Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Our family attends the knoxville races nearly every week and has been for many years.  We believe that the new fee for parking is upsetting because its just another thing that makes it harder to afford to take your family to the races.  Last year the yearly camping fee at the North Campground went up $100 from $500 to $600.  Now this year we have to pay for parking and beer prices went up .50 per can.  When will the increases end?  When people cant afford to attend anymore?  They just got a 2 million dollar grant.  Are all these increases really nescessary???

It does no good to bitch.  I bitch about having to pay full price for a piece of shit preseason game with my Packer season tickets, and I always hear, There are plenty of people that don't have them, someone will buy them.  I hear ya though, it sucks

You said you HAVE TO PAY for parking!? I didn't. Lots of free parking outside turn 3 on the fairgrounds. If you want to park in the pay area buy a couple fewer beers and the $5 should be off set.  As for the increase in the price of beer, have you been to a grocery store lately? Prices on everything are going up. 

Holy smokes an obvious, intelligent response/post on hoseheads..!

305's are the herpes of sprint cars

That's what I'm talking about! It's everything as a whole trying to squeeze the turnip dry! Seems petty to bitch about but it all adds up and us common working stiffs with mortgages, bills and mouths to feed are finding it harder to make it to the races as often. Knoxville became legendary for its racing and prestige and I miss the way it was when I very first started going there before all the sky boxes, new ticket building, checkered flag sidewalks, waste of money teleprompter, brand new pace trucks, and now another new building going up in turn 1 for what reason I don't understand because the Nationals have not been sold out for some time now!! All things that prompt rising costs and additional costs to the little guy that probably can't afford to go to the races but goes anyway to fullfill his passion for racing. 

They dont pay for the pace truck, Pella Motors gives that to them. Do you actually park where they are charging? Park in a new spot. Bitch and Moan, my gosh. Give it up, not going to help anything. Where else are you gonna see that many quality sprint cars for 15 bucks. Exercise does a body good, park in a new spot and get over it.

The biggest waste of money they spent was for the HORRIBLE scoreboard they have.  IF you have a high dollar pair of binoculars you might be able to make out what they are showing.

They didn't get a $2 million grant.  They got a sales tax rebate UP TO $2 million over 10 years (that's a MAXIMUM dollar figure and they only get that amount if they spend $8 million on their expansion project and their sales tax over those 10 years adds up to that dollar figure.

As far as increases go how is it any different than anything else?  Gasoline is still going up and is projected to be $4 or more a gallon again this summer (even though oil prices are down and supplies are up).  Groceries continue to get more expensive.

Our lawmakers (both state and federal) want to increase the minimum wage (which is what most employees at racetracks are making BTW) to $10.10 an hour (from $7 ish).  If they get this done look for EVERYTHING at pretty much EVERY TYPE OF BUSINESS to increase costs to the consumer.

No one is forcing anyone to pay to park, park farther away on the street for FREE or park in turn 3 for FREE.

Camping?  $600 for April through September seems pretty cheap compared to camping anywhere else.  Corps of Engineers Campgrounds are $15 per night (you leave your camper, you still pay for hte spot even though you are only there on the weekends).  To camp in one of those you'd be looking at $2325.00 in camping fees and you'd be REQUIRED to move your camper every 2 weeks and you have to leave the campground for a minimum of 1 week every month (and can't camp in any of their other campgrounds either -- they changed this to keep people from "living" in the campgrounds during the summer months).

Am I saying that it's not harder to bring your family to the races?  No, I agree it is harder.  But take advantage of the programs they set up (the 9 race punch cards, the 2 for $20 adult tickets with a Casey's receipt of $50 or more (it doesn't have to be all fuel, just $50 purchase the week of the race), the discounts for those age 60 and above or military (they tweeted this out, I don't remember what the discount $ amount was), the discounts for select companies employees (basically the companies that had someone contact the Raceway about it-- Pella Corporation and Nationwide Insurance are 2 that I know of).  Plus the FREE Kid's Nights (they didn't exist 2 years ago and there are 4 of them this season).

So beer went up to $3.50 a can?  Still cheap when you compare to other venues that they are competing against for fans (Iowa Speedway, Wells Fargo Arena, Principal Park, etc.).  Heck, it was  $4 for a 20 oz bottle of WATER @ Wells Fargo Arena last Friday Night @ the George Strait concert (and beer was $8 a can).

I agree on the beer prices.  You go to a Bar and pay 3.25, 3.50, and a football game is at least 7, 8 bucks.  I will never complain about beer prices with this comparison.

Vande,,were did you come up with $2325.00 to camp vs 600 at Knoxville????

April 19th through September 30th is 155 days/nights. 

The Raceway is charging $600 for the season (per the original poster above). which lasts April 19th through September 30th).

The Corp of Engineer campgrounds (as well as Marion County Park for that matter) charge $15 per night.  Multiply x 155 days and you get $2325.00.  The Corp doesn't care if your camper is EMPTY all week and only used Friday and Saturday Night either, you pay for the camper being in the spot.

When you actually COMPARE what it would cost to put your camper elsewhere it's amazing how cheap it is.  Corp of Engineers won't let you leave your camper in one spot for the season, they would make you move it every 2 weeks and they instituted a rule that you can't camp "non-stop" at their campgrounds, you have to have 1 week a month when you aren't there (and neither is your camper).

We get three night a week not 7. If you want to stay an extra night 25.00

First off, you don't HAVE to pay to park. Plenty of FREE parking. Complaining about Knoxville beer prices is a laughing matter all by itself. What do you pay for a beer at a bar? Anywhere from $2.75-$4.00? How about that watered down $7-$8 tap beer at most sporting events?

