Is It Time To Take Latemodel Racing to the Next Level

[Illtsate32]

I dont know how well the promoters are doing but to me they are like contractors I work for according to them none of them has ever made any money ,they not gonna come out and tell you ya man I made a killing. As far as weekly racing lm racing is all but dead, the aftermarket manufacturers have taken care of that. Nobody in there right mind will spend 100,000 + on a car to win a 1000 feature, except a select rich few who then dominate and then act like they are great...thats whats going on people are p*ss poor tired of it, bored of it and stopped showing up...

[Centeroff]

I’m 100% right on this one flagone. No offense but your associated with a smaller series with Lucas oil gate prices. I was in the marketing and promotion business for several years in boxing only and you would be surprised what a little advertising in the particular town, a couple free tickets for family, gas money and a free hotel room (which I had donated by the hotel) would do to get the fan favorite fighters. Eldora packs the stands because of the fine facility’s it offers. The hillbilly 100 packs those old bleachers tight because of the location. If WOO and Lucas would combine resources it would be genius. Combine large purses and the best in the business with nice facilities and you will make money. Also they have too many races for the series. In Tennessee Friday and Kentucky Saturday. I can’t count the times I’ve heard, well I would go but I don’t want to drive all that way for a 50 lap feature. Combine both series and have 1 race per weekend that lasts 2 days. A nice camping area that is clean and ran correctly will make thousands alone. Sponsors want real advertisement which involves a TV deal. Who wants to sponsor 10k for one night of racing where 5 thousand people see their name? Selling Sponsorship deals isn’t easy that way. In 10 years you will see. Every late model chassis will have a Chevrolet crate under the hood. In the last 10 years the cost to race has doubled and in 10 years it will double again. Not many men can afford that jump

[WWilliams52]

I think drivers and tracks need to be more involved in social media/multimedia considering it is relatively cost free and requires minimal work. That doesn't necessarily mean getting rid of the "Old way of doing things" but simply adopting to the new times in an attempt to grow the sport/track/individual as a whole. Someone like Booby Pierce could turn his social medias into another source of revenue if he adopted youtube and used the others more effectively. Imagine being able to present a portfolio to a potential sponsor highlighting his total reach(People at the track, Facebook, twitter, Instagram, etc..) It would be a domino effect..... Growth of individual brand... More sponsors willing to join the sport.... more push and pull promoters have to acquire sponsors for events to pay more/upgrade facilities. And of course all of this is easier said than done... But as a recent marketing graduate I see plenty of drivers who miss use their social medias and do not maximize their potential.

[play4kps]

The last thing dirt late model racing is any big series to grow, thats what wrecked the sport now! 99% of the drivers cant afford to change chassis at the drop of a hat, thousands of dollars on shock packages, Anybody who thinks these tracks other than Eldora have all this disposable income, needs to do the math at the gate.A lot of tracks have to make the purse up at the back gate now. 30 dollar pit pass on a normal night. Car counts are shrinking at an alarming rate, the last thing we need to do is throw more money at Bloomquist, Clint Boyer racing, Josh and Mark Richards to name a few. the one thing this will insure is the rich get richer and the cost to be competitive will skyrocket!

[play4kps]

Im going to say this. The 100,000 dollar first place money for the dream is the biggest waste of money on the planet. You could pay 50,000 to win and you not lose one car. Why waste the money, put in towards a 10,000 to win consolation race, or a big modified race on the show, With the car count dwindling for the dream , another race or two that night is not too much.

[Centeroff]

That’s what I’m saying. You have to crawl before you walk. Someone could promote the elite drivers in one specific series. If a better product is available the few with the big sponsors will buy it anyway. Average equipment and decent bankroll won’t cut it anyway so let the elite teams get what they deserve. If a special talent comes along and dominates the regional series races he gets hired by the big sponsor teams and takes the old bulls seat. Floyd Mayweather made over 100 million twice and he had to start out 0-0. When your 50-0 you earn your big paydays. The 100k at the dream is why it’s the dream. You can’t cut the purse of the highest paying race in our sport. That makes the dream the nightmare. Tony promotes it as such and that is why the drivers, teams and fans get so amped up.

