Forum: Oklahomatidbits.com General Forum (go)
Moderators:  /  David Smith Jr

I cant belive it is so hard to figure out ,racers have alot of expenses to show up and race.I see these promoters paying for these big payout shows to come race at there tracks but there weekly race car counts are dropping off.Track owners need to up the pay to Modifides 1000,Sprint cars 1000,Pro street 600,Limited modfides600, and whatever else they run to get the race cars back and with these payouts known guys will want to build a race car.Then what happens more race cars start to show up,word gets out to the public and then guess what you get a audience.Pay that big money your paying out for these big money shows towards having big weekly racing towards your local racers.Thats my 2 cents.

Doesn't add up for the promoters. Yes, the payout for each division hasn't increased and the cost to race has skyrocketed. However, attendance at tracks is not what it once was and tracks are struggling to make it even with what they have now.

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

If you are racing locally for any other reason than personal enjoyment, then you are doing it for the wrong reason. I am pretty sure that anyone who gets into racing knows that it is expensive and if you need the extra 3 to 4 hundred dollars just to keep your deal going then it may be time to come to the stands. Don't mean to offend anyone, I'm just saying its expensive, this is no new news.

"They're steering them sum bi***es with their right 
foot!"

Im saying these track owners spend money where they shouldnt.If they are able to bring in a big modifide race or late model race or sprint car race and that tracks car count is down there priorities are not in the right direction ,alot that money thru out 6 months of racing for more pay to get more cars weekly.The more cars = more spectators=more money and for a racer like myself who has to travel now and when i here this race track is gonna be paying lets say 1000 to win every week and i am 100 miles away that gives me all the more to be able to show up,and when fans of racing here about that there gonna come out and check it out.

but isnt racing, at the local level, a hobby?

"its useless to put on the brakes when you are upside 
down"   -Paul Newman

I thought so to 1i and I never made any money even when I won a Champ Sprint features the last several years, it just gave me a little loot to get home and MAYBE buy an oil change and some fuel for the next go around and a dinky trophy and hell at least it made 2 things big, my EGO as well as my ????,cause that's all winnin will do for ya in today's racin. Kind of just how I see it.

J.D.

Unfortunately JD is right and so is David, tracks are struggling and costs are crazy. In 1995 i won the last feature of the year at Tulsa and it paid 1000.00, that was sixteen years ago and i had half as much in my motor as i do now. I`ve got plenty of pay stubs from the mid nineties that show 5th 6th 7th paid more than it does now to run 2nd! The pay, the general atmosphere, the fun, none of it is what it used to be. It just is what it is.

Modracer, you are right. It was tough. It was an accomplishment to just make the A. If you could somehow come away with an A feature win, you could be proud. Now, if you win the A, you have beaten about 8 cars. Whoopee.

You guys know where I'm going with this. Too many classes. It's basic math. The more classes you have, the less each class gets.

I don't think the purse was ever intended to subsidize people who don't finish up front. It is a hobby.

I do remember when some Street Stock guys tried to convince me that Goldsby was a better track because they paid a dollar a point and SFS only paid $0.25. What they wouldn't understand was that Goldsby paid $30 to win the A and SFS paid $37.50. Enough to feed the whole family at Shotgun Sam's.

Tim speaks wise, why do you think ASCS National Sprint Car Tour just lowered their purse and tow money amount for race tracks, trying to get more race tracks to book a show ,seems to have worked as they went from around 40 shows last year to nearly 70 shows this upcoming season, see a lot of unhappy folks with it and ripping them to shreds on Hoseheads Board saying lower purses ruin the deal and all that and so on , seems like a pretty simple answer/equation to me in this day and time , very few race tracks to run at for ASCS ,means very few races for their Series and very few races ,means you will lose cars to other series and or they will just sell out and go do something else.

If you want to keep racing today and have race tracks to run at, you race for what they offer and that is the bottom line , you may not like it ,but if there is not a race track to run at then what's the point of having a race car.

I bet in the past 2-3 yrs. there has been as more tracks that have either changed owners and some mulitple times or have closed down and reopened under new ownership or have just shut down completely than there have tracks that have remained under same owner and run continuously.

Same owner ran continuously:

Lawton/Ada/BMS,Port City Raceway (Mini Sprints) (Maybe Mid America??????)

