Smackdown Takeaways
 

Now that the dust has settled I would like to get some thoughts on the event, especially from the folks who were there in person. I fully intended to go but got feeling bad and didn’t want to take a chance of getting anyone else ill. Hats off to those in attendance. It was hot with a heat index of 98 in the afternoon. From the Flo stream it looked like the crowd filled in well after the sun went down and the mains got rolling. Racing was good as always, and Grant is always good at Kokomo, has been for years. The driver introduction deal came across as a flop on tv, except for Thorson’s entrance. Was it better in person? The King of the Hill proved no more exciting than a winged dash, at least no one tore anything up during it. My biggest takeaway and huge hat shake goes to the O Connor’s. What a huge effort it must have taken to run 2 shows in one day. We all know they’re not afraid of hard work and it showed again yesterday. While I know it got dusty, the track still raced very well in my opinion. Overall a very enjoyable event. Looking forward to your comments and feeling well enough to get back there next time

I was thinking yesterday of the thread about the upcoming race in SD, asking people to support it. There was a good crowd but why would anyone think folks would travel 800 miles when an amazing event in their own backyard had lots of empty seats. Yes it was hot but since I now live in FL it wasn’t as hot as I am accustomed to. It wasn’t bad at all Friday and Saturday evening. How much is streaming cutting into the crowd, if at all? Racing was good, even Saturday afternoon when the track was a challenge. The driver introductions were a bit over the top and didn’t add much except delay proceedings. King of the Hill was not especially exciting but neither is watching 46 cars qualify individually (I have no problem with either). All in all a very satisfying weekend just disappointed in the turnout for a 15K to win event. Kudos to the O’Connors for putting on this event and the great track prep as always.

Re: Smackdown Takeaways
 

Flo streaming kept me at home and I 'm only 140 miles away.With the heat the way it was I decided to watch it from the comfort of my lazy boy.And the fact I couldn't take any drinks in.

I try to be level headed and open minded as best as possible but will once again admit a potential bias toward my home track of 48 years (Kokomo), favorite type of racing (USAC dirt), and longtime family friends (in this case, Brayden Clark)

The Darland race was only the 2nd race i’ve missed since Smackdown 1. The prior was my daughters senior night 4 years ago. Since i didn’t go Wednesday my only opinion is i’m so mad at myself for NOT going. Best wishes MadMan and looking forward to DD strapping in again. GodSpeed with the recovery to both.

Thursday: Rainouts suck. On the positive, i’ve been through more rain during Smackdown!! Shudder the thought. uuugh.

Friday: Excessive heat sucks. On the positive, it helps dry out wet camping areas and i’ve sat through hotter during Smackdown!! Racing was intense from the first lap of the first heat race. Per usual, position battles were everywhere. I love the 3 day top 8 points because it meant 3rd and 4th were locked in a battle all the way to the checker instead of just riding it out and transferring to the A. That last slider by Grant seemed to not only break Cummins momentum in the A but also the whole weekend. Cummins is great, he just never (IMHO) seemed to be in position to pounce like usual over the rest of the weekend. Another year of getting laps at Kokomo and all that could easily change. Also, it’s rare to see the lip in 4 get pushed up that high.

Flying Toasters: Always fantastic. The variety, talent and non stop party vibe was once again top notch. There are no weak spots in that band. By nights end, every penny of my $135 (camping and reserved ticket) was already well spent.

SaturDAY: Considering the challenge of a day race held ~15 hours after a full program concluded, the track stayed smooth yet still racey despite the dust/dryness . Personally i liked the challenge of a different type of surface than the night before and watched in awe as they executed a feathers touch off 4 or pounded the top w/ reckless abandonment. 1st to 41st, sprint car drivers are my heroes.

Quick side note: if you go to the gas station between sessions to fill the tow vehicle and the gas can for the generator, be sure to LOAD the gas can before leaving… DOOH!!!!

