"Racing Toward Midnight" by Dick Berggren

wbr · 10/19/07, 8:38 AM

Racing Toward Midnight or Right up there with running out of toilet paper
from The Inside Groove by Dick Berggren in last months Speedway Illustrated

I recently sat next to a little girl and her father in a local short track grandstand. The kid was maybe 8 years old, and she excitedly told me she had come to see the Figure 8 cars. But as is so often the case at today's short tracks with more than three divisions, the program was long. At around 9:30 p.m. it was well past the kid's bedtime. Yawning, with the Figure 8 cars still several events away, she asked her father to take her home. She didn't see the race she had come for and a young fan was lost.

At many short tracks today, the pits are full but you can fit more people in a medium-size Winnebago than are sitting in the grandstands. That's because the majority of local tracks have become "back-gate" operations with four or more divisions. At the back-gate tracks, racers not only pay for their cars, they pay their own purses as well. And the shows are typically long.

One of the best-run short tracks in the country is Thunder Road in Barre, VT. Built by former CBS announcer Ken Squier when he was in his early 20s, now nearly 50 years ago, Thunder Road draws huge crowds who pay 10 bucks each to watch.

But like so many other tracks, times have changed at "The Road", as local fans call it. In the early days there was just one division. "We could build real heroes," said Squier, because the announcer could focus on a few people who made two or more appearances each night. With 35 racers, in those early days an announcer would talk heroes and villians, young guys and veterans, underdogs and big winners. When there are more than 100 cars, there's only time to announce each driver, the car number, and maybe the sponsor. Announcers can't build characters at back-gate tracks because there are too many cars for that. People become fans of characters.

So today's back-gate driven, local-level racing plays before grandstands that are primarily filled with empty seats. During the 2007 season, I went to a five-division track with fewer than 300 people in the stands, but there were so many cars, the pits overflowed into the near-empty spectator parking lot. Nobody can sell a track or car sponsorship when they can promise 300 fans.

It's a crazy way to run a race track, but I've come to the conclusion that a lot of crazy people operate race tracks. For their customers, running races toward midnight is right up there with running out of toilet paper in the lady's room.

Late shows trample curfews, pissing off the local government and neighbors. But more important, every one of these guys ( and gals ) who runs a show deep into the night should look at the grandstands at 8 p.m. and then look at the same stands at 11 p.m. People who pay for tickets to race nights that are too long leave before the program is over.

Would you walk out of a good show?

Too many divisions, caution flags that fly as soon as someone gets sideways or spins off the track out of harm's way, and long clean-ups after crashes combine with too many cars to run too many race nights too late. It's not what people pay to see.

Last summer I was at a track where after giving the field a dozen laps behind the pace car before the feature, the flagman threw a red. Why? Because one guy in a field of more than two dozen was still in the pits trying to get his engine started. In all, it was nearly 20 minutes between the cars lining up behind the pace car and the moment that guy's engine finally came to life and the race began.

I called the guy responsible for the program and asked what gives. "I have too much respect for my drivers to not do that," he explained. "They paid for their tires, they paid for their fuel - so they deserve the chance to race."

He didn't understand that the fans in the stands who paid for their tickets deserved to see a race, not wait around while someone tried to start an engine. I didn't stay for the whole program because there was still so much to go and the night had gotten long. Judging by the empty spaces I saw in the parking lot as I drove out, others had less patience with the program than I did and had already left.

The only local track in America that can run races toward midnight and get away with it is Tony Stewart's Eldora Speedway. Everyone else had better have their show done by 10 p.m.

wbr · 10/19/07, 8:39 AM

I read this and found it worthy of posting for the rest of you to read.

Dyno Don · 10/19/07, 8:53 AM

There is a lot of truth printed in that article, but I suspect no one will listen.

Some people just do not get it.

Promoters wonder why their crowds are aging, but pay little or no attention to the children that are leaving becasue the show runs long. I say every time a little kid leaves before he sees what he was promised or wanted to see, that is a loss of a future fan.

dirtnonwingfan · 10/19/07, 9:10 AM

Excellent article. Thanks for sharing. I also fear that those who need to learn from the article won't get it, but I live in eternal hope. Next year will be better.

