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Selling tickets, pit passes and concessions verses Selling cost effective racing


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#21 zero hero2

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Posted 26 October 2017 - 10:28 PM

Hey zero hero 2.......Have you ever written a column or done anything for the benefit of the sport ???  I have been doing such for 50 years!!  Doubt you have been around that long!!   The racing papers don't pay anything to their writers, so a Press Pass is all any of us get for our efforts!!    I spend about three hours a week putting my columns together, so for the cost of a pit pass that is in line with what the burger flippers at McDonalds make!!   Those of us who write for the racing papers do it because we enjoy it and to be more involved with the sport than just sitting in the grandstand or punching out nasty stuff on a computer screen!!

 

Walt

Wow ! Have you ever worked on a racecar every night and put every extra red cent into a car and have some drunk that drinks free beer and eats free food at the only tracks he attends ? The people that you refer to as being junk have just as much right to be on the track as the next guy ! You are a bigot ! Three hours = 1 for every person that reads your big two paragraph article . Chuck B. does a better job cause he actually talks to the racers in the pits . Not hurries his way to the best seat in the press box ! 





 

#22 Walt Wimer

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Posted 26 October 2017 - 11:21 PM

Not going to "waste" my time on you!!!   Been a racing fan for over 65 years and like everything else in the world there are a few bad apples in every bunch!!  And BTW, I sit in the grandstand every week a Lernerville and talk to many of the drivers weekly as well, so that's how much you know about it!!!  At 78 I don't travel around as much as I did in my younger days, but still went to four tracks this year!! 

 

END OF COMMENT!!!

 

Walt




#23 jo73

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 07:24 AM

as racers are fading off due to so many reasons, so are the trade papers and guys that used to write articles in them. lol. remember the days you walked in and could buy a track program ? off some young kid. Does any track offer those anymore ? Announcers used to be on the mic as soon as guys came out for hotlaps letting fans know who was in the drivers seat and some went as far to mention sponsors. not any more. over the years, for me anyhow, lernerville and mercer have had I think a good person on the mic. ppms did also with Dow.




#24 D1RT

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 09:37 AM

Wow ! Have you ever worked on a racecar every night and put every extra red cent into a car and have some drunk that drinks free beer and eats free food at the only tracks he attends ? The people that you refer to as being junk have just as much right to be on the track as the next guy ! You are a bigot ! Three hours = 1 for every person that reads your big two paragraph article . Chuck B. does a better job cause he actually talks to the racers in the pits . Not hurries his way to the best seat in the press box ! 

That man you speak of has done more to promote local racing and drivers than you could do in ten lifetimes. He has earned the right to enjoy the spoils any track bestows on him for what he has done for them over six plus decades.




#25 old man d

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 10:04 AM

You got that right DIRT. I may not all ways agree with Walt on some things but I do know Walt puts out a good column each week. At 71 I couldn"t do what Walt does. I give Walt a lot of credit and respect for what he has done. Zero it"s really uncool to bash someone you don"t anything about, have some class.




#26 Walt Wimer

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 10:43 AM

Thanx for your kind words guys!!!

 

GOOD RACING!!!

 

Walt




#27 flash49

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 11:17 AM

You're the man Walt, keep up the good work and ignore the creeps.


#28 Walt Wimer

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 11:28 AM

flash49........You do a good job as well getting out results to guys on here!!  We should meet someday!!

 

GOOD RACING!!!

 

Walt




#29 zero hero2

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 01:23 PM

That man you speak of has done more to promote local racing and drivers than you could do in ten lifetimes. He has earned the right to enjoy the spoils any track bestows on him for what he has done for them over six plus decades.

I am allowed to speak of my displeasure of him calling the low buck racers JUNK ! He was very disrespectful to say that . Btw how does when promote local racing by getting on here and bashing tracks because there results don't get to him on his time ! That my sir is childish ! At any age . Pick up a phone or email usually works nowadays ! It's the same every week !   




#30 Walt Wimer

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 02:27 PM

     Low buck racers aren't "junk", but there are a handful of guys out there who are "junk" and a hazard to most of the other cars and drivers on the track.  I think if you took a poll around the pits the majority of the drivers and car owners would agree with that statement!!    If you are getting lapped in a heat race most every week, than you have a lot more problems than just lack on money!!  So I don't think I was disrespectful, just calling a spade a spade!!

 

     I good race track gets the word out to the media so they can in turn get such out to the fans and the competitors. Most tracks in our area do a pretty good job, but there are a couple that do not, and I don't think calling them out on such is "track bashing"!! 

 

Walt




#31 tjtrackrabbit

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 02:45 PM

I'm a long since retired middle of the pack racer, that being said we all need each other, the racers need the tracks, the tracks need the racers and fans and the media to get the word out. Every one contributes something. Trouble today too much division among people and groups. Lets work together to help build up the sport we love instead of tearing it down !!! 



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#32 jo73

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 02:51 PM

Zero, I agree with what has been said above. Walt has been there for many years reporting on local racing and also behind the mic. His love for the sport is what makes him still do it to this day. At 78 show some respect for the man. He has been there he has seen it all. I agree with his statement, I will actually go one step beyond, guys that cause the problems are the guys that think they are just as good as the guys running up front and they are not. They drive over there heads and tear equipment up.




#33 flash49

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Posted 27 October 2017 - 03:57 PM

flash49........You do a good job as well getting out results to guys on here!!  We should meet someday!!

 

GOOD RACING!!!

