Where have all the cars gone?

P

Pops15

Member
I know this is the time of year when equipment gets tired and some teams can't afford to continue, but there has been a marked decrease in car count at some tracks and even some specials.

Here are a few examples (without naming any tracks because I don't want this to turn into a debate about promoters):

19 late models for a $1500 to win weekly show. Well off the 30+ cars they drew early in the season.

20 mods at a track that was getting 40-45 cars just a few weeks ago.


16 street stocks for a high paying special when two nearby tracks had the night off.

I can understand the SS not traveling for a special, but when very good tracks lose half their mods or a third of their late models its alarming.
 
I dont know about the other classes but the SS $300 to win was not a very good pay.. Dont know what you pay on a regular night, but, $300 to travel, just you could barely break even. I think they sent you all that message.. Poplar Bluff raceway in S.E.Missouri pays $300 on a weekly basis. for a purestreet.. Comparable to your SS. The same class is run at SFCR in Farmington. Sire the cars are not THE SAME but they are comparable. We have 2 special shows this month for the Purestreets at SFCR both for $1000 to win. This is a GOOD paying show for any class!! We invite SS and purestocks to compete.. Please check the offical rules at www.sfcr.net, or on the St Francios Co raceway site on this board...
 
little302 said:
I dont know about the other classes but the SS $300 to win was not a very good pay.. Dont know what you pay on a regular night, but, $300 to travel, just you could barely break even. I think they sent you all that message.. Poplar Bluff raceway in S.E.Missouri pays $300 on a weekly basis. for a purestreet.. Comparable to your SS. The same class is run at SFCR in Farmington. Sire the cars are not THE SAME but they are comparable. We have 2 special shows this month for the Purestreets at SFCR both for $1000 to win. This is a GOOD paying show for any class!! We invite SS and purestocks to compete.. Please check the offical rules at www.sfcr.net, or on the St Francios Co raceway site on this board...
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The SS race paid $500 to win with extra money being offered if there was a higher car count. The realatively low car count at that event isn't as troubling as the drop in car counts at the other weekly shows that I mentioned.
 
The things that make you go hhmmm!

Almost would seem as if "someone" was doing alot of promoting those races a year ago and getting their "friends" to travel but isnt this year, huh Pops! This year just isn't getting the SS turnout cuz promoters have treated them as they do the L.M., "oh wow so and so is having a special, lets have one too" and you split the cars! They need someone to unite them so they each have a scheduled show and dont crap on each other!
 
where have they gone ?

Lack of sponsorship and rising costs is killing some of us...
Trying to run a modified or late model one night a week out of your own pocket isnt easy and it gets worse when when every year someone will put a businesses name on a lower class car for fifty bucks, it makes sponsorship a real hard sell to the local businessman who doesnt know the diference between classes (or doesnt care.) Want more cars consistantly ?!? help connect the sponsors with the Drivers/Owners.

Share your passion for racing with those who may have never been to a race they may like it and get involved... help a team, sponsor a team, build a team, who knows where it may lead.
 
Well maybe...............

The SPONSOR is getting MORE for his 50 bucks on that Street Stock than he was getting for his 500 on that Late Model !!!!!! Alot of the "upper classes" dont have a clue how to get a sponsor, much less how to keep one!
 
"Alot of the "upper classes" dont have a clue how to get a sponsor, much less how to keep one!"


share your knowledge, Im listening...
 
Well.......

I know a street stock guy whose car is loaded with sponsors that took his car to see a guy in a hospital like setting for kidney dialysis cuz the guy was a die-hard race fan but couldnt go because of his sickness. After someone else heard about it, they called all the local media, he showed up, gave him autographed 8x10's, took some pics and just talked to him about racing and how he had won 10 features at that point of the year, and gave him some dvd's to watch, the media had them both on T.V., and in the paper! The drivers idea was for the guy to see some driver cared that he was a fan, but in the process put his sponsors on T.V., and as most business owners know, T.V. TIME is PRICELESS, especially when it is a feel good story! The best part of the deal is he mentioned in the interview that he was going to the "NEW WINGZONE" (just one of his sponsors) after he was done there. Of course more fans showed up there too! The man also got a person (the drivers sister) to drive him to Lincoln to watch the races every Saturday since then! Without knowing how good it would be for his sponsors, he did it, but got alot in return cuz he was willing to go that extra mile! So think of a way to do something for a fan or fans and you may find a sponsor or do some good things for the ones you have! how many races have you won and while carrying the flag you just looked straight ahead, LOOK INTO THE EYES OF THOSE FANS, POINT THE FLAG THEIR WAY AND SHAKE IT AT EM! You never know which ones are business owners, fan who sponsors etc., you may shake it at your next car owner! Have you ever got a sponsor cuz a sponsor recommended you to another business owner, if not your not working at it hard enough, I guarantee you he knows more business owners than you, but if you aren't doing alot for him, why would he? Send him results or better yet, go by and tell him, get him to go to the races with you! You have to genuinely care about him and his business to get more and to have him recommend you to others! This all Just my opinion of course!
 
