supertx Posted June 25, 2004 Report Share Posted June 25, 2004 Last Saturday night there was 161 race cars in the pits and a packed grandstand. Some of these tracks need to figure out what Wayne is doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelracewriter Posted June 26, 2004 Report Share Posted June 26, 2004 Well tx, for one thing he had 9 classes running! Then throw in the 10 gallons of alcohol he gives away free to each of the modifieds, the cars that boycotted Bellmead, a TOBA show and the rained out sprint show at Devils Bowl and "voila" you get 160+ cars. From my sources, it was not all rosy(no offense rosie-LOL) either. Far too late of a night was the main thing I heard, like 2:30 AM! 160 divided by 9=17.77777777 per class average, which is about normal for most dirt tracks with only four or five classes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supertx Posted June 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2004 Reb I talked to Wayne this week he did have some problems he had 3 of his key people that did not show up for different reasons. I have only been over there a couple of times with a customer with his sprint car, but both times i was there we were out of there by midnight and still had over a hundred cars in the pits and the grandstand were full. Wayne has the tiger by the tail and is not quite sure what to do with it but he is trying and i do know one thing he appreciates all the racers and the fans that show ups both times i've been there he has aleast came by and thanked us for coming. Have you heard about a new track being built in Sealy right off of 10? Heard alittle about it yesterday suppose to be a real deal but you know how that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TobaGuy Posted June 26, 2004 Report Share Posted June 26, 2004 I known of Blue Bonnet Speedway in Hempstead but not Sealy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supertx Posted June 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2004 tobaguy This is a new track . It's going to be in Sealy not to far from 10. I think there still in there planning stage or early construction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rightturn Posted June 28, 2004 Report Share Posted June 28, 2004 supertx, according to this weeks issue of NSSN, 2 men that have a road course in Ft. Worth are giong to build an SCCA road course in Sealy. They expect to break ground this year. No mention of any other type of track. Look in the Editor's report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-Crew Posted June 28, 2004 Report Share Posted June 28, 2004 I have only been to Hot Rod Hill twice but here is my two cent view.. This track is serving what has been for a long time an underserved market area. From the B-CS area, the closest track of any kind, dirt or asphalt is ~100 miles. Granted you can go in any direction to find one but either way you go it is a two hour drive to get to Killeen, Houston, Waco, Bellmead, etc. B-CS as a combined metroplex is ~200,000 people, the local newspaper reports a circulation area population of 214,000 for the year 2000 which would include Navasota, Hearne, Caldwell and smaller communities. B-CS is a college town although I don't think there is strong college attendance at Hot Rod Hill, I went in the first season the track was open, I could be wrong about the demographics today. All that boils down to is right place, right time and enough "stick to it" to keep it going long enough for it to grow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supertx Posted June 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 1-crew Being here in Austin I have to repley to this, you are right but lets do some comparssion TO our race track in Austin Tracks Close to : SA OR Houston [ 100 miles+ ] TOWNS POPULATION:750,000 WITH OVER 4 MILLION IN THE SURROUNDING AREA COLLEGE TOWN:TEXAS U. and Southwest Texas in San Marcos RIGHT PLACE: HALF WAY BETWEEN S.A.[ the 8th th largest city in the U.S]. and Austin STICK TO IT :6 OR 7 YEARS IT HAS BEEN OPEN Bottom line this track struggeles to stay open with car count and spectators and Hot Rod Hill has plenty of both, as you wrote and a whole lot less to draw from. Any ideas why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelracewriter Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 Tx, one thing is there are far more dirt cars to draw from than pavement, probably due to comparable rules(ie; IMCA Classes). There are a whole lot more things to do in Austin compared to B/CS. Lastly, Aggies.... they are a captive crowd. LOL It's joke......no phone calls please! