Knoxville Nationals Reduced to 80 Laps

[ptown]

I'd say the 360's had a big increase this year (especially for the prelim nights).

Another consideration that I didn't even think of until just now as well. Many of the part-time staff that help with marketing, sponsors, etc. are teachers and coaches in the local school district. They all went back to their regular jobs a week after the sprint nationals ended, many of the part timers that help with signage (banners, etc.) went back to college the Sunday following the sprint nationals as well.

The timing of this event actually hurts it locally. The part time staff is no longer able to put in the time that they do for the other events as their "real jobs" take back over.

Personally I think this is one of the best races of the year at Knoxville, but it'd be better served being in June IMO.

IMO the problem is Knoxville is sprint car county and people have no interest in late models. I went to a regular Knoxville show a month ago and it seemed to me they drew almost as many fans for that as they do for the late model race.

[vande077]

I just don't see any effort from them hyping this race up. Once the sprint Nationals are over it's like they go into hibernation mode from the social media side of things. Leading up to the sprint Nationals they would throw out stats, history, and who has pre entered. I know we are second fiddle, but I don't think they even know that there track hosts the 4th(IMO) biggest late model race in the country.

I'm not just saying it about this year, it seems this way almost every year.

Cool you are getting some commercials out there, didn't know that.

Hard to hype up the pre-entries when the teams won't pre-enter either. The deadline has come and gone and still only 30 official entries thus far.

Drivers and teams are their own worst enemies IMO. They complain about lack of promotion then do nothing to help the promotors out. How can a track advertise you being there if you don't pre-enter? They can't. So they both suffer, Drivers have less of "their" fans in attendance and sell less t-shirts and the tracks sell less tickets.

I too see TV commericals (DesMoines TV market) and that includes on NBCSN during the Southern 500 last Saturday night.

Is the hype as much as the sprint nationals? No, but part of the sprint nationals hype is the history of the event (57 years), hard to do the same thing with it being year 14.

[huskerdirt]

Hard to hype up the pre-entries when the teams won't pre-enter either. The deadline has come and gone and still only 30 official entries thus far.

Drivers and teams are their own worst enemies IMO. They complain about lack of promotion then do nothing to help the promotors out. How can a track advertise you being there if you don't pre-enter? They can't. So they both suffer, Drivers have less of "their" fans in attendance and sell less t-shirts and the tracks sell less tickets.

I too see TV commericals (DesMoines TV market) and that includes on NBCSN during the Southern 500 last Saturday night.

Is the hype as much as the sprint nationals? No, but part of the sprint nationals hype is the history of the event (57 years), hard to do the same thing with it being year 14.

I completely agree with you about the pre entries and how drivers complain for lack of exposure. It's hard to convince people around 70 cars are gonna be there and yet only 30 are on the entry list 9 days out.

I don't expect the hype to be as much as the sprints. But the Late Model Nationals have some history there now after 14 years and it definitely has prestige. I just want the track to feel like they want the late models there. I just don't feel the track is overly excited for the race. It's almost like it's an "Oh by the way" event. I hope I'm dead wrong.

[vande077]

IMO the problem is Knoxville is sprint car county and people have no interest in late models. I went to a regular Knoxville show a month ago and it seemed to me they drew almost as many fans for that as they do for the late model race.

Living in Knoxville, I'd say at most 1000 local people attend races weekly. Everyone else is from out of town or state (I personally know people that drive from Kansas City, Sioux Falls and Illinois every Saturday night).

Iowa isn't even sprint car country (Knoxville is the only track in the entire state that runs 410 sprints weekly). Iowa is a Late Model and IMCA Modified state IMO as there are multiple tracks that run them every weekend.

The Late Model Nationals has the potential to be bigger than the Sprint Nationals IMO. Couple things hold it back, lack of tradition, aging fanbase, timing (September is not ideal), and sponsorship (you don't see many big companies involved in teams or events and that is the biggest difference to me between Sprint Cars and Late Models).

