track closings

[bgood14]

The lack of regular weekly racing and weekly racers and fans is what the biggest problem with dirt track racing in general today.
there was a time when weekly Saturday night races were packed and everyone came to see their favorite local drivers.
now it seems everyone wants to only follow so called big shows and touring drivers and the support for local shows is fading, also the cost to race locally is out of control. then add to that the options of other ways people are spending their time and money and I predict you will see more and more dirt tracks closing in the coming years.

[pierceFAN]

I think tracks need to change their format a bit....unfortunately...gone are the days of the weekly super late model racer...the cost has just gotten so high that you almost have to travel to the bigger paying shows...as far as the weekly racing goes... the crate class...in my opinion...should be the headliners...they are more affordable therefore more people can afford to buy them thus supporting the weekly racing....now I'm a diehard late model guy....as most of us are...that's why I would bring in as many touring series throughout the year as I could...

[jog49]

I just don't notice the 20 and 30 year olds at the tracks anymore in the grandstands. I see that age group in the pits as crewmen, etc. but not in any quantity where the future supporters of racing should be.

[nc mudcat]

...... I predict you will see more and more dirt tracks closing in the coming years.

Just curious, you say dirt tracks; is that because you only follow dirt tracks, or is it because asphalt tracks are holding on? One thing I see over and over, with few exceptions: asphalt tracks in my area seem to start on time, and run the program thru without intermissions, extra long cautions, etc. Local show or big show, they seem to get it done. Why then, do dirt tracks struggle with getting you in and out? Wythe is an exception, as they seem to know how to get it done, but most dirt tracks seem to struggle with this, again, at least in my area.

The asphalt tracks in my area seem to be doing well. Caraway is down to nothing, but has been for a long long time. Ace shut down for awhile but is going again and drawing pretty good crowds. The standby tracks, SoBo, Hickory, Langley, etc. are all doing pretty well, and Motor Mile even opened back up this year. Bowman Gray is thriving, but they always do and always will, simply due to the entertainment value.

[bgood14]

yes there are more dirt tracks in my area then asphalt tracks and I honestly do not know how the attendance of both fans and racers is at the asphalt tracks.
I know lots of race fans that only follow or attend the so called big shows or specials these days and would never think of going to a regular show.

[TerryM]

friendship...swainsboro...lasalle...all recent track closings amung others...but then you have a track like fairbury that thrives...Ive always thought if a track bumped up the weekly pay like fairbury has...they would get the money back in car counts...and with increased car counts come increase fan counts which in turn means all around more revenue...but fairbury was successful before the purse increase...so why are these tracks closing? swainsboro posted they average over 100 cars a night with an average adult attendance of 2500...with 30 nights of racing...my family ran kankakee speedway when I was a kid...the grandstands there hold about 2000 people...so in my mind i imagine the grandstands being packed plus 500 more since they average 2500...thats a great weekly average...i think most tracks would be happy with that...swainsboro has had the same owners for 19 years...they had to know what theyre doing or they wouldnt have made it that long...so why are these tracks closing? greedy owners? poor management? when we had the track, it wasnt our main source of income...do most track owners rely on track income as a primary source of income?

Those Swainsboro figures are not even close to accurate. Not in the five years I've been around the place.

[pierceFAN]

Those Swainsboro figures are not even close to accurate. Not in the five years I've been around the place.

I was wondering...that's the info they have on their web page...I thought those were pretty stout numbers

[WisWildManFan]

Lasalle closes same week fairbury has a free general admission.

[Crossbones]

I just don't notice the 20 and 30 year olds at the tracks anymore in the grandstands. I see that age group in the pits as crewmen, etc. but not in any quantity where the future supporters of racing should be.

We are living in the end days of auto racing. People just don't like watching cars go in circles anymore, young people especially (they aren't even in to road racing). Our culture and way of life is way different than 40 years ago. It might last 20 more years and it could be all over.

[Krooser]

No one is promoting....that's the simple answer.

No advertising, no billboards, no posters at every local business, no fan friendly events....

This past Friday I got inducted into the Hall if Fame at one of the tracks I ran years ago.

