What would you do?

Clay county did it right by fans and awful by racers! $5.00 for any ticket except bigger night and it was $7.00-10.00 then also $ 5.00 track pac at concession , drink , chips and hotdog, cars on front stretch couple times a year,kidz clud 2 cars on front stretch and group pic of all, but when you post pay FOLLOW IT! If you guarentee a guy show money PAY THEM if you have 60 cars in 1 class over the year dont call the guys who supported you all year to find out why low car count,,,,call the guys that only came once or twice and see what there needs are! That gets usable information,,, Fast tow trucks helps too post pay at gate of payoff at 10 cars in class then 11 then 12 and so on.... if you run 12th or worse give a (1) free pitpass instead of $30.00 its same thing and it guarentees they come back and you know theres probably at least 4 pit persons and 4 in stands supporting that car what ever class! also post any results to this or any post on this ,,,It would be nice to see if any promoters really read this or if they really want these opioions at all Thanks Tom filkins 07Crate
 
profab00 said:
a pit reporter for intermission. He would interview a few selected racers and the kids loved it when their hero was talking about a controversial heat race or how he/she expected the feature to go.
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There was a great announcer at Saugus Speedway years ago that would tape record interviews before the races started in the pits. Then during intermission or a long delay (ambulance gone, etc.) he would play the interviews and take a break himself. At many tracks they will interview drivers at intermission on the front straight, good fun, but quite often you have to wait for the driver to show up, or he's busy. (Like waiting for a driver for the flag ceremony.) Plus, some drivers are more likely to open up when talking to a friend with a tape recorder than in front of a crowd.


And before the racing starts you must play on the P.A. Dirt Track Date, by Southern Culture on the Skids, ha!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnmt59VGhC8
 
Lots of great replies and suggestions. All seem to circle on involvement of drivers and getting kids to do some stuff too. I agree 100 percent. Getting the cost of racing cheaper............whole other thread. Promoters or tracks in general cant do much about that unless they go to a local set of rules and dump associations. Thats a big pill to swallow. Should it happen.....my opinion yes. Will it happen? Nope too much sponsorship money involved to make a track least break even with the high inurance rates ect.
 
jdearing said:
If you were in charge of taking care of getting fans in the stands?? Looking for ideas that you have either seen done, and worked or something you would do to get fans in the stands?

Looking for realistic ideas, not free beer, wet t-shirts or anything like that. Lets see the replies roll in.
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I'll chime in with my two cents here.
1) I grew up around the old tracks in Southern California (Ascot, Saugus, Orange Show, etc) that used to allow a driver AND 2 crew members in with the car ( I realize that this takes money from the pit draw, but will put more people in the stands (i.e friends, relation, etc to crew members) not to mention more conssecion sales in the stands and the pits. This will also help teams get more help which is so hard to find these days.

2) We have got to find a way to get more kids involved and interested in racing, without this the sport is doomed. If the kids are interested, the parents will come.

3) Involve the local media. Buddy up with the local personalities, get them interested and involved. Get involved in some charities that they are involved in. They will appreciate the help and take interest in those that help them.

4) Go back to making intermissions entertaining (demo derbys, ride alongs, wheel barrow races etc.) People like Humpy Wheeler filled the stands this way.

5) Queen of Hearts- When you enter the stands (grandstands only) you have an opportunity to buy tickets for a dollar each. You have a board with 52 cards on it, turned face down. You draw a ticket, that person points to a card with a laser pointer. If the card that they pick is the Queen of Hearts, they win 70% of the pot, the other 30% goes to the track (win, win). If no one wins, the tickets are dumped, the pot rolls over to the next week and ticket sales start over. The bigger the pot gets, the more people will show up for a shot at the money. We do this at our local lodge and it is a big money maker. We have people show up that we haven't seen in years.

6) I've got a lot more ideas bouncing around in this thing that I call a brain (scary thought).

Ralph Wiltrout
Sam Racing
 
I agree with one of the posters on here, if the announcer is bad that turns alot of people off. Pevely needs some work here. Run a tight show, if the drivers aren't on the track when they are suppose to be, close the gate and start the race. I try to bring at least one of my boys friends with us each time we come and try to get one of them hooked like we are.
 
I believe tracks need to see the sound system Tri City has. It sure is nice to be in the pits and have someone give updates on what is going on as far as the races go. Who's up next, who's should be at the gate. I thought that was a really good idea, and sure it makes the races go faster even if just by a little bit.
 
Get the local High Schools/Com. College Vocational-Tech classes involved in building/driving Dirt Cars...Rodney Melvin could help set this up,IMO.
 