Switched owners and reopened or just shut down completely:

West Siloam Springs, Caney, Enid ,Clinton,Elk City,Ft. Cobb (Mini Sprint Track), Will Rogers Raceway (Mini Sprint),Lake Country Speedway , Beaver Raceway, Tri State, Outlaw Motor Speedway, Creek County, I-44 Speedway (Mini Sprint), Thunderbird Speedway and last but not least shut down by politics and money State Fair Speedway.

So that is 4 tracks ran by same promoter and ran continuously for the past 2-3 yrs. One not quite sure of but I bet someone could tell us.

14 tracks in the state that have either changed hands , closed down and reopened under new mgmt. or just shut down for good.

You can rip away all you want at my statement, I have learned over the past several years or so that I race for my ego and a woody and dam sure not for the money, hell I maybe done in the future and cannot afford it , who knows?? but in the meantime I just hope we continue to have some tracks to run at in the future as the stat above sure does not give a lot of hope for that.

J.D.

Jd, I agree with you 100%.

No disrespect to the OP but I always find it amazing that people come to a message board and claim throwing more money at a purse will cure all. A track is a business just like Burger King and McDonald's. I am sure track some promoters would love to have a field of 25 to 30 cars a week but they also have to protect their bottom line. It does not help matters when costs of everything from drink cups to a box a candy bars have gone up in price.

Racing as a whole as become part of the entertainment dollar. We on this board do not see it that way because it is part of our life. However, to the "casual" fan it ranks right up there with football, basketball and whatever else is going on that weekend. In order for a track to draw in this "casual" fan it takes money. Money for advertising and what not.

Jd was talking about tracks. Numerous tracks around this country have gone to special only races because the weekly racing was costing to much to put on. The State of Oklahoma is in dire straits as far as racing goes. I will go out on a limb here and say within the next ten years there might be enough tracks to count on one hand.

As far as racers go this is like a drug to us. We have to get our fix somehow. However, that fix has gotten crazy in prices. Just like Tim said a few years ago his motors were half of what they are and the purses have not increased. If we look at the whole structure of the deal we would go WTH are we doing.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands 
in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he 
stands at times of challenge and controversy." 
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Erich Petersen 

Why don't we just pay a $200 entry fee at all events and race for trophys. That would cure all the promotor's problem's according to you all.

The thing is, most of the people replying to this post have been drivers/car owners forever and have won races and know of what they speak. For that, I listen as they know of what they post.

Modracer2012 and Spivey, I actually miss those 60 plus factory stock days at Fairgrounds Speedway. Those were good times and good car counts all the way around - even in the pro stock division. And that wasn't just limited to Fairgrounds Speedway but Elk City as well.

The reason to bring in a modified or late model special is to get new fans to the track and to treat your loyal fan base to something different. Yes you could put that sanctioning purse into your local divisions but how will you explain to the fans the reason why the front gate went up a couple of dollars when you would get to see the same ole as you always do.

Not only is this sport hurting as far as tracks and racers but your common race fan too. They are choosing what they want to go see and more times than not they are special events or one of those "free" nights for different towns/counties.

Personally, I try to attend at least one race at each track in this state and if they hold a USMTS or MARS or ASCS or big paying special then I am there. More times than not you will see the state racers show up because it is something special.

I am hearing more and more that drivers running for track championships are less and less.

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

I have been involve in racing for 50 years of my 58 , so i know how the story goes

If I wanted to race I sure would, hell you pay that and more just to get into the track to race today with $30 Pit Passes and it sure has not seemed to turn around that ratio of track closings vs. tracks staying open and has not cured the promoters problems.

This is great, were trying to justify making money racing locally, just like all the local metro area golfers,fisherman and hunters are all making a living at their sport to.

J.D.

You were not talking locally when mention cutting the purse for ASCS nat'l tour

Ok to clear this up or get my point across back when the supermodifides,and now shortened wheelbase sprinters raced on the 1/2 mile and then down to 3/8 look at how many would travel from kansas,texas,and outher areas of the state to race for 1000 dollars it meant big turnout of cars every week,do you think there would have been that many owners,drivers come to race for 500 dollars i bet not.Racing is a hobby but it is also competition.

Once again , no race tracks to race at then no racing. does not matter if it is WoO,ASCS,USTMS,NCRA,MARS,WoOLM, and or all the weekly racing at tracks in Okla. or wherever.

J.D.

You can not compare yesterday with today. It does not work. Everything has gotten more expensive.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands 
in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he 
stands at times of challenge and controversy." 
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Erich Petersen