East Bay Closing- Opinions on this?

[DoubleZero]

Weekly racing, for track owners, has always been tough. Only a dedicated fan will, or financially can, `attend a local event every, single week, sure, I would, and did for many years, but such is not the norm. The track owner has fixed expenses, overhead, that can't be changed, regardless of the fullness of the grandstand. The rise of the 'special event' has further complicated the landscape...now, the only time a descent crowd can be realized is for the WoO, Lucas, Ultimate....etc. etc. etc. race. The promoter can not make a profit large enough on the big race, to tide him through all the poorly attended weekly events. Also, in the US Southeast, (for example) with the exponential population growth, land values have sky-rocketed and race tracks are more valuable as housing sites that speedways. It's frustrating, but very true. The East Bay owner/promoter's points are all spot-on, especially his futuristic prediction of series-owned (LUCAS Oil Speedway) tracks.

[JimBo]

Just saw on Facebook that my local track Monett Speedway, which is an 55 miles away, is ceasing operations and is for sale. They ran Late Models for years, but were lucky to get 5 Lates last year. I used to go every week, but I too have aged out of running up and down the road and getting home early morning. I do attend the big shows at Lucas Oil Speedway, which is 4 hours away, but they lose money on weekly shows as well. Furthermore, I am also guilty of streaming FLO and Dirt Vision. It's a sad state of affairs.

[lurker]

Just saw on Facebook that my local track Monett Speedway, which is an 55 miles away, is ceasing operations and is for sale. They ran Late Models for years ---

That was my home track back in the 80’s. Watched a lot of Phillips/Essary duels back then.

[over4T]

Hate to see any track close but Monett was a good one. Discovered it 'bout 18 or 20 years go on a trip to the Show Me at West Plains. Went to a race there before the Show Me and enjoyed it enough to stay over the week after for another round. Had a good field of LM and a good crowd. Remember being impressed by how fast the Factory Stocks were.

[Patansplant]

I think a lot of us old geezers used to spen a lot of time at race tracks is because we grew up with the muscle car era. Everybody had nice wheels and tires, loud mufflers and might have done a bit of stret racing once or twice. We also hung out at the local garage sometimes and watched the guys work on the race cars. A couple things that keep me away from the tracks is the program. Good grief there is nothing wrong with starting a show at 6 or 7, keep the show moving and be done by 10. Five or six classes of cars and caution after caution isn't helpful. And a show running into the wee hours isn't fun. Last year at a big show at Wheatland it was so crowded it was uncomfortable. It took 20 or so minutes to get a hot dog and 90% of the people there were hammered. Don't get me wrong I like a few beers while watching the race but a lot of these folks were out of control. Certainly not a healthy family environment. I used to love taking the motorhome and staying at the track but some now are charging 20 or 30 bucks a night to park in a field.

[Buford.Justice]

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.

Creatiing a Crate class split the LM cars in half, and hurt late model racing.

Maybe this would not have happened if LM rules had dealt with the causes of expenses, and not let everything about the cars get out of control.

Now Lucas, WOO, and others have almost cornered the market on late models, and the crates are becoming the top class at more and more tracks.

[jog49]

About the best we can get nowadays is a kid with a 4 cylinder import, a large and loud oil drum muffler, and a big spoiler on the trunk lid! They don't care about sports, in general, and especially don't care about racing, starting with NASCAR and descending to dirt track racing. Like it or not, racing is about ready to be moved to the ICU.

[kidrock]

Creatiing a Crate class split the LM cars in half, and hurt late model racing.

Maybe this would not have happened if LM rules had dealt with the causes of expenses, and not let everything about the cars get out of control.

Now Lucas, WOO, and others have almost cornered the market on late models, and the crates are becoming the top class at more and more tracks.

Like I said it should have raised eyebrows but, it didn't.

[Henry Every]

I don't see it as one singular thing or entity causing the decline in participation from fans and racers, unless you count the WEF and/or the Davos crowd. Our culture has been hijacked in more ways than one. The younger generations have purposely been brain washed into hating cars and blaming them for fictitious climate change and many other things, like cow farts and human breathing. The powers that ought not be also are pushing us towards an all electric future that they know will never work. Then you add in the smart phones and streaming everything, plus the rising costs caused by the supply chain disruptions during the scamdemic and runaway spending, wars being kicked off all around the globe. No sooner one starts to die down and they fire up a new one. Make no mistake its not just racing feeling the bite and we all know it. Right now in Montana the feds are cutting of water access to ranchers, further straining our food supply. Racing is the canary in the coal mine, so pay attention because the next several years are gonna get tougher, I don't care which party you endorse. There is considerable evidence by 2032 Republic style governments will fail. After that depending on how things shake out, there may be a very bright future, but for now sadly I expect to see much more Eastbays being thrown on the scrap heap as the economics continue to erode. We've been very blessed to have lived in the times we've lived in, but sadly a lot of it was on borrowed money and the bill is coming due. Bandits have infiltrated our governments and corporations and they are pillaging the coffers as we speak, pensions, 401K's, healthcare, property rights, even bank accounts are vulnerable. They already begun to prepare for then next crash and they've passed legislation to make it legal to use your money to bail them out. They know the jig is up, they just hope you don't wise up to whats happening before they can steal the art off the walls and empty the fridge. London bridge is falling down...

