[racer-x]

Heard on the local radio that Illiana Speedway in Schererville, Indiana wont be opening this year. They said rainouts , the owner having health issues ,small crowds and social media were big factors..
Best memories were when Sheldon Kinser flipped over the back stretch wall when I was a pup. Also Usac put on a great weekday sprint car night race with packed stands a few years ago.. Also the South shore 100 in the new silver crown series was a good one.

[rstar00]

Sorry to another track close. I think in is funny how many tracks say "social media" is one of the reasons they are closing. My business has stopped all print and radio advertising and markets now 90% on social media. ROI has be way better. Perhaps is these track were ran better people would not trash them on social media. Just a thought.

[smith19]

remember vogler running sideways around the place in jack steck's #74...

[team flying pig]

Social media? How about advertising! Usac ran there a couple of years ago and they only had a 3x5 marquee sign out advertising it. Try and find it doing 45mph on US30 and its 50ft from the road.

[Nate]

I posted an article on the IndianaSprintCarNews twitter feed the other day from the Chicago Tribune. The article made it seem that if a new buyer came into the picture they could race this year and said there were a few interested parties trying to make it happen.

As far as the social media playing a part the current owner said in the article it was all the negativity around the track that helped kill it by driving down the attendance.

[ronmil]

Originally Posted by racer-x Heard on the local radio that Illiana Speedway in Schererville, Indiana wont be opening this year. They said rainouts , the owner having health issues ,small crowds and social media were big factors.. Best memories were when Sheldon Kinser flipped over the back stretch wall when I was a pup. Also Usac put on a great weekday sprint car night race with packed stands a few years ago.. Also the South shore 100 in the new silver crown series was a good one.

That must have been the PRA race. That was the only time I ever was there. It was a good race.

[The Old Coyote]

Attendance has been awful the last few years and I don't know why. It is a really nice track (considering it is paved and the cars have fenders!) and the owner poured a ton of money into it after he bought from the original owner. I was there for the last race last year, the Bettenhausen, which has always been one of the premier races. The car count was decent, around 24 or 25 late models and the the race was decent. I was shocked at how few fans were in the stands when I left the pits to watch the feature! The stands were literally empty!

The following Saturday night was a demolition derby and school bus races and I happened to be driving home down Route 30 around 5:30 PM. The parking lot (which is very large) was full to capacity and traffic was backed up in both directions on Route 30! So, it is obvious the people know the track is there.

It seems to me there is no interest in pavement racing because Plymouth is an hour away and the switch from pavement to dirt seems to have breathed new life into that place.

[nathans1012]

Originally Posted by The Old Coyote Attendance has been awful the last few years and I don't know why. It is a really nice track (considering it is paved and the cars have fenders!) and the owner poured a ton of money into it after he bought from the original owner. I was there for the last race last year, the Bettenhausen, which has always been one of the premier races. The car count was decent, around 24 or 25 late models and the the race was decent. I was shocked at how few fans were in the stands when I left the pits to watch the feature! The stands were literally empty! The following Saturday night was a demolition derby and school bus races and I happened to be driving home down Route 30 around 5:30 PM. The parking lot (which is very large) was full to capacity and traffic was backed up in both directions on Route 30! So, it is obvious the people know the track is there. It seems to me there is no interest in pavement racing because Plymouth is an hour away and the switch from pavement to dirt seems to have breathed new life into that place.

I see your not to far from me. Being in Hobart Illiana is only 20 minutes away for me. That track has to be one of the cleanest tracks I've been too in 30 years of going to the races. Seen some good races there over the years. Hope the next person that buys it keeps it a race track. The PRA (Silver Crown Cars) show a few years back was a good one "South Shore 125". Seen the old ASA series there back in 2002 and that was a dandy for 300 laps. From what I understand Mike wants $3.5 million for the facility. He put a ton of money into it when he bought the track in 1999 (new cement walls, complete repave of the 1/2 mile and added in inner 1/4 mile, New aluminum grandstands, ect.). Hope to see the track reopen this year or next year with a new owner that keeps it an asphalt track.

[The Old Coyote]

I don't know what can save it. It is the closest track to greater Chicago land since the Great Raceway Park went the way of the way of the buffalo, but nobody cares. I was just blown away by all the people at that stupid demolition derby bus race thing. If someone bought it and dug up the asphalt, I am sure they would get closed down by the homeowners around it. Nobody comes to see the pavement races. It is just a shame.

[BrentTFunk]

I am sure my opinion will not be popular with many on this board, but here goes. If social media was not hurting, why does everyone who shuts down say it effected their decision? Wouldn't they know more than anyone?
I think everyone involved in racing does it for the love of the sport. Car owners do not make money, but try to minimize losses. Its the same with racetracks. maybe a guy loses $3000 dollars on a night when weather is threatening and the next day all they see is people complaining. After a while you say heck with this, it ain't worth it. Anyone who says that wouldn't effect them should go buy a track and show everyone how it is done.
If you don't think a lot of people stay home and use social media to follow the action. There are a few people who have sought out internet fame by trying to out do others at updates. If anyone is interested, I would like to try an experiment. There are roughly 3200 members of this board. On any race night, simply say if you are going, or staying home and keeping up on the computer.
There are always going to be reasons, and no one can attend every race, but I think it would be interesting to see how many people actually don't go at all. Just a thought, and I will be the first to admit that last year I worked 27 Saturdays and really hurt in getting to as many as I wanted. Anyone interested?
As for the old coyote, I think you are right pavement seems to hurting everywhere. Sad