WHAT HAPPENED......

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OneDay99

New Member
I went to I-55 Raceway two Saturday nights ago(5/14/16) and I had a fantastic time! Ever since I was 16, which was 10 years ago, I am only able to attend a couple nights a year. My daughter last year was FINALLY the age that I could take her and she had a great time. With many other obligations with the kids and parenting it is difficult to attend weekly.

When I was a kid though the racing was in my blood! For 10 years when I was a kid, from 6-16, I craved going to the races! A portion of my life consisted of Friday nights at Belleville, Saturday nights at Pevely, and Sunday nights at St. Charles! I lived for the racing world as did all of my childhood racing friends! All we ever dreamed about and talked about was racing one day! If you were a kid at the same time as I was you envied Justin Allgaier. To be 14-15 years old racing a latemodel like that. You would have did anything to be in his shoes!

I just wanted to share my experience from that Saturday night and what hit me and made me very sad. When me and my buddy got to the races we got our pit passes and headed into the infield right after hot laps. To have the clumps of dirt in my hair and the racing fumes in my nose again is a comforting feeling to me. When I was a kid I used to go home covered head to toe in dirt. I loved it! We used to have so much fun! Football behind the bathrooms on the front stretch, running around like we owned the place. There were so many kids there! As soon as the races were over we lined up to go in the pits and run free. We couldn't wait. Even after the races were over we knew we had a few more hours of fun down in the pits! Roam the track looking for parts buried in the dirt, get autographs, even though you had already got Ed Dixon and Scott Weber's autograph 100 times before on the 50 flags that you collected over the years. Parents socialized and drank and the kids ran free. It was the life!

I was disappointed the other night. The racing was fantastic! Great track all night. I was surprised at the car count of the Sportsman and even surprised about the pro 4s(or whatever they are called now). I understand the low car count though. Coming from a family that struggled to keep the car on the track financially every week when I was a kid, I understand. The disappointment though wasn't in regards to the racing but rather just in the little things that I looked forward to all week long when I was a kid wasn't existent. What happened to JR Fan Club? You have to bare with me, like I said I have been out of the racing world for some time. JR Fan Club was amazing! As soon as you got to the track you ran over to Angie and JoAnn to get your name entered!

After the races were over I tried to show my buddy what we would do when I was a kid. We walked around the track a couple times. Some idiot in a red dually gets on the track and starts getting on the gas flying around the track. Little kids were scattered about and this guy is flying past. Quickly some staff stopped him. I was SHOCKED to see that only a handful of people were waiting to go down in the pits. After we walked around for about 20 minutes we headed out back to go look at some cars. To my surprise the pits in the back were cleared! My jaw dropped! I was blown away! The drivers used to have the cars out for at least an hour hanging out signing autographs! That was the biggest disappointment!

Then I had got to thinking in general just about other things that have changed. What happened to the random Wednesday night races that Pevely used to have a couple nights a year? We loved those! What happened to Night of Stars with all the NASCAR drivers? What happened to the 2 seated Sprint Car Schrader used to raffle off rides in? What happened to all the kids that used to be running around all over the place? I remember the flag boys next to the flag stand! I saw so many familiar faces and it was great! I really had a great time and saw some great racing but what happened to the next generation of kids?

When I was a kid STLracing forums were so crowded with discussions that you would post something one night and it would be pushed to the second page by the next night. Now all I see is the administrator posting results and points for each track and 0 replies to everything.

I still dream of the day that I will race! This year some friends and I will be doing the Kenny Wallace Racing Experience! I can't wait! Who wants to rally to get the families back at the races!? I-55 hire me to promote! My passion is contagious!! I know the regulars that have been going for 20+ years and have never lost that routine! I never lost the passion but had no time with working Saturday nights.
 
