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

Find yourself a cassette player, hook it up to the computer, install Audacity, a free audio editor.  use this setup to convert your cassettes to MP3 files and you can play them on digital devices.  That is how I saved some of my music and it served me well.  if you're in an especially ambitious mood you can get a converter device that plugs into a USB port and convert those old VHS to digital files as well.  I did that with some old family movies and some 1980's and 1990's racing VHS tape.  It's time consuming because you have to play the tapes but lthe cost compared to having it done is worth the hassle. 

Stan Meissner

Speaking of attending races instead of watching the stream I am sitting here having morning coffee and hear my neighbors 305 Sprint Car out there running in the driveway.  That sound is enough to make a guy want to go see them race tonight.  The track is an hour from home and the program includes Sprints, Super Stocks, Midwest Modifieds, vintage cars and Hornets.  I'm guessing maybe 18 Sprints and a dry dusty slicked over track like that one usually becomes.  The All Stars are on again tonight and I have the option of starting my routine of a couple months of Dirtvision for only $40 and I have Knoxville, Husets and the Outlaws for less than the cost of one night sitting through a bunch classes I don't care to watch for a dozen and a half Sprints running the last Feature on a used up rubber down track.  What would you folks advocating supporting your local track do if you were in my shoes?  I am guessing that I would drop about $75 to $100 for a lineup that is not to my liking.  That is what "support your local track" implies where I live.  I bite the bullet and do it sometimes but there are dozens of other things I'd rather spend my money on than B Mods, Super Stocks, vintage cars and Hornet.  Supporting local tracks basically means spending my entertainment dollars and time on things I don't like for 20 minutes of 305's.  I do it sometimes but wouldn't want that to be my weekly routine.  

Stan Meissner

We had a big ceremony when my wife talked me into throwing my cassette tapes out!  ;)

Don't get me wrong, I use my smartphone all of the time and now feel like I can't live without it.  However, I enjoyed life, and society a lot more when there was no such thing.  As long as I can physically go to the track, I am going to go to the track.  I prefer live racing 1000 times over PPV.  However, I do enjoy tuning in to Ohio Speedweeks from 10 hours away.  I do enjoy watching an Outlaw race that I cannot go to.  It is nice.  I hope it doesn't completely kill the crowds, but tracks need to start to reinvent their model based on the PPV option America is going to have.  It's just a reality------as was my wife explaining to me my cassette tapes were no longer of any value.  :)

Maybe you should tell your wife about some non value objects that she owns. Glad that she explains thing to you.

Yes. Apples to oranges. There is no manufacturer rule for wings, none for engines, none for chasis, none for fuel, none for wheels, none for any other part that I can think of that goes on a 410 sprint car. LM series are allowed to run Hoosier or American Racer, why shouldn't sprint teams be allowed the same? The monopolizing company can't even produce enough of the product to meet demand. Isn't competition the name of the game? If their tires are the best, everyone will run them anyway, but the teams should at least have a choice. 

A

Yes. Apples to oranges. There is no manufacturer rule for wings, none for engines, none for chasis, none for fuel, none for wheels, none for any other part that I can think of that goes on a 410 sprint car. LM series are allowed to run Hoosier or American Racer, why shouldn't sprint teams be allowed the same? The monopolizing company can't even produce enough of the product to meet demand. Isn't competition the name of the game? If their tires are the best, everyone will run them anyway, but the teams should at least have a choice. 

A

Meanwhile every track I can think of runs Hoosiers on every class all over the state every weekend.  I'm sure that is the case all over the US and I'm seeing reports of problems getting tires for all the $300-$500 to win classes.  It's not just Sprints or one or two tracks, it's however many tracks are operating in 50 states.  If anything groups like the Outlaws and All Stars along with key weekly tracks seem to be getting some advantage as I haven't heard of many races being cancelled.

Stan Meissner

That means I have to learn how to use MP3!

Like I said, I'm set in my ways, lazy & stubborn.... not a young 70 yr.old tech wiz like you! ;)

I had a program called Roxio that could burn CDs from cassettes & LPs, but it got erased when I took my laptop to Geeksquad to get rid of a virus (or malware, whatever)

Thanks for the advice, tho.... :)

I have five guitars and a 24 track recorder so I guess that I'm more techie than most people my age.  It's easy for me because I started modding amps and stuff like that as far back as the mid 60's.  If you were located close I could get you setup but sounds like you already shit canned your tapes.

