dano36 Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Do you have any suggestions that you feel would make going to the races more enjoyable and comfortable? From seats to the food to the restrooms, everyone has something they would like to see improved or maybe something that is not there that they would make the experience better. Post your suggestions on this forum. Please, no criticisms or complaints, just good reasonable suggestions. A complaint is fine only if it is constructive in nature. The topic is intended to be from a fan's point of view and not include suggestions or comments regarding competition rules. It is OK to suggest a certain class of racecar, or a special format race, but leave the racing rules to those that now set them. The goal is to make racing a sport that everyone wants to come to and keep coming all season long. The marketing folks will get the word out and lets make this forum a project to keem them coming back when thdy do come....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2803fan Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 some sort of canopy or trees behind the grandstands to block the sun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Trees can also serve as a sound barrier as long as they're not located near the actual track surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee07 Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Atleast one demo derby at mid season or at the spectacular. I take my 3 year old boy with me every time and he will watch most of the races but after sitting for so long he want to start running around. If there was a play area for children it would give them something to do rather than rolling down the hill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky161 Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Atleast one demo derby at mid season or at the spectacular. I take my 3 year old boy with me every time and he will watch most of the races but after sitting for so long he want to start running around. If there was a play area for children it would give them something to do rather than rolling down the hill If I never see another demo derby, it will still be way too soon. I can't stand them. What a waste of time and pure silliness. That's my opinion. That said, if having a demo derby EVERY night helps pay the bills and keeps good races going, put me down as all for it. It's not about having everything perfect from my point of view. It's about being the best it can be overall for the most people. Along those lines, I do love a good fireworks display. Now I know those are really expensive these days, but it does pack the stands on the 4th. And I'll bet some people hate them like I hate the demo derbys too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobbinsSr Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 I hate long intermissions. I know they are needed to give the staff a break, but try to have something planed during that time. some thing to entertain the kids is best, but just something. Invite a local car club to come run laps or get some of these wana be drifters to come show off. local motorcycle guys to come do a few stunts. What ever happened to the Joes chitwood thrill show? Oh bring in a clown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh42 Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Well as person sitting in the stands saturday night there was a couple things I saw that could be a little better. Usually I'm in the pits so I didnt get to see these things. 1. Seat backs would be nice after about an hour my lower back was killin me. 2. The old beer stand concession that is now just selling drinks only. Take the radio away from the girls or tell them to listen to somewhat decent music at a normal tone instead of blasting the radio. I had to talk louder than normal just to order my drinks and there was no cars on the track when i went down there. They were listening to some weird rap music or something. Plus make sure they know what there doing cause i ordered two drinks and and it should have been $4 so i gave them a $5 bill and got $3 in change. 3. Keep the show rolling I heard a lot of people around me complaining about some things taking to long. 4. I heard one woman by me during the thunderstock race say this is boring and the race was to long. Now I somewhat agree (I'll probably get ripped for this) but the last 10 laps or so made up for the boring part of the first 20 laps. 5. The Pro Late Model race should of only been 20 laps or so cause after 5 laps it was pretty strung out and not much was goin on. 6. If there is a car causing a lot of problems get them off the track. The same woman in front of me during the TSRS race was getting tired of seeing one car that seemed to cause all the cautions by her thoughts. I wont name names but she was like get that guy oughta here and got kinda mad when they left him out there. Then in the superstock race I thought there was a car out there runnin that should of been with the thunderstocks and he actually caused one caution and almost caused another. Now the positives of the other night: 1. Good car counts in all the classes except Pro Late model which I was throughly disappointed with. I know there was couple of guys whos cars were tore up and some that went to mobile But this remined me of the USRA super lates last year. I thought I heard them say they were paying a 1000 to win. I dont know if that was J and S's money or not but for a group of cars who recently had there purse cut in half in Houston then get a chance to race for more money and not show was kinda weird. 