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

So Knoxville and Jackson are the only two tracks that constitute the "Upper Midwest"?

Other than Grand Forks,  name another track that runs a weekly 410 show...so yup plus shake n' bake your so easy hear kitty kitty!!!

Other than Grand Forks,  name another track that runs a weekly 410 show...so yup plus shake n' bake your so easy, you take it every time! 

So a regional series like the IRA or MOWA that consistently bring over 20 cars to every track they visit count for nothing?

I personally think things were better for sprint car racing as a whole when Husets ran Sunday night. 

I miss the Sunday nights, too, and I'm two hours away. Maybe we'll get the opportunity to enjoy Sunday night sprint car racing at Huset's, again.  Many of us didn't agree that Chuck had it going in the right direction though. A lot of us thought that he would take it to where it is. And as for the many that stated "we" were "jealous" or whatever for thinking that way, I doubt any of us fans rejoice in being right! The tradition of Huset's and the continuation of Huset's is still what is hoped for.

Agreed! IRA consistently pulling around 30 cars at each race. 

Follow me on the social medias! ; twitter - 
larryitis   Facebook - Michael Collins 

I must be out of the loop. Refresh my memory on what Chuck was doing for sprint cars in the upper Midwest. 

While I appreciate that Chuck put $$ into the facility at Brandon, IMO he didn't help racing in the upper midwest.

From what I've seen, car counts are pretty steady with what they were last year with a few teams that folded up or are taking a year off.  It's the travelers that stopped in that are no longer in the area this year.  Aaron Reutzel ran Huset's quite a bit last summer (on the ASCS National Tour this year), the BDS car ran Huset's (on the ASCS National Tour),  Bronson Maeschen either sold out or is taking time off, teh Keneric Racing Team folded, other teams consolidated (The 7k car consolidated with Dustin Selvage for example).

The big teams that are racing in the midwest:  Brian Brown, Terry McCarl, Ian Madsen, Kerry Madsen, Tim Kaeding, Lyntton Jeffrey, Brooke Tatnell and others can win just about anywhere in the country (and most of these guys have).  Had Huset's ran on Sunday nights this season, my guess is that a majority (not all) of these teams would have supported them on Sunday.

The teams that can afford to travel are still traveling, the teams that can't afford to travel are racing locally (just like they always have), the difference is that those located in South Dakota are now racing at Grand Forks, Jackson or Park Jefferson weekly.

I think that someday Chuck will sell Huset's (my guess is hte selling price will end up being closer to $1mil) and someone will make it a weekly track again.  Hopefully it's sooner rather than later.

"I think that someday Chuck will sell Huset's (my guess is hte selling price will end up being closer to $1million and someone will make it a weekly track again. Hopefully it's sooner rather than later".

I highly doubt that Brennan will sell for $1 million.  Remember he bought Huset’s from the previous owners for $1.4 million.  And has probably added another $1-2 million fixing up the facility. He’ll probably end up breaking even out of the whole deal.

And as long as he’s making his millions with his 70+ Dollar Loan Centers that Brennan still owns, I highly doubt that he will not reduce the price of the speedway anytime soon.  Just like his other properties that he owns in Sioux Falls.

I've never been to the track, but it's on my bucket list of tracks to go to. Good he put some money into the facility, but yeah I agree pissing on Knoxville was a bad idea. Instead of working against them I would have liked to have seen a combined point fund between the three tracks and work together. Jackson on Friday, Knoxville Saturday and Badlands on Sundat and see what would have happened. Hopefully someone buys it and gets weekly racing going there again.   

IMO, he overpaid when he bought then.

Even at $1mil, it'd be really tough for someone to break even financially year to year just due to hte limited number of dates where you can bring in revenue.

I don't see anyone ever paying close to the price he has on it currently (for perspective, when NASCAR purchased Iowa Speedway a few years back, the rumored selling price was below $10mil for a track that cost over $20mil to build according to the previous owners).  Even the new "improved" Huset's isn't even close to the facility that Iowa Speedway is.

