Is It Time To Take Latemodel Racing to the Next Level

[In The Gas]

Is iit time to take late model racing to the next level with 1 series that pays a minimum $30 K to win a night and $3K to start a feature? I think we are ready for this if the big sponsor is there. There seems to be enough fans to support it and surely a TV affiliate to cover it.

[Centeroff]

Now now, your going to offend the multi millionaire promoters out there. If you look in the stands and do a rough estimate of the people times 50$ and in the pits with food you could say an average of 75$ a head. The Lucas series especially is big enough to draw a tv crowd. These boys run for 10-12k each week and that’s what the winner gets. They have been paying that since the 70s. Up the purses before we have to tell our grandchildren how cool super late models used to be.

[MI Dirt Fan]

The smallest of chances I ever get to go to a race track I'm there for the racing not the food.

[Krooser]

As long as the fans want to pay more for the same old-same old it might work.

[Shiny Side Up 18]

Be careful what you wish for. There's a racing series that at one time, had a rabid following, but decided to take it to the "next level". They sat down with a couple major networks and hammered out a big TV deal. A couple years later, it's title sponsor of over 30 years left, and was replaced by a telecommunications company that wanted to take the series to the "next level" to directly compete with the stick-and-ball sports. They persuaded them to abandon the way they had determined their champion in favor of a glitzy new "postseason" gimmick that played a large part in running off it's aging core fanbase, in favor of attracting younger fans. A lot of those younger fans go to the races dressed up as empty seats. What was that racing series called? I think it was called.............................NASCAR.

[93Nelson]

if it ain't broke, don't fix it....

[mcarter815]

Just be happy with the next decade or two of racing that is left before it becomes just a club sport.

[TheJet-09]

I'm not sure why some think putting more money up front is what racing needs. So you'll need even more $ and resources to try and be competitive, and in turn will have even fewer cars than we do now?

Look at your weekly car counts so far this year...

And before you say this isn't about weekly racing, where do you think most if not all of those guys on tour nowadays came from? Or where will our drivers of tomorrow come from? Or if you can't get fans to come out for a weekly show (i.e. cheaper admission), how are you going to get them to ante up for these big purse races?

[Centeroff]

You had to have misunderstood the example. These guys that place out of the top 5 lose money most weeks. The track promotion can afford to pay these guys more money. Clint Bowyer is a multi millionaire and stated that if he lost his sponsors he wouldn’t float the bill. I guarantee it cost a million dollars or more to run a full Lucas oil schedule. The diesel fuel just getting there, tires, fuel, 12k motor freshens, tires, oil, paid help, graphics, sheet metal, shocks and on and on and on. If it wasn’t for the cars and teams in the pits there would be no a$$es in the seats. They could up the purse and pay better deeper through the field and they would still make a killing. I bet Tony Stewart makes well over a million dollars at both the world and the dream. This group putting on the dirt million seems to understand the sport. I guess why up the purses when the boys show up for what they are paying now? Hats off to the Hillbilly 100 group for upping the purse. These men and women work hard and they deserve more than 800-1000$ to run 12th

[golddirt]

No it is as simple as that , no

[flagone]

Centeroff you are very wrong. Promoters are on a razor thin margin. All these tracks are closing for a reason. Even when a track does great on a special event they likely lose much of it with the weekly show. Thus why many tracks have become special events only. The "eco-system" of racing as a whole is very delicate right now and has been for years.

[bleedblue55]

Centeroff you are very wrong.

Recurring problem

[turnleftandgasit]

As much as I love FALS ramping up their special show schedule, I have also heard of fans grumblings that it is to many and they can't/won't spend the extra money that they require. I have joked in the past about it being hard to travel for a race because FALS has so many great specials, well to some those specials are forcing them into not going to as many races.

[hucktyson]

Centeroff you are right about a lot of things but not this, other than eldora tracks aren’t making much money and if tony invested all of the eldora money in the market from 2004 to now I bet he’d be further ahead with zero effort. Tracks are not big money makers. If you starting paying 30 to win and 3 to start teams would just spend double

[No_Weak_Links]

Centeroff you are very wrong. Promoters are on a razor thin margin. All these tracks are closing for a reason. Even when a track does great on a special event they likely lose much of it with the weekly show. Thus why many tracks have become special events only. The "eco-system" of racing as a whole is very delicate right now and has been for years.

I can promise you this is correct. People have some misconceptions that track owners/promoters are rich and are just hoarding up money for themselves. People have no idea how many fans/cars it takes to break even on a weekly show. People have no idea of they money spent and the hours worked at the track the other 6 days a week. They just walk into the gates on raceday and see a bunch of people and say "dang they are making a killing."