Finale- Enjoyed the divisional midgets very much although the BOSS double header version has been my favorite thus far. For all of the intense energy leading up to this point, it boiled over as the green flags dropped. In person, every lap felt like something big could happen. Something akin to Seavey’s powermove around 4 or Grant/ Cummins trading bomb after bomb. It’s just electric to be there- the smell, the sound, the occasional dodging of dirt clogs. the murmur of the crowd during downtime.

I personally love King if the Hill. I’ve watched it from both the front and back stretch bleachers and the awes and gasps have been audible no matter where we sat.

Sure there’s a bit of novelty to it but that’s partly why i like it, it’s like nothing else. Plus when you have drama like we did Friday night then the first pairing out of the gate is the two cars involved- immediate palpable energy can be felt. Then we got the shock of seeing KTJ being able to pull the over under from the topside of one to get the lead after watching that line fail in the two attempts prior by other drivers.

The kokomo crew did a fantastic job between sessions. I thought the track stayed pretty good all night. Of course, they did rework it more than usual along the way but i thinks that a testament to how closely Reese watches conditions. As we know from 10 years through rain, heat and tornadoes, throwing in the towel is is a last last last option.

Hated to see Bodine get squeezed like that. He was having a pretty good week to that point. Hope he’s ok. Also hated to see Hodges/ Cottle grenade an engine. Hope that won’t slow them down in the coming weeks. Also hated to see Jake Swanson’s Smackdown end line that. He seemed to be getting faster with each race.

So in summary, Congrats to Grant, KTJ and Ballou for their respective wins this week. Thank you Kokomo Speedway, USAC and every driver, owner, sponsor and crew member for providing an A++ level of racing excitement. Again, worth every penny!! It’s weird because right now i don’t have many specific memories but overall i think it may just be the best racing from Day 1 to Day 3 they’ve had. The top side was the fast line around this year but hopefully TV was able to capture just how hard they had to rip the top with minimal mistakes to make it the fast way around. Insane!!!!

Everyone stay healthy and hope to see you at Smackdown 11!

Re: Smackdown Takeaways
 

The driver intros have been like that for all the Smackdowns. It was better first few years as there were no back straight stands. The drivers submit their own song they want played while being introduced.

Same with the King of the Hill a Smackdown thing which I personally like. The forth and sixth seeds made it to the front row which is unlikely in an eight car dash.

I had something come up at my office late Thursday I had to take care of and couldn't make Smackdown this year. Plan to make DuQuoin, Sun Praire, and Huset's next two weekends.

Racing banging the boards every lap. Not much better than that.

The key here you were not there. I was and there was an excellent crowd given the circumstances. Don't let a camera angle be your go to source. By the way I have lived in FL or somewhere further south for 36 years and the heat and humidity were brutal.

If people like this KOTH, great. We keep comparing it to the dashes we see with wings. Keep in mind, this is USAC, no wings. They actually pass in a short race unlike the wings. I swore off the gimmick after TMez junked a really fast race a couple years ago for a novelty. And just to be clear, I don’t necessarily have a problem with the driver intro deal, I’m just sayin how it looked here. Maybe could use some production help.

We attended the Smackdown for the first time. While we have been to Kokomo Speedway before, we had never seen non-wing sprint cars there in this configuration. The following is MY OPINION!

FIrst off, HUGE compliments to the track crew! Mother Nature did not play nice at all Thurs. through Saturday, but the crew managed to provide a racy surface throughout the events. It got a little dusty toward the ends of all three features, but overall they did a great job.

We were surprised at the lack of crowd Friday evening. I would estimate that the grandstands were about 60% full for Friday’s program. Not bad guess, but we had been led to believe that last year’s Smackdown was close to a sellout all three nights. I don’t know if they were accurate or overselling it. Saturday’s daytime event was maybe 40% full, but that didn’t really surprise us. Given the weather, the timing, and all the factors in play, the crowd was decent. The Saturday night crowd was IMO about 85-90% capacity. There were some seats down low on the Front Stretch side, and some scattered seats on Back Stretch, but it is hard to know how the crowd “spread out” as seats didn’t fill. I would imagine the threat of rain all three days and the high heat indexes played a part in the attendance.