Racing used to be a lot different. I-55 has GOT to bring back AB products. Bring back DRAFT BEER. They lose people every week over that. Also they used to start the fast cars in the back. Starting the fastest cars up front every week is a recipe for boring. Also why do they REFUSE to work the track during the program? Insulting to the racers and their equipment to NEVER work on the track. Another contributing factor of boring racing. With pevelys payout in the lower classes I'm surprised anyone comes back. and not bashing anyone just my observations.
 
Late Models were already qualifying at Tri-City and Highland so I-55 changed to what all the other area tracks were doing.. Mainly because that is what most drivers were wanting..

Maybe the first couple of nights of the season the track could of used some prep work during intermission, but I know after a long winter they wanted to keep it hard and packed so it didn't get rutted up to start the season.. It can take weeks to get big holes completely out once they develop.. The last few weeks the racing has been outstanding..

Pevely's payout on all their classes is as good or better than the tracks in the area... (although no where to compare Sportsman to)..
 
Thanks guys! I am hoping some good conversation can get brewing. Just wanted to clarify for myself though that my original post isn't supposed to be a track bashing at ALL! Like I had stated before I was very impressed with the racing! I can't wait to get down there more this season.

I just want to discuss what, if anything, can be done to bring the larger crowds back out! I would say that the racing itself is good! Check. I am remembering a time from the late 90s early 00s! I have to admit I am biased to I-55....it's like my home track! But the crowds were much larger and I can just remember more families showing up. Even though kids are free it seems a lot of the kid perks are gone. Maybe I am wrong? I think there needs to be more fan/driver interactions! Obviously that won't make the crowds come running and filling the stands.

I ask ANYONE I know if they have ever been down to the track. I am a guy who lives in Jefferson County but works in St. Louis County. I know a lot of people that won't cross that St. Louis county/Jefferson county line. Something needs to bring them out. I would definitely say that the pricing to get in is very far. Especially considering 12 and under free. The times have changed and we live in a social media world. Other things need to be done to draw crowds! We have good pricing for admission and we have good racing....why aren't the stands filled? I am telling you there is a huge market being missed all over the area! I can't make a change by myself but I know a lot of passion is in this sport for all the drivers and families! It's not just a hobby it's a way of life!
 
Pevely does Christmas in july . which is awesome, tons of giveaways for kids. Maybe they need to spread it out through the year.
I totally agree with the lack of beer options keeping butts out of the seats also. how bout a program? people love programs, charge for it.
make it in the winter. sell it in the summer.
 
I can tell you that our car (3c late model) stays out and we don't load up for at least an hour every night at Pevely. We also have hero cards and stuff in our trailer. Just very rarely do people come down to the back pits anymore unless its a big show.

I don't know the solution, but the biggest complaint i hear is the beer and soda choices.

Also those nascar nights when promoted were huge draws, more fan appreciation nights, park the drivers on the track and let fans come out and meet and greet. Gotta do something, these crowds have been bad and with a holliday this weekend might not be great either.
 
I know a lot of my friends 20-30 year olds that are car guys arnt Into racing. Takes too much work. There is winners and losers. Have to know real car stuff and not just bolting on an air filter. As an engineering student, i love to apply my equation sheets and formulas to racing when ever possible, but i don't know any other car guys around me that do. Its about looking cool as apposed to going fast.

As far as kids go, my kids love sprint cars and monster trucks. But they always see it on TV or on the computer around me since we have barely any racing out here in vegas. Getting to go to the Dirt track is a twice a year treat for my kids and they love it. Im not sure about drawing kids into the track if they have never been.

Do they still do rides with the drivers for junior fan club? Didn't tri city do some stuff last year where kids picked numbers for driver inverts/order or the frisbee thing last year. Also saw one track Route 45? doing a driver auction. Putting a bounty out on drivers like long at quincy. i think belleville did this a few years ago for dean hoffman . Stuff like this makes it exciting.

To get parents there i think is the key. Then the kids will fallow and turn into the next bobby pierce, chris bell.....
I think for the parents, decent entry fee, but CHEAP and good food and beer. and lots of it. Not six flag prices with carnival quality. You could sell burgers for $5 but they better be worth every penny. The track here charges $10 for chicken nuggets and $8 a beer.