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hray Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 From what I've been told, the biggest class at Hotrod Hill is the Limited Modifieds (SIMS types). They are drawing that class from a large radius of Bryan since many dirt tracks don't support that class. Also, they run the TOBA type cars. I think they have decided to fill a niche. Good move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-Crew Posted June 29, 2004 Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 Supertx, "our" track isn't in Austin, it's in Kyle. I live in Round Rock and depending on traffic it is almost an hour to get from my house to Thunderhill. Let's try another track that struggled when it opened - Texas World Speedway. It was billed as a perfect location, equal distance to SA, Austin and Houston. The problem is, for the kind of crowd it takes to support a facility that large, it is too far from each of the major markets it was built to serve. Now to give Thunderhill credit, it is a great facility and it has continued to hold that image for the 6 or 7 years it has been open. The challenge is to develop a fan base that is willing to drive ~45 minutes to get to the facility when there are so many other attractions to choose from that are closer. In Bryan, there isn't nearly as much competition for Hot Rod Hill and it's less than 30 minutes from the far side of College Station. I think Rebelracewriter and hray have a very valid observation as well, there are a lot more dirt tracks so there are more dirt cars to choose from , especially if one or more tracks get rained out or decide to close a class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supertx Posted June 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2004 1-crew A very good point. Not trying to start any crap i hope you realize that just anlyzing why asphalt racing has gone so far down hill. I was rasied around the old playland park racetack and meyers speedway in Houston and remember what and how good asphalt racing was in this state. The next question why do you think that there are so many dirt track cars IMCA hasn;t been aroung in TX. that long and why like in the Dallas area there's 7 or 8 dirt tracks and no short track asphalt tracks has me wondering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancer52 Posted July 2, 2004 Report Share Posted July 2, 2004 jmo but I am generally more entertained when I watch a dirt race than asphalt. I usually see racing throught the pack, not just at the front. Of course, I am a little biased since that is what we run. In the back of the 2004 National Speedway Directory, are some statistics about tracks operating in the US in 2003. Here they are: 1344 Total tracks 1043 oval tracks 791 DIRT tracks 251 paved tracks 295 drag strips 72 road courses Their figures do not seem to add up just right, but there are definitely more dirt tracks through out the US than paved. In Texas alone, there aer 44 dirt tracks and only 7 paved tracks that were in operation in 2003. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hray Posted July 2, 2004 Report Share Posted July 2, 2004 HRH was having a $600 to win for both Street Stocks and Super Stocks this weekend (July 3rd). The website has got me confused---it says events cancelled for July 2nd and then it lists July 3rd, 4th, 5th, but I can't tell if those dates are cancelled too. Someone that knows, please post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lege9mod Posted July 2, 2004 Report Share Posted July 2, 2004 I would look on the whowon modified forum for that info , you should be able to find what you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoom Posted July 2, 2004 Report Share Posted July 2, 2004 but there are definitely more dirt tracks through out the US than paved. In Texas alone, there aer 44 dirt tracks and only 7 paved tracks that were in operation in 2003. Do you think that fact that all you need for a dirt track are a cow pasture and a bulldozer where it takes a bunch more money for a paved track may have something to do with it? If they quit creating all the dirt tracks everywhere, and stick with the asphalt, that is where the fans would go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hray Posted July 2, 2004 Report Share Posted July 2, 2004 Do you think that fact that all you need for a dirt track are a cow pasture and a bulldozer where it takes a bunch more money for a paved track may have something to do with it? Ask Armond Payne about that quote. I'll bet he's got as much in that dirt track as any asphalt short track. It's not the surface that determines the cost, its the infrastructure (how fancy do you want it?) Most dirt tracks just don't put in equal facilities to their asphalt counterparts. The exceptions cost just as much as asphalt tracks (Houston), maybe even more if you look at the cost of maintainance. Asphalt tracks don't have to be watered, sheeps footed, packed and bladed every week and new material brought in everytime it rains hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supertx Posted July 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2004 Zoom Hary said it straight foward the cost is in the whole track not the surface. People are not going to stop putting in dirt tracks when they can pack the place verses asphalt where they can't buy a crowd or car count. A bad night at a dirt track is better than most good nights at an asphalt track. Im not knocking asphalt but the shows are long with follow the leader racing and fans like side by side lap after lap racing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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