Forum: Oklahomatidbits.com General Forum (go)
Moderators:  /  David Smith Jr

Who is more important for a weekend racing program-

racers?

or fans?

Racers in my opinion. Cause the crowd might quit coming if there are no cars and you can always have the back gate to draw from.

Then the fans cause no fans no front gate and no concession profit.

Damn tough question...

David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com

Which leg on a 4 leged animal is the most important. A horse can still be ridden with a slight limp but a 3 leged horny toad is screwed.

The correct answer is they are both required or you have tracks closing up ike they are doing every week. Racers and fans go together, one drops the other drops then the promoter drops.

All tracks need a lake in the infield. As one promoter was digging some lakes in his infield I told him he was the first promoter that I had seen that dug his own hole to go into.

If you ever own or operate a race track, it is important to exercise the Houdini rule of business. Houdini never got into anything that he did not have a plan to get out of.

Lance aka (FUNNN)


                     

Fans is where it is at. If you have fans then you have a pool to draw from of people that might want to get into racing. Those fans bring their kids with them. Those kids are the next generation of racers..

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands 
in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he 
stands at times of challenge and controversy." 
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Erich Petersen 

Fans

racers. by almost any measure. pit passes at 25 - fans are 8-10.

but really the question is not so simple. racers are more important - because it is increasingly obvious in the regional racing scene that if you don't have a lot of racers - you really won't get many fans either.

sure tracks can put 31 cars out combined in 6 classes - but you won't get anyone coming out for the quality - you'll just get the slackjawed yocals who are looking for an environment more reflective of them lol. Just look at Outlaw Motor Speedway.........f*ckin midget wrestling!?!?!?!? absolutely disgraceful.

or who knows maybe I am in the minority of racing fans that actually want to see some racing. Frankly, actual racing appears to be low priority for quite a few tracks.

but my answer to the question. you have to have the racers first. you have a good show with an average of 15+ cars in most classes - the fans will come. However, if you're A feature is absolutely no different than you hot lap session lol its not gonna work. And to that point - the mini stock class needs to be totally done away with. its fallen apart everywhere. whether lawton or meeker or fort cobb or I-44......it's a pitiful joke.

How much would could a wouldchuck chuck if a 
wouldchuck could chuck would

winners dont cry when they lose , they go back to the 
drawing board and come back for round 2 !

Lance aka (FUNNN)


                     

It is my opinion that although slightly, racers are more important. They are the foundation of the program and it would not exist without them. Racing could exist without fans but we all know it would not last long. Like it was said, if you have plenty of cars, a well-run show, and competitive racing, the fans will inevitably show up. If a fan hears from someone that the car count has improved and the racing is better, he might be inclined to come out and watch. I don't believe a driver would decide to race if he hears from someone that the crowd is bigger and the hotdogs are fresher. I think the key to success for any track is to focus first on the racers and running a well-organized program that promotes competitiveness and fairness. They have to also be mindful of the costs associated with racing and try to do things that will help keep them manageable since this is the number 1 reason racers quit or can't come out on a regular basis. If this is all done well, the fan base should grow. There are many things the track can do to help keep and grow the fan base too, such as starting and finishing at reasonable times, involving the fans in the races such as kids night bicyle races, letting the fans close to the cars and drivers maybe at the beginning of the races, having the fans vote on grudge races, car shows, and others. I think I-30 Speedway in Little Rock does a great job with fan interaction and their attendance shows it.

I think the racers are the most important part, just look how many tracks have closed most fans won't sit outside at 7 pm when it's over a 100 degress just to watch point races..In my poinion they need the back gate to make it

To me, racing without fans is called club racing. Check out an SCCA weekend and you will see what grass roots oval racing is rapidly becoming. Family cars with the entire family in the pits. No "fans" in the stands. No enthusiasm. No excitement. No rival fan groups cheering for their guy or against their guy's nemesis. I've sat through trophy presentations where the winners garnered ZERO applause or even reaction from the few fans in the stands.

Today, we aren't an entertainment venue for paying observers (previously known as "fans". We're entertainment for the participants (racers). Today, since everyone can come into the pits, the back gate is the revenue stream, so the front gate unfortunately doesn't matter as much.

If you promote and make the event a source of entertainment for paying observers, then you have racing like we did in the glory days. But, too much competition for their attention. Too few promoters and too many track operators. If you build it, they won't necessarily come. That's a good lesson for the person that does try to bring weekly big oval racing back to OKC.

This being the case, I'd say it depends. If local oval track racing is to be a viable entertainment venue, then it's the fans. If we're content to be club racers and understand what that relegates us to, then I'd say it racers.

HMR

I think it 'depends' on the times we're in.

If the stands are full, or close to it, then the racers win.

Anything below half filled stands on average, and afull pit area- then the fans should be of concern.

Listening to the audio on the Don Engle Tulsa video, I heard kids on the microphone donating $1 or more to the purse, or at least it sounded like that. That was a sympthom of enthusiasm in the fans, and money was falling in to make it go. We've all heard how many faces were in the stands in those days.

$1,500 won on an NCRA night in 1974, translates to about $6,556.00 in 2010 dollars. To me, that means TODAYS ASCS winner should be getting $6,556 for winning an A feature, along with his heat race of course- and bonus money for passing . But the crowds aren't there right now to justify the kind of purse to build up to that.

I agree it seems we are becoming a club like sport , much like the SCCA. But can this form of racing afford that? Overall, I don't think so.

Right now I'd say it's the fans.

"$1,500 won on an NCRA night in 1974, translates to about $6,556.00 in 2010 dollars."

...and I can assure you, the growing costs to race from 1974 to 2011 has far out-paced inflation over this time period. This has as much to do with the dwindling car counts as anything does.

Of course there is no answer. One brings the other. Without one, the other dies. The reason we have $25 pit passes is because there are no fans. Now it is a "Pot Race".

If you have a grandstand full of fans, that is where the racer wants to go. But if there are 2 heats of 5 cars each in 7 different classes, there won't be full grandstands very long.

Chicken or the egg, you gotta have both to make it work, period.

Neither is more important than the other.