Will your schedule change?
 

Before I begin, let’s try not to get ******** involved on this thread. Just a simple question. Will the rising costs of everything, particularly fuel, change your plans as far as race attendance this year. It certainly is a consideration for me if things get much worse. I would like to hear other folks thoughts on it

Unfortunately yes, especially when the weather is not looking good. Gas city is 80 miles, Kokomo is 110 and Eldora is 100 miles. I was really hoping to get farther away for some racing but not sure.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

It looks like it. I will be camping in my van more when I do go. This doesn't turn around I foresee much smaller crowds that may impact future events. I picked a good time to drive to Florida this week. Just praying fuel stabilizes a bit. February is looking like a bargain now.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

Cost of going to a race 15-35 dollars
Cost of Gas to get there and back 30 dollars

Cheeseburger and fries. 10 dollars. (Not just at the track)

Yeah, cut it in half or more of the races I attend and that mostly local which is 80mi round trip to all three local tracks

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gas-pri...t-2000-a-year/

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

For me most Likely no, it will not keep me from going. I will agree with Pit Cart, that if the weather is questionable, then I most likely stay home and Flo it.

Full speed ahead baby!

We all need to buy electric cars 🙄

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

It's really going to hurt us, due to the fact the race hauler gets 7 mpg on a good day. With fuel being $4.05 right now it doesn't look to good. Like others said if there's a chance of it raining we'll probably be skipping the race.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

We had planned to attend about 30 races this year. Living where we do (our choice I know) Haubstadt/Tri-State Speedway is the closest track to us that runs sprint cars, and it is 100 miles distant one way. Terre Haute is 185 miles and Putnamville is 210 miles. As gas crosses the $4.00/gal threshold and heads towards $5.00/gal., it will definitely impact our number of races in 2022.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

That seems like the bigger issue to me..... not fans but TEAMS. I get 30+ mpg, so it might not be a huge problem for me, but it could really hurt car counts :(

Probably not. I ride a motorcycle. I have many and most get between 40-55mpg but I do have one that gets 115mpg

Locally absolutely not as we have 5-6 tracks within 90 minutes of home.
Eastern Storm is in our plans currently.The price of gas here went to $4.25 yesterday and I fully expect it to raise to $5.00+,we shall monitor the situation & plan accordingly.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

The general outlook by the "experts" is for crude oil to reach $180.00 to $200.00/barrel in the near future. Those numbers, if attained, will equate to gasoline surpassing the $8.00/gal. threshold and diesel fuel would likely go for over $9.00/gal. Those numbers would equate to a 200 mile trip to the race costing a spectator whose automobile gets 30 MPG between $50.00 & $60.00 for gasoline alone. If you look around a parking lot at most racing events there aren't all that many vehicles that are capable of 30 MPG on average and even fewer motorcycles. As the old saying goes, you mileage may vary.

The race teams are faced with an even more ominous reality if and when fuel prices get to the aforementioned levels. If the tow vehicle gets 8 MPG on average, which is a realistic mileage number when pulling a decent sized trailer, a 200 mile round trip to an event will cost upwards of $225.00 using 8 MPG and $9.00/gal. as baseline numbers. Once again, your mileage may vary.

If those numbers come to fruition and become reality all nonessential travel will be drastically curtailed for the average household. Scary scenario for sure.:27:

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

The Fuel price is only part of the equation. Wheat now doubled. meats from 8-28% and this will only compound as fuel goes up Electric rates up1/3rd That link I posted said that it's costing the average family 2-4000 more a year just on essentials and that was LAST WEEKS PRICES.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

Blue font for sarcasm

Electric is wishful thinking, IMHO, and I can't change what hasn't been.