I also think their are alot of good suggestions and hopefully officials from the local tracks are reading this.. The biggest problem with running late on nights I believe is constantly stopping the races to line everyone up. I believe the racers know who they were following and if they can circle the cars on yellows the racers pretty well will have themselves ready to go for the green. Sometimes I realize when someone is running close at the time of a yellow an official needs to line them up but come on, this is very boring & time consuming to stop the cars during yellow flags all the time and most times the drivers are lined up on the track without the help of officials..I really like the suggestion of having teenagers involved. It would be nice if they could get a couple kids from the high schools around here to compete and maybe let them borrow one of the pro 4 cars to do it. Maybe only do about 5 laps for the race & do this maybe 3 times a year.
 
Just a couple of thoughts from a news / sports reporter's point of view:

1. Get the results and / or story distributed to your media outlets that same night. News has a limited shelf life, and to report on results from more than 24 hours earlier in a regular sports cast is not going to happen in most cases. It might work in a situation where you have a weekly show dedicated to the sport, but if you want your results to wind up on the regular sportscast, the info needs to be there when the reporter walks in the door the next morning.

2. Advertising a race as "$5,000 to win Late Models" is just preaching to the choir. Sure, the hardcore racer and family knows what this means, but the average joe that may be getting pitched the race as a good one to go to has no perspective. Is $5,000 good money? Sure, for the local racer, but if your only point of reference is the pre-race rundown on the Sunday NASCAR race, your point of reference is $1.5-million to win Daytona. Give the fans something to relate to.
 
LOVE the pit area p.a. system at granite city. At pevely especially the speakers are all pointed to the crowd. If you pit on the infield u hear almost nothing. This would help the shows speed up immensely.

Basically tracks should appeal to the fans and more importantly the kids. I grew up at pevely since I was a month old and when they would rain out, BOY I was one unhappy kid. Get the kids in it and they will be in it for life like Mr shaw said.

Media coverage, driver interaction, fan deals and such are great ideas. But most ppl on this site buy a pit pass on race nights. Let's put the promoters on foot patrol. Up in the stands. Asking the smith family what more can be done to enhance their night. Passing out cold water during super hot nights. Put them at the gates asking for suggestions from the fans in the stands.

Ive never been a fan of Don Hoener with allied. But the man is a great promoter and nobody can say different.
Marler used to be. I just don't think.his heart is in the right place anymore. Point is we have good tracks here. But when.you settle for good, you get beat by great.
 
Promoters need to look at Lebanon I-44 Speedway. YES an ASPHALT track. This place reopened up as an asphalt track a couple years ago and had almost zero cars and fanbase. They have come a LONG way in a short amount of time. If an asphalt track can thrive like they do now, maybe the dirt promoters should be asking that guy what to do. Just my opinion
 
MORE RACERS! Racers bring fans, More racers better racing more money. 80% of the fans are related or personally know a racer when going to local racetracks.
 
To be honest posting is a waste of time any more other then making Jimmy D a few dollars, Gundaker does read and reply and he has his cr@p together and dont need any advise on how or what to do since I think he probly the best in the country, Allied/Marler well.....just dont seem to catch on and schrader with his back ground should of been setting the example for the rest to follow but he just could care less and I can see I-55 going down hill each year...it sure isnt the same as it was 15 years ago thats for sure
 
There is no one thing that will automagically add attendance.

A track needs to have an in depth, multi functional marketing plan designed with specific targets and a way to track it's affectiveness. If they can't dollarize how much a certain promotion is worth then it's not worth doing.

A good start would be to identify who you are looking to attract. Everyone is not a good answer. Maybe break it into current race fans and new race fans and design a marketing plan for each. We all know it will take entirely different promotions to bring each to the track.

That would be a good start.
 
rvincent21 said:
LOVE the pit area p.a. system at granite city. At pevely especially the speakers are all pointed to the crowd. If you pit on the infield u hear almost nothing. This would help the shows speed up immensely.

Basically tracks should appeal to the fans and more importantly the kids. I grew up at pevely since I was a month old and when they would rain out, BOY I was one unhappy kid. Get the kids in it and they will be in it for life like Mr shaw said.

Media coverage, driver interaction, fan deals and such are great ideas. But most ppl on this site buy a pit pass on race nights. Let's put the promoters on foot patrol. Up in the stands. Asking the smith family what more can be done to enhance their night. Passing out cold water during super hot nights. Put them at the gates asking for suggestions from the fans in the stands.

Ive never been a fan of Don Hoener with allied. But the man is a great promoter and nobody can say different.
Marler used to be. I just don't think.his heart is in the right place anymore. Point is we have good tracks here. But when.you settle for good, you get beat by great.
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Very well said!!
 
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