Another piece of the puzzle is a good marketing team. Facebook is free and has such a large community. I think a good replay video of the night of racing would be big for marketing. Put together a 5 minute highlight reel. Throw some advertising up and get the sponsors names out there. If you can draw enough traffic, youtube will pay you on top of sponsors. IMCA does this right. Eldora has 8,000+ subscribers for the track alone. Don't waste money on TV, just do commercials on Facebook. Stuff like share this video for the chance to win ______.
 
We run a car at highland and tricity and i know it's not what you want to hear but we normally pack up and leave after the races are over and sometimes sooner if we happen to run early that night. The reason we do is because we live about and hour and a half from the tracks and they are the clossest tracks to us that run a regular schedule. And I know this past weekend at highland and granite the stands seemed pretty packed. But I have a lot of friends and family that only go to a few races a year and would love to go to more but they say it's getting to expensive for them they say they are willing to spend $20 on a pit pass but most tracks want 30-35 depending on the night. And I may be wrong on the price to get in the stands but I think it's $12 a head. What happen to the days of $5 to get in the stands. I know my friends go to highland when they have the half price night. But that is just what I hear from a hand me full of people which doesn't speak for all of them. I may be completely wrong in that but it is what I believe is going on when it comes to that
 
I can think of so many ideas, new and old, that could draw more people to the track! I wish the tracks would listen to the fans more in regards to what we want. Trust me I understand year round is a very tight budget but I believe so many resources are going unused. I definitely like the idea of the highlights video. I think we would be surprised how quickly and how many times it would be shared. I think most people would be shocked to know how many people have never heard of I-55 raceway! I ask a guy from work if he has ever gone to the races in Pevely and 9 out of 10 times the response I hear is "The horse races"? Are you freaking kidding me?

I am from Jeffco but work in corporate environment and these people have just never heard of the track(s)! They aren't opposed to going but just never heard! These people will never see the 1 billboard sign but up for the World of Outlaws near the Jeffco border on 55 south! Take advantage of social media! People love viral videos! You don't think a short clip of a latemodel roaring on the cushion with its left front jacked up would go viral?

Another thing is you have a famous NASCAR track owner! I "like" every racing page on facebook in the stl area and rarely do I see mention of Kenny Schrader or Kenny Wallace going to a track! They talk about it all over their individual pages but people like famous. Where are the connections?
 
shredxcam said:
I know a lot of my friends 20-30 year olds that are car guys arnt Into racing. Takes too much work. There is winners and losers. Have to know real car stuff and not just bolting on an air filter. As an engineering student, i love to apply my equation sheets and formulas to racing when ever possible, but i don't know any other car guys around me that do. Its about looking cool as apposed to going fast.

As far as kids go, my kids love sprint cars and monster trucks. But they always see it on TV or on the computer around me since we have barely any racing out here in vegas. Getting to go to the Dirt track is a twice a year treat for my kids and they love it. Im not sure about drawing kids into the track if they have never been.

Do they still do rides with the drivers for junior fan club? Didn't tri city do some stuff last year where kids picked numbers for driver inverts/order or the frisbee thing last year. Also saw one track Route 45? doing a driver auction. Putting a bounty out on drivers like long at quincy. i think belleville did this a few years ago for dean hoffman . Stuff like this makes it exciting.

To get parents there i think is the key. Then the kids will fallow and turn into the next bobby pierce, chris bell.....
I think for the parents, decent entry fee, but CHEAP and good food and beer. and lots of it. Not six flag prices with carnival quality. You could sell burgers for $5 but they better be worth every penny. The track here charges $10 for chicken nuggets and $8 a beer.