Sprint Car Teams letter up their haulers and are rolling billboards for those companies and those companies include: Ford Performance (Donny Schatz), Textron Off Road/Artic Cat (Donny Schatz), NAPA (Brad Sweet), Great Clips (Daryn Pittman), Eneos Motor Oil (Shane Stewart), GoMuddy.com (David Gravel), GoMuddy.com (Kerry Madsen), FVP (Brian Brown), Hercules Tires (Greg Wilson), Casey's General Stores (Brian Brown-410's, Austin McCarl-410's, Matt Moro-360's, McKenna Hasse-360's) and many other companies that sponsor EVENTS such as 5Hour Energy, AGCO, Brownell's, Karavan Trailers, Ohio Logistics, Champion Racing Oil and Budweiser.

Late Model Teams leave their trucks and trailers blank as they roll up and down the highway and give ZERO visibility for their sponsors outside of the race track. Thankfully the Series at least have their trucks lettered up.

I see a stacker hauler and all I know is it's some kind of racecar inside it (because I'm a fan of racing), to Joe Blow driving down the interstate behind it it's just a semi.

I see a sprint car hauler and I see all kinds of logos, the series sticker, and on some "follow me to the races" and on a couple, they have the back door wrapped as just a photo of the inside of the trailer with the car inside. Others have a photo of the car. This is something "eye catching" for those non-race fans as they travel up and down the highway as well. Heck, almost all of them have a t-shirt trailer that they have all lettered up too that they pull behind their motorhome or another tow vehicle.

As a fan, I would hope that a young driver and team owner in Late Models would realize the potential they have and do what a guy like Brian Brown is doing on the sprint car side. His sponsors remain loyal (even when he had a bad year last year) as he gives them a great ROI with all his other stuff and it ends up being a win for all involved (Brian, the companies, the TRACKS, and the FANS - free give-aways, great Social Media interaction).

[vande077]

I completely agree with you about the pre entries and how drivers complain for lack of exposure. It's hard to convince people around 70 cars are gonna be there and yet only 30 are on the entry list 9 days out.

I don't expect the hype to be as much as the sprints. But the Late Model Nationals have some history there now after 14 years and it definitely has prestige. I just want the track to feel like they want the late models there. I just don't feel the track is overly excited for the race. It's almost like it's an "Oh by the way" event. I hope I'm dead wrong.

I think they are doing more and more every year for the Late Models, it's just harder to see because it's a "slow build" that they do year after year, nothing splashy or huge, just constant, consistent improvement.

[huskerdirt]

Living in Knoxville, I'd say at most 1000 local people attend races weekly. Everyone else is from out of town or state (I personally know people that drive from Kansas City, Sioux Falls and Illinois every Saturday night).

Iowa isn't even sprint car country (Knoxville is the only track in the entire state that runs 410 sprints weekly). Iowa is a Late Model and IMCA Modified state IMO as there are multiple tracks that run them every weekend.

The Late Model Nationals has the potential to be bigger than the Sprint Nationals IMO. Couple things hold it back, lack of tradition, aging fanbase, timing (September is not ideal), and sponsorship (you don't see many big companies involved in teams or events and that is the biggest difference to me between Sprint Cars and Late Models).

Sprint Car Teams letter up their haulers and are rolling billboards for those companies and those companies include: Ford Performance (Donny Schatz), Textron Off Road/Artic Cat (Donny Schatz), NAPA (Brad Sweet), Great Clips (Daryn Pittman), Eneos Motor Oil (Shane Stewart), GoMuddy.com (David Gravel), GoMuddy.com (Kerry Madsen), FVP (Brian Brown), Hercules Tires (Greg Wilson), Casey's General Stores (Brian Brown-410's, Austin McCarl-410's, Matt Moro-360's, McKenna Hasse-360's) and many other companies that sponsor EVENTS such as 5Hour Energy, AGCO, Brownell's, Karavan Trailers, Ohio Logistics, Champion Racing Oil and Budweiser.