We thought that although the driver intros are a tradition, given the circumstances of the long Saturday, they would have been better off skipping it, at least for this year. The drivers clearly were not in to it, at least those on the back stretch, and the crowd was pretty much the same.

The King of the Hill was “interesting”. It seemed like whoever got the lead at the jump was untouchable. Maybe that is the norm. It was enjoyable to watch, just different than what we expected.

Lastly, and I’m not sure who else might have noticed it, I hope the Kokomo track crew looks at the safety lights going in to turn 3. Twice Saturday, that safety light went to red at the drop of the green flag, NOT green. That is a very dangerous situation!

Although the weather was less than ideal, we enjoyed our first time at Smackdown, and Good Lord willing, will attend again.

I thinkyour observation is pretty accurate. High school football hurts friday night crowds plus the new pit bleachers this year may have thinned the people watching from the stands. That said, i thought the crowd was down for the Toasters as well. As many have said, that heat was brutal.

Despite great efforts by a few over the years, imho, the city (businesses) of Kokomo still have no clue what’s going on out there. All of that out of county/ state/ country revenue potential and “Welcome Race Fans” sign outside of the usual places is hard to find. I’ve never been to the Knoxville Nationals but from what i hear, Knoxville shines bright for out of town race fans.

BTW- I forgot to mention Melinda Stanbrough and crew for an outstanding job this year with Kick it for Cancer and raising over $50k! I was kinda hoping Jon might run the two seater against the newly restored and gifted Jim O’Connor stock car in a special edition of King of the Hill. haha.

I was there, sorry, but the heat isn’t the same. Was 93 and above the week before I came North and the sun is so much more intense in FL. In any event, it was hot and if you are not used to 90 degree temps I get it. The crowd was decent Friday night but lots of open seats, Saturday afternoon was poorly attended but in the middle of the heat so understandable and Saturday night pretty good. I have made every Smackdown except the year my father passed, I think the first year and the year BC tragically died were the two best attended.

Re: Smackdown Takeaways
 

If that was directed at me don't ever accuse me of comparing USAC with a wing show. I have raced and watched both styles most of my life and clearly know the difference. If you happened to watch the All-Stars tonight at BAPS the dashes were quite entertaining to watch with passing. Keep in mind this is the All-Star Circuit of Champions, they have wings.

I also like the bracket style KotH better than the style where the winner stays on the track and the next seed comes out to challenge. The first seed can only drop to second in that format.

[QUOTE=JarrettFarms73;543928]
Despite great efforts by a few over the years, imho, the city (businesses) of Kokomo still have no clue what’s going on out there. All of that out of county/ state/ country revenue potential and “Welcome Race Fans” sign outside of the usual places is hard to find. I’ve never been to the Knoxville Nationals but from what i hear, Knoxville shines bright for out of town race fans.

It is interesting you mention the comparison. We have attended the Knoxville Nationals for the last 9 years (except 2020, obviously) and that town and a few of the surrounding towns REALLY support it. I am sure there are some that hate it, but they seem to be few and far between, and seemingly every one in the area is aware of the event. There are welcome signs on marquis, the local American Legion has a pancake breakfast, etc.

HOWEVER, Knoxville is only about 7500 people, and having 20,000 people visit for a week is a big deal. By comparison, Kokomo is approx. 60,000 people, so an extra 3,000 or so people for 3 days is far less impactful.

We don’t camp, so we stayed in a local hotel and ate lunch for 3 days at local restaurants. Interestingly, the hotel staff, other than one maintenance man, had no idea there was a race occurring, although probably 50% of the patrons at breakfast had a racing t-shirt on. The only restaurant that knew about the Smackdown was the staff at Half Moon Brewing Co.

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The track ignores the local community and the local community pretty much ignores the track. It's been that way since the current owners took over. The track brought in a local ex-sprint car driver a couple years ago I guess in a minor attempt to bridge that gap. I really don't think they were sincere in their efforts. The ex-local driver was sincere but the track wasn't. Plus there are hardly any local racers any more. Why would you build a race car to race maybe 4 or 5 times per year at the track if that?

