I-80 Hardcore Heard From; NASCAR Loyalty; And Running A Track Like Running A Small City?

Below is a post on a racing forum regarding I-80 Speedway’s decision to run on Friday nights:

“I don’t care which night they race on, I don’t care what the rules are, I don’t care what class is in what tier, I don’t care if the track works with any other track, I only care to now know that there will be racing in 2012 at I-80 speedway, which is all that really matters. I wish the track nothing but success moving forward!”

Obviously that is a hard core race fan speaking.  Unfortunately tracks need casual fans in the grandstands to make money, not just the hard core.  Casual fans have certain expectations, and I wonder how many will rush from Omaha or Lincoln or Council Bluffs or Fremont to I-80 Speedway after a hard Friday at work.  Time will tell may be a cliché, but it is also true.  Hopefully enough so the track does have the success the poster above is wishing for.

There are many hard core fans that quit going to I-80 Speedway because of all of the changes promoters made to what once was one of the best weekly racing programs in the U.S.  The track is going to have to woo them if they want them to return as many are not forgetting or forgiving that the track did away with weekly super late model racing-it couldn’t afford then, but now can.

How can they woo hardcore?  No price gouging for one thing.  Check what other tracks with expensive feature classes are charging, and do not set admission price any higher.  Start the program on time-honestly I am not a fan of “Hot laps at 7:00 p.m., racing to follow.”  That just means the track can start the racing at whatever time they get around to it.  Be organized-during the Wild West Shoot-Out USA Raceway had the next race entering the track as the just ended race was leaving.  Raceceivers would be a huge addition in getting races restarted quickly, but I suspect that won’t happen.  Same with transponders.  This isn’t the technology of the future; it needs to be used now. 

I know I-80 has plans to run six classes on some nights.  Anyone willing to sit through six classes either has a friend or family member racing, or he is much more hardcore than me.  I won’t do it, and I have had friends tell me the same thing.  Let the wooing begin.

Speaking of wooing, rumor has NASCAR offering another area track a Sunday sanction.  That is interesting.  I-80 Speedway has remained loyal to NASCAR for whatever reasons, and it seems like NASCAR is returning this loyalty by dumping on the track.  If another area track gets a Sunday NASCAR sanction that locks I-80 Speedway into Friday, even if promoters find Friday racing is a mistake.  That also would make it difficult for I-80 to run several Sunday night specials like the Alphabet Soup Race and the Charlie Clark Memorial. 

A columnist in Area Auto Racing News likened promoting a dirt track to being mayor of a small city.  In many ways that thought is true, but in one big way the two are terribly different.  Most mayors have a city council whose members have differing backgrounds and life experiences.  They offer the mayor advice and help run the city.  Notice I said differing backgrounds and experiences.  For the city to function well, the mayor has to learn to trust those with differing views, not just council members with the same experiences and viewpoint.  Most mayors understand they must do that-most dirt track promoters do not.

Thanks for stopping by.