Super Late Racing in General

[latemodelman]

I was thinking after watching some races this past year and now after watching races this year on tv. Is it me or is it time to do something about the costs of the sport? What I mean is in order to get new owners and drivers into the sport and to get new fans maybe we should be thinking of limiting costs. I mean to me when a short track starts to have to cut a super late model class because they can only get 10 or 12 cars maybe its time to say hey we have a problem. Also maybe its time for all sanctions to get together and tracks and say hey we need a change. I know there are alot of smart people who could do this. When a Crash-O-Rama draws more fans than a weekly show we have problems.

[latemodelman]

Please no smart butt responses I want to know what others think about the state of local short tracks.

[Josh Bayko]

We have this discussion at least once a month. Yes, something should be done about costs. I think everybody is in agreement about that.

[NeedforLMspeed]

Are you asking about local short tracks in general or supers that race at local short tracks

[champion24]

Local "supers" are dead (certainly in the South), except for a few areas of the country! As far as the folks in the stands, most don't really care! They rely & cater to the pit gate instead. In general, their are way too many other options of things to do besides racing!! And many other activities! But there are plenty of Millionaires that like racing, but many didn't get all that $$ by "throwing it away" on a hobby or entertainment! Just be thankful our Billionaire has supported racing so much, especially the genre we like so much!!

[Rajflyboy]

Costs need looked atVery lucky to have Lucas helping so much with $$ and also promoting the racing 👍Hopefully Super late model racing holds strong for many many many years

[3 wide]

Well first off if you going to run supers an you want a good car count you have to pay them your are correct everybody wants the back gate what the difference in running 3 or 4 classes paying them good an drawing 20 cars an running 8 classes paying them as little as you can an drawing 10 cars to a class an on top of that you save your race track.

[Zonks32x]

My $0.02

Yes, the cost of supers continues to grow out of control.

Meanwhile, the purse to win at local tracks and many regional shows has shown little to no increase.

Tracks don't want to raise tix prices, fans don't want to pay more at the gate, and the fan base of dirt racing isn't exactly growing...

So, how do you fix it?
1) Tracks need to work together and host SLM's on alternate weekends. Increase the purse, but host the SLM's every other weekend. If two tracks can work together to create a full-field of lates, they should.

2) Reign in the bodies. WoO, Lucas, UMP, and the regional series across the country need to adopt uniform body rules, and tech rules and enforce strict penalties/suspensions for violations. Simpler & more affordable body panels I believe would help. Close up the sail panels

3) Tires. The local guy and small budget teams can't afford to spend $$ to match hp and tire budgets with the "big boys," but if they can find a few 1/10ths because their tire doctor has a better cat p!$$ mixture than everybody else, so be it. Make it legal. Eliminates all the suspect investigations/disqualifications. I see a lot of weekly tracks and regional series going to a hard tire rule. Don't know if that hurts or helps.

4) Shocks!! I don't have an answer, but we all know it's a problem and a cost that continues to rise.

5) Engines. Again, I don't have an answer here, but when you're staring at 50-75k for a bullet and $100/lap cost to re-fresh said bullet, that limits the number of potential competitors pretty fast. Cubic inch restriction? Compression ratio restriction? IDK

6) Even out the purse structure. Hard to stay with it long term if a majority of the field can't even break-even night after night.

7) Increase ticket prices. We pay $100's to watch a 3 hour football, basketball, or baseball game, but we b!tch about paying $20 for a 3.5 hour weekly racing show.

8) Tracks/Promoters...run faster shows. You want new fans and more butts in the seats??? Start on time and run your 4-5 class show in 3-3.5 hours. Run more efficient shows.

More butts in seats = more $ for tracks & drivers

[intel8]

Gotta get the local racer back into it. This aerodynamic body work is killing the sport. The shocks are out of control too! Cars keep getting uglier (IMO) with the front fender flares and the cars looking like a rolling wheel chock.

[Crossbones]

My $0.02

Yes, the cost of supers continues to grow out of control.

Meanwhile, the purse to win at local tracks and many regional shows has shown little to no increase.

Tracks don't want to raise tix prices, fans don't want to pay more at the gate, and the fan base of dirt racing isn't exactly growing...

So, how do you fix it?
1) Tracks need to work together and host SLM's on alternate weekends. Increase the purse, but host the SLM's every other weekend. If two tracks can work together to create a full-field of lates, they should.

2) Reign in the bodies. WoO, Lucas, UMP, and the regional series across the country need to adopt uniform body rules, and tech rules and enforce strict penalties/suspensions for violations. Simpler & more affordable body panels I believe would help. Close up the sail panels

3) Tires. The local guy and small budget teams can't afford to spend $$ to match hp and tire budgets with the "big boys," but if they can find a few 1/10ths because their tire doctor has a better cat p!$$ mixture than everybody else, so be it. Make it legal. Eliminates all the suspect investigations/disqualifications. I see a lot of weekly tracks and regional series going to a hard tire rule. Don't know if that hurts or helps.

4) Shocks!! I don't have an answer, but we all know it's a problem and a cost that continues to rise.

5) Engines. Again, I don't have an answer here, but when you're staring at 50-75k for a bullet and $100/lap cost to re-fresh said bullet, that limits the number of potential competitors pretty fast. Cubic inch restriction? Compression ratio restriction? IDK

6) Even out the purse structure. Hard to stay with it long term if a majority of the field can't even break-even night after night.

7) Increase ticket prices. We pay $100's to watch a 3 hour football, basketball, or baseball game, but we b!tch about paying $20 for a 3.5 hour weekly racing show.

8) Tracks/Promoters...run faster shows. You want new fans and more butts in the seats??? Start on time and run your 4-5 class show in 3-3.5 hours. Run more efficient shows.

More butts in seats = more $ for tracks & drivers

$100 per lap rebuilds?.lol Could you show me a $75,000 SLM engine? People on here seem to have a strong urge to exaggerate the cost of operating a SLM.

[flagone]

Yeah and ask the karting world how tire treating saves them money. Better yet ask the racers that went through that debacle at Speedweeks several years ago. A local guy has trouble competing now with all the tire work. He would be completely lost if $$ teams brought their tire chemist with them to the track. Something else for a "specialist" to charge for.

[NeedforLMspeed]

$100 per lap rebuilds?.lol Could you show me a $75,000 SLM engine? People on here seem to have a strong urge to exaggerate the cost of operating a SLM.

He technically didn't say anywhere a motor cost $75k. He said between $50k-$75k.

[Crossbones]

He technically didn't say anywhere a motor cost $75k. He said between $50k-$75k.

The big brand engine builders build for about $40,000 and rebuilds at about $15,000. If it cost $100 per lap for rebuilds that would mean that a rebuild would cost about $100,000.lol I have seen some claim on here that top teams spend 100k+ for fuel for haulers.lol They spend probably around $15,000 per year for fuel for haulers. Some on here have claimed that it takes upwards of $2 million dollars a year to run a top SLM team "if you want to be competitive".lol

[jr29]

The Cash Money series in southwest Missouri started from scratch a couple years ago. Last season they had huge car counts, most nights they had 30 plus.
They don't allow tire grooving and they have a mandatory cheap shock rule.
I've no idea why other places don't implement rules like that.

[JabberJaws83]

My opinion is that you won’t see any cost cutting rules done on the national (touring) level any time soon because the drivers of those series truly don’t want them. Like it or not, they could care less about the little guy once they’ve reached that level. They want to make their money and not have to worry about more competition when they pull into your local track.