[quote=openwheelfan1;543931]Knoxville does it up the whole season. I’ve made the trip out for opening night and other shows along with the nationals.
Certainly not to the extent as the nationals but you know you’re in a race town

This was not pointed at you, just a general statement. And I did watch the Allstars and yes they were better than normal. Most wing heats and dashes aren’t much more than hotlaps, but occasionally there are exceptions

Re: Smackdown Takeaways
 

I watched all of the races from the comfort of my man cave. The crowd seemed thin during the Darland race and I can understand why the place wasn't full due to the weather during those few days. I also was under the impression that Smack Down was a sell out type of event? I thought the track and crew did a great job for the circumstances they were given. The racing was good, I loved it. I visited the speedway four years ago for IMW, looks like its time for me to schedule a Smack Down visit, its about a 10-11 hour drive which isn't too bad. With the Dangerous temps was the track still not allowing outside beverages inside, even water? King of the Hill is okay, I like the bracket formula best for this type of event. This will be a bucket list race for me to attend.

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I've only been to Kokomo maybe a half dozen times. and that was to race, so I know little about the local feelings about the race track there, and I've not been to Knoxville, but I have an old friend who used to go religiously, so I take his word about the Nationals there, the stories he would tell would make you want to go, and at the same time, make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, it was open house, sprint cars everywhere, tuning on the streets, motels full, cars being built, or rebuilt, made me want to go so bad I could taste it, but never could get off work to go, now I'm 84, and don't ambulate to well, so I pick up what I can on the internet, but I know how it is to go somewhere to race, and there isn't much talk about it, maybe a motel or 2 that has some staying in rooms, but usually little is brought out to advertise what might be going on, and I've been out of state a lot also, I think that's what so important about getting it on the web, and news, people usually don't know about it until it's over, missed another chance, maybe life is so good, it isn't needed, I think it's a mistake by the community not to help themselves to more customers, especially now with the mess we're in. Just an old timers view!

We thought that although the driver intros are a tradition, given the circumstances of the long Saturday, they would have been better off skipping it, at least for this year. The drivers clearly were not in to it, at least those on the back stretch, and the crowd was pretty much the same. I also think do to Heat & long day Driver Intro’s should have been Skipped ( like after rain Midget week still stopped for heat race interviews just get the show over so people can get what They Paid for!!!)

Re: Smackdown Takeaways
 

Made all four days. I know I will catch it from some but I wish they would have run Thursday late into the night instead of that scorcher Saturday afternoon. Or started earlier on Saturday. We almost stayed in our room to watch quals Saturday but came to our senses being 10 minutes away. No live feed can catch the experience of being there. Those 4 days always fly by for me. Great time and great racing. I will be back for #11 next year.

Hey Russ, just wanted to clarify somethings. First of all the O’Connor’s have busted their butts to make the Kokomo Speedway one of the best track in the world! Yes, my wife and I help the speedway out because we live in Kokomo and I love the Kokomo Speedway. Here are a few things the Kokomo Speedway is involved with in our city to promote the track.

They are a member of the Kokomo Chamber of Commerce, which almost every business is involved with and all of these businesses work together to discuss events each other is having, so all of the hotels in town should know what’s going on at the track because they meet once a month.

They attend all of the events in Kokomo to promote the track such as, Jack Rabbits games, car shows, Haynes Apperson Festival and parade, and many more.

They advertise on all of the local radio stations and the track is also discussed on WWKI Mail Call program which is on Mon.-Fri. 9:30-1030. WWKI was also live at the track on Thursday night at the Smackdown.

They advertise in all of the local papers. Which are on their Calendar of events in the Perspective on Wednesday. Also in the calendar of events on Fridays of the Kokomo Tribune.

They are on all of the Social Media outlets, but Instagram.

Before COVID-19 we were in all of the local schools and colleges spreading the word snd even have discounts for students.

Believe me they are working very hard with the City of Kokomo and promote A LOT through the city!! Hope this clears up any confusion. Also if there are any suggestions for them to do better let me know or the ladies at the front, so we can better our program!

