stop the bad news already!

[lynchmobb]

how depressing..... Little Valley & Englishtown not racing. Cutbacks at Spencer, Chemung & Holland. All tracks I have been to in the past. Looks like there will be more travelling in my future!

[cwm]

 The huge money it takes to field  dirt super lates, asphalt late models or tour type asphalt modifieds is tough on the sport. We may need more IMCA style cars to keep the speedways going.

[Modules]

God I hope more IMCA cars is not the answer.  IMCA = I Must Crash A lot.

[112SMW]

God I hope more IMCA cars is not the answer.  IMCA = I Must Crash A lot.

There is no doubt about that...They do like to crash!!!

[leadfoot4]

The huge money it takes to field  dirt super lates, asphalt late models or tour type asphalt modifieds is tough on the sport. We may need more IMCA style cars to keep the speedways going.

While I certainly wouldn't be enthralled by watching an IMCA race, I certainly do agree that the cost of fielding a competitive modified, is no longer a possibility for many teams.

[oneill71mod]

Maybe it’s time greedy track owners and useless promoters take notice...stop raising back gate fees,mandatory full purchases and pit pad rentals... promote and sell your product to sponsors..stop trying to fund your race tracks on the Racers backs!!! Oswego sells probably the most advertising,just look at the all the paid billboards and signs over a hundred businesses.. that’s promoting! Also all kids under 16 should be admitted free.. don’t support greedy track owners or promoters..

[canadianfan]

McKean County PA too

[raceannouncer]

Maybe it’s time greedy track owners and useless promoters take notice...stop raising back gate fees,mandatory full purchases and pit pad rentals... promote and sell your product to sponsors..stop trying to fund your race tracks on the Racers backs!!! Oswego sells probably the most advertising,just look at the all the paid billboards and signs over a hundred businesses.. that’s promoting! Also all kids under 16 should be admitted free.. don’t support greedy track owners or promoters..

Sean:  It seems to me that the bulk of your post may have the potential of being a long-term solution but the last sentence containing the words: "don't support" doesn't address anything that presently exists!  Instead, it helps further their quick demise.  Just as with any other major problem, these issues didn't happen overnight!  Any quick solution will only address the symptoms, not the bigger problem(s).

Presently, I don't own/promote any racing facility--never have, never will...In my opinion, the existence of any track is NOT guaranteed.  They must be run as a business.  They are not like slot-car sets in the attic (or a video game) to play with every time someone feels like it. There is no power switch or reset button! There's only two ways a business turns a profit and remains successful.  Either reduce expenses or increase income! But a delicate balance of those is required.  Contrary to popular opinion, any business owner turning a profit is NOT necessarily a bad thing!  It's a reward for their investment of both time and money that makes for anything to exist.

All those interested in any type of racing facility should be wary of any track closure or schedule cutback(s)! It's of huge concern, for as more local tracks close, replacing them with another one is next to impossible, given the atmospheric-like expenses of such a venture, not to mention the legal requirements of governmental and environmental hurdles needed to overcome for a project to move forward.

Again, all this is only my opinion--yours may vary.  But I believe we can all agree that racing, at any level, is in dire straits.  I also don't believe there exists a quick solution to satisfy fans, racers or owners--all at the same time.  It's a bitter pill to swallow!

[moselli]

Most of what I have to say is related to short track Asphalt racing but it likely also reflective of racing in general. As background, I became involved in racing back in the late 1960's with Modifieds at Shangri La in Owego, NewYork.  We had no sponsors.  We built our own cars and had "Fun." 

We raced for several seasons.  Our goal was not to beat Richie Evans, but to qualify for the feature through the Consi.  16 car Consi's were normal with 24 - 26 car feature races. In spite of being an also ran, at the end of the 1970 season, not putting a dollar value on our time, we came close to breaking even for cost of racing.  We had "Fun."

Then technology came into the picture.  We no longer could go to the junkyard and get "racing" parts.  Tires were expensive and only lasted a few races.  Everything became more expensive.  At the end of the next season, we were way below breaking even.  We weren't having as much "Fun."

The choice was made for us.  We could no longer afford to race.  We sold the car and all of the equipment, stopped going to races and found new hobbies. We had a fair size group of family and friends that followed us and attended the races every Saturday night at Shangri La.  I'll use the number of people as about 25. They stopped attending the races on a regular basis. The track had one less car and fewer paid fans.

When I hear someone say they are no longer having "Fun" with racing, it immediately translates that they can no longer afford to race.  In my opinion, there is no amount of promotion by a track owner that is going to change the cost of racing today without changing the cost to field a racecar.  Lack of cars is directly proportional to lack of fans in the seats.

I don't know the circumstances with the cutbacks at Spencer, Holland and Chemung, but I suspect that it's related to the fundamental business model that there needs to be a profit on the investment in the track or you're better off putting that money in the bank and earn guaranteed interest returns. 

I'm not optimistic that there is a quick solution to the dilemma these local short tracks are faced with.  It's hard to put Pandora back in the box.

My last point.  If someone wanted to come up with something to help speed the demise of racing, Social Media is the perfect medium to do this and it appears to working to perfection.   I'll leave it there....

Moselli

 

[leadfoot4]

"Moselli", you hit the nail squarely on the head!!

I, too, sat in the stands for MANY years, wishing I was out on the track. Then an opportunity to actually get on the track, presented itself. I, as well as two brothers who were friends of mine, decided to pool our resources, and give it a go. Bottom line, we did what we could, and soon realized that A) it's NOWHERE as easy as it looks, and B) it's far more expensive that we thought, which really pulled the rug out from underneath our feet.  But that's my point....when 3 working guys with decent jobs, can't field a race car without going broke, then the sport is definitely in trouble.

And when the long time fans, who are used to the excitement of seeing 30 modifieds vying for the 24 starting spots in the feature, go out to the track today, and see that there are now 10-12 modifieds IN TOTAL, it isn't exactly a real incentive to return to the track. And that's how the downward spiral began.....

[uticamike]

and see that there are now 10-12 modifieds IN TOTAL,

Not at Tri-track events. Why? (ask yourself)

[longislandmodmaniac]

and trust me. it isn't easy to get cars to sign up for a Tri Track race either, even thought it's usually 1000 to take the green, and we offer good tow money to non qualifiers.  And the only reason we can pay out that money is that we don't take a dime from all the sponsor money we raise. .But getting the sponsor money isn't an easy task either..

[uticamike]

The future is/was going to be here for a long time. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBErReK9vso

[Hollandracer83]

the future of racing will be no more weekly classes and between 1 to 3 races a year at the tracks. Big races like what Jukasa is doing or Lake Erie. Last year I went to big races US Open, ROC at Erie and Jukasa Late Model event as weekly racing is like why bother due to car count and not to mention I can watch racing on youtube for free with in car cameras and people recording from the stands or pits.

If I were a track owner I would make the drivers sign a consent not to release their in car cameras feeds on social media until after the season.

[leadfoot4]

The future is/was going to be here for a long time. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBErReK9vso

That was an interesting video, especially the final comments, where Jim Shampine said that as the number of race cars drops off, the number of fans drops off. That appears to have been very prophetic. It's also a little ironic, as I believe the first discussion I participated in, on this site, WAY back when, was about the ever increasing cost of racing.