[DonMoore10]

Most of the recent posts on here are playing right into my hands again. The "that's the way it's always been done" mindset has such a grip around your necks, it's not even funny.

First of all, you need to stop feeling pity for the promoters. Promoting has always had some risks. If you can't stand the heat of promoting, then get out of the business. That's the nature of that occupation. You can make tons of money if you play your cards correctly, or you can lose your shirt.

Now having said that, promoting motorsports and the art of presenting a product that people will want to come back and see has gotten way out of control. It's no wonder that local tracks suffer from poor attendance. The product that is being presented needs to be updated.

For one second, erase, if possible, the mindset that the back gate is going to save the promotion no matter what. Let's concentrate on the promotion from the fans prospective.

I'm going to go back to the first experience I had watching sprint cars at a short track and move forward to a recent experience. The first time I saw a dirt sprint race was at little Springfield Speedway and the last one I saw was Gas City. I had the same fan experience at both places, only many years apart. What was that experience? Well..... I was totally pelted with dirt and dust. Yeah.. it wasn't fun the first time and it wasn't fun the last time. The guy next to me at Springfield had what I would call combat gear on.. plus goggles. After the races were over, I wish I would have had the same outfit. And it was no different at Gas City, actually it was worse than ever. Now I can hear all of you traditionalists saying "hey, that's the way it's always been done." Well, maybe that's part of the problem.

So you are going to invite the unsuspecting friends, neighbors, whoever to a sprint race. Is that the kind of experience you want them to have at a race track???

Do the huge, oversized sprint tires and powerful engines make the racing a better experience for the race fan? Is that what turns you on when you go to the track? the big wide tires? Based on what I have read from fans on this message board, it's the actual close competition with side by side racing and thrilling finishes that count as a great racing experience. and BTW, the wider the race car, the more difficult it is to pass!!! And I read time and time again on here the fans concern about the number of race cars that show up. Fans want to see big fields!!!!!

Maybe some or most of the problems are with the racing orgs and their rule book. Have they been looking out for the money (engine builders, tire companies, etc etc) and not the fans??

OK... I've said enough. I would be interested in some of you IOW fans to come up with some solutions. Take over where I'm leaving off. I'll post my thoughts on this later.