[Dwight Clock]

Originally Posted by smith19 Sprintcar62, the picture of greg leffler must have been taken in 1979 because he drove for us in 1977-78. I think he went to indy that year or 1980 and ran well.

Greg Leffler ran Indy in 1980 and finished 10th driving a Lola/Cosworth.

[Dyno Don]

Originally Posted by cecil98 Speaking of "back-gate" promoting, I would like to thank Dave Rudisell for keeping Lawrenceburg down to three classes of cars. He could probably bring in a lot more money by loading the pits up with additional classes but, so far, he hasn't. I just hope enough fans and racers support the place so that he doesn't feel compelled to do that. I do believe too many classes will eventually work against the track and run fans, especially casual fans, off. JMO

I agree. I used to go to Gas City on occasion for their weekly show, until they added a 4th class.

I now go to Bloomington, even though it takes longer to get to their track.

[SUPERDUKE]

Originally Posted by Racerrob Duke, I am one that remembers your "good old days". Our 305 engines back then ran about 5 to 6 shows (if we were lucky) before having to overhaul. We get 20 to 25 shows now. That 305 engine in 1970 that cost $4,500 would cost $25,000 in 2008 just due to inflation. But if I factor in the overhaul costs I will be money ahead after 2 years with my $40,000 engine. Your $80 tire that you got 2 to 3 races on would cost $444 in 2008 due to inflation. I can only get 1 race on the current pavement tire but I am usually getting 2 to 3 races on the dirt RRs so I am roughly equal. We run the same front tires most of the season unless they get punctured or we have a rubber down racetrack. If you want to complain about something lets talk about the purses. Today’s purse of $21,000 for a sprintcar race would have been $3,779 in 1970 dollars. I am not sure but I want to say they were a bit higher than that in 1970. Yes you did have 30 to 35 cars but there were only 2 or 3 good cars and drivers that dominated the series. Now we have 10 to 15 good cars (sometimes many more!) at each event and it is extremely hard to predict the top three or even who will win on any given night. As far as the haulers go, if you have the $$ and want to travel in style why not? But the last time I checked the size, expense, flashiness, etc of a hauler had no effect on how fast the car is on the track. So if someone wants to blow a sizeable portion of their racing budget on a hauler, good for them. It is their money and they should be able to spend it as they wish. Sometimes a little perspective is a good thing. Rob Hoffman

ROB USAC WAS AROUND $7000.00 VS 40% OF THE GATE IN THE 60 & 70S! DON SHEPARD BUILT STAHL BROS A 305 CI IN 1966 WE RUN IT ALL YEAR AND WENT TO ST. PAUL MIN. AND RACED IMCA 5 DAYS AND 5 6 7 EVERY DAY INCLUDING A 100 LAP RACE ! A LOT OF CARS THERE WITH BIG ENGINES! AND CHEVY HAS A 370 CI ALL ALUM. INJECTED 690 HP ON GAS THE CAN RACE ON ALCO. IT SELLS FOR $9600.00 AND IF THEY:checkered: GET IT IN A SIRES THEY WILL LEASE IT FOR $6900.00 A YEAR! THAT WOULD CUT THE COST OF ENGINES BY 70%!

[Ovalmeister]

Originally Posted by Dwight Clock Greg Leffler ran Indy in 1980 and finished 10th driving a Lola/Cosworth.

[Racerrob]

USAC WAS AROUND $7000.00 VS 40% OF THE GATE IN THE 60 & 70S

Thanks for the number Duke. Based upon the $7,000 purse in 1970 it should be $38,896.31 in 2008 Dollars. We are running for nearly 1/2 of that figure.

Now as most of you that have read my posts know, I am a capitalist first and foremost. There are 5 major parties (Promoters, Fans, Racers, Sanctioning Body and Sponsors) involved with each racing event. If all parties act in their own, best interests they will do as follows:

The promoters should try to pay as little as possible for the product (purse) and charge their customers (gate admission) as much as they can in order to maximize their profit. They must balance the price charged and money paid with how many admissions they will sell and how many cars they will attract. For example a promoter could charge $100 at the gate and attract 100 wealthy, diehard fans for a local show giving him $10,000 in gross receipts. The same promoter could charge $10 and get 1,000 fans giving him that same $10,000.

The fans can decide if they want to pay the price of admission to the promoter or derive their entertainment elsewhere. If they only have to pay $10 and they feel at the end of the night they derived the more value than if they went to a movie, they will continue to spend $10 until they find an alternative which provides them with more bang for the buck. If they spend $100 they will expect something very special in return or they will not come back.

The racers can decide if they want to run for the purse offered by the promoter or race somewhere else. The racers need an incentive in order to get them to travel from their home base. Last year the Fox Brothers and Stanbrough stayed in Indiana while many other teams traveled to PA. They swept 3 or 4 decent paying races and made more money than the USAC teams could hope if they swept the PA tour. But the USAC teams traveled due to the combined incentives of championship points, high profile series and sponsorship commitments.

The Sanctioning Body’s roll is to provide a uniform superior product and charge a higher price for this product so that racers have an incentive to run under the sanction. The problem comes in when the same racers that are the stars of the sanction run at local shows. The promoter doesn’t believe he needs to pay more for the sanctioned show and the fans don’t want to pay more at the gate because they can watch the stars many weeks at the local shows.

The Sponsors are generally business people that make a decision to spend advertising money in order to increase the market for their product. The big sponsors try to calculate the effect of their investment on the sales of their product. In other words if they are spending $10,000 sponsoring a racecar and increasing their net profit by $1,000 but spending $5,000 on an internet advertisement and increasing their net profit by $2,000 where is that $10,000 racing sponsorship going to go next year?

So summing all this up: In order for USAC to be successful, they must provide enough economic incentives to put together a core group of elite teams/drivers, that the fans cannot see on a regular basis (creating demand for their product) so that each race brings a capacity crowd. The economic incentives can be in the combined form of purse money, path of advancement to major series, advertising exposure (to help attract major sponsors) and championship payouts. To see if this model works for sprintcars in the real world please look to USAC in the ‘50s and ‘60s and WoOs in the ‘80s and ‘90s. They will not be able to flip a switch and create this overnight but rather through a series of gradual and sometimes painful steps. The main thing is to set goals and do things to achieve the goals while dropping things preventing achievement of the goals.

Rob Hoffman

[Charles Nungester]

Rob, Excellent post as always. One thing I think thats being overlooked and I agree, purses should be higher. Expecially back in the pack with 14-18 top teams out there running your series. Nobodys mentioned that USAC has had the 20 dollar gate for at least 10 plus years. You can't raise purses without raising prices. Its not always a good thing but I fully feel the show could easily charge 25 dollars and for some specials 30.

I do not want WOO prices. I personally avoid them just for that alone no matter what show they put on, Im not spending several hundred to travel and fifty for addmission to see a one night show.

I do think a racer with enough determination and skill should be able to make a decent living at this. With all three classes there are a few who can with the sponsor behind the expenses.

Thanks for posting.
Chuck