WHAT HAPPENED......

There are many factors involved but simple economics is probably a pretty big influence. Remember how racing was back in the mid to late 1970's and on into the 1980's? Attendance and car counts were not very good when compared to about 10 years earlier.

Some people feel that in general economic trends tend to follow about a 40 year cycle of boom and bust irregardless of the political climate. 1850, 1890, 1930, 1970, now....
 
I think if you had Monster Trucks and Supercross every weekend, all summer long at a fixed venue attendance would be way different.

As long as you have people who can pay the admission price and buy the food, you keep rising the price until your numbers start to drop. Just look at Disney parks. Back in 2001 we went and it was just packed, lines everywhere, had to wait in line 45 minutes just to buy food. We went 2 years ago and there was about 1/3 the amount of people in the park, we never waited more than 10 minutes to get food, no waits of more than 30-40 minutes to get on a ride and it never felt "crowded."

Yet, Disney posted record profits the year we went. So what's going on? Disney is pricing the lower income consumer out of the park and catering to people with money. Sure, it costs an arm and a leg to go to the park, but it actually makes for a more enjoyable and drama free experience for those with money. It's economic discrimination, but quite frankly I enjoyed the park way more with less hassle now than I did in 2001. And I think this is a deliberate strategy.

Less people in the Park but higher prices means less employees, less overhead in labor costs, less wear and tear, less security, less problems and happier customers. But it does mean a lot of people who would probably like to go can't afford it.

I think this is what we are going to see more and more of. Events and venues that attract wealthy consumers, such as baseball, hockey, etc are going to keep getting more expensive and the crowd is going to be the affluent, not the majority. This is what happened in England when I lived there with Premier League soccer (football).

They formed Premier League, took all the top teams and put them in it, then raised the prices on everything. So Premier League clubs got hugely profitable, but the working class got priced out of the venue on game day. Which is exactly what the FA wanted, to get rid of the hooligans, drunks, brawlers that were the typical supporter of the teams and get the wealthy into the stadiums instead. Less hassle, less violence, less drunkenness, more revenue and a family friendly experience for the wealthy. If the working class wanted to watch their team, they could buy a subscription to watch it on the Premier League channel on satellite TV.

Win win for the money folks. But most of the people I knew were really ticked off because they felt they had been kicked to the curb when they had been supporters of these teams for life. And they had. But their season tickets got unaffordable, and sold to people with higher incomes.

Anyway. I still think you ask any promoter and they would love to see the middle class in America get some more money in their pockets. That would do wonders for the local dirt track.
 
You brought up how Disney uses calculus and limits to derive ideal profits vs cost. Do dirt track owners not do this ?

Obviously it takes some market research and calculus but I was under the impression it is all part of owning a business
 
I personally think everyone is looking at it the wrong way. Maybe we should look at the tracks and start there. I mean seriously think about it, no tech more likely than non will make fans and drivers go elsewhere or just sell out. Since Noone has brought it up I will. Let's take last Friday night as an example. There was a man that almost lost his life in a wreck at a local track. He should have never been on that track according to the rules of that track. From my understanding he did not have a reciever and the track knew it. Then go back and look at the heat race in that same division, why was he so far out in front of everyone and then the corner man was waiving the yellow flag and then when he stopped the rest of the field caught up to him the flag man in the flagstaff waived the green flag! Two things wrong here. 1. If he would have had a reciever he would have known that he was away from the rest of the field and could have slowed down. 2. What in the world was the flag man thinking by starting the race that way. Then when the wreck happened in the feature an individual got out of his car under red flag conditions. The track saw it and did nothing about it. Go look at the rules..it plainly says "if you get out of your car under yellow or red flag conditions without being instructed by a official.or your car is on fire you will be disqualified for the remaining part of the night". It also says you are not allowed to race without a reciever in all divisions! The track allowed this to happen. So what I'm getting at here is people get tired of a track or tracks making rules and not abiding by their own rules so they just go elsewhere or sell out! I think there is the biggest culprit in why the car counts are down and fans in the stand are down! People get tired of the same stuff week in and week out.
 
Going back to the advertising aspect... Maybe I-55 could contact one, or more, of the local college's Communications dept's to do some promos for the electronic media. Great real experience for them and advertising for the track.Without the advertising, people don't know what they are missing.
I too am one who came, originally to the drag strip and then the dirt track at I-55, with my dad. Then took my kids to watch racing as they grew up. They both ended up racing, one still at it. It kills me to see empty stands at a place that once thrived.
 
