Healthy Weekly Racing Essential to NASCAR
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On
the Facebook group page “Retired Race Cars and Abandoned Race Tracks,” I
recently saw an aerial photo of the former Wayne County Speedway in Nahunta,
N.C. (also cited as being in Pikeville). There’s still a drag strip on the
property, but the track, which operated variously as dirt and asphalt for 10-15
years mostly in the ‘90s, is probably beyond resurrection.
Aerial view of what
remains of Wayne County Speedway
In
the comments generated by the posting, it was noted that Wayne County failed in
part because Southern National Speedway opened in Kenly, only about 15 minutes
away. (Things weren’t much better when the track was dirt: its closest
competitor was in Elm City, barely more than half an hour distant.) It also was
said that Southern National only ran four special events last year and may not
open this year – and that East Carolina Motor Speedway, another paved track in
that part of the state, apparently won’t run in 2020.
All
of this makes me sad. None makes me surprised. The state of weekly short track
pavement racing is terrible. I’m sure there are exceptions (some Mid-Atlantic
and Northeastern modified tracks come to mind), but track after track is either
closed or racing with car counts that nobody would have thought acceptable all
that long ago.
On a good day, East
Carolina Motor Speedway could pack ‘em in, but the track, in an area where
neither population density nor the economy is in its favor, has struggled
through much of its existence.
I
write about this subject in this space because I believe that – more than any
other activity – weekly short track racing creates NASCAR fans. Yet as this
form of racing seems more and more on life support, I don’t hear a peep out of
Daytona about trying to fix it. To me, that’s one more shortsighted step toward
the death of our beloved sport.
As
NASCAR now sadly knows, fans drawn to “the latest thing” don’t stick around
once there’s a different latest thing. Fans who love the entire sport, on the
other hand, will remain loyal to whatever segments of it do the right things to
retain their support.
Many
of us had our first racing experience at a pay-per-ride go-kart track, then
discovered the “real thing” at the local Friday or Saturday night oval. Going
to special events was a predictable next step, and at the top of that world
were the NASCAR touring divisions.
Back
when it was basking in the limelight of record crowds and sponsors fighting for
quarter-panel space, NASCAR forgot that a loyal fan of what it does is a RACE
fan, not a FAD fan.
Many
if not most become race fans first at weekly short tracks, but there are fewer
and fewer opportunities for that these days, and if nothing is done to reverse
current downward trends, there may soon be too few to make any difference.
It’s always good to
remember that weekly short track racing has brought NASCAR most of its greatest
stars.
Most
of this applies to ALL short track racing. Dirt tracks are suffering, too: in
some areas there used to be enough race teams and fans to keep three tracks
going where today one barely survives. Paved tracks seem in the worst shape,
though.
Granted,
both worlds still have a pretty successful number of special events and touring
series, but it takes the weekly tracks with their low-end support divisions to
give all the would-be racers a place to start – that’s why we can’t afford to
lose them.
With
paved short tracks, NASCAR seems in the perfect position to take leadership and
try to do something.
Here’s
what I’d suggest: Start with a summit meeting of all interested parties. Find
out what each one thinks should be done, then let them debate how to bring
their not-always-parallel interests together. For instance, drivers and owners
will inevitably say that purses aren’t high enough, but track owners can show
where the money goes now, and fans can talk about ticket prices that will drive
them away. What can each do to bring those divergent points together?
Old-timers
will tell you that, “back in the day,” there were more cars, more tracks and
more fans, and they’re probably right, which begs the question, “What
happened?” My own guess is that costs have risen too much: in the “old days,”
more people could afford to put an old car out on a race track, and more fans
could afford the admission. Only a discussion by all parties can bring out
realistic solutions to that issue.
It
won’t be easy, but it seems that this cooperative approach is more likely to
define areas where costs can be limited – and maybe apply those limits to one
or more new classes of racing vehicles.
This is the short track
excitement we need to ensure has a bright future, because NASCAR’s bright
future may depend on it.
NASCAR,
which still sanctions a good number of weekly tracks around the country, would
be the obvious leader for this effort – as long as it doesn’t try to apply any
of its too-complicated solutions that haven’t been a resounding success
elsewhere. The fact that it could create a sizeable group of tracks unified in
a new fix would put pressure on non-NASCAR speedways to follow suit, just as
World of Outlaws rule changes tend to be followed by local sprint car tracks
throughout the country.
(At
this point I have to add that I think current Outlaws rules are beginning to
have a negative impact on weekly racing, but I’m hopeful that group will
respond more quickly and address the issue before it reaches the current crisis
stage we see in weekly pavement late model competition.)
The
car owners’ group (Race Team Alliance), which recently purchased Speed51.com,
might also have a role, because that website is one of the leaders in providing
news beyond the NASCAR touring series. It’s geared more toward smaller traveling
series and major events, but it definitely could highlight what’s happening on
the weekly level.
We
have to go beyond those major races, because they can hide the lack of success
in weekly racing. The Chili Bowl midget race in Tulsa had an astonishing 350+
entries this year, but weekly midget racing has disappeared in most of the
country. I don’t want to see that happen to pavement late models.
If
we’re going to avoid an even bigger problem, we need to get moving toward a
solution now.
Frank’s
Loose Lug Nuts
NASCAR
still hasn’t learned the down side to making things too complicated, as its
recently announced pit stop procedure for selected Xfinity and Gander Outdoors
events next year makes plain.
Yes,
we need to cut costs (although putting this into effect for only a handful of
races certainly won’t accomplish much there), but do we need to do so in a way
that makes pit stop rules as hard to understand as aero rules or the point
system?
I don’t think Sam Ard’s
getting a Kyle Busch-worthy pit stop here, but fans still liked the racing, and
they might like it again with more economical AND simpler rules.
The
easy solution would have been to reduce the number of crew members allowed over
the wall to four and leave everything else as-is, but NASCAR can’t do that,
because its #1 goal is to keep everybody on the lead lap for TV viewing.
Slower pit stops would leave more cars off the lead lap.
I
know. I’m just not in touch with the present in my viewpoint that it’s OK to
have cars off the lead lap, and I’m not paying the payroll for NASCAR or the
big teams.
I
still think I’m right.