Probably up to the counties to decide that kind of deal. I know that's how it was in Illinois. Also remember that Kentucky Lake Speedway was in a completely dry county and had a sign on the way in stating no alcohol period.

It's not about a bottle of water. What if you bring mom,dad and the two kids what does that cost you?

I had a discussion with a member of the O'Conner family about running it , at the last race at the Action Track. The interest is there, but they also realize the amount of work involved in running it.If they do run it, I wouldn't be surprised.

It is their perogitive on concessions, but with the economy the way it is, if you can't bring in a cooler at THAT, it will kill the infield. The infield is for the working class, which is shrinking daily. They can't afford the $2 water or coke, but they will buy a ticket. They will look for value with their entertainment money, and if they can't afford it, they'll spend it somewhere else.

Exactly my friend.

The bottom line is that a track has to bring in a certain amount of money each night to make it float - and that number is directly relative to the amount of expenses. So, some tracks let you bring in coolers but maybe they skimp on something else, like a purse, or facility paint, or website or something else.

I'm a car owner, not a promoter.. but here we are on a thread about a track that hasn't been able to make it financially for awhile, already griping about potential revenue streams to make it float. As a car owner, I have about a $500 nut to crack every night - and I think that's bad. But the promoter has a $20,000 or more nut to crack. If that nut doesn't get cracked there isn't a track for me to race at.

For some reason we want to be able to go watch racing and pay $2 to get in, bring our own food and drink, pay $10 pit passes and expect the track to pay $5000 to win just because the promoter owes it to us as racers or race fans. Yet we have no problem walking into a movie and dropping $30, or the chain restaurant for a night out for $50, or my corner bar and dropping $20 without griping about it.

A track probably needs to make about $15-$20 profit in the grandstands to crack that weekly nut and show a fair return on the investment and risk. Whether that $15 profit comes from a $10 admission and over-priced food and beer, or $15 admission and letting you walk in with your own drinks really doesn't matter. What matters is that enough revenue was generated to make the show work out financially.

I bet there are a lot of fans with nearby tracks that are closed that wish they would have willingly paid that extra $2 admission for a special show or bought that bag of popcorn. A race track is a business - we might care more about the business than a different business in town - but it's a business and I don't begrudge a promoter trying to make a buck at it.... Unless I'm willing to step up and cover the losses on a week he doesn't.

Lets just support our tracks the best we can...I will even pitch in an extra dollar at the concession stand just to make sure we still have a place to go watch the cars we love. Last time I checked there are no sprint car races at the local grocery store or mini mart so unless you bottle your own soda or beer you are giving your hard earned money to someone, why not Kokomo Speedway. By the way, whoever preps the track at kokomo is awesome and THAT can really benefit from that crew!

I don't begrudge a promoter on concessions, that's where the money is at. With the tight economy though , fans will go where the perceive they can get the most bang for the buck. For a promoter that fine line is like balancing on the edge of a razor blade, and it is no where I want to be.

I say we wait to see what the details are, before we start debating problems that haven't even happened yet. The one thing everybody knows for sure is that even though the place has been promoted better than it has been in a long time, the track prep has been woefully inadequate. And the O'Connors are very good at that. The racing quality will take a step up. That much we know.

Chris is spot on about the infield, though.

Jerry

talked to Oconners son at kokomo tonite and he said they were giong to promote the sprint week show only.

Ron last year at sprint week my buddy who chews wasn;t allowed to take a empty coke can in to spit in