Everyone in every business battles social media (including other racetracks), using it as an excuse to close is just that, an excuse.  There are many businesses out there with negative Social Media affecting them, but they put in the time and effort to make their business better instead of complaining about it.

We live in a world of Social Media, it's how you react to it that will make or break your business.

The track will likely sell for between $2-3 million---and it will likely be to someone who does not have to borrow any money and is looking to save sprint car racing in that area.  Charity.  There will be no profit at that selling price.   Chuck would let it grow up in weeds and rot before selling for a price that allowed actual money to be made.  (like you said--less than $1 mil)

I definitely agree with the idea of a points fund for all three tracks for weekly Friday, Saturday and Sunday racing.  Would be great.  Would even hook the camper on a couple times each summer and run that circuit!   I would expect an increase in car counts if that happened.  

The three track deal is what a lot of us fans were counting on. And so was Tod Quiring when he bagan the NSL series. When he did begin the NSL, the three tracks were running on three different nights. He had moved Jackson from Saturday to Friday, and brought 410 sprints back to Jackson. Regardless, the future is what we have to bank on now. 

I'll agree that the NSL deal was the catalyst to get things cooking again. I live in Jackson, and I am on cloud 9 as far as what has been done to the track. Hell, we didn't know if we would even have a track 3-4 years ago. What Tod Quiring and Doug Johnson have done with that place is nothing short of amazing. Believe me, it gave us longtime local fans a new lease on life. LOL!! Now, the Husets thing just has to get resolved and all will be right with the universe.

Social Media had nothing to do with CB closing down the race track. He had stated way back in June of 2016 that if that initiative with the cap on pay day loan

interest rates passed in November, that he would shut down all of his SD businesses and leave the state. That's exactly what he did. It wasn't Social Media and it wasn't Jay Masur and Medstar...

If a track is doing well and providing a positive experience for fans and competitors a few social media trolls aren't going to have any effect on the track's future.  For example I'm occasionally seeing negative comments about changes to the Eldora track configuration but at the end of the day it's still Eldora, still has a ton of big traditional events and the fans still flock to the place.  Social media doesn't bring down businesses, people do by choosing not to support those businesses.  If negative social media was that powerful then just about every NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL team would go belly up because all get ripped mercilessly.  My favorite Minnesota Vikings message board has a brutal ongoing several years old thread tittled "fire Rick Spielman (general manager) now".  Commentary about the draft and his dealings with players is nothing short of brutal but the Vikes are going into their second year in a beautiful new stadium and it's hard to get a ticket.

Really, and this is true of any business in the public eye, the good ones are going to offer an experience that rises above negative social media posts.  Every track has a bad night, track prep is like farming, make your best guess on what it needs and make the best educated guess.  Sometimes that educated guess is wrong and the track is too wet, too dry, rubbers up or something in between.  Social media will bash it on a night like that but give them a good track the next week and everyone forgets.  On the other hand, give them a bad track every week and if attendance suffers it's not social media, it's track prep problems.  Make them wait in line for concessions on a consistent basis and they're going to get called out on it.  Same goes with conistently bad calls, unfriendly staff, negative interaction with fans, run down restrooms, poor lighting and they're going to take some heat. 

Entertainment dollars are tight nowadays and people can be passionate and critical about the things they spend their money on.  I don't think track bashing is a good thing but my observation has been that haters are ignored if the vast majority are having a good experience.  On the other hand, if others are having the same bad experience then the negative posts tend to pile on once those first few trolls break the ice.  I think to some extent social media is used as a scapegoat to shift the blame for poor decisions back onto the paying fans. 

Stan Meissner

You have a key to the joint?

     Let's be honest here. The track closed because it wasn't making enough money to keep the doors open. Not enough fans were willing to pay what Chuck was charging for the entertainment he was presenting. It's really no different than when a restaurant closes in your town. Can you think of a rational reason to close a profitable race track?