HMP Pro LateModel Payout

[sprintsrule]

I think there are at least three major problems in local short track racing today.

 

1) Too many classes at the tracks. If there are sixty people willing to put a car together to race, why do we need to watch them in 6 different classes? Three classes with twenty cars each is much better than six classes with ten cars each. I would have a bomber type class, a faster but very limited fender class and an open wheel limited faster class (or vice versa with the top two classes). That way you can look at the cars and tell you have three distinct classes. When a guy wants to move up, he will sell his car to someone who will leave it in the class because he can not move up with it. Then he builds a new car for his new class. That adds one more car to the total.

 

2) Rule changes. I have raced in two different classes that have averaged over thirty cars per class. The popular guys in the class convinced the promoter they wanted to go faster because it would be a better show so the promoter opened up the rules a little. Neither class had ten cars left after one year. If I had a track that averaged thirty cars in a class, you would have to shoot me before I would change a single rule.

 

3) The races last too long. With all the classes racing, the races are ending too late. The problem with that is the promoters always run the most popular class last. If I am not willing to sit there for four plus hours, I do not even get to watch the cars I came to see. Do you think I come back very often?

 

Let's face it people. There are a lot of other things to do beside go watch the races so the attendance is down. There is only so much money the tracks can pay out in purses. The promoters are not making much if any money. The tracks would not be closing if they were profitable. If you take all the winner's share added and divide it by three classes instead of six, the pay is higher. If you take all the last place money added and divide it by three classes instead of six, the pay is higher. The total purse pay outs can not be raised but the distribution can be changed. We need less classes and cost cutting rules so we can GO RACING!

[racer61]

whistle-whistle, clap-clap. That sounds like a great answer to the every week show. Its also a sign of intelligence, but you said you were a racer. JK

[Lucky161]

I think there are at least three major problems in local short track racing today.

 

Amen. to all 3

 

1) Too many classes at the tracks. If there are sixty people willing to put a car together to race, why do we need to watch them in 6 different classes? Three classes with twenty cars each is much better than six classes with ten cars each. I would have a bomber type class, a faster but very limited fender class and an open wheel limited faster class (or vice versa with the top two classes). That way you can look at the cars and tell you have three distinct classes. When a guy wants to move up, he will sell his car to someone who will leave it in the class because he can not move up with it. Then he builds a new car for his new class. That adds one more car to the total.

 

In the paper the other day they had the results from 5 tracks. That's the good news. I can remember when you couldn't get any news about local racing in the local paper. All 5 tracks ran 5, 6 or even 7 classes of cars. Everyone would have been better if each of those tracks picked a class and ran just that class. Imagine if each track had 10 cars in each class, that would be 5 tracks running shows with 50 cars in one class. Those would be some darned good shows! Even 50 mini stocks would be a good show. For those that sprints or mods or late models are a must see, they might have had to drive further, but the races would have been worth it.

I agree with your 3 class idea, but with the 3rd top class only happening after the other two were solid.

 

2) Rule changes. I have raced in two different classes that have averaged over thirty cars per class. The popular guys in the class convinced the promoter they wanted to go faster because it would be a better show so the promoter opened up the rules a little. Neither class had ten cars left after one year. If I had a track that averaged thirty cars in a class, you would have to shoot me before I would change a single rule.

 

Yep and that is what some were complaining about here. As I said in my second post, it's not just the racers that are their own worst enemies. Promoters that listen to racers are too. 30 cars in a class would almost completely eliminate junk from the features.

 

3) The races last too long. With all the classes racing, the races are ending too late. The problem with that is the promoters always run the most popular class last. If I am not willing to sit there for four plus hours, I do not even get to watch the cars I came to see. Do you think I come back very often?

 

When I was daydreaming about building a track in DFW, I envision both special traveling shows and weekly shows, running 5-6 nights a week. That would mean running on school nights, so 10pm would be as late as you would want to run. Two classes a night could easily be run in less than 2 hours. Would probably have to put a time limit on each segment, heats as a group, not time limits on individual heats, but 2 hours would leave time to spare. The fans would be entertained, kids and their parents could get in bed at a decent hour and so could the racers.

 

Let's face it people. There are a lot of other things to do beside go watch the races so the attendance is down. There is only so much money the tracks can pay out in purses. The promoters are not making much if any money. The tracks would not be closing if they were profitable. If you take all the winner's share added and divide it by three classes instead of six, the pay is higher. If you take all the last place money added and divide it by three classes instead of six, the pay is higher. The total purse pay outs can not be raised but the distribution can be changed. We need less classes and cost cutting rules so we can GO RACING!

 

This may not be the place, but here goes anyway. Feel free to chastise me if I am out of line. For over 30 years the little town of Kennedale south of Fort Worth has had a drag strip and a 1/4 dirt track. Somebody (I used to know who, but forgot now, but it doesn't matter) and built another 1/4 dirt track right behind the original one. You can see the other track from the stands. Both tracks running basically the same 6 or 7 classes on the same night. They certainly weren't thinking of the fans or the racers or even their own bottom line. They were only concerned with putting each other out of business. Well one did go under, but guess what, it opened back up, now with the guy that used to be the promoter of the OTHER track. This is beginning to sound like incest. Surely now, they would cooperate and take half of the classes each and alternate nights, cutting admission in half so the fans could attend both nights at one or both tracks. The gate would be basically the same, and so would the purse, but the concessions at both tracks coulc easily double. Then they could both pay better purses get increased fields and bigger crowds. Nope, it's back to 6-7 of the same classes on the same night with the same goal, put the other guy out of business.

Now if they were smart, one of them would pave one of the tracks and one run friday and the other sat until they could both draw a two night crowd. But then again, like your smart racer, these are promoters.

[Snowball]

One thing that Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida has done is move the Super Latemodel main event to the 2nd race of the night out of the 4 feature races that are run during the Blizzard shows. On the regular nights of racing, after all of the heat races are over, the Pro latemodel feature runs first before the other 3 features. By the time the last race is run, about 60% of the crowd is gone. This has really helped with the fans getting to see the "big" race.