Belle Clair in 2011....Lets give ideas on what to change

Race on sunday nights, programs, prices in check, dashes and bring back the mobile beer guy(or two), leave the sportsman rules alone and bring Dixon back. :)
 
Maybe try to bring in some bigger shows.? I love the races there but could part of the problem be the size if the track? Try to attract the drivers from Sat. night tracks that will bring the fans in. Highland and Pevely seem to have a good fan base. I wish the very best for this track, the track size and close racing is what brought me to the track. Thanks for letting me share my thoughts.
 
If we established "Student Pricing" we would probably have a lot more teens in the stands. I believe we are losing a lot of fans once they turn thirteen. Mom and Dad are hesitant to pay twelve bucks for the kids to get in and some of them stop going to the races themselves to stay home with the kids. Junior fan club does a great job to get the preteens interested, but after thirteen we are losing them. If we could keep them coming through the teen years, we will grow the fan base.....On a side note, I really wish they would have talked to the drivers long before they made their bombshell decision. Maybe we could have made some decisions together that could have kept us racing. I hope the future is bright for Belle Clair. I love racing there and hope we can all work together to keep the good times rolling..........................Troy
 
For champions night next year.....What about lining the heats up by points and then race heads up? Ex...heat 1 - pole sitter is #1 in points, heat 2 -pole is #2 in points.....and so on. I know its too late to change now but something to consider in the future. Just because a guy supported the track all year doesn't really mean he deserves a handicap win at the end. JMO
 
these are the best ones ive heard on here i think so far............10 admission would wovery well as ive heard alot of people not wanting to pay the 12 or 15 sometimes.cheaper bar type food.........i know these guys cant do it for free but at least be reasonable.bring back the beer guy.....every section shouldnt have to b family section.change it back to running on sunday nights if rained out on that friday.........one track,more drivers showing,better racing.i agree with the parking the one spinning out the other.............the only thing im adding to this is make the pure stock have v8s,automatics,posi rear..........and 4cyl,quieter mufflers and bone stock............lets hope belleclair makes some right decisions in the coming 2011 season,i dont want to drive farther away to watch races..............bellevegas track will rule once again!!!!
 
How about a better senior citizen discount next year. The discount Bellclair offed this year is really crumby .To get the discount you had to purchase 10 or twenty tickets in advance at $10 each for the discount . The fans don't want to do that They want to get their discount every week at the ticket window just like that other track that runs on Friday night dose .
 
Why, give them ideas? Odviously they aren't listening. They aren't gonna change a thing. The only way for change is all new officials and board members. You all have voiced your opinions and all you get is no change. I would like to talk to some of the people to there face just to see an expression change, but doubt that would happen. Just like smallwood offered advice on to be slaamed by Hoener. Sh--, last year at the beginning of the year i volunteered some free time for free, not even to get in free at the track to some PR for Mr. Hoener. He just doesn't get it. Sorry i sound a little mad, but i do attend this track every friday and dont like some of the things that happen on a regular basis, but even with all the complaints it doesn't help. He is set in the let 70's early 80's ways and there isnt no change in his future. Look at MCS, they brought back the old man and he wanted back the way it was in Saint Charles. Now look at the place, oh yea we cant do that it's CLOSED. Maybe a new and renewd president should be the next change, Who knows, cause he has kept it alive this long. I do truly hope things happen for the good, i'd hate to be forced to watching train races on fridays, cause TCC is the closest track to me. Lets go BC president and officials pull your heads out of your behinds for about a month and take the negative and positive replys as a suggestion for help. And make changes and improvements and for most alot better food for the fans and drivers of BCS in the years to follow, not just 2011.
 
Race tracks are just like any other busineses. When they are run well they succeed. If they aren't, they fail.

Management is the sole proprietor in a well run business.

When a employee doesn't preform, you fire him, When the business doesn't perform, you fire management.

When management is unwilling to change the business will fail because the rest of the world isn't stagnet.

How else can I make it clear?

