2002 UDTRA @ Cedar Lake

[Krooser]

What a difference 16 years make... drivers actually hoping for a moist track and identifying race cars by make... OH THE HUMANITY!!!

I don't think it's a coincidence that today's dry and dusty tracks and unidentifiable cars now play to ever smaller crowds with fewer DLM's in competition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npBtKOnGV5k&index=9&list=PLdqxfKPKUZcVt_vRBZKKAi0g7vG5cZI1a

[Tireguy17]

What in the hell are you talking about....?

[Pennsboro23]

Cars are still easy to identify if you know you're stuff. Crowds are as big as they have ever been.

[RayCook53fan]

Cars are still easy to identify if you know you're stuff. Crowds are as big as they have ever been.

I started to say, Crowds of cars may be smaller, but spectator crowds are as big as ever, at least where I have been this year!

[intel8]

Cedar Lake is a great track! Crowds there have outgrown the capacity of the facility, they need to purchase the field across the road from the main entrance.

[Krooser]

Suddenly tracks are in financial limbo because if too many fans? There are the exceptions but I doubt anyone can argue that dirt late model racing is healthier today than 20 years ago.

[Clayton_Wetter]

Only certain tracks have good weekly crowds these days. The proof is in the number of tracks that have closed. And Krooser is right, the cars are basically identical now. And dusty tracks are on the increase. Many promoters are getting lazier about track prep.

[FANSFund]

I believe what Krooser is attempting to say:

1.) Moist tracks - yes, cars 16 years ago mechanically were not as hooked us as they are today. With the shocks and updated chassis designs, drivers have a lot of traction now and often complain they cannot get the car free enough. It is just advancement and development of race cars... Late Models of the 1960's looked nor worked like DLM of the 1980's and 1990's and I am sure guys who raced in the 50's and 60's cried doomsday as well when watching what DLM's have become - no more "Stock" in "Stock Car."

2.) Identifying cars by their make - remember, noses on DLMs used to be specific to Chevy, Ford, Dodge, Pontiac, etc. Guys used to call out their make Ford/Chevy when talking about their cars. Now noses are generic with the exception of the grill and headlight stickers. Makes of chassis used to be more distinguishable to the average fan - a Rayburn looked much different than a Rocket. A Bullitt looked different than a Mastersbilt. Now, other than a Swartz and Kryptonite - most DLM's look the same from the grandstands. Granted, a more informed race fan knows the differences between chassis - some require going to the pits to identify details that differentiate the chassis. However, for the casual fan in the grandstands - it looks like IROC - dirt style.

3.) Don't even get me started on smaller crowds and smaller racing fields. Most of you are taking his context in terms of National or Regional specials. Go to a weekly show and the grandstands are nearly empty and promoters are having to offer eight and ten different classes just to break 100 cars in the pits. Really, how many versions of DLM's or modifieds can we watch in a night? I attended one track where four different versions of modifieds and two different DLM classes in the same night. UGH!

If you want to educate yourself a bit... go talk to a promoter and see how bad they are hurting and how much they depend on the one or two special events they run a year to make money. They pray these specials don't rain out. Not every track is Eldora or Knoxville... those tracks had great promoting and were fortunate in timing to develop large scale National events to generate large sums of cash before this downturn began. Promoters now trying to build up tracks must have significant cash BEFORE they get into racing and must be willing to lose it all if they want the track to be profitable taking gambles on large scale events. Tax advantages for small business are eroding away thus the reason you see less and less small businesses supporting racing.

But even if you had a lot of cash to invest - why would you? Car counts keep dwindling, "new" fans hate the dust and the long drawn out program, current fans are find other things to do because weekly shows are "boring" thus people in the stands keeps shrinking. We are NOT BUILDING A NEW FAN base... our current fan base is growing older and their are not enough new fans on the backside to replenish our aging numbers. What smart businessman would want to invest into something where you can see the consumer market shrinking and potential for profits are eroding?

A great example of racing's problems lies in the drivers and chassis/parts suppliers within the industry itself. For chassis and parts suppliers - their customers are dwindling at a rapid rate. So in order to keep customers, they must keep inventing and developing to make their cars/drivers faster. Because of the smaller number of drivers to sell to... that cost for development and the new raw materials they possibly use... the prices for their products go up. Drivers who want to win keep going back to buy new cars and new products because to be fast, you have to have the latest stuff. This forces drivers to retire because they just cannot afford racing any longer. It also keeps younger drivers out of Dirt Late Models and they find a different class to race because of the cost. Go back to your college coursework and this is call "Price Elasticity of Demand." Every business reviews this model with relation to its product and its marketplace. The price of racing keeps going up is due to development, raw materials and business costs and shrinking marketplace to sell those products. It will continue on this path... rules will likely not curb it unless they are drastic.

Bottom line, the business of dirt racing is pricing itself, in all classes of racing, to a point that consumers can no longer afford the product and give up knowing they cannot compete against those who do by the products (notice I didn't say "those who can afford products"). This is the classic definition of "Market/Channel Failure." Two things can happen with a Market/Channel Failure - the market simply goes under and is no longer or the market goes through a major correction. In major corrections - high priced products/companies get out of the business/close/or drastically reduce to stay in business because they can no longer make money and a market correction is implemented with a less expensive product that consumers can afford.

Krooser accomplished in two short paragraphs in what I needed several long paragraphs to explain.

Rich Olson
Minneapolis, MN

[CageFaraday]

Suddenly tracks are in financial limbo because if too many fans? There are the exceptions but I doubt anyone can argue that dirt late model racing is healthier today than 20 years ago.

The national tours may be healthy at the moment, but the local scene that feeds them are NOT. Without healthy roots its only a matter of time, fans or no fans.

[Tireguy17]

I think the sheer amount of specials, whether it be a national/regional tour or weekly sanctioning body, have alot to do with the decline of weekly regular shows. I for one do not goto many weekly shows anymore and save money for alot of specials that come to the MN/WI area.

[Scott Boesel]

What a difference 16 years make... drivers actually hoping for a moist track and identifying race cars by make... OH THE HUMANITY!!!

I don't think it's a coincidence that today's dry and dusty tracks and unidentifiable cars now play to ever smaller crowds with fewer DLM's in competition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npBt...KAi0g7vG5cZI1a

The race that McDowell had in the bag and somehow let Eckert get by lol

[waaac77]

Eckert gave Macdaddy the $50K for “gettin lose” there