Stan Meissner

No, no no.... in fact I just took some inside from the garage where they've sat for 4 yrs. since I moved in with my packrat Mom! ;)

I live in Arizona. We don't have 410 winged sprints, we barely have 360 winged sprints (Cocopah). FloRacing has been a Godsend. I've been to my two local tracks this year ... one had 10 mods and 11 sport mods ... the other had 13 wingless 360s and pro stocks. In both cases crowds were normal. I supported my local tracks. Small car counts were better than watching on FloRacing.

Meanwhile tonight I watched USAC Sprints, local winged 410s, and USAC Silver Crowns at Port Royal. There were 410s at Lincoln. I watched the All Star A-Main. I'm currently watching winged 360 sprints at Petaluma. All on a Saturday night. All of those tracks get $ from me that they wouldn't otherwise get. I watched every All Star Speedweek race. Each track got a fraction of a dollar they wouldn't have otherwise received.

The future is going to be different ... and maybe $150 for a FloRacing subscription is too low. Maybe the current price point is just too low.

All of this stuff could balance out over time. I could be wrong, obviously. But tonight, I got my money's worth and then some out of FloRacing.

Kevin H.
https://www.nationalsprintcarchampionship.com/

No way.... music was too crappy!

60s  to mid 70s for me! :)

Just today I brought some tapes in, getting rid of my late Father's stuff to make room

Too much of a war to get rid of Mom's stuff ;)

George Carlin: "Whats the difference between "sh#t" and "stuff"?

                        "Easy: "Move your sh#t, I have to put my stuff there" ;)

;)

Similar to the antique dealer's saying:   "We buy junk, and sell antiques"

My only concern is that I can continue to watch races at a reasonable price that fits my budget and to see a few live each summer.  Its up to the racing industry to find a way to shed their "ya' gotta' be there to be a fan" 1950's business model.  If they don't figure out a way to do that they'll end up going the way of the drive in movie.  After years of photography and writing for a racing paper I'm at a place in my life where I just want to follow the sport without putting too big of a dent in a retirement income.  Seems that there is a die hard group in racing that considers stremaking to be a bad thing and wants to see it go away or jack the price way up as an incentive to attend.  It's not as complicated as that.  As someone who followed racing since 1960 I just want to keep up with the sport for another ten or fifteen years or whatever I have left on this rock.  If I can do it I will do it and if at some point its no longer sustainable I will find something else to entertain myself.  I think that is how most people who can't get out to many races and are getting up in years feels.  My suggestion to the younger folks who think us old guys should attend, pick us up, share the expenses, do most of the driving and give us the opportunity to attend that we wouldn't otherwise have.  It's Fathers Day, take your dad or grandpa to the races.  When we get to this age all we need is a little push and some company so we don't have to go it alone.

Stan Meissner

Well the only way for tracks to do what you want them to do is for them to get a larger share of the streaming money and that will increase the cost to veiw. I am 67 and get tired of hearing the fixed income story. If someone who wants something cheap and can't afford it that is sad but businesses can't give their product away and stay in business. I am lucky to be in good enough health to have a full time job as well as two sideline businesses. One of my businesses is selling metal crafts that I make. I am approached all the time to attend events where I know I won't make money because it is for a good cause. I have done many but I can't run up and down the road all year around losing money besides the fact that I am not 40 anymore. I also feel that if attending races live dies so does local racing.

On another note I went out of my way to pick up my Dad and took him to the races every Sat. during the season for the last three years of his life when could not get there by himself.

I don't think Stan was asking for a handout.  I think he was making the point that the business model is changing as it does with every business in the world.  With the new business model, and the future of this business model, it will give older fans a chance to still watch the races they normally wouldn't attend.  He has stated many times he can't get to all of the races he had in the past.  He is also encouraging the younger crowd to attend in person as they still have the ability to do so without an extra "push."  The dirt track racing world and the streaming services are going to have to work hand in hand to make sure the revenue is shared as needed to keep the tracks running.  Let's be honest----racing attendance in most corners of the country was tanking prior to the mass streaming services going online.  This has been a topic of discussion for the last decade or more on Hoseheads.  I attribute it more to club sports than anything else, but that is another topic.  The PPV world has opened an entirely different avenue for viewing races, keeping up with races, and generating new revenue.  It is up to the parties involved to make sure this revenue is spread as needed to keep everyone in business.  It would be foolish for the dirt track world not to embrace this new revenue stream.  

Crowds haven't been fantastic at Husets but the crowds have been good.

The amount of racing you get for a $150 flo subscription is astonishing really.  

A

If I lived near you, I'd drive & we could share expenses.... & your wife could watch my Mom!!!  ;)

no such luck..... :(

You've been going since the 60s & have "been there, done that"

I started in the early 60s & then didn't go to ANY races from early 70s until 2010, so I still have the bug to see live racing. PPV is OK, better than nothing, but not even close to live action...