Management carries the weight of the business. Every time a business fails, it's due to poor management.
 
ptony39 said:
Why, give them ideas? Odviously they aren't listening. They aren't gonna change a thing. The only way for change is all new officials and board members. You all have voiced your opinions and all you get is no change. I would like to talk to some of the people to there face just to see an expression change, but doubt that would happen. Just like smallwood offered advice on to be slaamed by Hoener. Sh--, last year at the beginning of the year i volunteered some free time for free, not even to get in free at the track to some PR for Mr. Hoener. He just doesn't get it. Sorry i sound a little mad, but i do attend this track every friday and dont like some of the things that happen on a regular basis, but even with all the complaints it doesn't help. He is set in the let 70's early 80's ways and there isnt no change in his future. Look at MCS, they brought back the old man and he wanted back the way it was in Saint Charles. Now look at the place, oh yea we cant do that it's CLOSED. Maybe a new and renewd president should be the next change, Who knows, cause he has kept it alive this long. I do truly hope things happen for the good, i'd hate to be forced to watching train races on fridays, cause TCC is the closest track to me. Lets go BC president and officials pull your heads out of your behinds for about a month and take the negative and positive replys as a suggestion for help. And make changes and improvements and for most alot better food for the fans and drivers of BCS in the years to follow, not just 2011.
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Just like the rule meetings they have in January They tell you the way its going to be no mater what changes the drivers may want . They make the commands. Its always been a one way meeting.
 
3Abreast said:
Just like the rule meetings they have in January They till you the way its going to be no mater what changes the drivers may want . They make the commands. Its always been a one way meeting.
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I'm sure at this years meeting they will listen. They did halfe to close down early and i'm sure they wont want to next year. In fact, is anyone welcome to attend the rules meetings? I have worked at several tracks and would like to become part of this track to maybe help keep this track around in the future.
 
The rules meeting is open to anyone. It is held in one of the banquet rooms in the basement of Bel-Air Bowling alley right up the road from the race track.

I would be nice to have a normal rules meeeting. As stated above it has always been a one way meeting. When you ask about something particular the answer is always "we will get back to you" or "because we said so"....Thats always irritated me but my opinion im sure dont make a decision. I know you cant let the racers make the rules but you can atleast listen to all of us and we can have a discussion about what to do do and what not and vote. Instead of having a half hour or 45 mintue rules meeting let plan on a 2-3 hour rule meeting and have civil discussions about the rules and what to do. Also ask racers and others attending what they feel would be the best to make things better. Usually we have pretty decent ideas. Just a thought about all this.
 
How about time trials for the late models and modifieds? That's fun to watch and your getting a little something extra. Plus that puts the fast cars towards the rear. How much fun is it to watch for instance if Randy Korte pulls the pole pill? Boooooring !
 
RichieFor20. There is not enough time for time trials with the curfew and all. Also, if they qualify and then put the fast cars to the back, everyone, and I mean everyone would sandbag while qualifying so they can start up front. A racer would be foolish to try to set fast time just to start in the back. Because of that, time trials would be a moot point and a complete waste of time. Randy Korte, Ed Dixon, Rick Standridge, Micheal Kloos all trying to see who can turn the slowest lap, booooooring.

Brian #44
 
Hitting on your point Brian, how about Korte, Kloos, Dixon, and Standridge trying to turn the fastest lap? Still booorrriiinnnggg. I understand the need for qualifying in big shows and I'll gladly tolerate it then. Qualifying for weekly racing is lame.

i would like to see some of the bigger shows like the Summer Nationals qualify 2 or 3 cars at a time like Lucas Oil and WoO often does.
 
smaldirt28 said:
Ok somethings have been talked about already in a previous thread about what to do to improve the racing for the racers and the fans in 2011. Lets have this topic as a serious discussion. Lets hear from fans and racers on what they would like to see. No bashing others if ya dont like a idea. Everyone has there opinions so let them be heard. Lets hear opinions from the grandstands to the race cars and rules of the track. This may all help a certain person or AARA make a more successful 2011.

Grandstands: Lower the admission to $10.00. Yeah we know its $12.00 now and yeah it is only $2.00 but $2.00 to some people is a difference between going and not going. If this does bring in more people by lowering the admission it would probably all even out in the end between having more people and more concessions being sold.

Late Models and Modifieds. Here there isnt really too much you can do. These classes are based off UMP national rules. The Late Model car count this year was pretty decent. The mods on the other hand were down. But they are down everywhere not just belleville.