Thats a great story and I sincerely would love to participate in the same way... to support our sponsors, our community, our fans etc. This is something we should all do. I also know there are many of us who do many of these things with out all the media attention as well.


And when I get a sponsor or two i'll do my level best to suport them and draw positive attention to them and their products/services in the best light possible both on and off the track.


Till then... i will race when I can afford it.
 
J/SMOOTH-PR said:
Almost would seem as if "someone" was doing alot of promoting those races a year ago and getting their "friends" to travel but isnt this year, huh Pops! This year just isn't getting the SS turnout cuz promoters have treated them as they do the L.M., "oh wow so and so is having a special, lets have one too" and you split the cars! They need someone to unite them so they each have a scheduled show and dont crap on each other!
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That could be part of the reason for the low turn out for that race. Everyone still knew about it though. The two closest tracks that run the same rules were off that night, yet only a few of those drivers from those track chose to run the special. Maybe the payout was top heavy and wasn't worth the trip for some. Maybe another track running a big show had an effect, but that other track is far enough away they shouldn't have hurt each other.
I'm just wondering if people are running out of money, burned out and taking some time off, or ??????
 
Even if you dont do it intentionally for your sponsors.....

YOU should call the media cuz it is good for RACING! Fans, sponsors, promoters, everyone benefits from acts of kindness!
 
J/SMOOTH-PR said:
YOU should call the media cuz it is good for RACING! Fans, sponsors, promoters, everyone benefits from acts of kindness!
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Media coverage......now theres a tough one. Many media outlets still look down on racing. Some will cover NASCAR simply because of the money involved.
Our local paper's racing coverage has improved mostly because of one journalist's perseverance, but it could still be much better.
My father in law lives in South Carolina. He used to send me newspaper clippings about racing from the papers down there. It was not unusual for each paper to run 4-6 articles a week about the weekly tracks and 2-3 stories on NASCAR each week. What paper devotes that much space to racing in the mid-west?
Our local radio station won't cover our local track, but when there was a fatality at a track 80 miles away they not only covered it but named the driver who's car struck the person.
I know one promoter that faxed race results to his local paper every week but they won't print them. He finally gave up when the editor said they weren't interested in covering racing.
I know another track that couldn't get their local media to cover racing. Some editors and even sports editors just don't like racing and refuse to cover it. Then there are the promoters that have been told we'll cover your track when you buy some advertising from us.
 
Pops, I really want to debate this nicely, so here is my best!

First of all NASCAR isnt only covered cuz of money, they do have more fans! They also have alot of "feel good stories" ! If every driver from every short track in Illinois would do one thing this year like the kidney dialysis deal,, the media would show up and that would make for alot of news stories about our much loved local tracks! How many are really willing to give back to their sport? We can blame it on the media, thats easy, but what has each driver done themselves? If you have to do something nice for someone so the media gives our sport coverage, is that so bad?

Don't tell stories about so and so sent results in and they wont print them unless you were actually there and seen them sent in! I have a friend who owns a National Racing Website and you can call him and ask him who sends results, and I bet the guy you are talking about isn't one of them! Never has sent them in either, do you really think if he dont send them to a national RACING site he will send them to a local paper? You send them next week, I'll BET THEY PRINT IT! Is it so bad they would want you to buy some advertising to give you some for free? Alot of people complain about the media, but what have "we done for the media lately? Anyone have a race for the media lately, and I dont mean once a year either, do 4 races a year! One at the beginning to get them there and 3 more to keep them interested all year!!!!!! It's not rocket science! Mike Cleff is at WCIA channel 3 in Champaign,Il. and was at the Herald & Review 10 years ago when he drove my car in the Media race! When a friend opened a NASCAR memorabalia store 4 or 5 years ago and I called and asked Mike Cleff to come 60 miles and do a story about an ol racer opening a racing store, what do you think he did? Channel 3 was there, but so was a H&R reporter and it made the channel 3 News and the front page of the paper! That media guy never forgot! Guess who the store owner was? The same guy who owns the National website, do you think he forgot where he came from? I know it's easy to put blame on someone else but why not do some things for the ones we keep expecting to do for us????????????
 
Believe it or not there are newspaper editors and even sports editors that do not like racing.
I own some property in southern Illinois. There happens to be a closed dirt track 14 miles away. I asked the sports editor of a regional newspaper when and why the track closed. He couldn't answer either question. I asked if there had been much local resistance to the track. He did not know. I asked if he or his paper had covered the racing there. He said no. I asked if they covered the racing at Bellville or Mt Vernon. He replied "we cover NASCAR"!!!!! I asked if they considered covering weekly racing at the area tracks and he said no. I asked if he knew the positive impact the area tracks have on the local economy. He said no.

Our local radio station won't cover our local track but several years ago when someone got killed at a track 80 miles away they covered that!

There are many national racing websites. I doubt if any area promoter uses all of them. Most promoters I know only use a few racing sites.