Thanks, Josh Spencer

I’m not sure if you were at the track yet when the monsoon hit around 6:00, but there was no chance of running. The front gates were completely flooded. Pits were a mud pit and the main gravel drive was flooded. Definitely wish it could have been ran later on that night because Saturday was miserable heat. I had so much dust accumulated on me from those two shows when I got home!

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I was there. The second round kinda sealed it. I also remember people up late into the night with no rain. I guess I got spoiled the year they were pumping all the water out and ran.

They were pumping it out to the road but it wasn’t enough. That’s what that propane tank is for near the front entrance.

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So the once a month and sometimes once a week meetings with the Mayor and city administration are just rumors ?? even through my wife sat in everyone of the meetings plus Jill her family Levi and the crew from USAC made the long drive to sit and discuss the racing at the Kokomo Speedway, none of that happened the last three years??????????????
I guess the support this administration has shown during a very difficult time due to the virus, plus first year in office for our Mayor and his family that for the record you can find in the pits, infield or stands because they love racing of all kinds just isn't happening ?? sure Tyler may have missed this weekend but moving three of your kids into college plus the other pressing issues from the city may have took some time away from his visit to the speedway this weekend.

I guess the support coming from the city directly to the Kokomo Speedway in the near future wont be enough either ?? I guess the city administration should just send the money to the big track in Indianapolis like has happened so many years before. I guess I just don't understand how all these people bust their asses only to have some say it never happened. And for the record the Oconners have given Josh and Shannon open book on whatever they want to do and have bent over backwards to make sure the good people of Kokomo feel welcome at Our hometown track.

I just hope when the gates at the Speedway close for the last time people can honestly say I did everything possible to help it survive.

Thanks to everyone that came out this past week to support the speedway local restarants and Hotels as if you told most of the people running these fine Kokomo establishments they gave discounts to the people supporting the Track.

Thank you all for the feedback as I'm sure its being looked at, or maybe not what the hell do I know :)

Jerry Spencer #66j

Re: Smackdown Takeaways
 

Wasn't there but I'll say this, Those that were Saturday both fan and crews are absolute badasses. I went to local county fairgrounds for three hours to watch some vintage cars and bikes run the horse track and ended up leaving due to heat exhaustion. Usually you show up with a car somewhat ready. Make some adjustments but barring major damage you change a tire or what not. Full turn around in two hours. Yeah, bet them guys were beat.

Someone one around the cameraman or the cameraman about passed out when the big wreck happened.

Dibs to all that made it happen.

Chuck, wondering what some of the talking heads will find wrong in this post.

Thank you for weighing in, Josh & Jerry. I hope my original post bringing up this observation was not taken as a knock on KS, the O’Connors and staff, Josh & Shannon, nor current political personnel. My personal view is a smaller government is a better government and i don’t want them involved in my business, but i digress.

I brought it up from the standpoint of how many other businesses are consistently bringing in out of state money into the community? Pre-Covid that thought included out of USA money! It may be my bias for all things sprint car but it surprises me businesses themselves aren’t ringing Josh and Shannon’s phone and inbox desperately trying to find away to tap into the revenue stream.

Even powerhouse Starbucks: people from out of town stop there for coffee but how many traveled specifically to that exact SB location to get it? None.
Kokomo Speedway provides the exact opposite to the community. Their reputation and brand of racing consistently brings people from multiple states specifically to the community to be a part of it. Since the impossible work of getting them into town is already accomplished, it baffles me why even more businesses aren’t making more of the opportunity at hand.

Again, if my post came across as a shot at KS or the businesses that already support the greatest sport on the world, i genuinely apologize.

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I want to publicly thank Mr.Josh Spencer for his assistance/guidance. As I have noted, we were newbies to the Smackdown. A while back I posted on here about places to stay, places to eat, etc. in Kokomo. Josh was kind enough to respond to me with multiple recommendations and his feedback was entirely spot on. He was/is a great ambassador for Kokomo Speedway and the city of Kokomo.