Sportsmans: Open the rules up. Yeah it may be more money for some of the allied guys at first but they got all winter to get them ready. Have sportsmans national rules. The highland guys are limited to just highland on a weekly basis. Atleast the AARA cars have pevely if they choose to run there. I am sure if ya opened up the rules then you would see some highland cars showing up weekly or every so often atleast. Yeah there may be alittle more tech involved but i think most would rather have a little more tech if it ment more cars. When i said open the rules too i didnt mean for it to sound unlimited. But make them close to highland rules. Do away with the cubic inch max of 360 and make it 400 max or so with you weight adjustments. And dont have a 11:1 compression rule. The nationals rules seem to be pretty fair so why not give it a try on weekly basis?

Pure Stocks: They usually had a decent car count but not always. This is a class though that i dont know how much i would change. They seem to be pretty good right now and dont want to see them get out of hand.

Pro 4's: Open to any ideas bc i have no clue......LOL

Some may not agree with this but set 2 payouts. 14 cars or less will be this payout and 14 or more will be this payout. It helps the promotor so they dont get shafted and lose alot of money. Some racers may not agree with me. But the way i look at it is the less they lose on a night the less chance they have of shutting down like we have this year.
And i would rather race for a little less than not race at all. I dont mean a drastic pay cut either but make it a little less on nights the car count is lower than normal.

General rules or race program: Double file restarts. Belleville is a small track and once we go single file in the feature last place is 1/2 to 3/4 of a lap down when we go green.

Bring back the dashes and get rid of the dice. Seems like alot of fans missed the dashes this year. Did that affect the fan base? Possibly. The got cut short on races. Or just do a dash for LM, Mods, and Sportsmans. And then maybe rotate each week between the pure stocks and the pro 4's unless we are doing good on time that evening and run them all.

Pill Draw at the beginning of the night. Get rid of the bingo ball cages and get match books and a bucket like highland does. Takes out any speculation of being rigged. Many people look for the best pills before spinning and have a technique to try and get a good one. That doesnt mean they will but there is a chance. Atleast the matchbooks you cant see anything so reach in and what ya get is what ya get.

When someone is taken out clear as day park the car that took them out and give the innocent person there spot back. Why send someone to the back for something they had no control over? If it wasnt seen good by the official then send both to the back. You will have unhappy fans and racers either way you do it but atleast you can be fair most of the time in them calls.

Scale the top 3 in the heats and the top 5 in the feature. Cuts down on time waiting for cars to scale which in turn will make up for time to run dashes. You can probably save 20-30 min a night by not having to wait for all the cars to scale. In that time you can almost run all the dashes.

Get rid of PIG IN A POKE concessions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dont think i need to explain myself there. Why jack them prices up so much other than being greedy? $2.50 for a large fountain soda? Give me a break! So much room for improvement there. Lower prices will bring more people to the concessions and they will buy more at a lower price. Think about it people it isnt rocket science.

Ok well there are some ideas off the top of my head. Please add to them on your thoughts and opinions on what could change to bring in more cars and fans to help make this track successful once again.
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tOMMY, I agreee with bringing back the dashes. They didn't reduce the admission by 1/3, when they took them away.
Don with the end of school, think about giving several passes to hand out for awards. The ticket probably will bring in at least one other adult pay, maybe added 50-50, and concessions. Read the sponsors for 2nd place drivers. Without sponsors, you're going to lose car counts.
Tom's previous idea of taking a week off in July every year, he can explain it better than I.
Also March 18 for start ? Start later and sneak a Sunday in there during the season, but must be constant,like the last Sunday of every month. Those chaseing track points willshow, those not probably wouldn't show.
 
Make the Friday after the Summer National night a fan appreciation night. Anybody with a ticket stub or pit pass from the summer national gets a $6 discount good that friday only. (Pigs-N-Poke could give 1 free sandwich with each stub. After all They will benifit from more beer sales.)


How about a Fair week special, get a book containing 5 tickets for the price of 4. They could choose 5 events from the following;
1.the Fri. before the fair
2. the midget race
3. the sportsmen midweek show
4. the motorcyle race
5. the 100 lapper
6. the demo derby

or you could do 6 for the price of 5. You have to work with the midget & Demo people so it would be available to their fans also.
 
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