|
I have argued for years that the primary issue with decreasing car counts is a numbers issue more thsn a cost issue. Meaning we have more people leaving the sport (for various reasons) than we have coming into the sport. You can do all you want to cut costs but if you do not have sufficient levels of drivers/teams you are going to do little to increase car counts.
So the effort should br focused on getting people involved in our sport on the driver side as well as the fan side. One way is to have entry level classes within the open wheel ranks. It is unrealistic to expect an average person to wake up one day and go out and buy a 410 or even 360. Honestly, as fans and especially drivers we dont want that either.
I always liked the originsl idea/platform of the Ford Focus midgets. There are alot of drivers now in both full midgets and sprint cars that might not otherwise be in the sport if not for that class.
So I think the 305's or similar type class would be great for most tracks to run as a support class. I would have them run both wing and nonwing depending on the premier class. If the premier class is 410 nonwing the 305s run with a wing. If the premier class is 410 wing you run them nonwing. Especially if run as a support class for a special show. This provides the 305 guys with experience in both disciplines but most importantly the fans two VISUALLY different classes. Average fans ate not going to know or tell the difference between a 410, 360, or 305 nonwing. Most will wonder why two classes appear to be the same but run separate classes. I also think that should apply to any sprint show. Do not run two or more different nonwing or wing classes on the same night.
The biggest thing with an entry level class is making sure all the tracks in an area have the same rules!!!! This would be nice for all classes, but is essential for entry level.
|