My truck gets 8mpg on a good day pulling the trailer. If fuel prices get to 6 to possibly 9 dollars a gallon. It will definitely dictate where and when we run our car.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

I live in the Philadelphia, PA suburb area in Montgomery County. The closest tracks to me are Grandview in PA and Bridgeport and New Egypt in NJ. All three main attraction are NE type modifieds, which are ok but I will not attend unless there is some sort of stand alone sprint/midget program or at least run a combined program. I usually travel to Central Pennsylvania (two to three hour trips one way) to get my racing fix. With the pandemic, grandkids commitments, and part time work situation I have cut back drastically on racing events. Adding the cost increase of everything associated with travel will have a major impact. Looks like I will be getting FLO soon. There is a lot of non racing events on FLO that also interest me. I will add that no matter what the cost are going to be, three of use will be heading out to Indiana for the 500 and several short track events in May, other than that trip, I guess it will be a weekly decision based on weather and economic conditions.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

I will not be going to PA this year, a trip I have made last 3 years. Indiana sprint week will be cut in half along with Ohio sprint week. Along with the race fans and the race teams, promoters will be suffering, figuring fuel costs of all track prep equipment, push trucks etc. When you take into consideration all of these factors, I feel the local Friday/Saturday programs will suffer.

Methanol has increased in cost too, as well as diesel for the truck. Yes, it will definitely impact our season.

Racing has always been more expensive to do then the money made doing it. We want others to help cover the cost to do it. Sponsors to help pay for the race cars, sponsors to help pay the race purse, sponsors to pay for the traveling series.
We as fans want a $100,000 to win race, but do not want to pay more $15 to see the race. Maybe it's time we pay what the real cost of something cost. No free lunch anymore.
When you buy a gallon of gas. It has alot of taxes that are added to the gallon. State and federal to help pay for roads we travel on with out tolls. This is why California always has the highest gas prices,they have the highest amount of taxes to fund things in the state.
I am an old fart and I can remember when gas went to 55 cents a gallon everybody act like the world was coming to an end. I can remember a time when the manual dials on a gas pump could not handle the fact that gas was now a dollar and there weren't enough spaces to show gas prices higher than 99 cents.
How many people reading this can remember when we had the oil embargo and they were literally lines at gas pumps that had no gasoline in them. I can remember when I was a kid there were weekends that we did not go travel to car races because we were worried that we cannot find gasoline to fill the car up to drive back home.
This is one of those moments where we need to unite as Americans and not be fractured,pick political views. If I have to suck it up and pay a little bit more at the pump to keep my son-in-law safe here in America versus having him to pick up a weapon and travel to a foreign land to fight yet again about oil. I am ok with it.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

After pretty much missing all of last year. I will go if I have to crawl to get there lol. Luckily we live very modestly, and are vehicles are fuel efficient. Every since paying $5.50 after hurricane Katrina, I always anticipate the oil companies sticking it to us every chance they get.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

Yes it will. We were going to do Indiana Sprint week and a bunch of others. But will probably only go to Paragon as it's in our backyard.

Jason

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

Great post!
I remember when gas hit 55 cents, & lots of people said they'd stop driving if it ever hit $1....haha :7:
A few years earlier, a guy in our HS bought a 427 Chevy with two 4 barrels, & we were in shock when he spent $8 on gas cruising the first weekend he got it...

I have no interest in 95% of the racing that takes place within 100-200 miles of my home. That being the case, travel expenses always eat up a high percentage of my racing budget. So yes, I'll have to cut back on the number of races I attend. If inflation doesn't negatively affect your racing attendance then I suspect you're in the minority.

I also suspect that most tracks are going to be quick to cancel in the event of any iffy weather forecast. Especially so if it's a traveling series. My daughter lives near 411 speedway in TN. and they had a Lucas LM race scheduled for this weekend and they've already pulled the plug.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

"If those numbers come to fruition and become reality all nonessential travel will be drastically curtailed for the average household. Scary scenario for sure."

