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

JMO, this weekend is what I feel is a growing issue here in Central PA, leading to lower car counts and even fans. Friday-- WG has ASCS 360'sand 410 sprints. Saturday--Port has regular show, Lincoln has a $6900 to win show, Selingsgrove has the ASCS 360's.Just a few hours west the All Stars are at Lernervill Friday and Sharon Sunday, to end the weekend Basp has there 410 monthly special. Problem is some teams have 360's also so they will go where they can double up. But really did Baps need to schedule this weekend? I know they probably figure on getting some invaders but as an avid fan I cant do 3 races in a weekend, just other things in life to do. I have been aroung racing since 1962 and take a note from the modifieds, they are suffering at many weekly tracks for many the same reasons,

Or to put it another way "when is a special no longer special"?  Answer when there are too many. 

Stan Meissner

Give Scott or Kolten a call and ask them....

Could tweet them too....

@Koltengouse

@SGobrecht

@bapsspeedway

I'm sure they'd be more than happy to have you tell them how to run their race track.

Pennsylvania problems.  Too many sprint car shows.....  

I understand as a race fan you don't want to miss anything... But on the other hand, when you are free for a weekend, you know there will be something running. I'd rather have too many racetracks rather than places closing down.

Well i think the car count the last Sunday show 21-410, 8-358 kind of speaks for itself. Dont get me wrong i love Baps and the facility it has become, but if i am spending my money to attend the tracks i would like a decent field. Driving 2-3 hours to a track to have complete show done in 2 hours is not worth it.

I agree 100%. With the costs of fielding a car already out of control and weekly car counts lower than ever, the central PA answer is to schedule MORE races. It makes absolutely no sense but it will continue until we run them into the ground. Then we can sit around and bitch that there are no cars. It's not just sprints, all classes are suffering from lower counts and it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out why. 

A

There was a post somewhere today from guy in VA saying his closest sprint car show was 4 hours away.

Glass half full, glass half empty, I suppose.

You guys are lucky back there, though in 6 years I'll be back there with you for good!

     Meanwhile, back in eastern South Dakota, our options this week are:
1)Don't go to a race at Husets Speedway because it's no longer in operation
2)Don't go to a race at Hartford Speedway becuase it's no longer in operation.
3) Don't go to a race at Worthington Speedway because it's dormant.
4) Don't go to a race at Lake County Speedway because it's gone.

To be fair, I think there is a sprint car race at Park Jefferson this weekend.

The moral of the story is go enjoy the sport you have a passion ofr. If there are too many players in the field they will thin themselves out. Support the folks that support the sport.

How long before the rest of the racing world other than the car owners and drivers figure out that costs are dragging the sport down? It is them that have to initiate change, in order for the sport to have any chance at all of surviving and regrowing. 

I know there are a lot of variable costs with racing (ie: both racecar and hauler fuel, tires, wear and tear) but isn't one of the benefits to having a lot of places to race working off fixed costs? I thought that was one of the big benefits of racing in PA, you can run 70+ shows a year and make decent money.

Susquehanna, or BAPS, however you spin it, has been piggy back’n off of other tracks for a few years now. Started when they scheduled a Thursday before PA Speedweek started the next night. I still feel that’s why they don’t have a date and won’t. 

Port Royal closes once per month, Selinsgrove has a few closed nights. Port probably could’ve closed a night in April too. 

So susky gives the traveling teams another chance to race and the make tow worthwhile and people bitch.. 

I agree with what you're saying but to your last point, it always seems like one leads to the other.  I know there was what I would call "too many tracks" in the area here in the midwest.  What it lead to was 6-8 classes with 6-8 cars in each class.  Not that there was never good racing but it was few and far between.  Today there is about half the tracks around and it still seems there's only 6-8 cars per class.  Kind of like NASCAR, ten years ago there's 50 plus cars showing up every week to race.  It was big news on who made the race.  Today there's maybe 35 cars showing up every week (I'm talking full time cars not teams that make a start here and there).  Doesn't seem like a big deal but it shows that there's 30% less cars.  It seems like when this happens there is no winner.

Wasn't there a time that Central PA had 5 tracks running the same Sprint Cars on a weekly basis (Lincoln, WG, PR, Susky, and Selinsgrove), while there were still tracks in Western PA running them weekly as well?  In theory, the more shows there are, the more money there is to go around, the more opportunities there are for racers to make money. 

However, because almost everybody in the sport is losing money, it doesn't happen that way.  The problem is not the number of tracks or shows, it's the cost of racing and the reduced number of cars to draw from.

BAPS scheduled their show in honor of Scott’s brother’s birthday this weekend. That’s why the Kevin Gobrecht Classic is $4900 to win, it would have been his 49th birthday a few days ago. As an annual event that they planned it to be, im sure it was on their schedule long before the ASCS decided to travel across the country.

My closest Sprint Car show is a 30 second walk down to the man cave.  There's a lot to be said for ppv in this day of vanishing tracks and short fields.  Before anyone gives me the "support your local track" lecture, it will fall on deaf ears.  I did my pennance, 15 years of writing, photography, tv, and podcasting.  Soon to be 67 year old eyes don't like those long redeye drives anymore.  If the sport suffers nobody can pin it on me.  I did more than my share.

Stan Meissner

I'm sure the tracks get some revenue from the PPV broadcasts so that's still supporting the track IMO. I do ppv quite a bit too for races that are a longer drive. I still go weekly to the tracks closest to me. PPV is nice and the broadcasts are better than ever but there's still nothing better than being there. 

A

I always traveled alone when I was reporting because I used to get there early and worked out of my vehicle.  That loner routine worked in that context but not so good for connecting with people I could travel with or sit with in the stands when my writing days ended.  I am 5 hours from Knoxville and about 3 from Jackson but those loner redeyes that end at 5am don't work for me anymore.  

My advice, if anyone knows any lifelong Sprint Car fans who are no longer making those all night drives keep them in mind for.your nedt trip.  Everyone I know is on the pit and infield side of the fence and busy working.  I've got a son I used to travel with but young kids changed that dynamic.  I think he went more because it was.my thing then he was really a big fan.  

Sharing gas and motel expenses would put me back out there more often but in the absence of those opportunities PPV is a lifesaver.

Stan Meissner