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Grass-roots efforts to bring SAS back to life under way


NickHolt

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I don't want to get into a silly debate about bringing kids to the track so I'll tell you this.

 

I can't stand baseball, watching it on TV bores me to tears and watching it in person isn't much better but I've been to dozens of San Antonio Missons games in my life. All through elementary school the missions would give out general admission tickets to kids for certain things so my free ticket turned into paid tickets from my parents and sister as well as food, drinks and souvenirs. The Missions have a prize wheel you can spin where you can win a free ticket to a week-night game and we'd usually win one of those tickets and be back in the next week or so for another game. The stands where never full during the weeknight games so all the Missions where loosing was one $5 ticket but they where gaining a lot more PLUS now its a family tradition to go to games where they have fireworks shows or concerts. I still can't stand baseball (someone explain an error to me?) but it is a fun evening out with the family for $30-40 and for that you can't go wrong.

 

I happen to live for cars; I was at SAS when I was 3 weeks old and my kid was at CTS when he was 3 months old and the same for my niece. If I wanted a cheap place to dump my kid we'd just fire up the ipad and plop him down but we drive an hour or more to pay $20-30 in admission plus typically another $20-30 in food and souvenirs. I don't suspect my dedicate fan money spends any differently then the money of people just looking to try something different or get out of the house for the evening. It's going to be real hard to keep any track open if they can't figure out how to get the current generation off their Ipads and out into the stands; one day Toyotatim is going to be too old to "spend money like it's nothing" and someone will have to take his place. We also may very well find that what the Reeh family did with the Electrahton is what allows us to bring the city back to the table regarding their issues with SAS; it is surprisingly easy market family entertainment to politicians and they care surprisingly little about hardcore race-fans.

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The target customer for the track are the companies that provide products and services to the people of san antonio. It is necessary for a track to have corporate sponsors who can use the venue to entertain their clients and customers. As long as the track is funded well enough to pay a decent purse and have a safe facility to race at, the racers and their families will be there. Funding a nice purse cannot be done at the back gate or by Betty Lou and the kids, Little Johnny and Mary Jane. In fact, the kids and family have proven to be a liability in the pits already.

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Rodney; you misread the article. The Missions Double A Franchise is moving to Amarillo because the Missions in San Antonio are moving to the Pacific Coast League to become Triple A!

 

https://www.google.com/amp/www.kens5.com/amp//sports/new-era-for-sa-missions-team-moving-up-to-aaa-baseball-in-2019-season/450958187

 

The Missions are talking about a bigger stadium and a great future; I hope racing starts feeling the missions affect!

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Man that's awesome what I saw left that second and most important part out! Have a PCL team right here in Round Rock that's a big ol deal! Great time to co-op with them, had spoken to the Round Rock Express folks about doing some work together with Dell Diamond and CTS but didn't work out this season.

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I really do not see where I was saying that they should or want to rely on sponsors alone. Large Corp sponsors bring instant credibility to the industry. If someone would land Toyota, HEB, Valero, USAA or someone of that caliber, people would more likely attend just because of them. Look at the TOYOTA field in San Antonio, the pack them in there and are expanding. The larger sponsors will lessen the burden on the racers to cover the nut at the back gate and will attract people to the front.

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Ohhhhhh, Timmy.....Odd, I go to watch cars racing not billboards....but that's just me.

 

I do agree with no kids in the pits though....On a high-banked 1/2 mile you're not going to run(or shouldn't) anything that someone that young would race......Nothing against kids getting involved, they're our future racers, but a fast track isn't the place to try.

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Agree with you 100% reb; at SAS I really don't see much reason to have younger people in the pits as the track is simply too fast for a real "kid level" class...that said many of the successful half mile tracks in the country are also running a entry level class on a front stretch course as part of their regular show and SAS is laid out perfect for that. Nashville, Irwindale, LaCrosse and some others all have provisions for lower-level class to run on a slower track for beginners.

 

If I was asked for my opinion I'd look towards a FWD/RWD 4-6-small 8 cylinder class with a 4-point cage that could run on a track laid out around a couple of tractor tires on the front stretch along with 3 or maybe 4 "big track" classes. This would allow a way for guys as young as 14 (?) to get a start in racing and if you don't draw in the younger crowd there is no reason to open SAS at all. Think of it like an Enduro class but without all the crashing.

 

I'd also figure out a way to give away "free" tickets to successful kids in local schools to draw them to the track with their families but we see how that worked out for the Missons :rolleyes:

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People don't go to Toyota field because it's sponsored by Toyota. They go because they love soccer. I didn't go to TMS because it was sponsored by Duck Commander, or go to Texas Motorplex because it was sponsored by O'Rielly's. I go because I love racing. If you remember people thought Toyota opening next to the track would be a good thing and they would sponsor the track and look where we are now. Yes a corporate sponsor is nice but you can't live off just their money. You have got to have butts in the seats. If their is no butts in the seats there is no return on investment which means no more sponsorship. People will not show up just because of who sponsors it. If that was true then the Duck Commander 500 should have been a sell out because there is millions of Duck Commander fans and the place was only 1/2 full.