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Being part of the Chamber of Commerce or attending a Jack Rabbits game is not going to bring the local race fan, casual fan or local racer back to the track.

I can appreciate the efforts they have made in improving the old place. The catch fence, lighting, the area in front of the main grandstand and the back stretch grandstand were much needed improvements.

For whatever reason the track has made the decision to pretty much be a big show track. And that's cool....it's their track. Believe me, this has been pointed out to dozens of us by the owner of the place. But they have priced the casual fan out of attending. A family of 4 or 5 can not afford the price of admission. Not to mention the additional cost of food or drinks.

The local racer can no longer justify the cost of building a car to race there because they only get included in a few shows a year. Thunder Car, Street Stock, Modified, Hornet or even lower budget Sprint Car teams have found alternative places to race. And their family and friends have went with them.

I know you love the Kokomo Speedway and I can relate to that. For almost 50 years I was the biggest fan the place ever had. I would start checking the weather forecast for Sunday on Monday morning. The treatment I have witnessed of some local racers and fans at the place has changed my feelings.

I moved to Kokomo in the late 90’s. Shortly after, the track was sold a couple of times and the new owners did their level best to ruin things. Moving races to Saturday, few cars showing up, bad track prep, etc. The O’Connors bought the track and saved the Speedway. The improvements came right away and great racing became the norm. I don’t know why they moved away from weekly racing but suspect it is because they can make money, and keep the track open, by having big races. It is hard to draw crowds on Sunday nights week after week. In my experience, after sprint week the crowds and car count dwindled. I no longer live in Kokomo but am glad the track is still operating and it is because of the O’Connors. Be careful what you wish for.

Ok so I understand now, I was under the impression that we were not promoting good or they weren’t doing their job, but you just don’t like their schedule. I get it now, well I’m glad we have them as owners and they run something through the year, could be leveled and something built on it. Or **** maybe you can buy it and see unfortunately that local races do not bring in the money that special shows do.

Josh Spencer

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I never planned on going this year for I had other items on the table this weekend and planned on watching it after the weekend. But watching on Flo for the Saturday afternoon makeup I immediately noticed the crowd was sparse. Gee. Go figure. The temperature was 90+°F at the coolest times. I was down in Florida for the DirtCar Nationals one year and they had an afternoon makeup after a rainout the night before. I will never go to an afternoon sprint race again. It was way too taxing. And now, like most sprint car fans, I am older and cannot even THINK about doing something like that.

And I will address the elephant in the room: With FloRacing, why SHOULD I go to something like this when I can sit at home and watch it not only live, but tape delayed when I have the time? 10 years ago I would have went. I was younger and I had no other option. Now.... it was a no brainer.

FloRacing will eventually kill the walkup crowd at the local dirt tracks. That is Capitalism. I am not complaining one way or another, for I am benefitting from Flo, but the track owners, vice the series organizers, might want to take a long look at having their races put over the internet for pennies and it is costing them greenbacks in return.

Good race it was. I watched it wearing pajamas and drinking cheap beer in my lounge chair with my cat, Squeak.

These are changing times for us older fans.

Next up for me will probably be the World 100 (at least one of them). Flo does not air them so I have to show up to see them.

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Are you kidding? I was all packed to go, knowing it was a 16-hour drive which we're too old to do all at once, so it was going to cost two extra hotel nights. Unfortunately an illness caused us to abandon the trip. (Not me, not Covid fortunately).

So, like you, I watched all 3 shows on Flo. I enjoyed them, but I wasn't happy. Because of the single camera, the most I saw was about 5 cars at any time. I figure I watched maybe 25% of the racing. Doesn't it aggravate you to have the announcers mention some great racing back in the back while you watch the front 1 or 2 or 3 parade around the track? It does me. I assume Flo has their business model worked out based on one camera, but I, for one, will pay more if they add cameras. I know there is more to it than that, but it sure would be better. Obviously, when those front 3 cars are sliding each other on every corner, that's what we should be watching, no matter how many cameras are working.

As an example, I'm a fan of the English Premier League soccer. There are 19(!) cameras on each match.

