Forum: SCRAFAN.COM Forum (go)
Moderators: ljennings

Admission jacked up to 50 bucks, parking jacked up to 8 bucks, surly gorilla like security pawing thru my bag to make sure I did not bring any food into the track to force me to pay usurious prices for a bite to eat, not being allowed to go to my car a second time to get a sweater forcing me to freeze. Is this a race track, or a prison camp? Even saw armed security guards at the gate. Security knuckle dragger told a pit pass holder he could not go to his car more than once. Is this fan friendly behavior, or is this the policy of a power crazed fair board? I will not renew my season ticket this year and doubt if I will attend any racing. I have been to Ventura, Tulare, Hanford, Chico, Watsonville, Kern County Raceway tracks many times  this year, and all are fan friendly, with no hassling by ape like security and no arbitrary food rules other than the usual ban on outside booze.

REALLY DAVE , THIS IS EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING COMING FROM YOU ! we all knew what the weather was potentially going to be  . the back gate is $50 , why is this such a suprise , nothing new here  ? if you dont want to go back , dont go back , thats your chioce , a bad one in my opinion . saying the security was ape like is very disrespectful , sounds like they were just doing their job .why try to paint a picture for others that is not right ? we need all the fans at every track we can get . what we dont need is respected individuals trying to take some fans away ..

Drama , Controversy , Rivalry 

The security does try to run roughshod over the fans. They do not make you feel welcome. The prices are high. But we can choose to pay or not. Thank you PAS for putting on this show. Damn good race. Intermissions are long wish we could change that. I will renew my season tickets until I see the increase or not. Hint Hint.

We need more sprint car racing at our home track.

Here is my two cents.  I ordered the PPV from TheCushion for my mom to watch in Nor Cal.  I have to say that I really appreciate the fact that someone is bringing this event into our living rooms for those who cannot attend.  While we did not get to see the entire race because of early tech issues, I want to at least thank them for trying when no other entities will.  Back to the race, it was sad to see the low attendance in the stands and the pits....blame the economy, it was Thanksgiving,  those of us oldsters who never missed a T-night race are passing on and the new generation would rather do other things.  Of what I did see via the PPV and what I heard from other, the race program was extended out WAY TOO LONG.  It was Thanksgiving, get the show on the road and let people get home, it's a long day.  The intermissions could have been used for more interviews, show the cars up close and personal....not all people watching the PPV are familiar with midgets, lets give some insight into what we are watching......too much silence and dead time.  And what's with the music, that time could have been used to inform the audience of what was happening in the pits, but there was no second camera.  Again, I know how expensive video equipment is and maybe they didn't have the funds to purchase a second active unit.  Most of the time during non-race moments, the camera was idle and not even panning the track.   But again kudos to The Cushion for getting involved in bringing dirt track racing to our homes.  

Having been attending this race for over 40 years, not much has changed.  I feel like our midget and sprint coverage has not been professionally upgraded with the times.  The sanctioning bodies and race tracks are very unprofessional in presenting the programs.  More pomp and circumstance is needed.  When doing interviews and singing the national anthem, put the people on a podium, not on the dirt in the middle of the track.  Bring in the local high school band, or military color guard, promote the race at the local high schools with discount tickets, get the younger kids to the track.  I do believe split shows are the way to go, you bring in different fans bases to experience maybe a new event.  Obviously TV would be a huge help in this arena, but from what I saw last night the presentation by the promotors and race organizers can be greatly improved.  Heard it was a great race though.  Congrats to DD.

this may be my last comment on this issue,PAS and other venues if you want to start drawing and keeping new fans you MUST TIGHTEN UP THE PROGRAM !!!!!!!!! not just TNGP but at all shows the delays are getting to be insufferable.

ROB

hey rob ,

there is a track in victorville that needs a promoter , maby it could be you . couldnt be that hard , or could it ....

Drama , Controversy , Rivalry 

A 65 minute gap from the end of qualifing to the first last-chance race and a 70 minute gap from the end of the second last-chance race to the start of the Grand Prix. If the track really wants to do it this way then start everything 2-hours earlier.

would luv to do it,would you like to back me with some bucks?

 seriously (can't spell) I think there are a number of people out here that could do the job but don't have the backing re:Scotty Burns all I,m asking for is tighten up the damn show,how hard is that.

