Advice For Race Tracks
|
03/20/2015 J. L. Steele |
Last week's article was an attempt to encourage race fans to support their local short tracks. I recevied a lot of great feedback both on this site and through Twitter. A lot of the comments about short track, local racing echoed thoughts I've had over the years so I want to address those here. Last week's piece was directed to fans. This week I want to address tracks, promotors and owners. These thoughts are the result of watching races at countless tracks in at least six states. If we want fans to support small tracks, those tracks need to give the fans a reason to support them. I hope this helps.
Watch the clock: If your track consistently runs races past midnight, you have a problem; actually you have more than one problem. First, your making it difficult for families with small children to make the commitment to spend time and money at your facility. Assuming your schedule starts at 7:00 PM, fans should be heading for home by 11:00 or close to it. If you're opening the gates at 5:00 or 6:00 PM for practice and/or qualifying, you do not have a legitimate reason for asking fans to stick around for roughly six hours. You either have too many divisions racing, slow safety crews or the lack of time limits on your lower divisions. It should never take a local track longer to run their program than it takes NASCAR to run a 500 mile race.
Quality over quantity: Why small tracks insist on running six or seven different divisions on a regular basis is beyond me. I suppose the thought is, more entries will lead to more opportunities for drivers. Perhaps tracks think if there are more drivers, they'll bring more friends and families to support them. The reality is, many divisions will end up with a small handful of cars at the track. Not only is it extremely boring to watch 4-6 cars in a feature, it also takes racing time away from the higher levels. If you have fewer than 10 or 12 cars in a division, you don't need to race that division. I assure you, fans would rather watch 3 or 4 races with good car counts and have longer races than be subjected to small fields in supporting races. Often in those races, there's one car who's the class of the field and the only drama is whether he'll lap the field. Nobody wants to see that. We're not paying to be bored on a Saturday night. Different classes have different names in various parts of the country but a night of late models, limited sportsman and street stocks provides plenty of entertainment value and helps you take care of point #1.
Increase your car counts: When I see tracks that can only field a handful of cars in their marquee classes, I figure I'm at a track that is soon to go under. At the very least, I know I'm at a track I'll never visit again. This might depend on the track size but I'll gladly pay your admission fee every night if I know I'm going to see 16-24 late models in a feature race. If for some reason you can't round up more than 9 cars (I've seen it!), you either need to lower the price of admission or consider dumping some other classes. Tracks that have this problem are usually tracks point #2 is addressed to. Cut some of those smaller classes, particularly the ones with few cars entered and put that money in the payout for those higher classes.
Work together: In many parts of the country, there are multiple tracks within a short distance to each other. Often, fans have to make a choice about which track to attend on a Saturday. Apparently the concept of one racing on Friday, the other on Saturday is too difficult to grasp. Two tracks within an hour of each other should never run on the same night if they offer the same levels of racing. Two tracks racing on two nights will increase the crowds at both facilities. It will also increase the number of cars able to race at both places. If you won't do this regularly, at the very least you need to consider it when your competing track is running a special event, like hosting a touring series. It doesn't take much sense to understand your attendance will suffer if you insist on Saturday night racing when your competitor is hosting World of Outlaw late models. Yet, I've seen it happen.
Promote, promote, promote!: I realize tracks have a loyal base of fans who will attend no matter what. I also realize there's not a business in the country that doesn't want more people to spend money on their product and that includes race tracks. You need to have a presence in your community at every opportunity. That's the only way you can consistently hope to draw in new fans. Race cars need to be at county fairs. Mom and Dad might not be fans but I've never seen a kid yet who didn't get excited when they saw and heard a stockcar. Your cars need to be in 4th of July and Christmas parades. Again, it's a great chance to intice the younger crowd. Not to mention, it also promotes sponsors that are on the sides of those cars. I don't think I've ever seen a race track advertising at events like this and I always scream, "Why?!"
Get creative: In most markets, you're asking fans to choose a night at your track over a night at a baseball game, concert, or at home watching a NASCAR night race. What are you doing to make yourself stand out? Minor league baseball teams offer family packs of tickets at a reduced rate. They sometimes include another offer like a free drink. Think about it, if four people come to your races and have a coupon for one drink, are the other three going to be thirsty? You know they're buying three other drinks and probably more when they redeem that coupon. That's money they wouldn't have otherwise spent and money you wouldn't have made. Whether it's discounts on gate admission or special offers at the concession stands, you need to make it as attractive to fans as possible. It might not only help you attract new fans, it will show your loyal fans that they are appreciated. That my friends, is one easy way you can do better than NASCAR.