Great racing but the joint was empty. Decent car count because two other tracks rained out.

The promoter made some enemies with his payoffs and pit fees and lost a bunch of drivers.

His only advertising is FB....that won't work.

[flagone]

No disrespect Krooser but you can't lump everyone into that category. I have seen plenty of promoters doing a good job of promoting and still not drawing the cars and crowds he needs to survive. And its a vicious cycle. If I can't draw people and cars enough to afford to do all the extra advertising then that just means I have to do less of that or close the doors. Its a cultural paradigm shift. People just don't want to spend the time racing like they once did. I know a lot of people blame costs but I honestly believe a lot of people use that as an excuse rather than admitting they don't want to do all of the work needed to race. People pick up the phone and call someone when they have a minor car or home repair nowadays. People just don't want to get their hands dirty like in generations past.

[Gary]

The lack of regular weekly racing and weekly racers and fans is what the biggest problem with dirt track racing in general today.
there was a time when weekly Saturday night races were packed and everyone came to see their favorite local drivers.
now it seems everyone wants to only follow so called big shows and touring drivers and the support for local shows is fading, also the cost to race locally is out of control. then add to that the options of other ways people are spending their time and money and I predict you will see more and more dirt tracks closing in the coming years.

Sad but true. There are way too many dirt tracks running around the area of my home track. Back in 2010 when we started to go weekly, they always had a full field (24) of Super Late Models and Modified cars with B-Mains from time to time. Now, it's a struggle to get 14 or more; I know that's the trend at a lot of tracks with the Late Models and regular Modified cars. The amount of fans that go to the weekly shows has dropped a lot in the past 9 years too. I see a lot more tracks going away soon.

[Paradox28]

Theres also some "I wanna pay next to nothing to get in but I want you to show me the race of the year every week and pay huge purses so all the drivers come" that goes on. That and most people won't offer to lend a hand or try to help out in any way. Something as small as people who just leave their trash laying wherever they sat...people have no respect outside of themselves for the most part and it shows in participation

[chupp n bloomer fan]

No disrespect Krooser but you can't lump everyone into that category. I have seen plenty of promoters doing a good job of promoting and still not drawing the cars and crowds he needs to survive. And its a vicious cycle. If I can't draw people and cars enough to afford to do all the extra advertising then that just means I have to do less of that or close the doors. Its a cultural paradigm shift. People just don't want to spend the time racing like they once did. I know a lot of people blame costs but I honestly believe a lot of people use that as an excuse rather than admitting they don't want to do all of the work needed to race. People pick up the phone and call someone when they have a minor car or home repair nowadays. People just don't want to get their hands dirty like in generations past.

Good post. And some will admit they are just done putting in the time and effort to do it. Cars these days, there is a lot of stuff you just can’t do. There are modules, computers, and stuff that is just in impossible places for you to fix it. I do as much as I can myself. Hubs and bearings, rotors, pads, oil changes, sensors, control arms, etc. What really scares me is everything is going turbo. Looking at Certified Pre Owned European cars and an Infiniti and other than the Infiniti finding parts not at the dealer looks sketchy. Hopefully it changes, because that’ll probably hinder me from getting one. I’m not spending thousands on a job that would cost me a few hundred through Rock Auto.

But, twin turboed V6’s or in-line 6’s sound rather nice

[chupp n bloomer fan]

We are living in the end days of auto racing. People just don't like watching cars go in circles anymore, young people especially (they aren't even in to road racing). Our culture and way of life is way different than 40 years ago. It might last 20 more years and it could be all over.

It depends where ya are too. Some of it is bad tracks, some is just so much other stuff to do, and the cars are just different than the race cars. Except road racing, them cars are the only ones like todays cars.

Personally, NASCRAP needs to start getting with today’s technology.

And with the work week, there’s doing stuff around the house and relaxing with family. And that usually means not going to the race track. I honestly go 2-3 times a year now. Just other things to do and at times I just don’t wanna go. Nothing worse than taking the time and money to go and seeing a crappy non prepped track and good cars.