[golddirt]

With lack of a lot of weekly late models drivers there is not a place for them to learn to crawl so who will replace the the old bulls? Why is it that sprints are everywhere? Two things hurt lates more than anything imo, drivers doing it for a living and they don't build there own stuff anymore

[play4kps]

The charm of dirt late model racing is the small time or regional guy winning a race against the big timers that come in. Thats what fills the stands, Look at eldora, people love Jeep and Matt Miller, Chris Ferguson down south, The Boggs and Conleys in southern ohio, Spangler and Marcoulier in Michigan. Thats what gives the sport charm. The same high dollar guys winning race after race will kill a lot of interest in the sport. And why would we want to discourage any new driver from investing in this great but dying sport. I mean look at the foolish attacks on Schlenk, the guy runs competitive on a shoestring budget, wants to chase a dream and gets ridiculed, people like Rusty are a dying breed to this sport and this sport would be a whole lot better if there were a lot more Rusty Schlenks out there.

[Pennsboro23]

The charm of dirt late model racing is the small time or regional guy winning a race against the big timers that come in. Thats what fills the stands, Look at eldora, people love Jeep and Matt Miller, Chris Ferguson down south, The Boggs and Conleys in southern ohio, Spangler and Marcoulier in Michigan. Thats what gives the sport charm. The same high dollar guys winning race after race will kill a lot of interest in the sport. And why would we want to discourage any new driver from investing in this great but dying sport. I mean look at the foolish attacks on Schlenk, the guy runs competitive on a shoestring budget, wants to chase a dream and gets ridiculed, people like Rusty are a dying breed to this sport and this sport would be a whole lot better if there were a lot more Rusty Schlenks out there.

Hoping to see the underdog win. That's what keeps me going. It rarely happens but when it does, it's a huge deal. Isn't that why we love sports, cheering for the under dog most of the time. I like watching the guy in victory lane who acts like he just won the lottery.

[mickley.28]

Sounds like a great formula for a train race and head out for the next train race!!! hahaha No mud, no dents, and no errors!!!

I honestly think that they need to restructure the payout... the same handful of cars win every week because the average guy can’t afford to keep up, beck he can’t even afford to show up which is why car counts are down. If you want to get car counts up raise the starting money and lower the winners pay to offset the cost. If a local show paid $300 to start the average guy could afford to race and car counts would go through the roof... most guys don’t race for the big winners purse or to make money. Most racers race because they just love to race. Your always gonna have wealthy teams buying victories with 100,000 race cars but those are the same teams that don’t need the big payouts and honestly wouldn’t racing be better if those teams decided to quit? Now you have higher car counts with a field of average equipment running door to door instead of a few guys who run away with it and the only door to door action the fans see is when they’re lapping the field.

[RiffRaf67]

Centeroff said:
I can’t count the times I’ve heard, well I would go but I don’t want to drive all that way for a 50 lap feature.

I have NEVER heard anyone say they wouldn't travel for a 50 Lap LM feature. Not in my circle of friends. Never. That lets you see what..., maybe 4 races a year, if thats your prerequisite? Really?

[nc mudcat]

Dirt late model racing went to the "next level" several years back, which lead to the fix we are in now. There will always be a next level, but we can't call it a better level.

[EvelB7]

Alright, I'll add my crazy thought in on this one..... Improve the show and pay the guy who does it! Pay for performance- base what you make on how far you advance. Let the guy who qualifies for the pole choose where he starts, 2nd place choose, etc... Have a 'basic' payoff but bigger rewards for advancing through the field. I tried to get inverts in the south for years, always heard it was 'unfair'. The fair starts in October in Raleigh, racing is entertainment first and foremost, heads up starts make for horrible races and eventually lead to horrible attendance. I raced as long as I could afford it (or until the team I was driving for replaced me), last year was it for me most likely but I still want to see dirt racing outlast the rest.

[chupp n bloomer fan]

Alright, I'll add my crazy thought in on this one..... Improve the show and pay the guy who does it! Pay for performance- base what you make on how far you advance. Let the guy who qualifies for the pole choose where he starts, 2nd place choose, etc... Have a 'basic' payoff but bigger rewards for advancing through the field. I tried to get inverts in the south for years, always heard it was 'unfair'. The fair starts in October in Raleigh, racing is entertainment first and foremost, heads up starts make for horrible races and eventually lead to horrible attendance. I raced as long as I could afford it (or until the team I was driving for replaced me), last year was it for me most likely but I still want to see dirt racing outlast the rest.

You from the Portsmouth area??

[Centeroff]

Remember back in the day when a driver at a local track would get hot and track mgmt would pay an extra 1000$ for the bounty. Problem is now, not enough local tracks run supers anymore.