Late Model Teams leave their trucks and trailers blank as they roll up and down the highway and give ZERO visibility for their sponsors outside of the race track. Thankfully the Series at least have their trucks lettered up.

I see a stacker hauler and all I know is it's some kind of racecar inside it (because I'm a fan of racing), to Joe Blow driving down the interstate behind it it's just a semi.

I see a sprint car hauler and I see all kinds of logos, the series sticker, and on some "follow me to the races" and on a couple, they have the back door wrapped as just a photo of the inside of the trailer with the car inside. Others have a photo of the car. This is something "eye catching" for those non-race fans as they travel up and down the highway as well. Heck, almost all of them have a t-shirt trailer that they have all lettered up too that they pull behind their motorhome or another tow vehicle.

As a fan, I would hope that a young driver and team owner in Late Models would realize the potential they have and do what a guy like Brian Brown is doing on the sprint car side. His sponsors remain loyal (even when he had a bad year last year) as he gives them a great ROI with all his other stuff and it ends up being a win for all involved (Brian, the companies, the TRACKS, and the FANS - free give-aways, great Social Media interaction).

Great post. Sprint car guys kill the Late Model guys as far as marketability and advertising. I can see Brian Browns hauler(or any other WoO type guy) and know it's him from 1/4 mile away because the hauler is lettered up like a rolling billboard. I see a toter.... I first have to get close enough to tell whether it's an S&S or Wildside. Then I gotta look at the plate to get an idea who it is. After done giving it a look over I'll look for some kind of marking indicating who it is. All while getting within 5 feet from the hauler. That's a lot of work, lol.

[RiffRaf67]

Living in Knoxville, I'd say at most 1000 local people attend races weekly. Everyone else is from out of town or state (I personally know people that drive from Kansas City, Sioux Falls and Illinois every Saturday night).

Iowa isn't even sprint car country (Knoxville is the only track in the entire state that runs 410 sprints weekly). Iowa is a Late Model and IMCA Modified state IMO as there are multiple tracks that run them every weekend.

The Late Model Nationals has the potential to be bigger than the Sprint Nationals IMO. Couple things hold it back, lack of tradition, aging fanbase, timing (September is not ideal), and sponsorship (you don't see many big companies involved in teams or events and that is the biggest difference to me between Sprint Cars and Late Models).

Sprint Car Teams letter up their haulers and are rolling billboards for those companies and those companies include: Ford Performance (Donny Schatz), Textron Off Road/Artic Cat (Donny Schatz), NAPA (Brad Sweet), Great Clips (Daryn Pittman), Eneos Motor Oil (Shane Stewart), GoMuddy.com (David Gravel), GoMuddy.com (Kerry Madsen), FVP (Brian Brown), Hercules Tires (Greg Wilson), Casey's General Stores (Brian Brown-410's, Austin McCarl-410's, Matt Moro-360's, McKenna Hasse-360's) and many other companies that sponsor EVENTS such as 5Hour Energy, AGCO, Brownell's, Karavan Trailers, Ohio Logistics, Champion Racing Oil and Budweiser.

Late Model Teams leave their trucks and trailers blank as they roll up and down the highway and give ZERO visibility for their sponsors outside of the race track. Thankfully the Series at least have their trucks lettered up.

I see a stacker hauler and all I know is it's some kind of racecar inside it (because I'm a fan of racing), to Joe Blow driving down the interstate behind it it's just a semi.

I see a sprint car hauler and I see all kinds of logos, the series sticker, and on some "follow me to the races" and on a couple, they have the back door wrapped as just a photo of the inside of the trailer with the car inside. Others have a photo of the car. This is something "eye catching" for those non-race fans as they travel up and down the highway as well. Heck, almost all of them have a t-shirt trailer that they have all lettered up too that they pull behind their motorhome or another tow vehicle.

