HOUSTONLM04 Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Click here to sign the petition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Petitions are nice, but if people really want to save Darlington they need to buy a ticket or sign up as a sponsor. Gonna give the France family a petition! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arts22 Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Larry, the fans made their statement last year at Talladega and Mr. France changed how the race would not end under caution, but under green flag racin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAPA Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 It wasnt because of a petition. He just didnt want to have to pick up all the trash that the fans were throwing on the track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tqj3 Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Hey, guys, it can't hurt to let them know how we feel. Personally, I think NASCAR is making a huge mistake in not paying more attention to tradition and traditional tracks. I would cut most of the older tracks back to one race instead of two, but not eliminate them completely. Maybe when Lesa takes over, they'll change their direction. NASCAR does have to make changes in order to expand; there are only so many weekends in the year. I still think they are going to eventually go to some kind of split championship, national league-american league deal, with four or five tracks in common and a ten-race shootout (chase) among the top ten in each league. It's about their only solution to the fact that years only have 40-plus weekends. Another factor is seating, which may be one reason Bruton Smith put over 100,000 seats at Bristol: it costs too much to host a major NASCAR event unless you have about 100,000 seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 Darlington is on the other side of BFE...the Carolina's, VA and the the whole South East is oversaturated...cost per race has out paced the economy...when it was a low dollar deal, the locals could go to more races...there have been empty seats at darlington, rockingham before that, etc for a long time...more seats?...suites?....for who? They can't even sell 50,000 tickets...I like Darlington, I just wish it was in Houston...no sponsor cares about those small town markets except for maybe Piggly Wiggly...those tracks and towns have character...but it's like the NFL...it used to be all small towns back in the day...1920's-40's...before TV, sponsors, before $$$...the only one left now is Green Bay...Can't have it both ways... Major League sports (NFL, NBA, MLB) have franchises in the top 30-35 markets...Only one NFL team in the Carolinas, one NBA, and no MLB. NASCAR will resemble those more in more in the future. If people don't buy tickets and sponsors don't want to go there, it will die. End of Story. PS - Shane - at Talledega the stands were full and the ratings were high. Key Factor = Paying Customers. If the same thing were to happen at Darlington, there would even be a 12 pack of empties on the track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Definitive Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 This argument has been going on for at least fifteen years now.That is plenty of time for track owners to get their act together.I think NASCAR has been about as patient as a multi-billion dollar operation can be.I can only imagine how fast the fastest growing sport in the country would have really grown.I'm sure the dinasour tracks have stunted NASCAR's growth to some extent.50,000 people at a Cup event is embarrassing.The new track on Long Island will be an unbelievable event.500,000 peeps at an event is nothing to be embarrassed about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 Darlington is owned by ISC, of which the majority owner is the France family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProTree Posted May 3, 2005 Report Share Posted May 3, 2005 their just letting it die a slow death-it has about run its course-as they say"nothing stays the same forever"-the track is not producing the #'s($$$) others in the ISC empire are, so there comes a time to move on-and the time is near-jmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 PIT STOPS "Darlington night race a sellout: All reserved grandstand seats for Saturday's Dodge Charger 500, the first night race at Darlington (S.C.) Speedway, are sold out. That's a 60,000-seat hit for NASCAR's oldest superspeedway, which has been reduced to a single Cup race for 2005. Selling out should keep Darlington, which played host to its first NASCAR race on Sept. 4, 1950, on the 2006 schedule." http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/motorspo...ts/11569181.htm Junior plays lame game with jab By John Sturbin Star-Telegram Staff Writer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodneyRodriguez Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 I'd rather see North Wilkes re-born and put back on the tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arts22 Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Larry, have you seen those Carolina folks drink, grandma would have thrown atleast 18 EMPTY cans....With the popularity of nascar in Texas I would love to see some rich fella(LL) build a short track. It would be alot better than those 1.5 mile tracks, boring. Bristol holds 164,000 people. The front and back stretch seem shorter than SAS. The largest capacity track nascar races on is the Brickyard, 400,000 plus. The race doesnt sell out. I was there when Bush and Spencer got into it. The wreck was infront of us, between 3-4. I think there was only like 285,000 at that race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tqj3 Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Darlington's problem is that it only takes 60,000 to sell out, and the Brickyard may not sell out, but 285,000 is a lot of folks with room for more. Bruton Smith added seats to Bristol because he knew he could sell them, and because he knew if he didn't, he'd have trouble making money on a NASCAR event. It's not that NASCAR doesn't make money on the short tracks, it does. It's the promoters who have the problem, in addition to the fact that NASCAR takes a percentage of the gate. Some of it is pure greed, of course, but right now NASCAR is the proverbial 800-pound gorilla. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 SAS...just add seats and the pave the pits, make a 43 stall pit road...the SAS people tell me it is the same configuration as Martinsville, just that SAS has higher banks...the key to the whole thing is my bridge... Too many 1.5 mile tracks will be the death of NASCAR...one is more than enough... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAPA Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 LL Is your bridge gonna have seats too? How much is it gonna cost me for one. Remember, Im an OLD, FAT,ONE-LEGGED PAPA. Maybe you can tie a chair under it like a swing. Id be out of the way just a swingin. NO..You truck drivers can not pretend Im a Pinata Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tqj3 Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Larry- Too many 1.5 mile tracks, too many high-banked tracks, not enough road courses... By the way, what was Kurt Busch doing testing at Road America? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrungot Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Nascar pay per view $$$$$$$$$$... i bet that hasn't been ruled out yet.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerx Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Q: "By the way, what was Kurt Busch doing testing at Road America?" A: Crashing into an ambulance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tqj3 Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Larry- After going through a tire wall, no less. Road American officials are still trying to figure out what happened. NASCAR hasn't raced at Road America since 1956, but it would be a hoot to watch the crews figure out pit strategy on a four-mile track. I don't think they'd get too cute on fuel mileage; four miles is a long way to push a car... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 For years guys have tested at Road America to get ready for Nascar road races. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tqj3 Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 True, but you don't usually hear much about it, and we probably only got this much because Busch is a doofus. Personally, I'd like to see NASCAR run four road races a year. After all, the sport started with bootleggers outrunning revenue agents (tax collectors) on the back roads. Some of the roads may have been banked, but I'm pretty sure not all of them were left turns. How about Watkins Glen, Road America, Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca and Road Atlanta? But, as they probably won't touch that four-mile track in Wisconsin, keep Sears Point on the schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 I have figured it out. TQ is a Gordon fan. Put down Gordon and there is a debate. But Busch is a doofus. You dont usually here about cup teams testing at non cup tracks. They test at a number of diff tracks not on the cup schedule, one being Kentucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SASPEEDRACER24 Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 I think and I might be wrong but I think some teams used to test on TWS so that they wouldnt use a practice date... I want to say it was Andretti testing for Michigan but who knows... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Hamilton Sr tested there i think last year to test for TMS and getting his truck up to speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProTree Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 nascars making lots of $$$-gordon hinted at that sunday-he didnt think drivers were getting their fair share of the tv bucks-their share of the package-lets see if he keeps talking or they give him a little hushup $$$ before the real vocal ones or one(stewart) start talking-gordon can talk cause it looks like the same teams are winning every week and are going to keep winning every week-as for tracks-some of the young guns couldn't handle racing week in and week out on short tracks-owners couldnt afford it-they know how to go fast on the big ones but they have to race on the short ones and they aint done enough of that in their short careers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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