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The money to pay the higher purse had to come fro somewhere, either the front gate or the back gate. As bsmith8 above says, it is pretty common for LPS to draw 40+ cars for $1500/win while Tri-State draws 24 (or so) cars for an MSCS $5000 to win, so a track promoter can’t rely on the back gate with promise of a higher payout.
A ticket for the final night of the Knoxville Nationals is about $50. I think the price for a GA ticket for the King’s Royal is around $45. The point is a promoter has to put butts in the seats at these prices to make enough $$ to pay a larger purse, and historically non-winged fans won’t pay those prices. I don’t know how many threads there have been on IOW about how they wouldn’t go to this track or that, or this event or that because the cost went up from $14 to $15 for a weekly show or $22 to $25 for a USAC show.
I Would LOVE to see at least a couple $25k to win events be developed over the next couple of years. I think it would help retain teams and drivers and create a “buzz” for non wing racing that might get it noticed by more people.
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