Lucas Oil Speedway

[BTExpress]

Watching the LOLMS race tonight on Flo. An honest question, other than the Show Me 100 weekend, does this track ever get a crowd? An absolute top notch facility, but almost every race I have ever watched from there, including High Limit, it always looks like a ghost town in the grandstands. Makes you wonder how long the Lucas family will keep.losing money with the track especially with the passing of Forrest and the recent shredding of their racing interests and sponsorships.

[Flathead]

Sadly this place doesn’t ever draw a crowd except for the Sho-Me. There’s also quite a few other tracks in the same area so I don’t know if that has an effect on it or not.

[Dirt Clod]

Well said BTE. Such a beautiful facility, and such a slim crowd. Especially on a night honoring Forrest Lucas. It was almost as if James and Dustin were begging fans to come out Saturday night and pack the place. It was a great win by Dillon, and watching his dad kiss the dirt was priceless. 🏁

[Morgs153]

I've never been there but I've been to tracks near there back in the day. Lucas Oil Speedway is a jewel. It is absolutely a beautiful and complete facility but it really isn't all that near a lot of population to draw a diverse and new crowd from. That's one thing.

The other thing about multi day shows down in Missouri this time of the year is that it is like a jungle at times with the heat and humidity. You have to really be a hard core fan to want to come out for more than one evening in that. I once worked at a show in Lebanon during a Labor Day weekend and it was over 100 degrees and the paved track was getting the water truck treatment! Summer in Missouri can be misery at times. You gotta wanna be there.

Optics can slightly deceive as it is a big place so when viewing the planks it can look very sparse but it is big and spread out so that makes even a somewhat decent crowd look small.

[Fast Wheels]

They are definitely losing money on all of these Lucas races, including the Show Me.

There is no way the mediocre crowd they had for the Show Me paid all of that purse for that race.

However, the whole Lucas apparatus is A big part of the reason that they lose money on these events. They have jacked the payoffs up so high, and only a few drivers are competitive for the big money.
Plus, they have allowed the cost of super late model racing to skyrocket. They don’t even support any kind of economy options So car counts and pit tickets sales have tumbled.

The jacked up ticket price required to pay these high payoffs and the live streaming lead to lower crowds. As well as they keep cutting the product (laps) for the race fans They themselves have created these events that they cannot make money off of.

it’s a beautiful facility and the racing is usually great there. It’s a great place to watch a race. I agree, I wonder how much longer these events will last at that track when one does the math on how much they are losing.

[ftfiowa]

i live 105 miles from wheatland mo. and its a very small town in a very poor & sparsely populated county. it has 1 Caseys, 1 Sinclair.1 small hotel, and not much else. its a great facility with 3 distinct race areas and none do well. Springfield is 50 miinutes south Nobody is leaving the Lake of the Ozarks towns like camdenton and osage beach which are over a hour away to come to wheatland. we no longer go there ourselves(Flo subscription). The only show that does well there is the monster trucks.

[Patansplant]

The main reason I quit going is it's brutally hot there and there is no shade unless you are in the shadow of a building. Another reason there is nothing there and noplace to stay unless you come with an RV. Two hour drive for me which I don't mind and I don't mind the rural area. It's the heat that kills me.

[3 wide]

Sounds like they built it in the middle of nowhere west plains was in the middle of nowhere but not that bad I've been there

[baltimore]

thinking its much like Virginia Motor Speedway
@vamotorspeedway great facility , the staff is very polite ,great fried bologna sammies but it is in the middle of bum fuc-k Egypt

[hoosier race fan]

As others have said, the location of Lucas Oil Speedway has a significant impact on spectator attendance. It is far enough away from any decent sized population that they can’t draw much of a crowd for most events, including national touring series like the Lucas Oil Late Models and High Limit Sprint Cars. Huset’s Speedway has been a similar story. Both LOS and Huset’s are beautiful facilities, but none of their big races have the history and fan following needed to overcome their location like you see at a track like Eldora. Lucas Oil Speedway has the Show-Me 100, which gets a decent crowd, but it is a 3 night show that doesn’t have the reputation of being a crown jewel event people take vacations to attend. Then they have another 2 night show this past weekend. LOS doesn’t attract enough fans to support 5 nights of racing with the Lucas Oil Late Models, but when Forrest was paying the bills for the series, it made sense to have more races at his track. The racing was pretty good this past weekend, and it is a shame the track does not get the fan following that facility can support.

[chathamracefan]

I've never been there. My folks went to Show Me several times and said the facilities were outstanding. But it's in the middle of BFE. That has to hurt them at the gate. And as mentioned above the Show Me used to draw 80, 90 cars at West Plains. Now it draws in the 50's due to the cost of the sport & lack of variety in the winners circle. I can't imagine they are turning a profit.

[lurker]

JMHO —--- It's not the heat or the location. Eldora proved that tonight. Night one of the Kings Royal, record heat, and Eldora is in the middle of nowhere. And the crowd was big.

[Highside Hustler25]

In central Illinois, Spoon River Speedway is in the middle of nowhere and they pack the place to the gills on a WEEKNIGHT for a special event.

[reid boys]

Lebanon has an ashphalt track and springfield has a dirt track both an hour away. Springfield is a big town. Lebanon is also pretty good size.

[fryefan]

In central Illinois, Spoon River Speedway is in the middle of nowhere and they pack the place to the gills on a WEEKNIGHT for a special event.

Wheatland has at least 5 times more seats available than Spoon River has.