Another piece of the puzzle is a good marketing team. Facebook is free and has such a large community. I think a good replay video of the night of racing would be big for marketing. Put together a 5 minute highlight reel. Throw some advertising up and get the sponsors names out there. If you can draw enough traffic, youtube will pay you on top of sponsors. IMCA does this right. Eldora has 8,000+ subscribers for the track alone. Don't waste money on TV, just do commercials on Facebook. Stuff like share this video for the chance to win ______.
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Me as a I drive I would love to go out at intermission, before or after the race and give a kid a ride in the car. because to me that's what racing is about it's ( the fans and the racing) and you have to have fun doing it. I have never been at a race where the track had a driver give a kid a a few laps around the track( idleing or going slow of course) I know when i was a kid I would of loved that. it would of made my year to go down on the track a get to ride with my favorite driver and car. I love this idea!!!!
 
I know there are SO many things the drivers would be more than willing to participate in doing! I don't think in general that they are not willing to donate their time! Have the drivers go out and throw some T-shirts! What happened to a pace truck with some people in the back throwing stuff in the stands?

I know many would be against me on this but I am not sure why the latemodels aren't always last for their feature! Poor sportsman have 10 people left cheering in the stands! I get why....people want to see what they came for and head home. Promotional efforts are only put in the big shows...and yes I get why but heck people might not even know that they race every weekend! Possibly a high energy announcer with some comedy?
 
I like how one school recently had RACE cars at the school for show and tell. Kenny shrader had his modified there.
 
I remember long ago I-55 used to have a good connection with 92.3 WIL! I remember they had Clay Bauman racing cornbread and his truck! Super entertaining! They had a bunch of kid events sponsored by WIL and the power cheese......Oreo stacking contest! This day in age with social media a "flyer" with those sponsors and all those kids activities the parents would love to bring the kids! Come down after races to _______. Every kid gets a free flag to go get signed after!
 
Maybe if a show could get done by 11 people would want to bring there kids down. I don't know how many times as a racer and a fan I have sat in the stands or the pits till midnight cause the shows are run poorly or WAY TO MANY CLASSES! When I was a kid shows were done in a timely matter.
 
millz said:
Me as a I drive I would love to go out at intermission, before or after the race and give a kid a ride in the car. because to me that's what racing is about it's ( the fans and the racing) and you have to have fun doing it. I have never been at a race where the track had a driver give a kid a a few laps around the track( idleing or going slow of course) I know when i was a kid I would of loved that. it would of made my year to go down on the track a get to ride with my favorite driver and car. I love this idea!!!!
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Belle-Clair does this most race programs. They also had a meet-the-driver event a few years back before the Late Model feature and gave the kids flags to have them sign. What a great way to let the kids actually see the drivers! especially since, as jrip said, the race programs run so long most kids are gone by the end of the show.
 
salsdad said:
Belle-Clair does this most race programs. They also had a meet-the-driver event a few years back before the Late Model feature and gave the kids flags to have them sign. What a great way to let the kids actually see the drivers! especially since, as jrip said, the race programs run so long most kids are gone by the end of the show.
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One thing that helps is to get the cars and drivers out to do appearances. We did a veterans benefit at the beginning of May and will have the car at a golf tournament June 2nd. We let the kids, parents, etc sit in the car, take pictures, ask questions or whatever. It not only promotes sponsors but racing in general.

When you are doing an appearance let people know people will come and I'm sure other drivers would bring their cars also.

It gives people a chance to get face to face with drivers and it also raises people's curiosity and brings them out to the tracks.
 
As we all know things have changed and quite a few promoters have been trying a lot of different ideas to get people back to the track and not much is working as far as the weekly shows go but, that doesn't mean they can just give up and not try new ideas but, at the same time we might have to accept this might be the future as we see it. And no I'm not trying to be negative it's just the way I see it. The sport is just to expensive and more and more people just can't afford to own and operate a car or even afford to take their family to the races. Once people leave the sport it's not likely they return. As long as tracks are still open there is still hope.
 
This might be a completely separate issue/topic and I know I don't know everything I would need to know to discuss but I have wondered over the last few years why the tracks don't use their property for other events/activities? I could easily think of over a dozen different things that could/would draw a crowd! Like I said completely separate topic but I am actually curious if anybody knows?
 
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