ROB

I appreciate your constructive criticism of the broadcast last night. I'm writing on behalf of the production team and not "The Cusion" who hosted the event. We put this deal together in about 3 weeks. There was a lot of logistics involved in optioning the gear, getting a solid internet connection installed, running cables and dealing with the technical, business and political aspects of it all. We just flat ran out of time as far as putting together programming. It was our original intention to do interviews and show shots from the pits, but as I said, time ran out. We did however broadcast all of the trackside interviews that were conducted and we did have 4 cameras covering the event. I believe the actual coverage of the race was acceptable. We will, in the future, have more programming prepared to show during the down time and hopefully have a roaming wireless set-up in the pits. Thanks for watching and supporting our endeavor, it will improve!

Jeff Kristensen

rob i have a hard enough time backing my own plays ! i have 3 sprint cars to take care of , thats more than enough for me in my SPARE time ... thanks

Drama , Controversy , Rivalry 

oh BTW thanks to the PAS,teams and Drivers for a good track and a great race!!
ROB

I just left a post and it somehow got deleted (my error)...anyway I did not mean to sound so harsh and maybe spoke too soon about the production.  I was assuming The Cushion was the production.  I had no idea that you only had 3 weeks to get this thing going.  Being in video and editing I know how difficult to work on the fly and live, so I give you kudos for that.  Again, we all really appreciate that you brought Tnight to so many who couldn't attend.    Raceway Video is awesome and had no idea you were involved.  I had sent an email to The Cushion explaining that we couldn't finish washing the event because of tech issues and they said they were trying to resolve them.  Maybe I was the only one having problems.  It definitely wasn't my pc or service or the weather.  Please accept my apologies and accept my thanks for your efforts!!!

 No, you were not the only one having problems but they did get them worked out...http://www.hoseheadforums.com/forum.cfm?ThreadID=83488

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

Tom

There  you go again. this was TURKEY NIGHT. There was so much history, special people, awards, etc. A race fan should appreciate this . A new fan needs to be education. This is the night (once a year) to display this. The race was good. The talent was the best.

The racing was great. The last chance qualifing races had several ultra hi-risk moves and blocks and Ricky Shelton paid a terrible price on the front straight in race #2. The high altitude Shelton got was similar to a Mel Kenyon flip in turn-1 at Ascot many decades ago.
I left my patio chair out of my car all night in the main parking lot and when I finally left after visiting the infield at 11:00pm the chair was still there! Very cool.

$50 to get into the pit for the wed night practice?? really..i didn't pay 50 to enter any race in the pits this year...wasn't about to do it for a practice night....went into the stands.. Thurs night...8 bucks to park??? long delays between races....it was cold..would have been nice to get out early instead of drawing the show out....racing was good..but it would be nice if the announcer did his homework and learned how to pronouce the drivers names...never been to a race that the announcer hacked so many names....i am sure i will be back because i am a die hard race fan..but it was far from a great experience...

The only thing wrong with the event is the format!  I know there is tradition involved but you cant expect people to pay $40+ just to get in (more like $100 when you factor in expenses to get to the track etc) for just 3 races!  Two of which are almost pointless! 

You need to run qualifying, 4 Heat Races, C and B Mains before the A-Main!  I cant tell you the amount of people complaining about only 3 races for $40+ in our section of the stands!  I dont know who sets the parameters for the format but if you dont address this issue, you will not get new people to comeback in droves!  That would also address the Down Time Complaints!

They are running the Turkey Derby at wall stadium on NJ today.  the high temp is going to be 38 degrees.  thats cold.

As a competitor this year, yes my car was the one that got the height record with Ricky Shelton driving, and a attendee of at least 30+ Turkey Night grand prix races, I appreciate the history that comes to this race. The format is as it has been for 50+ years. Please do not change that. I am a tradionalist, and that is Turkey Night. 

But with that said I do agree with the prices were a bit out of line. $40 a person is a bit much. I am in sales for a living keep in mind 20% of nothing is still nothing. If you lower the prices at the gate just a little bit you will make it up in attendance and the amount of product (food, drinks, souveniers and so on). I had 3 family members I told to stay home cause it was just too expensive to attend. The night when Irwindale charged a special price of $10 for General Admission for one month in advance for the race the stands were jam packed.

I love this race and will support it as long as I am able, but my family and friends may not get to experience it if there isn't some relief in sight. It was a bit disheartening to see the stands as empty as they were. 

Thanks for listening to my 2 cents

I completely understand your point on traditionalism but here is how everyone in the stands around me sounded.

"I cant believe its $40 for three races!"  At Irwindale, you had Sprints, Focus and Midgets so you got more races for the same amount of money.  In this economy, I dont think anyone thinks they could turn a profit with 3 classes requiring a purse so the next option is to do a traditional show with heats and semis!

All I am saying is you will not get people in this day to see the value in paying $40+ for basically 30 minutes of actually race time.  I am a big fan of this sport and I dont even see the value in it!