Watch the clock: If your track consistently runs races past midnight, you have a problem; actually you have more than one problem. First, your making it difficult for families with small children to make the commitment to spend time and money at your facility. Assuming your schedule starts at 7:00 PM, fans should be heading for home by 11:00 or close to it. If you're opening the gates at 5:00 or 6:00 PM for practice and/or qualifying, you do not have a legitimate reason for asking fans to stick around for roughly six hours. You either have too many divisions racing, slow safety crews or the lack of time limits on your lower divisions. It should never take a local track longer to run their program than it takes NASCAR to run a 500 mile race.
Quality over quantity: Why small tracks insist on running six or seven different divisions on a regular basis is beyond me. I suppose the thought is, more entries will lead to more opportunities for drivers. Perhaps tracks think if there are more drivers, they'll bring more friends and families to support them. The reality is, many divisions will end up with a small handful of cars at the track. Not only is it extremely boring to watch 4-6 cars in a feature, it also takes racing time away from the higher levels. If you have fewer than 10 or 12 cars in a division, you don't need to race that division. I assure you, fans would rather watch 3 or 4 races with good car counts and have longer races than be subjected to small fields in supporting races. Often in those races, there's one car who's the class of the field and the only drama is whether he'll lap the field. Nobody wants to see that. We're not paying to be bored on a Saturday night. Different classes have different names in various parts of the country but a night of late models, limited sportsman and street stocks provides plenty of entertainment value and helps you take care of point #1.
Increase your car counts: When I see tracks that can only field a handful of cars in their marquee classes, I figure I'm at a track that is soon to go under. At the very least, I know I'm at a track I'll never visit again. This might depend on the track size but I'll gladly pay your admission fee every night if I know I'm going to see 16-24 late models in a feature race. If for some reason you can't round up more than 9 cars (I've seen it!), you either need to lower the price of admission or consider dumping some other classes. Tracks that have this problem are usually tracks point #2 is addressed to. Cut some of those smaller classes, particularly the ones with few cars entered and put that money in the payout for those higher classes.
Work together: In many parts of the country, there are multiple tracks within a short distance to each other. Often, fans have to make a choice about which track to attend on a Saturday. Apparently the concept of one racing on Friday, the other on Saturday is too difficult to grasp. Two tracks within an hour of each other should never run on the same night if they offer the same levels of racing. Two tracks racing on two nights will increase the crowds at both facilities. It will also increase the number of cars able to race at both places. If you won't do this regularly, at the very least you need to consider it when your competing track is running a special event, like hosting a touring series. It doesn't take much sense to understand your attendance will suffer if you insist on Saturday night racing when your competitor is hosting World of Outlaw late models. Yet, I've seen it happen.
Promote, promote, promote!: I realize tracks have a loyal base of fans who will attend no matter what. I also realize there's not a business in the country that doesn't want more people to spend money on their product and that includes race tracks. You need to have a presence in your community at every opportunity. That's the only way you can consistently hope to draw in new fans. Race cars need to be at county fairs. Mom and Dad might not be fans but I've never seen a kid yet who didn't get excited when they saw and heard a stockcar. Your cars need to be in 4th of July and Christmas parades. Again, it's a great chance to intice the younger crowd. Not to mention, it also promotes sponsors that are on the sides of those cars. I don't think I've ever seen a race track advertising at events like this and I always scream, "Why?!"
Get creative: In most markets, you're asking fans to choose a night at your track over a night at a baseball game, concert, or at home watching a NASCAR night race. What are you doing to make yourself stand out? Minor league baseball teams offer family packs of tickets at a reduced rate. They sometimes include another offer like a free drink. Think about it, if four people come to your races and have a coupon for one drink, are the other three going to be thirsty? You know they're buying three other drinks and probably more when they redeem that coupon. That's money they wouldn't have otherwise spent and money you wouldn't have made. Whether it's discounts on gate admission or special offers at the concession stands, you need to make it as attractive to fans as possible. It might not only help you attract new fans, it will show your loyal fans that they are appreciated. That my friends, is one easy way you can do better than NASCAR.