Frank Daigh

Motormasher · 10/19/07, 9:24 AM

Very good article but all of the tracks we go to here in Southern In all get their shows in and the racing is good in all divisions.
What I don't understand is why everybody thinks that racers are just ready at the drop of a hat. We need time between races to think, change set ups, work on a motor or whatever the case may be. Having other divisions is good in my opinion but I do think they should have a time rule in place in case there is a problem getting the races run.
As for waiting on a particular car/driver, Ive seen USAC do it and it SUCKS! But they did it wrong. I do beleive in waiting on cars/drivers depending on the circumstances of the delay.

thebus79h · 10/19/07, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Motormasher

Very good article but all of the tracks we go to here in Southern In all get their shows in and the racing is good in all divisions.
What I don't understand is why everybody thinks that racers are just ready at the drop of a hat. We need time between races to think, change set ups, work on a motor or whatever the case may be. Having other divisions is good in my opinion but I do think they should have a time rule in place in case there is a problem getting the races run.
As for waiting on a particular car/driver, Ive seen USAC do it and it SUCKS! But they did it wrong. I do beleive in waiting on cars/drivers depending on the circumstances of the delay.

I don't agree with the waiting. Once the field is ready to go green, you've got a last chance to tag the tail for two laps, and if you don't make it, tough cookies. They had just as much time to get ready as you did, and some of the msot fun I've ever had racing was running a couple classes, running my ass off to get in each car. You never wait for "one" driver, and I'm not against support classes, but you only need one, maybe two. And for gods sake, make them make sense. I would LOVE a track to have a show that was JUST sprint cars, 1200 mini sprints, and modifieds, and that was it. But I digress, the support classes need to be there as well, but they need to be run quickly, as in line them up in the chute, and when they pass the grandstand, it's one to green, speed the show up.

grinch · 10/19/07, 2:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Motormasher

Very good article but all of the tracks we go to here in Southern In all get their shows in and the racing is good in all divisions.
What I don't understand is why everybody thinks that racers are just ready at the drop of a hat. We need time between races to think, change set ups, work on a motor or whatever the case may be. Having other divisions is good in my opinion but I do think they should have a time rule in place in case there is a problem getting the races run.
As for waiting on a particular car/driver, Ive seen USAC do it and it SUCKS! But they did it wrong. I do beleive in waiting on cars/drivers depending on the circumstances of the delay.

Giving race drivers time to think is proably the worse thing you could be doing!..................:kookoo2:

Dyno Don · 10/19/07, 3:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Motormasher

Very good article but all of the tracks we go to here in Southern In all get their shows in and the racing is good in all divisions.
What I don't understand is why everybody thinks that racers are just ready at the drop of a hat. We need time between races to think, change set ups, work on a motor or whatever the case may be. Having other divisions is good in my opinion but I do think they should have a time rule in place in case there is a problem getting the races run.
As for waiting on a particular car/driver, Ive seen USAC do it and it SUCKS! But they did it wrong. I do beleive in waiting on cars/drivers depending on the circumstances of the delay.

The way I look at it is that race teams know the schedule. If you have a problem or cannot make the start, so be it. Why take your ills out on a grandstand full of fans wanting to see racing?

Preparation should start before you get to the track. That is what makes WoO work, they are ready when they hit the track(granted there are a few exceptions).

Indy1808 · 10/19/07, 4:15 PM

Thanks Mark, Great article I hope the promoters take it to heart.

Charles Nungester · 10/19/07, 4:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyno Don

The way I look at it is that race teams know the schedule. If you have a problem or cannot make the start, so be it. Why take your ills out on a grandstand full of fans wanting to see racing?

Preparation should start before you get to the track. That is what makes WoO work, they are ready when they hit the track(granted there are a few exceptions).

Conversly, Id like to see cars be able to restart as long as they AREN't holding up the program. If that cars ready to push off before a race is ready to restart, WHERES THE PROBLEM? 15 cars finishing a race is better than 9-10 IMHO.

Chuck, who heard about Stanbrough winning two races he had a flat in.

10/19/07, 4:15 PM	#9 Re: "Racing Toward Midnight" by Dick Berggren
Indy1808 Senior Member Race Count This Year: 37 Race Count Last Year: 35 Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 2,778	Thanks Mark, Great article I hope the promoters take it to heart. __________________ Peace & love to all. God bless our Troops at home and abroad. INDY1808 SEE YOU AT THE RACES ! "Sitting in the Stands " #noteamracing