As a fan, I would hope that a young driver and team owner in Late Models would realize the potential they have and do what a guy like Brian Brown is doing on the sprint car side. His sponsors remain loyal (even when he had a bad year last year) as he gives them a great ROI with all his other stuff and it ends up being a win for all involved (Brian, the companies, the TRACKS, and the FANS - free give-aways, great Social Media interaction).

Amen to this post Vande and all your others in this thread. Spot on.
The only exception that I am gonna take is that maybe Iowa as a whole is Late Model/IMCA country, but city of Knoxville sure isn't. I have yet to meet a local (besides you!) that doesn't refer to late models as "sh!tboxes" and they would rather watch paint dry than watch modifieds race anywhere. Just my experience with the crowd I hang with during THE nationals.
SPRINT car nationals.

[vande077]

Amen to this post Vande and all your others in this thread. Spot on.
The only exception that I am gonna take is that maybe Iowa as a whole is Late Model/IMCA country, but city of Knoxville sure isn't. I have yet to meet a local (besides you!) that doesn't refer to late models as "sh!tboxes" and they would rather watch paint dry than watch modifieds race anywhere. Just my experience with the crowd I hang with during THE nationals.
SPRINT car nationals.

It's different fanbases, but there is also a group of local fans that only go to Late Model and Modified shows and NEVER go see sprint cars (even though they live here). And there are quite a few local guys that race Modifieds or stock cars (varying classes) at other speedways across Iowa - funnily enough many on Saturday nights.

[TDRacinŽ]

And... 100 laps again! LMAO Fuel stop added.

[Minny Lakes]

They have moved it back to 100 laps with a fuel stop.

http://lucasdirt.com/news/1974-revis...nical-bulletin

[RiffRaf67]

Boo to this. Pit stops have no place in dirt racing.

[vande077]

I still contend that Lucas made the decision to cut laps on their own. Knoxville's social media and website never acknowledged the first bulletin / press release that was sent out.

IMO, going back to 100 is the right thing to do for the fans that spent their money on tickets already expecting 100 laps.

Having a fuel stop doesn't matter to me, I've seen shorter races have fuel stops before due to excessive caution laps.

[ptown]

I still contend that Lucas made the decision to cut laps on their own. Knoxville's social media and website never acknowledged the first bulletin / press release that was sent out.

IMO, going back to 100 is the right thing to do for the fans that spent their money on tickets already expecting 100 laps.

Having a fuel stop doesn't matter to me, I've seen shorter races have fuel stops before due to excessive caution laps.

I agree if it's not a pit stop and just to top off fuel only.

[wuss]

yep,,,,line them up on the front stretch in order, send 1 crew member out with a can of gas and pour it in........continue on. anyone who does more than that goes to the rear. Pretty simple.

[ptown]

yep,,,,line them up on the front stretch in order, send 1 crew member out with a can of gas and pour it in........continue on. anyone who does more than that goes to the rear. Pretty simple.

Anyone does more than fuel goes one lap down.

[Clayton_Wetter]

What if they are already on the rear? That won't work.

[Clayton_Wetter]

Anyone does more than fuel goes one lap down.

Yes.......

[LM14]

I live in Iowa, about 75 miles from Knoxville. I try very hard to never miss a late model, modified or wingless sprint car race there. I have NEVER been to a weekly sprint show or the 360 or 410 nationals. I go to every night of the Late Model Nationals (Thursday in the pits, Friday and Saturday usually in the stands). Winged sprint cars very seldom race, they go fast and pass then run off and hide, never see them run lap after lap side by side.

Hate to see a pit stop, kills the momentum of the race.

SPark

[rickybrown1952]

Well they are reenstating the knoxville nationals back to 100 laps but if their is a caution between lap 20 - 40 if not at the end of lap 40 red flag for fuel so what do ya'll think

[racer x16]

fuel stops should not happen unless maybe under green, I will not go to woo sprint race because of the fuel stop