Environmental extremists force USA to beg Venezuela, Saudi Arabia et al to increase production instead of reversing ***** day one restrictions on domestic production. Lack of national energy policy that doesn't change every 2 or 4 years is killing us.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

With most rigs getting 6-9 MPG while towing, the average team will probably spend and extra $50-$100 just to get to the races. Rear sprint car tires have increased about $50 from two years ago. Most teams wear out approximately 2 tires per night. A faster dry track (Terre Haute or Lawrenceburg) and you could be wiping out 3-4 in a night. A rubber down main event kills three tires every time even on a small track. Payouts aren't increasing. I'm starting to see a problem.. Those big tracks are going to struggle for car count.

Just in tire costs you are likely to spend at minimum $100 per race more than in 2019-2020. Looks like every local team will be spending more money this year if they want to race. I would assume this means local car counts will be up and traveling car counts will be down.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

That is really not a fair criticism of oil companies. Gasoline prices have doubled in two years but not because of what the oil companies did. But if you want to retaliate for being sticked, buy some oil and gas ETF.

https://www.investopedia.com/article...17-uso-ieo.asp

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

A great post? Not hardly. Most people who go don't have an infinite supply of money, and it's short sighted to think that $5 a gallon gas isn't going to hit other areas hard as well. It's like people who support the $15 minimum wage. Yes, it helps those in minimum wage jobs, but the increases are simply passed on to the consumer, in effect, it is simply a tax on the people and it ends up impacting the people its supposed to help. Much of the wage increases were eaten up by inflation before the Russian invasion.

The increase in fuel costs, costs to heat buildings, produce other products are coming down the pipeline shortly. And at some point, people are going to have to make some hard choices, just like they did in the 1970's. I was around then, and a lot of people did without. Money that could have been spent elsewhere fueling the economy was spent getting to work, or keeping the lights burning at home. Going out to eat was a rare treat, not an expectation.

Of course, you're all going to be better off when we are all electric, and taking out loans to pay for those $70,000-$80,000 electric cars and trucks that may or may not get you to the track and back. Bankers are licking their chops at the prospects.

Sir, paying $5 a gallon for gas isn't going to keep your son in law out of a war. Not being dependent on hostile governments for critical resources is a far better solution.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

I bet those companies are really hurting. In fall of 2020 they shut down refineries to cut supply to increase demand. They also ship 80% of the oil pumped in the US to China. They don't worry about me, and I sure don't worry about them.

They don't need you and I, but we sure need them.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

I'm fortunate to have an abundance of race tracks within three hours of me, I'll try to visit more of them this year. add some new ones to the list. I'll wait and see how things are going before making any big travel plans.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

I was on the Fence about going to Husets this year....This may keep me home and race local with GC and Kokomo with MSCS during that week

I'd be surprised if even the well funded can survive, if this continues, gas ⛽and oil 🛢 are not the only things that keep going up, our electric, heating, any things that are creature comforts, food, even refreshing beverages are not off the target, plus the fact it could get in our laps if it doesn't stop soon, if it stops now it's too late for this year, maybe next.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

One other way I am fortunate, is I have a buddy that usually goes with me on longer trips. Also have another friend who we got hooked on racing a couple of years ago. Prices are still higher, but divide it up, and it's not that bad. Also gives the track an extra admission

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

Paying more is keeping someone out of war? OK! My BS meter just hit 100% Wait till all the bankruptcies happen and food lines get long, Crime goes thru the roof, WHY? Because it hurts the poor and low middle class the hardest.

Not going political, But IMHO NONE of this situation would have happened IF....

All will get better now,POTUS has shut off all petroleum/Natural gas imports from Russia.
Maybe more importantly McDoodle's is/has closed all their establishments over there.

You do realize we were energy independent just over 2 years ago and the wars in Middle East had nothing to do with oil but everything to do with Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and the ongoing Cold War with Russia fought through 3rd party belligerents. As for racing, I’m already crossing off some races on my list. The prospects are bad and we already went through this during the president before *****. This is no surprise to some of us. Your lives are about to drastically change.

Re: Will your schedule change?
 

2008 We took a PA, NJ, NY trip for two weeks, The highways were bare, the amusement parks, campgrounds and even Coney Island were practically empty