Well there are many contributing factors. But i dont think anyone can argue that low car counts are due to cost. Plain and simple its stupid exspensive to race. Ive said before and ill say it again. Why do we have local weekly classes that run the same rules as guys running touring series making a living racing and winning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year?

Local stock car racing was built on good ole workin boys having fun on the weekends. Local racing has priced the average working man out.

Figure out how to fill the pit area with cars and the grandstands will follow i believe.
 
Looking at the ticket prices for the MOWA race this weekend at Pevely, it dawned on me another way to get the fans energized might be to follow NHRA,s lead and make every ticket a pit pass? Designate reserved seating for the premium ticket prices, but make the remaining seating GA, and all tickets a pit pass. The variance for a fan to buy a PP is more than double the price of GA for a weekly program. That's like saying to the fans, "Yeah, we want you to be passionate about our sport, but you're gonna pay a premium to get closer to the base of it."...(the cars and drivers)????? Really?

Drivers pay the same as always, $30 regular show, $35 for special events.

Clearly not a solution to all of the problem, but changing nothing at and expecting different results I believe is the definition of insanity.
 
I run jr fan club at highland and we give gift bags away every Saturday night also throw highland speedway shirts out. I have made coloring books for the kids to have drivers sign that had each driver in them. We can not have kids on the track every week due to insurance. I give flags out at certain times of the season. And we are having a huge night for leaps of love which is child hood cancer. With a meet and greet with drivers, games, prizes. I have also had a big bike give away with 50 bikes.
 
NHRA has areas marked where fans can go and restricted areas where its designated ppl only. NASCAR has the same thing, but its not an every ticket deal. But on a local side, that could never happen. You cant have that many ppl wandering around pit areas during a race event someone will get killed. In my opinion theres already too many ppl allowed in the pits, and especially kids. Now to refine that idea, maybe try doing ticket/pit pass during certain times when were not down there busting it to get the car ready to race. Say from 4-530. That way the fans are all back to the stands and crews can get the cars ready to race without being rushed.

Farmington had a great idea last year and I hope they still are doing it. Every week, two or three cars are on display where the fans come thru the gates. It gives the fans a chance to see the cars up close without having to wait until 11pm to do so. Also gives the drivers a chance to interact with the fans in the stands that make what we do possible. Something like that would be a bit difficult for a place like Highland, but why has this not caught on at Pevely? It literally COST NOTHING

BTW this weekend is the Strawberry Festival in Kimmswick. 3 minutes from the interstate 55. Lets see how many drivers/teams bring a car out to show off. YES they do allow it.
 
rvincent21 said:
BTW this weekend is the Strawberry Festival in Kimmswick. 3 minutes from the interstate 55. Lets see how many drivers/teams bring a car out to show off. YES they do allow it.
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We have an open spot right in front of our shop and not one taker! They also have a Fathers Day car show with at least 30 trophy's, wonder how many stock cars will show and try to spread the word?
 
Good discussion here.
I live in west Tennessee, 3.5-4 hours to the St. Louis area and I go to more races there than I do around home. The shows at Pevely have changed over the years but you guys still have it very good. There are no weekly super late model tracks here, most classes draw 10-12 cars at most, shows drag on forever.....etc. There was a time when cars were spilling out of the pits on Friday and Saturday nights. These days there are no Friday night tracks.
I have been to all of the St. Louis area tracks and I assure you that an average show there is a stellar show in many parts of the country. I just hope it stays that way.
 
PITDRIFTER said:
Well there are many contributing factors. But i dont think anyone can argue that low car counts are due to cost. Plain and simple its stupid exspensive to race. Ive said before and ill say it again. Why do we have local weekly classes that run the same rules as guys running touring series making a living racing and winning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year?

Local stock car racing was built on good ole workin boys having fun on the weekends. Local racing has priced the average working man out.

Figure out how to fill the pit area with cars and the grandstands will follow i believe.
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A very good point. And another issue in my opinion is having your local racers load up and drive some distance to race at a track other than the one that could be considered their "home" track. If the local drivers don't support their local track, how are you supposed to build a local fanbase? Having a "national" sanction with uniform rules has it's benefits, but it has also turned the weekly racers in a support class chasing national points into a bunch of gypsies. And that is to the detriment of the sport as far as I'm concerned.
 
Intake said:
We have an open spot right in front of our shop and not one taker! They also have a Fathers Day car show with at least 30 trophy's, wonder how many stock cars will show and try to spread the word?
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When and where is the car show? Il bring my street legal modified if I can.
 
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