 60+ years of all kinds of racing but especially dirt, I don't want to know how much I have spent but it's safe to say a Brink's armored truck would be needed to transport all that money!

It's time for someone else (or another generation) to step up to the plate and support the sport. In the meantime, my feet are up and I'm watching streaming racing om Flo. MAV, etc. the rest of my life. It's pretty nice too. The refrigerator is 6 steps in one direction and the bathroom 6 steps in the opposite direction......... with no crowds! One "big" race expenditures exceed a yearly subscription to Flo, for example, money stays in the bank, and the wife is happy because I'm home and close to the honey do" list of activites (although I dread that part).

[kidrock]

All hobbies have gotten more expensive and racing is no different. Your weekly shows are guys racing as a hobby and not to make a living off of it. Now the guys racing a tour are trying to make a living at it and there is no question they have made it more expensive to do for the guys doing it for a hobby.

Streaming is a double edge sword. You make it to expensive for the average joe and they will just find something else to do and in some cases they already have but, it also gives fans a place to watch races or even with flo different types of racing from different parts of the country they may never be able to otherwise.

No easy answers to fix this problem but, the guy at Eastbay unfortunately is one of many losing on their weekly shows.

I know a promoter who said if I can just break even on my weekly shows and make a little on the bigger shows I would continue to run the track well it's safe to say he is no longer running the track.

[MRM]

All hobbies have gotten more expensive and racing is no different. Your weekly shows are guys racing as a hobby and not to make a living off of it. Now the guys racing a tour are trying to make a living at it and there is no question they have made it more expensive to do for the guys doing it for a hobby.

Streaming is a double edge sword. You make it to expensive for the average joe and they will just find something else to do and in some cases they already have but, it also gives fans a place to watch races or even with flo different types of racing from different parts of the country they may never be able to otherwise.

No easy answers to fix this problem but, the guy at Eastbay unfortunately is one of many losing on their weekly shows.

I know a promoter who said if I can just break even on my weekly shows and make a little on the bigger shows I would continue to run the track well it's safe to say he is no longer running the track.

Good comment. There are lots of reason why tracks are closing and car counts go down. Younger people having no interest in cars is one of them as well.

[Highside Hustler25]

Good comment. There are lots of reason why tracks are closing and car counts go down. Younger people having no interest in cars is one of them as well.

Your last sentence is huge. One of the major reasons for the decline in my opinion.

[zyoung25]

I agree with Al mostly. I used to go to nearly 50 races a year in the surrounding states, but having a little one has cut that down to about 10-15 races a year that are all within reasonable driving distance of the house. I spend a lot of nights streaming races anymore because we can't jump in the car and drive 5hrs to a track anymore.

If sanctioning bodies would actually stand up and do something to control cost, we would probably see things level out some. Right now everybody is bitching because everything is so expensive, but it seems the series' think the fix to that is to just throw more money on the table. All that does is make it harder on the fans and promotors with having to raise admission costs.

Some of the heads that involved with the sport try to tell us the sport is as strong as it's ever been, and that's a lie. The sport was in a much better place during the HAT/UDTRA/STARS era than we are now. We wasn't losing tracks and teams at alarming rates back then. Car counts were strong and the stands were full, and most of all weekly/regional racing was somewhat profitable for both sides drivers and promotors. The only thing we have now that we didn't have back then is the money. That's only going to be able to go so far.

[MRM]

If sanctioning bodies would actually stand up and do something to control cost, we would probably see things level out some. Right now everybody is bitching because everything is so expensive, but it seems the series' think the fix to that is to just throw more money on the table. All that does is make it harder on the fans and promotors with having to raise admission costs.

Bingo. And now there is more technology coming that everyone will think they have to have and it will trickle down to the regional racer that can't afford to race as it is.

[weatherman85]

Good comment. There are lots of reason why tracks are closing and car counts go down. Younger people having no interest in cars is one of them as well.

TOTALLY AGREE with the younger people having no interest point. Almost all new racers that I see enter the sport are family members of current or past racers. That's only going to go so far. I cannot say I blame younger people not having much interest. It is VERY hard to actually go out and work on current vehicles to spark further interest both gasoline or electric. It's not like the days when I was little when you could open the hood on a car with your dad and work on just about anything you wanted. So much technology in today's vehicles that you almost always have to rely on the dealership to get things fixed properly.

[MRM]

Just look at the average age of fans in the stands. It has to be 45-50.

[dirtcrazy4u]

Bingo. And now there is more technology coming that everyone will think they have to have and it will trickle down to the regional racer that can't afford to race as it is.

Bingo WRONG. You already have it with RUSH and I forget the name of the group down south. There called crates, they are what cutting costs is all about.

Some of these owners and there's more every year do this because they love the sport. They pay the same as the guy running woo or lucas for a chassis. As far as a roller, it's possible they are paying more because they want all the lightest components they can get there hands on.

These guys race for peanuts compared to what they have invested. There you have it, we talk about it all the time, rules, cost cutting, bodies. etc.etc.

But, you know the one thing crate racing doesn't have with all there cost saving. FANS IN THE STANDS

[dirtcrazy4u]

Do I understand all the reasonning behind why everyone has a streaming service. Sure, I'm old to and can't travel like I once did. My son grew up at the race track with me, does he go anymore ? Not a chance. He also does not stream. I've said it many times these guys behind streaming are lining there pockets. Promotors need to wake up and do there streaming service directly to the customer.

[kidrock]

Wake up call should have been when Crates came on the scene. That should have told everyone there is a problem. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against those he went to crates because they were forced to because of price and like I said your weekly shows are guys doing it as a hobby so, they were looking to be able to keep racing but, not go broke doing it.