You people complaining about going to Knoxville weekley are like the spoiled little rich kid down the block pissing and moaning because he doesn't have the latest video game!! Let me give you a taste of my home track. This is not a bash at this track at all, but just a comparison to what the majority of us race fans have every week.

$12 ticket price for 7 classes of door bangers with the 12-15 A mods they get being the highlighted class. $3.50 a beer or $20 for a 6 pack ($3.33 a beer). Last Saturday Knoxville had 83 SPRINT CARS in the pits!!! If Knoxville was half the distance it was from me I would gladly pay $3 more to get in, another whopping 17 cents more a beer (if you get a 6 pack), plus gas to see 83 sprint cars!!

Unfortunately Knoxville is 6 hours away and I have to settle on the 7 classes of door bangers if I want my racing fix for the week.

But you get to LEAVE your camper there.  The others don't let you LEAVE your camper there, they charge you for the camper being in the spot, not the days YOU are there.

You are still trying to say that they are overcharging you (even though you don't have to take your camper home every week, bring it back and re-set everything up every weekend).

You are getting off cheap to STORE your camper at the campground during the race season.  What would it cost you to pick it up every Sunday and drive it back home and then bring it back again on Thursday or Friday?

If you are like a majority, you aren't bringing your pick-up to the races every weekend as you have a car that get's better mileage (you stated in a previous thread that you don't spend $50 on gas every week because you have a Honda that gets 40mpg).  If you had to haul your camper to the track every weekend I'm sure you'd be spending that $50 on gas because your Honda can't pull your camper and you could buy discounted tickets instead.

So, using your #'s, you get 3 nights a week X 21 race weekends for camping (I'm just gonna go with that and not say you get to stay the entire 10 days of Nationals) - that's still only $9.52 per night which is $5 less PER NIGHT than every other campground in Marion County.  Is the campground as "nice" as the others in Marion County?  No, but it's cheaper and like the old saying goes:  "You get what you pay for".

Per the Raceway's website you can also pay to camp the entire season ($600) and stay all week for $250 more per month.

So, if you want to compare apples to apples, it'd still be cheaper than the Corp of Engineers campground as it only adds up to $2100 if you stayed the entire month EVERY MONTH April thru September (and that's the entire month of April, Take April away and alltogether and it's probably closer to $1850 compared to $2190 (adjusted to take all days in April away).

Yet, people were praising it when it was installed becuase it was so much better than the previous one and NO OTHER TRACK even had one....

Technology moves at a pace so fast that everything is dated the day it's purchased.

heck, just look at TV's.  A new one today looks WAYYYY better than one that's only a year old, same goes for phones, computers, you name it...

Where did I say they were overcharging us??? I just ask where you came up with your numbers

Isn't that the topic of the whole string??  Nickel and diming everyone?

I guess my point is/was that if everyone steps back and looks at the alternatives they'd see how much less it costs them to attend Knoxville than it does to do things elsewhere.  Yet, Knoxville Raceway as a business isn't getting their electric, water or anything else any cheaper than any of those venues (so their costs are essentially the same PLUS they pay out the purse to the racers (I-Cubs the payroll for the team (players) is paid for by Chicago for example, as are the Iowa Wild players (Minnesota) and the D-League Energy Players (by one of the multiple affiliates).  yet tickets to those aren't any cheaper (and in some cases more expensive.

Camping, tickets, concessions, you name it, it's 99% of the time cheaper than every other venue in the state (outside of tickets to I-Cubs games that are $8 but hotdogs are $7 there so they make up for letting you in cheap by raking you over the coals at the concession and beer lines).

I'll address some of these since I'm from Knoxville.

Checkered flag sidewalk across Highway 14 -- paid for by the CITY of Knoxville, not the Racetrack

Pace Trucks - supplied by Pella Motors (as are a lot of the equipment for track maintenance by other sponsors)

Suites -- A revenue stream (they are always full and it costs 3x as much to sit up there as it does in teh stands.  so, without people up there, it'd cost EVEN MORE to go to the races and sit in the stands).

Some other things that people don't think of.

Cell tower - the Raceway/Fairgrounds get PAID by US Cellular for that tower to be there (which helps offset costs as well)

Sponsors -- How many other tracks go out and find Major Sponsors (Lucas Oil, FVP, Iowa Corn Growers, Iowa Soybean Association, Arnold Motor Supply, RacingJunk.com) that have no presence in the immediate area?  FVP is a prime example, no location here or within 100+ miles, yet they pony up big $$'s to support our track)  Take those sponsors away and we might as well be The Iowa State Fairgrounds (huge grandstands, small group of racers and VERY FEW people in the stands (for the record, I hope Tony Moro and his group can turn that track around or I'm afraid it won't be around 5 years from now).

Does it cost more than it used to? Of course it does. But when I was a kid (30 years ago, it cost $8 for adults and $2 for kids 12 and under for weekly races.  Today it costs $15 for adults (unless you use one of the multiple ways to get a discounted ticket for $10) and $4 for kids 12 and under and they added a teen price of $8 instead of charging them as adults.

If the cost of living increased 2.5% every year for the last 30 years, and they raised ticket prices YEARLY instead of waiting until they have no choice like they've done forever, tickets would be $16.37 for adults today (and Outlaw tickets that were $18 GA back then would be $36.83 today (instead they are $30)).  Unfortunately, we all know that the Cost of Living has gone up way more than 2.5% yearly.

Heck, minimum wage was $2.25 back then and if they only increased it 2.5% per year (Cost of Living) it should only be $4.60 per hour today, yet it's $7+ and they want to raise it to $10.10.

Here is what I asked

Vande,,were did you come up with $2325.00 to camp vs 600 at Knoxville????

Was there someting written there I can find??? You can defend Knoxville all you want to ,but I must say,,it is fun getting you all cranked up.

You need to relax before you give your fingers a heart attack