|
I truly fear that nothing can be done to save USAC pavement racing.
A promoter needs more cars to be able to afford to pay the purse and the sanctioning fee. Car owners need to be paid more money to be able to afford to pay the expenses associated with fielding a pavement car. Without more cars, the promoter can't pay more. I'm not even mentioning that fantasy of getting sponsorship to pay the bills. That's a very hard sell for sprints and midgets in the best economy.
When promoters book a USAC pavement race, or any race, and take in insufficient revenues to pay the bills, they seek other options. Some pack on extra divisions the next time, some decide not to book USAC again. USAC brought only 20 cars to Iowa Speedway. It had only 22 at Knoxville. Hawkeye Downs will gladly lease their track so sprint cars can race there, but they are not taking on that financial risk again on their own. As far as dirt, how were the car counts for the Pennsy swing?
We just might have reached the point of no return.
What can we do to save it?
1. Swallow our pride and ego.
2. Accept a smaller profit margin for the time being. (Many race promoters probably already are.)
3. Stop living in the past. (TV royalties for USAC sprint and midget racing on ESPN are gone and are never coming back.)
4. Reduce the cost of competing. This might mean opening the tire rule to any manufacturer that contributes a per-tire fee to the point fund, or just opening the tire rule to any manufacturer. This might hurt the points fund for the time being but if it brings in more competitors and encourages more promoters to book USAC pavement races, it would be a small price to pay. Having more races would encourage more potential car owners to make the investment.
5. Pay tow money, and not to just the regulars like some sanctions do.
6. Pray that God wants USAC pavement racing to continue. It might need his divine intervention to save it.
Jim Morrison
Editor
Hawkeye Racing News
|