tombeck91

Haven't posted on here for a long time but figured I weigh in on this issue.  The issues with what happened to local pavement racing, and what's going on with local dirt track racing are very different.  I love pavement racing and was fortunate/unfortunate enough to go through the upswing, witness the decline, and to get out before it was too late! The biggest difference I noticed with pavement racing was within the fan base.  During the days of three thriving pavement facilities in our area and 20 car b-mains on a regular show in the mid to late 90's/early 2000's the atmosphere was great.  You had die hard fans who were into the racing, would stop and talk about the race, how the cars handled and key moments in the race. Then a change happened, the fan base slowly turned to casual fans who attended as a novelty, wanted a place to drink beer with their buddies, take their kids somewhere once a year, and had no real interest in the on-track racing. As this happened, the promoters started to cater to these fans and lost focus on the racing and the love of the sport, for the love of money. At this point, the places were still thriving, packed house every night, lots of corporate billboards, etc. all as the car counts and on-track racing declined. The key die-hards found somewhere else to go watch races because they had no interest in gimmicks or pre-race giveaways, stunt shows, etc.

Over that period, the die hard pavement fan was lost.  The fans who would maintain a standard revenue week-in and week-out for the track, and then at big shows get a boost from casual fans, and then fall back down to the standard run rate after. Promoters/owners got greedy. They weren't in it anymore for the love of the sport, covering operating costs, and maybe making a few extra dollars.  They saw all the NASCAR crowds on TV and thought of dollar signs.

When the novelty wore off for the casual fan, they moved on to the next random trend.  Get rich quick promoters/owners moved out and some attempts were made to get back to good racing, but it was too late.  Over the ten year period they lost the generation of young die hards, who fell in love with racing and decided to build cars and try it out. There was no one left except who was there before and, the people that dropped out, did so because they retired/moved-on etc.

Nascar/Pavement's rise created a generation of fans who thought the only purpose of local short track racing was to prepare for NASCAR.  So, with the younger generation, once that was no longer an option, whether well funded or not, they moved on to some other path. Racers who got in their late 20's, and realized they couldn't make a career of it, quit.  They didn't continue because they loved the sport, so local car counts declined as there was no continuation for them.  To many of them and their parents, local racing was viewed as an investment in their future, sadly enough the same way some think of going to college.

Dirt racing is different.

Fans are still die hard and want good racing. I have yet, to visit a dirt track anywhere, except for the occasional girlfriend/boyfriend who is just tagging along, where the fans have no knowledge of the sport or interest in the on-track action. The problem is giving the fans what they want, and that is the best drivers at the best tracks, in the best cars.  What's the issue with dirt racing now? Nothing. But I see a trend popping up that started right before the pavement decline. 

While the issues are different, the motivation is still the same.  Tracks want to put the onus on the racers and fans. Why does car count matter for anyone except the track and people who make money from the track?  Some of the best races I've seen have been between a few cars.  So it is a capitalist approach, best track(s) will win.  The error pavement made was applying the capitalist approach to the casual fans and advertisers, when they should have looked at developing the racers and die hard fans instead.

Some observations I've read in plenty of racing magazine articles "Car costs are out of controls"; "We can't increase purses because there aren't enough fans", "Good cars and drivers won't come to our tracks because they're all following touring series", "We need to put in more non-racing activities/events to attract new fans", "there is no one track loyalty anymore"  Please dirt tracks! Focus on the cars and drivers and die hard fans! Die hard fans WANT to see the fastest cars with the newest technology and exciting racing.  If you work hard so will all of us! Can I afford a $100K late model. Hell no, but I still worked hard, saved and bought one because I love the sport! Take a lesson from central PA sprint cars! If the purse is high enough, the best cars and drivers will stay local and you can attract die hard fans without touring series!

Always start with Why.  Die Hard fans see an issue because they aren't seeing the best racing, Racers see an issue because they aren't compensated enough to justify supporting a specific track, Promotors/Owners see an issue because they may go out of business.  The only one of these concerns that isn't about money is related the Die hard fans.  Maybe that should be the focus; because if not, we're just worried about making money.  This is what killed local pavement.