2. Good move moving the Beer stand up to the top it was shorter walk even though i only drank one. 3. Pretty good finishes in the Thunderstocks and the GoKarts. Didnt get to see the dwarfs or legacies got there a little late. 4. Done at a timely manner to not to late but still not bad. 5. And the best was having Milton and Mick in the PA booth, those two sound good together and they know the drivers and know the racing and it was good to hear them on the PA. Now these were just my observations from the other night at THR. So dont get to angry with me if i offended anyone. Last I tried to bring a new fan but dont think shes gonna be hangin around THR to often. I brought my girlfriend to the races for her first visit to THR, she just moved here from Northern California and said the next race shes goes to is gonna be on dirt and dirt only she didnt take to the asphalt to well she said she would rather see the cars thrownin it sideways, throwin mud and kickin the left front wheel up in the air flyin around the corner. So i told her we're probably gonna go to houston in mid july and watch the SUPR or got to Waco when ASCS comes to town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvinmcgee Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Open the pits at 04:00 and start the races at 07:30. Summer is to hot to be out there all day. If drivers need more time to practice do it on Thursday or Friday night. Any additional shade for spectators would be great. Drivers and cars have their own canopies in the pits. Fill up the stands...give more tickets to the drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 I brought my girlfriend to the races for her first visit to THR, she just moved here from Northern California and said the next race shes goes to is gonna be on dirt and dirt only she didnt take to the asphalt to well she said she would rather see the cars thrownin it sideways, throwin mud and kickin the left front wheel up in the air flyin around the corner. So i told her we're probably gonna go to houston in mid july and watch the SUPR or got to Waco when ASCS comes to town. nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky161 Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Well as person sitting in the stands saturday night there was a couple things I saw that could be a little better. Usually I'm in the pits so I didnt get to see these things. 1. Seat backs would be nice after about an hour my lower back was killin me. Good idea. It could actually be a profit area for the track in either rentals or sales. I would actually prefer the built in seat backs, but even that could be worked into a premium seat situation for the track. 2. The old beer stand concession that is now just selling drinks only. Take the radio away from the girls or tell them to listen to somewhat decent music at a normal tone instead of blasting the radio. I had to talk louder than normal just to order my drinks and there was no cars on the track when i went down there. They were listening to some weird rap music or something. Plus make sure they know what there doing cause i ordered two drinks and and it should have been $4 so i gave them a $5 bill and got $3 in change. I was a kid working in a track concession stand and we worked hard, but we were also supervised. 3. Keep the show rolling I heard a lot of people around me complaining about some things taking to long. I have to agree here too. Keep the next race lined up and ready to go. Candy call for the kids is a popular intermission deal around here, but in my opinion it runs too long at some tracks. Line the kids up behind the stands or something. 4. I heard one woman by me during the thunderstock race say this is boring and the race was to long. Now I somewhat agree (I'll probably get ripped for this) but the last 10 laps or so made up for the boring part of the first 20 laps. 5. The Pro Late Model race should of only been 20 laps or so cause after 5 laps it was pretty strung out and not much was goin on. 6. If there is a car causing a lot of problems get them off the track. The same woman in front of me during the TSRS race was getting tired of seeing one car that seemed to cause all the cautions by her thoughts. I wont name names but she was like get that guy oughta here and got kinda mad when they left him out there. Then in the superstock race I thought there was a car out there runnin that should of been with the thunderstocks and he actually caused one caution and almost caused another. Now the positives of the other night: 1. Good car counts in all the classes except Pro Late model which I was throughly disappointed with. I know there was couple of guys whos cars were tore up and some that went to mobile But this remined me of the USRA super lates last year. I thought I heard them say they were paying a 1000 to win. I dont know if that was J and S's money or not but for a group of cars who recently had there purse cut in half in Houston then get a chance to race for more money and not show was kinda weird. 2. Good move moving the Beer stand up to the top it was shorter walk even though i only drank one. 3. Pretty good finishes in the Thunderstocks and the GoKarts. Didnt get to see the dwarfs or legacies got there a little late. 4. Done at a timely manner to not to late but still not bad. 5. And the best was having Milton and Mick in the PA booth, those two sound good together and they know the drivers and know the racing and it was good to hear them on the PA. I think this is important. I know some tracks can't pay for a pro, but an announcer or two that actually find out what is going on, give updates on the cars and drivers and promote their sponsors, go a long ways to making the show more enjoyable. Now these were just my observations from the other night at THR. So dont get to angry with me if i offended anyone. Last I tried to bring a new fan but dont think shes gonna be hangin around THR to often. I brought my girlfriend to the races for her first visit to THR, she just moved here from Northern California and said the next race shes goes to is gonna be on dirt and dirt only she didnt take to the asphalt to well she said she would rather see the cars thrownin it sideways, throwin mud and kickin the left front wheel up in the air flyin around the corner. So i told her we're probably gonna go to houston in mid july and watch the SUPR or got to Waco when ASCS comes to town. In my opinion, you can't go wrong with either the ASCS or the SUPR. They both put on awesome shows. Now if we could only get some great paved shows back to Texas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobbinsSr Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Open the pits at 04:00 and start the races at 07:30. Summer is to hot to be out there all day. If drivers need more time to practice do it on Thursday or Friday night. Any additional shade for spectators would be great. Drivers and cars have their own canopies in the pits. Fill up the stands...give more tickets to the drivers. I agree with that also. How about a quarter midget track on the front strait and run them during intermission. Would like to see some sort of class for the kids. what ever happened to the mini cups? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky161 Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 Big D Speedway is no longer in business, but it was the track we went to often when I was a kid. They had a nursery for the little kids. I am not sure how well that worked out, but they had one. For us older kids, we had a small area behind the stands. It wasn't official, it was just close and out of the way and we "built" our own track. And we brought our toy cars to the track and "raced" them on this track. As far as I know, we weren't supervised officially, although I am sure that we were checked on periodically by everyone's moms and dads. Most of us had family that was in some way involved with the racing, so it was the same kids every week and we would "play" during the heat races and time trials and then just watch the feature races. It kept us occupied, therefore out of trouble and as far as I could tell cost the track nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobbinsSr Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 THR has a nice play are for the kids. my son spends more time down there than he does in the stands. However a shaded area for the parents to sit while they keep an eye on their kids would be nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky161 Posted June 12, 2007 Report Share Posted June 12, 2007 RESTROOMS Some years back the promoter where we ran wasn't cleaning the restrooms. It got pretty bad. You could smell them from the road. Fans were complaining. Around this time, my roomate and I both being racing fans decided one saturday afternoon to go to the races in El Paso instead of Amarillo. We took a camera and when we got back, we shared the photos with our friends. Almost immediately one of them asked "why did you guys take a picture of your motel room's bath room?" The answer was, "that's not the motel room bathroom, that's the race track bathroom. It was spotless and that's why we took the picture. It seems that not everyone just asssumed that race track bathrooms had to be nasty and smelly. This is something that new fans and occasional fans pay a lot of attention to. In my research to build a track, I ran across some websites touting "waterless" urinals. Apparently these are only for the men's room, at least right now, but they need no water. That's right, zero. Now the comodes will still need both supply and waste plumbing, but the urinals use no water at all. From what I can tell, major cost savings in both the construction and the operational costs. NO SMELL either. And they are GREEN. Not in color, although I suppose you could order them that way, but enviormently sound. Not onlyl could a track especially a new one save money on contruction and operating cost, but how hard would it be to get some FREE publicity with a system like that? Announcing a new race track? That will get you about a paragraph on the sports or business page. An existing race track, they might give you a little on the results pages of the sports. But a major entertainment facility being good for the enviornment, could get an actual story. How much would that be worth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford27 Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 for an intermission I'd like to see kids from the stands say about 6 or so put in some gocarts for a 10 lap race on the front streach.|(nothing too fast) might make em want to come and might make some future drivers....maybe do a drawing for the names, and alternate ages or something...once 6-9 next time 10-13... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhorse Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 are you sponsoring the go carts? -just good racing , cheaper admission , and i guy with a microphone to keep the crowd entertained while the cars are not. (hint) it sounds like hilton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banker36 Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Let the Super Stocks go out and make a few hot laps during intermission... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky161 Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Sight lines are important to fans. Don't let any car hauler's, motorhomes or any kind of trailer or vehicle park in the infield if it blocks the view for the fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSCHUCK Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 5 lap grudge match races during intermission Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tqj3 Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Charles, something like that will only work if the drivers are "names," not when none of them are known outside the tight confines of the track. The fans have to care who's in, and who wins, a grudge match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky161 Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 I would think, although I am not absolutely sure that a new facility would have to follow the guidelines for the American Disability Act. If it wouldn't be cost prohibitive, it might be a good move to exceed rather than just meet those guidlines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford27 Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 are you sponsoring the go carts? sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhorse Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 ford 27 will fit good on my 1/4 as well..........what do ya think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Harris Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 what ever happen to having a bycicle or foot race for the kiddo's during intermission, and a merry-go-round, monkey bars, or a swing set? most tracks have some kind of an offical watching the pit gate to make sure you have a arm band on, why couldn't there be some offical to watch the playground area, just for safety or keep order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobRiley Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 Brian had a real nice play ground area, with swings etc., a year or two back, for the kids. Well, one fell, hurt himself, so his parents sued THR. Brian did not offer to go into the details or outcomes, so I didn't pursue the issue. The swings were removed. It only takes one jerk to spoil it for everyone. forgot....THR insurance paid for all the medical expences on this youngster, like your home owners insurance, then they were sued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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