I love Flo. I'm glad it's there. I've watched every USAC race this year, and I'll watch all the rest, too. But, I hope some day it will get better.

And, to whoever it was above who complained about the ticket price. I believe that advance ticket is the bargain of the year. In 3 weeks, I'm going to my local track for their big race of the year, a one day evernt, for which I will pay $50 for a pit pass, which doesn't include a seat. You Indiana folk have got it good.

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I'm just trying to tell you some of the reasons that most in the local community no longer support the track. The schedule is part of it, the cost is part of it, the way some have been treated there is part of it. There are more reasons but these are just a few.


I know you realize that when a person has a negative experience at any place of business. You not only lose that person a customer, you lose that person's family, friends and anyone he or she talks to about the business as customers.

The "we should accept whatever they do because the track could be gone" excuse doesn't solve anything.

I came out Wednesday night because of my respect for Dave Darland and the Darland family. I have to tell you I was shocked at how empty the grandstands were. I think there might have been more people in the pits than in the stands. I know if I was the owner and I saw that I would be listening to any and everyone trying to figure out how to bring more people out to my facility.

Friday and Saturday nights I was at two tracks a couple hours to the South when I live less than 2 miles from the Kokomo Speedway.

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Mike I thought the World's were on Flo since it was at Eldora.I could be mistaken.

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Wow. You are RIGHT. I must have looked ahead at the wrong weekend.

Also, thinking this through, the track HAS to get payment from Flo for allowing them to broadcast, right? Anyone have any idea what that might be? It probably varies from series to series.

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Yes, Im' sure it varies from track to track and series to series, but Stafford Motor Speedway joined Flo this year; here is a relevant tidbit from their press release:

"...In addition to broadcasting the 2021 Stafford Speedway season, FloRacing has posted $40,000 in bonus money which will be distributed to the Stafford Speedway weekly competitors.

The FloRacing bonus will be awarded to each of the top-10 finishers across all 5 of Stafford Speedway’s weekly divisions on specified nights. Each division will have 4 events in which the FloRacing bonus will be awarded. The $40,000 bonus nearly doubles the payout teams received from StaffordSpeedway.tv in 2020.

“Between the FloRacing bonus and our new track point fund there will be at least $73,000 in new awards on top of our weekly payouts in 2021,” Arute added. “We are looking forward to kicking off the 2021 season and showcasing the most talented weekly drivers in the country right here at Stafford.”.

Mike. I’ve done a SMALL amount of research on the subject and talked to someone I figured would know about how it works with what the track gets for the product. He told me that not all are the same and they’re very tight lipped about it. My thoughts are, at least with Flo, it’s a tangible amount. While watching racing on Flo I’ve seen ad’s for one of my favorite beers, Bells 2 Hearted Ale, and our local supermarket chain. I think their ability to add regional advertisers to your broadcast would be attractive to business looking for exposure. And probably more cost effective than national ad’s. In the case of Eldora, the fact Smoke owns the Allstars which is on Flo, and now sponsor the Allstars, all ties nicely together. Eldora itself would have to be desirable to any streaming service for its popularity alone which should add subscription. Someday I hope it becomes more transparent. I can say with certainty, while I have 3 subscriptions to different services, it doesn’t keep me away from the track. I’m only going to what works for me, and my resources. While conditions were challenging this weekend at Kokomo, the day’s before I was out in the mills working in it. If I can work in it I can sure as hell watch a race and sweat. However I couldn’t be sure I could control my cough, so I elected to stay home. I hope that everyone benefits from streaming, and I don’t blame a soul, especially of fans our age for staying home. You spoke of the elephant, there might be more than one. The other could be the average age of most of the wingless fan base

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NAIL ON THE HEAD! I have made all 10 Smackdowns and would love to see 10 more. At my advanced age, 3 days hydrating, walking around, seeing old friends, meeting new friends conversing with teams and drivers, and eating pork sandwiches is a lot healthier than sitting in A/C, on my a$$ for hours at a time, fixated on a screen. "Get busy living, or get busy dying". JMHO