Should advertising be a prerequesite for coverage? Thats debatable. It reminds me of the networks telling NASCAR teams and their sponsors that if they want their cars on TV they have to buy commercial time. They wouldn't even let the announcers say Goodyear unless Goodyear bought commercial time. Advertising costs money. Lots of it. With so many tracks having a tough time financially right now is it reasonable to expect them to spend money on newspaper advertising when that form of advertising in many cases isn't very effective?

Even Howard Teidt (sp), owner of the Santa Fe Speedway in Willow Springs near Chicago couldn't get TV coverage. That track had a huge fan base and incredible impact on the economy, yet no TV coverage, no mention in either of the 2 Chicago papers. He did, after many years of trying, get one of the radio stations to cover his track.

Now back to the original topic.........
Where have the cars gone? The feild of mods is down more than half at one track and there is no indication that most of those cars were racing anywhere else.
Same with the late models at another track.
Are these guys low on money and racing less often? Done for the year?
 
Try it!!!!!!!!!

Call the guy near the closed track and tell him you have it set up for him and some of his newspaper and radio buddies to come to the track and run a race! Tell him in 07 you will have 4 races and the guy who does the best overall will be crowned Champion and will receive a (big) trophy! After you set up the races you can get them to print results, I would bet you can even have a time with a radio show that you call in the results on like Monday morning! I hear alot of people including you saying they wont do this or that, try something that would benefit someone at the station or paper, I think you would be suprised how much you could get if they were invited to take part! Maybe they are not a fan, but who hasnt thought of being a RACECAR DRIVER at some point in there life? Quit saying they won't, they haven't, they didn't!!!!!!! When you can say, "I tried this or that and it didn't work", then I will be more believing of all that cr@p! But I think you can get-r-done!
 
J/SMOOTH-PR said:
Call the guy near the closed track and tell him you have it set up for him and some of his newspaper and radio buddies to come to the track and run a race! Tell him in 07 you will have 4 races and the guy who does the best overall will be crowned Champion and will receive a (big) trophy! After you set up the races you can get them to print results, I would bet you can even have a time with a radio show that you call in the results on like Monday morning! I hear alot of people including you saying they wont do this or that, try something that would benefit someone at the station or paper, I think you would be suprised how much you could get if they were invited to take part! Maybe they are not a fan, but who hasnt thought of being a RACECAR DRIVER at some point in there life? Quit saying they won't, they haven't, they didn't!!!!!!! When you can say, "I tried this or that and it didn't work", then I will be more believing of all that cr@p! But I think you can get-r-done!
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I suggested to a promoter that he have a media night. Besides the obvious benefits of some free publicity for his track it would give many of the radio people a chance to talk about their favorite subject....themselves. Turns out this promoter had media nights in the past. He had a media night planned, called and faxed all the area papers, tv and radio stations......no one responded let alone showed up to participate!

Some areas its all but impossible to get media coverage...........that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. If enough people call their paper or radio station maybe they'll get the hint.
 
POPS.....come on, get it through your head!

Do you really believe for one second 10 people all decided not to show up as a whole. Excuses are like a holes, everyone has one and they all stink! I never said call a pretend promoter and ask him his take, I SAID line it up! I want to see these guys say NO, I dont want to drive someone esle's car that I have no money in nor do I have to work now or ever! Come on! Do you really believe that? REALLY? I find it hard to believe for one minute! I know a radio ad salesperson who doubles as a announcer that has participated in everyone at his home track, but maybe you dont know him! LARRY LIMBACH! CALL HIM, if he says no, I will personally start going door to door and ask myself!
 
years ago when it was affordable,local race tracks advertised on radio.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!!
things have changed a lot since then. there just aint much money in covering local racing. not enough folks into local racing to justify the cost of covering it. sad but true. how many regular nights of racing are SOLD OUT?it stinks but that is the way it is. unless ther is a large contingent listening ,watching ,and reading,they are not gonna begin to care.
until local tracks sell out every night ,with people clamoring to get in ,
they arent gonna care.

little league baseball and intramural ball sports get more coverage.

a whole lot of things will have to change before local racing will get any coverage.
 
I totally disagree!

Why would a reporter go to a little league game? Oh his son or nephew or someone he knows is playing, so in other words he has a vested interest! In Decatur Il. one of the biggest Illini fans of all time is Mark Tupper, he is also the sports editor of the Herald & Review,ie the H&R 100, do you think he would go if he had to pay the regular ticket price on the front row! I really doubt it, but he gets in free, easy to make a big fan if he gets in free, and it's easy for him to put a full story of every Illini win cuz he is after all the editor!

I think promoters should spend a day a week calling every sports person in a 100 mile radius and offer free tickets, and when one shows up, even if he is the editor of a paper with 20 people total circulation, make a BIG DEAL out of em being there! Get a race going for them. get em to sell 50/50, throw the flag for the first feature, or every feature for that matter, interview some drivers, bring the fans down to meet, whatever it takes to make em feel welcome!
 
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