 

Walt

 

Thanks, I enjoy keeping track of the races as best I can, and then correct my errors when the official finishes come out.  I'll see you next year at Lernerville, Walt, God willing and the creek don't rise, I'm there every Friday night.  




#34 LernervillePRDirector

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Posted 28 October 2017 - 02:41 PM

Walt Wimer is one of the finest journalists covering dirt motor sports in our area and has been for quite some time. His knowledge of the history of the area, his passion for writing, and his columns at AARN serve the racing, tracks and the drivers with very good quality to this very day. Honored to work with him on Friday nights. And yes, he is in the pits, talking to and engaging with drivers every Friday at Lernerville, doing the job very well.  Much respect Walt! 


Edited by LernervillePRDirector, 28 October 2017 - 02:46 PM.


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#35 blue by you

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Posted 28 October 2017 - 03:57 PM

     Low buck racers aren't "junk", but there are a handful of guys out there who are "junk" and a hazard to most of the other cars and drivers on the track.  I think if you took a poll around the pits the majority of the drivers and car owners would agree with that statement!!    If you are getting lapped in a heat race most every week, than you have a lot more problems than just lack on money!!  So I don't think I was disrespectful, just calling a spade a spade!!

 

     I good race track gets the word out to the media so they can in turn get such out to the fans and the competitors. Most tracks in our area do a pretty good job, but there are a couple that do not, and I don't think calling them out on such is "track bashing"!! 

 

Walt

walt you are spot on.




#36 FanJim24

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Posted 28 October 2017 - 06:28 PM

There is "junk" out there!!  All three of the top classes have guys racing in them that shouldn't be there!!  They should be in one of the support classes and some of them are just "hazards" to those who have considerable amount of money invested in their cars.  That is the reason that the front runners are so much against handicap line-ups!!    Fact is there are just some guys who shouldn't be out there in the top classes!!  Just a fact of life that all the rest of the drivers have to deal with.  I saw such back in the flathead Ford days of the 50s,and it hasn't changed.  If a driver gets lapped in a heat race, then he is just too far from being competitive to be out there!!   Such drivers should just drop back to one of the support classes, but the starting money is much better in the top three classes, so they can make more money continuing to be somewhat of a hazard to others!!   

 

GOOD RACING!!!!

 

Walt

My argument to that is Sadie. She started out being lapped in the heats and ended up passing people by the end of the season. She did that as a rookie in the sportsmen and in the sprints, but she also held the bottom as she was being lapped. I get what you're saying, and agree to a point. There are drivers out there who are not in control and don't get better, and are literal wrecks in waiting. 

 

Oh, and add me to those who have nothing but respect for you Walt. 


Edited by FanJim24, 28 October 2017 - 06:35 PM.


My dad drove late models in the early 70's at North Hills, Butler, Mercer, Blanket Hill, and occasionally Tri City. We won the last late model track championship at Blanket Hill. 


#37 FanJim24

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Posted 28 October 2017 - 06:33 PM

I'm a long since retired middle of the pack racer, that being said we all need each other, the racers need the tracks, the tracks need the racers and fans and the media to get the word out. Every one contributes something. Trouble today too much division among people and groups. Lets work together to help build up the sport we love instead of tearing it down !!! 

This! 



My dad drove late models in the early 70's at North Hills, Butler, Mercer, Blanket Hill, and occasionally Tri City. We won the last late model track championship at Blanket Hill. 


#38 Wolfie29

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Posted 28 October 2017 - 06:50 PM

Not going to "waste" my time on you!!!   Been a racing fan for over 65 years and like everything else in the world there are a few bad apples in every bunch!!  And BTW, I sit in the grandstand every week a Lernerville and talk to many of the drivers weekly as well, so that's how much you know about it!!!  At 78 I don't travel around as much as I did in my younger days, but still went to four tracks this year!! 

 

END OF COMMENT!!!

 

Walt

Walt,you're a class act all the way around !.....Don't let one bad apple get to you...




#39 Walt Wimer

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Posted 28 October 2017 - 08:56 PM

I have all the respect in the world for Sadie!!  She is just a rookie and been improving all season long.  My point all along is the guys that never improve year after year and continue to get lapped in a heat race.  This is more of a problem in the Sprint Cars than any other class.  One reason is there always seems to me more Sprint Cars way off the pace and the other is the speed of Sprint Cars and that they are open wheel race cars that can go flipping pretty easy.  I am concerned with driver safety!!    Speeds have gone up tremendously since the flathead Ford days when I was a kid, and the front running cars can be on top of a real slow car before they know it.    This whole topic started when I mentioned I still like handicap line-up for features, but only for the first 10-12 cars.  Unless the track has a very low car count, inverting the top 10-12 cars with a handicap system would keep just about all of the really off the pace guys back behind the fast cars so that the fast cars don't have to deal with them until lapping them when traffic is much more thinned out.   I don't think most drivers would go for a handicap system unless in just for a smaller number of cars, say 10-12 or even 8.  Such a system would give the fans much better racing and we all realize that without the paying fans in the grandstand, race tracks can't pay good purses for expensive cars to race!!

 

GOOD RACING TO ALL!!!

 

Walt     




#40 Golf

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Posted 28 October 2017 - 09:53 PM

Replying to Walt's comment about the handicap system.  I remember talking to Lou Blaney one night at Mercer and Lou had been starting 10-12 every night in the feature, back when they ran the handicap system there. A fellow driver in the modifieds came up to him and said, Don't you get sick of starting 10-12 every night and Lou's response to him was that was the way they worked in here and if you have a fast enough car you will get to the front so it don't matter







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