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

I am very upset that fans again lose out again to no T V coverage of the WoO Charlotte Dirt Track event that was rained out Friday night . Sprint car racing needs more TV coverage , needs alternate plans when they face possible rain out situations , not just TV , but when rain is known to be on its way . Fans lose , drivers lose , and car owners have more expenses , some of these races that were rained out this year could have been run , not all but some .

I know alot of you fans may not agree , but it would be nice to see races when it may just be possible . I 'd like to know your feelings of changing the format when it just may be possible to get some racing in instead of all

affected losing money , besides promoters , nobody should lose ? especially fans , should they ?

Live video on Dirtvision now.

Sprint car on TV are money suckers: the logistics of placing a camera crew, on air talent, and the multitude of production people required to show a race on TV is phenomenal. Then you add in the costs for TV time, as well as the satellite uplink/downlink costs, you probably spend arounf $200,000 before you ever show 1 lap of racing. So the Speed deal was probably a Friday night only commitment - think about how much they spent on the races and the production company likely didn't make a dime, sine no commercials were shown for the races Friday.

Until sprint car racing develops a wider audience, it's exposure on TV will be limited, if at all. You can complain all you want, but until better forms of financing are found, you'll have to deal with the two or three shows a year that we get.......

Chuck.....

You are complaining at the wrong place. You need to take it up with Mother nature. No one has control of the weather. Shit happens. You say it would be nice to see races when it may just be possible, well it wasn't possible to see the race since it was rained out. You can't expect a network to bump programming that was paid for just to try to air a rescheduled sprint car event. Just how would you have changed the format to get some racing in last night? Change the schedule without giving anyone time to find out it had been changed? Run the thing the day before? Sometimes there is just nothing you can do. Every WoO race is broadcast live via audio. Dirtvision even added a live pay per view video stream to their schedule for people who wanted to watch the race tonight.

You're right about all you say but unfortunately most TV people don't know how to cover all forms of auto racing . Not complaining but ,it is sad that sprint car racing or other forms of dirt racing get very little play in the media , just BORING NASCAR RACING . But even NASCAR could become less boring if they listened to fans ,in how to improve there product .I know how to and I 'm sure most fans have the same answers that I have , instead of watching a race out of the pits or three hours of BOREDOM .

What Sprint Car racing needs is fans that actually go out to a track on a Saturday night instead of sitting at home watching it on TV.

_

True , but we do need more coverage in all forms of media to display that sprint car racing is the most exciting auto racing around . But if the media , sanctioning groups , etc listened and made more positive changes then our crowds would be even bigger and just maybe sprint car racing would be back to where it should be with even more competitive racing .

They usually operate with a contract. They probably didn't have a rain out covered and probably had to pay for the non show. It's a business on both sides of the coin.

Personally, Bobby Gerould should have been announcing the World of Outlaw sprint cars w/ Brad Doty, not Ralph Shaheen. The two should have flip/flop positions.

Honestly, Sprint Car racing is not a made-for-tv live sport. Too much downtime, too unpredictable, and too reliant on the weather. Not to mention it is extremely expensive to produce on TV.

Package it up into a 1-hour show, and make it available to watch on-demand like a day or two after the event.

JC

there is no bigger waste of time in the world for the FANS IN ATTENDANCE than a "LIVE TV crew" at a race.

I agree with smitty - if you want to see sprint car get to the next level, attend the races in person and take two friends along.

Lincoln 1845 ft/.35 mile T1=118MPH 
Eldora 2287 ft/.43mile T3=135MPH
Port 2716 ft/.51 mile T3=TBD
Grove 2792 ft/.53 mile T3=135MPH
Selinsgrove 2847 ft/.54 mile T1=136MPH
"I didn't move to PA from El Paso in search of better 
weather." Van May

Absolutely nail on the head! All it takes is a 20 minute red flag to put an event beyond the planned time frame on air. It's possible to have fill material ready to cover the down time, but the producer is still faced with having to pay for the extra time at the end of the show "just in case". Not only that, but remember all the complaints on here when the Knoxville Nationals were aired live? Too much time waiting between the previous event and the "on air" start, too many unnatural delays for commercial breaks, rushing to get the main completed before the end of air time, etc.

I'd take a one week delay, packaged one or two hour show over live on air racing anytime. A two hour show could get nearly all, if not all, actual racing on air, allow for some background features/driver interviews, and actually keep the viewer involved for the entire show.