[Buford.Justice]

How many years have we been talking about East Bay closing? I will be surprised if this is the last year.

Actually Henry you are right. Our entire way of life is collapsing, and so many are not even aware of it. This year it will all come to a head.

[kazual]

I hate to see any track close. But often the only avenue for an owner to profit from their long term efforts is if their land appreciates in value. Only in rare cases when a track is sold is it a viable business to be operated as a race track in the future. Disappointing, yes. Understandable, yes.

[lurker]

I think a lot of us old geezers ----

Has it just simply come down to “WE” are old now, and dirt late model racing has, and is, passing us “ALL” by? And “WE” are not accepting to the new?

[jog49]

I don't see it as one singular thing or entity causing the decline in participation from fans and racers, unless you count the WEF and/or the Davos crowd. Our culture has been hijacked in more ways than one. The younger generations have purposely been brain washed into hating cars and blaming them for fictitious climate change and many other things, like cow farts and human breathing. The powers that ought not be also are pushing us towards an all electric future that they know will never work. Then you add in the smart phones and streaming everything, plus the rising costs caused by the supply chain disruptions during the scamdemic and runaway spending, wars being kicked off all around the globe. No sooner one starts to die down and they fire up a new one. Make no mistake its not just racing feeling the bite and we all know it. Right now in Montana the feds are cutting of water access to ranchers, further straining our food supply. Racing is the canary in the coal mine, so pay attention because the next several years are gonna get tougher, I don't care which party you endorse. There is considerable evidence by 2032 Republic style governments will fail. After that depending on how things shake out, there may be a very bright future, but for now sadly I expect to see much more Eastbays being thrown on the scrap heap as the economics continue to erode. We've been very blessed to have lived in the times we've lived in, but sadly a lot of it was on borrowed money and the bill is coming due. Bandits have infiltrated our governments and corporations and they are pillaging the coffers as we speak, pensions, 401K's, healthcare, property rights, even bank accounts are vulnerable. They already begun to prepare for then next crash and they've passed legislation to make it legal to use your money to bail them out. They know the jig is up, they just hope you don't wise up to whats happening before they can steal the art off the walls and empty the fridge. London bridge is falling down...

Probably now getting a better idea about why people have been buying guns and ammo for a number of years now. GOVERNMENT HAS OUTGROWN ITS BRITCHES and will not cease until forced to do so.

[kidrock]

I read an article a couple of days ago that said that a high percentage of Gen Z don't care about sports in general.

[jog49]

From my observations, that seems to be the case SO the outlook for sports, in general, in the future is bleak.

[Paradox28]

IMO, weekly racing has long been a death sentence for a track. They may not realize it, at first, but eventually all those losses add up to a huge amount. If the sport is hard enough for the average man to afford now..why would it make sense to try and race every weekend and cost everyone more money? Tracks are the forgotten entity in all the costs. Most people will greatly over-estimate the number of people who attend the race, not many think about all the outside costs on top of the purse, and most don't care about the track surviving when it comes down to it. Streaming has crippled grassroots racing and if the most powerful group in dirt racing wasn't beating the drum to tell everyone it isn't, more people would see the truth.

[Billy_the_kid]

From my observations, that seems to be the case SO the outlook for sports, in general, in the future is bleak.

Fairbury is running a strong weekly program, maybe more promotors should find out what it is that they're doing. They have a good racing surface. They have a good payout. They have good fan pricing. And they finish in a timely manor. JMO

[Paradox28]

Fairbury is a unicorn because they are located in a town that absolutely embraces the race track as part of its history. Unfortunately, that doesn't exist at 99% of tracks across America.

[Billy_the_kid]

Fairbury is a unicorn because they are located in a town that absolutely embraces the race track as part of its history. Unfortunately, that doesn't exist at 99% of tracks across America.

I hear you but they wouldn't be embracing the track if they were not doing the things mentioned. Thats why the track is successful.

[Highside Hustler25]

I hear you but they wouldn't be embracing the track if they were not doing the things mentioned. Thats why the track is successful.

Absolutely. The town supports the track but their is only about 3000 people in the town of Fairbury so their is more to it then that. Other tracks see it. That's why you see Matt Curl promoting at other venues and their track crew prepping surfaces at other major events.