We all have the ability to make a diffence

[Clayton_Wetters]

These promoters could make a huge difference if they would quit running 8 9 an even 10 classes an get the races over with an work there race track.

They have found out that they make more money doing it. Even if they lose a few spectators over it.

[Madcat]

I think thats great, but Ive noticed for the World 100 and the Dream lately, they have focused more on the party and less on the racing, which sadly is a recipe for death.

I have to disagree here. The world isn’t nearly the party it used to be. At least not around us in camp or grandstands.

Actually we’ll probably bring the whole family this year after seeing how mild last year was, and it just keeps getting more mild.

We couldn’t believe how different things have continued to get regarding lack of partying and late nights.
Heck we had the whole family at the dream and not one complaint. Our 4 year old twins and 6 year old came today Eldora twice last year, Attica once, and would’ve gone to more but we had too many trips they would have had to miss class for and we won’t do that at these ages.

We don’t have a lot of the fancy tech stuff others do but our kids are outside digging for treasure and dinosaur bones in our dirt pile every single day in the summers. Driving golf carts around Speedy and our property, and learning to track animals as of this fall.

It’s all about priorities and parenting. Our priorities are our kids knowing that video games aren’t the only thing in life and have never been part of ours.

Dirt tack racing is. My wife’s been to many races and even some WVMS for one of the last big races there. Our kids will go all summer this year and we will ensure it’s something they grow to love and make it family events.

[nc mudcat]

They have found out that they make more money doing it. Even if they lose a few spectators over it.

Yep. It has followed the course of go-kart racing. 3 fans in the stands is fine if there are 200 karts in the pits with 3 or 4 people with each one. The back gate pays the purse, the bills and whatever else. Concessions are the icing on the cake. Do we need fans at all? Apparently not, if we are even talking about a track having 9 classes on one night.

[3 wide]

Hey late model mark of tst you all still racing till 3 o'clock in the morning down there had a friend of mine one a feature down there toward the end of the summer he told me they protested him he told them he wasn't tearing down he said 3 o'clock in the morning I'm going home.you wouldn't know anything about that would you.

[waaac77]

Remember the good old days when racing was so much better and they only ran 3 or 4 classes

[fastford]

Hey late model mark of tst you all still racing till 3 o'clock in the morning down there had a friend of mine one a feature down there toward the end of the summer he told me they protested him he told them he wasn't tearing down he said 3 o'clock in the morning I'm going home.you wouldn't know anything about that would you.

the only time i can remember remember racing till that late was 8 years ago after a long rain delay , and i dont even think mark was there yet , with the advent of the race receiver , i dont remember even going to mid night , most of the time around 11 , but there is a fluke ever now and then as with any track...and i dont care if the sun is coming up , if I won the race , and my stuff was RIGHT , i would be tearing down , JMO.....

[WisWildManFan]

everybody's good ole days are behind them, never hear anyone say remember them bad ole days lol Less manufacturing jobs in america makes less young adults interested in cars as a whole. You either have the motorsports bug or you don't. It's much easier to take someone who already likes nascar, drag racing, indy cars, or cars in general. You won't convert someone who has no interest to begin with. I was at a race track a few weeks old because my dad raced. Also with a dirt race you never know what your'e going to get. Took a friend to a lucas race at lasalle maybe 5 years ago and walked in and track was glazed over in hot laps. They looked like they were going 30 mph down the straights. I bragged up how good it would be with the national guys there and it sucked, i was embarrassed. He's never wanted to go back.

[play4kps]

I think most here are missing the point with 8 or 9 support classes, in a lot of cases thats the only way the track can draw 50 or more cars. That stinks, but its facts. We used to have a paved track in Xenia, Ohio named KilKare and the ran 6 classes and was lucky if there was 35 cars there. Ill never forget the 1st time I went there and heard the announcer say about the modifieds, we have a whole heap of them here this week. They had 6, and averaged 5-7 what they called late models, limited at best. Ill never forget having a friend from out of town visiting and begging to go to that track because it was NASCAR sanctioned, he told a guy at the gate as we were leaving, it looks like Nascar would sanction a bucket of sh*t to make a buck, priceless.

