This message was edited on
December 21, 2012 at
12:56:24 AM by Dogwater
I have lived and attended races in the state of Oklahoma almost my
entire life. I love and miss dirt track racing in Oklahoma; the tracks,
the fans, and drivers. I recently moved to Louisville, KY. If you
haven't been to the races in this area (KY, OH, IN)... let
me tell you, its a whole different animal. Car counts and fan counts are
healthy (although they are down from past years like everywhere else in the country). They
run their programs differently over this way, and seem to take Friday
and Saturday nights at the dirt tracks a bit more serious.
As others have said promotion is huge! Others have come up with some great
suggestions on how to do this and I am sure I could come up with a few myself. However, I think the biggest issues facing tracks, when it comes to
fans, is the way the racing programs are run. I've come up with a few
suggestions (some others have already touched on) that I have gleaned from observing successful tracks and also a few things I thought I'd share from over this way. It never hurts to learn from others who are having success, right?
1.) The first one, and this is a biggie... START ON TIME. This doesn't mean start packing the track or start the drivers meeting. This means having the first heat lined up and ready to go. Just about every track over this way starts on time, even the smaller productions. Most of them also don't require the racers to pack, they have equipment and do it themselves. The track is packed and ready to go on time. How many other entertainment choices that people go to start 30 minutes to 2 hours later than the posted start time? I sure can't think of any. I have been to a few tracks that have started so late that I have seen people get up and leave before the the first heat race even pulled out on the track. Do you think they will ever return? I highly doubt it.That should NEVER happen.
2.) If you MUST have an intermission make it no longer than 15 minutes. Fans didn't come and pay money to sit around and listen to music over the PA or the announcer ramble on for half an hour to an hour. 15 minutes should be plenty of time to go to the restrooms and the concession stands. If 15 minutes is not enough time then you may need to take a look at your facilities. Are your restrooms adequate? Are your concession stands under staffed? Is your track crew sufficient?
3.) Don't waste time and strive to get the program over by 10pm... 11pm at the latest. You're not stretching our entertainment dollar by piddling around and running 3 car heat races; you're wasting our time and patience. Have no more pace laps than absolutely necessary before starting the race, and do your best to limit them on cautions as well. If you don't have transponders and Raceivers do yourself, your fans, and your racers a favor and invest in them. Also, please keep in mind that dirt track racing is not like going to the movies where you can usually find a movie theater within a 20 min radius of your area. There are fans and racers that drive an hour to two hours to attend your show. The earlier you get them out the more they appreciate it. No one enjoys a show getting over at 1:30am and THEN having to drive two hours to arrive home at 3:30am. The earlier you get done the further people may consider driving to attend your show.
4.) Have reasonable concession prices with a wide variety. Tracks over this way serve pizza, hamburgers, hotdogs, tacos, nachos, Frito chili pie, funnel cakes, fried Twinkies (though I imagine that will no longer be on the menu), fried snickers, sno cones, ice cream. You name it. They also carry ear plugs, dust glasses,Tylenol, Pepto bismol. Its pretty simple, if you have good items at a reasonable price people will buy them. The more variety and the more "useful" items you have the more people it will appeal to.
5.) This next one is a big one for the women. Have clean and respectable restrooms. They don't have to be fancy, just make sure they are clean and stocked with paper towels and toilet paper.
6.) More classes do not necessarily equal more or better entertainment. I rather see three classes of 20 cars than six classes with 10 cars. I think a lot of fans would likely agree.
7.) Maintain and have pride in your track. Make sure the grass and infield are mowed, the place is clean, and the trash cans are empty before the gates open. Again, like the restrooms, your track doesn't have to be fancy but take pride and do the best with what you have. It DOES matter and it does make a difference.
8.) Run classes in reverse order. Start with the headliners and work your way down to the entry level classes. This is something most track over this way do and I LOVE it. It allows for the majority of the fans to see what they have come to see (late models -or- wingless sprints) without having to wait for every other class to run first. They then can make the decision, based upon their personal circumstances, whether they wish to stay and for how long. It also helps with parking congestion because as the features trickle down so does the crowd. An additional bonus is that it allows those who have traveled a bit further to get out of there earlier and get home at a decent hour.
9.) Find and pay for a good announcer! One of the things that has amazed me about racing over this way is the announcing. Its excellent! Even the smaller tracks have great announcers. They are professional, stick to the program (they don't ramble about nonsense unrelated to the program), know whats going on, know the drivers and their histories. The announcing is more akin to what you would experience at other sporting events (think professional and college football/basketball).
10) When weather is threatening, do everything you can to get the show in AND finished. If things don't work out and you have to cancel make sure you offer rain checks. These two things will go a long way with both fans and drivers and they will be more likely to make the trip when the weather is iffy. There is a track around this area (Florence Speedway) that does this and when the weather threatens, their car counts and fan counts don't take near the hit that other tracks do because they have a reputation of doing everything in their power to get the show in.
In closing if you ever get the chance and are over this way, check out a dirt track race. Here are a few tracks I would recommend;
Florence Speedway, Florence, KY - www.florencespeedway.com (My wife and I's personal favorite track. However, all of these are excellent!)
Lawrenceburg Speedway, Lawrenceburg, IN - www.lawrenceburgspeedway.com
Brownstown Speedway, Brownstown, IN - www.brownstownspeedway.com
Tri-State Speedway, Haubstadt, IN - www.tristatespeedway.com
Bloomington Speedway, Bloomington, IN - www.bloomingtonspeedway.com
I like dirt!
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