10/19/07, 8:38 AM	#1 "Racing Toward Midnight" by Dick Berggren
wbr Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 723	Racing Toward Midnight or Right up there with running out of toilet paper from The Inside Groove by Dick Berggren in last months Speedway Illustrated I recently sat next to a little girl and her father in a local short track grandstand. The kid was maybe 8 years old, and she excitedly told me she had come to see the Figure 8 cars. But as is so often the case at today's short tracks with more than three divisions, the program was long. At around 9:30 p.m. it was well past the kid's bedtime. Yawning, with the Figure 8 cars still several events away, she asked her father to take her home. She didn't see the race she had come for and a young fan was lost. At many short tracks today, the pits are full but you can fit more people in a medium-size Winnebago than are sitting in the grandstands. That's because the majority of local tracks have become "back-gate" operations with four or more divisions. At the back-gate tracks, racers not only pay for their cars, they pay their own purses as well. And the shows are typically long. One of the best-run short tracks in the country is Thunder Road in Barre, VT. Built by former CBS announcer Ken Squier when he was in his early 20s, now nearly 50 years ago, Thunder Road draws huge crowds who pay 10 bucks each to watch. But like so many other tracks, times have changed at "The Road", as local fans call it. In the early days there was just one division. "We could build real heroes," said Squier, because the announcer could focus on a few people who made two or more appearances each night. With 35 racers, in those early days an announcer would talk heroes and villians, young guys and veterans, underdogs and big winners. When there are more than 100 cars, there's only time to announce each driver, the car number, and maybe the sponsor. Announcers can't build characters at back-gate tracks because there are too many cars for that. People become fans of characters. So today's back-gate driven, local-level racing plays before grandstands that are primarily filled with empty seats. During the 2007 season, I went to a five-division track with fewer than 300 people in the stands, but there were so many cars, the pits overflowed into the near-empty spectator parking lot. Nobody can sell a track or car sponsorship when they can promise 300 fans. It's a crazy way to run a race track, but I've come to the conclusion that a lot of crazy people operate race tracks. For their customers, running races toward midnight is right up there with running out of toilet paper in the lady's room. Late shows trample curfews, pissing off the local government and neighbors. But more important, every one of these guys ( and gals ) who runs a show deep into the night should look at the grandstands at 8 p.m. and then look at the same stands at 11 p.m. People who pay for tickets to race nights that are too long leave before the program is over. Would you walk out of a good show? Too many divisions, caution flags that fly as soon as someone gets sideways or spins off the track out of harm's way, and long clean-ups after crashes combine with too many cars to run too many race nights too late. It's not what people pay to see. Last summer I was at a track where after giving the field a dozen laps behind the pace car before the feature, the flagman threw a red. Why? Because one guy in a field of more than two dozen was still in the pits trying to get his engine started. In all, it was nearly 20 minutes between the cars lining up behind the pace car and the moment that guy's engine finally came to life and the race began. I called the guy responsible for the program and asked what gives. "I have too much respect for my drivers to not do that," he explained. "They paid for their tires, they paid for their fuel - so they deserve the chance to race." He didn't understand that the fans in the stands who paid for their tickets deserved to see a race, not wait around while someone tried to start an engine. I didn't stay for the whole program because there was still so much to go and the night had gotten long. Judging by the empty spaces I saw in the parking lot as I drove out, others had less patience with the program than I did and had already left. The only local track in America that can run races toward midnight and get away with it is Tony Stewart's Eldora Speedway. Everyone else had better have their show done by 10 p.m.

10/19/07, 8:39 AM	#2 Re: "Racing Toward Midnight" by Dick Berggren
wbr Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 723	I read this and found it worthy of posting for the rest of you to read.

10/19/07, 8:53 AM	#3 Re: "Racing Toward Midnight" by Dick Berggren
Dyno Don Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 579	There is a lot of truth printed in that article, but I suspect no one will listen. Some people just do not get it. Promoters wonder why their crowds are aging, but pay little or no attention to the children that are leaving becasue the show runs long. I say every time a little kid leaves before he sees what he was promised or wanted to see, that is a loss of a future fan.

10/19/07, 9:10 AM	#4 Re: "Racing Toward Midnight" by Dick Berggren
dirtnonwingfan Senior Member Race Count This Year: 6 Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 7,006	Excellent article. Thanks for sharing. I also fear that those who need to learn from the article won't get it, but I live in eternal hope. Next year will be better. Frank Daigh

10/19/07, 9:24 AM	#5 Re: "Racing Toward Midnight" by Dick Berggren
Motormasher Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 980	Very good article but all of the tracks we go to here in Southern In all get their shows in and the racing is good in all divisions. What I don't understand is why everybody thinks that racers are just ready at the drop of a hat. We need time between races to think, change set ups, work on a motor or whatever the case may be. Having other divisions is good in my opinion but I do think they should have a time rule in place in case there is a problem getting the races run. As for waiting on a particular car/driver, Ive seen USAC do it and it SUCKS! But they did it wrong. I do beleive in waiting on cars/drivers depending on the circumstances of the delay.