[fastford]

we went to the huge ford swap meet and drags for several years back in the 90s at Xenia , always had a great time and maybe it was because it was always at the same time kilkare had there season ending race , but there was always a huge crowd and a pile of cars there on Saturday night......

[RiffRaf67]

I used to goto Kilkare every saturday in the mid 90s before I caught the dirt bug. Nothing but fond memories of the drag strip there

[nc mudcat]

Local asphalt track, Bowman Gray Stadium, has it figured out. 4 classes: modified, sportsman, street stock and stadium stock. Races start at 8:00. 11:30 curfew, and races are almost always finished early. All classes have great fields, stadium stock has so many cars they have to split into 2 features. If you want more time at the track, go early for practice and qualifying, or stay late and go to the pits. Tickets are $12 and you can bring a cooler in. Racing is absolutely terrible, but 15,000 fans (weekly average) say I am wrong!!! You don't need more classes to draw more cars; you need fewer classes, and the drivers will pick one that fits their budget. BGS advertises as "Nascar's first and longest running weekly track." Their 72nd season starts in April. Like it or not, they know how to run a program. And old farts like me can be home by midnight!

[Late_Model_Mark]

The few times we ran past midnite was the August SAS Governors Cup when we had a power outage and Nascar weekends The Nascar weekends run long due to high car counts and the Durrence Layne,now Crate Racing series on insisting of very long hot laps, long time trials, 498 B-mains (not really but you get the point) and they have so many cautions. I understand why they time trial but it is a show-dragger.

Normally we put the first car on the track at 7:00pm (heat and summer sun) and we usually wrap it up between 10:30pm and 11:00pm. That is hot laps, SLM qualifying, qualifying heat races and then features. Best run show in Alabama and most likely in the Southeast.



Late Model Mark
TST Announcer

[3 wide]

I'm not sure what weekend it was but I'll find out he was there in a brand new car an was the class of the field that is why he got protested.

[Krooser]

Two pavement tracks in WI are developing a high school class in association with local high schools. Neat idea.

[Rocky]

You need 9 classes with 4-5 in the pits...… For F sake okay. Now I have a little bit of a rant. When I was racing a mini stock POS Plymouth laser at Potomac.... I didn't have 4-5 people in the pits. IF that many showed up they were sitting in the bleachers for 12 bucks instead of paying 30 for a pit pass. When My Dad was racing at Auto City in the 80's/90's....You aren't gonna believe this but I had to wait UNTIL I was 14 just to get a pit pass. my brother did too.

We hem and haw and bich and cry about the cost of racing. It's the same amount of people that was there 30 years ago but now they're all at the back gate. 30 years ago there weren't little ones running around in the pit area for $30 a head. How about don't be a stupid a$$ and have the people that are basically just in the (not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) way buy a ticket that costs half as much and sit in the bleachers? That will buy a can of gas for crying out loud.

How in the heck is little Tommy supposed to bring his buddy to see his dad race with a mandatory waiver and a $30 pit pass? He can't. that's how.

The big series aren't going anywhere but most race fans honestly don't care about that. The only people that care at that level are basically us. Our cheering section (that all sit's in the cheap seats) is about 15 or 20 deep, there's ONE other dude that travels to races. ONE. People used to go to see their friends and families race and they still do. They just mostly go pitside now.

I care about weekly racing way more than the big stuff because I live in a late model and racing in general backwater. I don't want to HAVE to travel to races and I ain't gonna pay to watch some spotty a$$ computer video feed. I want dirt in my gall dang mountain dew If I lived in Kentucky or something where traveling to big races didn't mean 9 hours one way, I might feel differently.

Okay the point.... You can cut your dang race day budget by 50 percent just by sending the kids off to the bleachers.