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But to TT's point it is beneficial to have Toyota or someone to that effect in the business. Helps with name recognition and it will will bring added exposure and dollars that won't come from somewhere else. May be a shitty deal but it's business and that is what this has become, to sustain it needs to operate that way.

If Rodney's Bar & Grill (which is made up despite what my wife says) sponsors the track I probably offer minimal $ and expect huge return and will need lots of free tickets, that doesn't help the bottom dollar for the speedway.

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The point is, it has been proven over and over again, if the racers at the back gates are your primary source for funding the racing, it is short lived. The fun ends when competitive people get their feelings hurt. It happens nearly 100% of the time. So if you are funding your racing off of the back gate, it suffers when racers take their toys and go somewhere else. It is like the fox guarding the hen house. It builds a solid long term base with a strong sponsorship base not directly tied to the back gate. Without it, you will see the same old stuff, a struggling track with racers not building cars not knowing if the track will be here next week or not. Just the way it is, not my fault

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Josh42 makes a good point …. A sponsor is just a temporary injection of money for the venue until the deal runs out. When this happens the venue better be on its game or they are heading south. Offering a product that is both entertaining and affordable will pay dividends.

 

In today’s world if you want to attract the younger crowd you need something that interests the younger crowd. It could be an age specific race series, interaction between car/driver and the young fan either on track or grandstand side.

 

With video games being as huge as it is why not capitalize on it. A track could set up 4, 6 or more consoles and start its own racing league on something like iRacing. Take it a step farther and develop a league among other short tracks around the country. They could have qualifying races during the week and the top online racers could compete against each other at the track on race night.

 

Bottom line I think is each track is different as is the demographics. The track has to either hit it dead on or start heading in that direction from the start. Know what works and what doesn’t, be able to quickly adjust towards a favorable trend…if it works for you and your bottom line, build on it.

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How much would it cost to built a new state of the art 1/2 mile tract with all the best amenities not including the purchase of the land. How much land would you need for this new track. Just looking for a dollar figure and about how much land.

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How much would it cost to built a new state of the art 1/2 mile tract with all the best amenities not including the purchase of the land. How much land would you need for this new track. Just looking for a dollar figure and about how much land.

 

That one small detail would rule out making it profitable. Just look up the road at the Austin adventure. Your looking at 75 ac. (most of which is parking which doesn't make any money, which costs in Rodney's vernacular a "shit load". Then there's the track surface......More money than anyone I know would be willing to pay!!!!! The only reason SAS might possibly be able to make it is it isn't state of the art​. And, as someone said on here, resurfacing the track is probably not in the cards so we're definitely talking low buck racing.

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Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Springs Conn. has a fast half mile track but they use part of the front stretch and service roads to make a small oval for the youngsters to run ledgend cars.

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Thank you Rodney for your real estate analysis. I have forwarded that term to TREC to be added to the real estate vernacular. The question remains, is it cheaper to fix SAS or build new elsewhere. Either way, there will be a 1/2 mile track somewhere in either central, east or south Texas. Way too many fans for that itch to go unscratched.

 

Sometimes it takes time for the product, (1/2 mile asphalt racing) to increase in value before investors are willing to open their wallets. HMP has 2 races scheduled for this year and that is only a 3/8 mile track. No scheduled 1/2 mile asphalt tracks in Texas. If there is a profit to be made, investor groups come out of the woodwork. I think the clock is ticking and only time will tell. What do you think financially, SAS or new?

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Not sure how to say this in a positive, people-pleasing way, but the three serious investors I have been associated with over the past decade, including Terry Dickerson, have investigated the property, figured what it would take to replace the infrastructure and make the place decent for fans and racers, sponsors and the press, put the pencil to revenue-generating best-case scenarios and walked away before investing any more time in the project.

 

Like most of us who get on Lone Star Speedzone, I am not able to financially invest in race tracks, although my interest and passion is short track racing oriented for the past 55+ years. I fall into the "Day Dreamers and "Wishful Thinkers" category of track re-builders.

 

But, I am always on the lookout for someone with a passion for the sport and plenty of resources. Should that someone magically appear, I will help out in any way I know how to make it happen. I have a pretty good understanding of the history of the place and have a pretty good idea of what it will take to make it happen. My number is 210-415-1251 if you're that person. The spokesperson for the group that owns the track and I talk and all he asks is that I screen folks a bit before handing out his personal contact info.

 

Let's do it!

 

Nick

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