Originally Posted by oppweld:
Destroying a Historically Significant mile dirt track in the name of horse racing that will fail soon enough.
Historical significance typically isn’t too involved in a business decision. Let’s be honest here, the Hoosier 100 and the other few events they held at the State Fairgrounds didn’t justify the need for a mile dirt track to remain. I would imagine the costs were greater than the revenue.
I will also be in the minority of all the older folks but I went to the Hoosier 100 several years back and never felt I needed to go again. I can appreciate the history but the history doesn’t pay the bills…
What was the excuse before Flo? Allstars and Woo stream every race as does most of PA Sprints and they have packed houses every race. Maybe , just maybe it’s the track .
When are race fans going to admit that one racing event a year, that luckily drew 5,000 fans and pit members, wasn't going to cut it. How do you make a profit on that? And the infrastructure of the Indy mile was in dire need of repair. Fencing, cabling, caution lights, and worn out light bulbs were all needing replaced. Who was going to pay for that?
Regarding Terre Haute,
How is track prep going to be done for 3 events a year? Let's hope someone will groom that dirt before the day of each race.
Originally Posted by Grocery Guy:
Regarding the Indy mile,
When are race fans going to admit that one racing event a year, that luckily drew 5,000 fans and pit members, wasn't going to cut it. How do you make a profit on that? And the infrastructure of the Indy mile was in dire need of repair. Fencing, cabling, caution lights, and worn out light bulbs were all needing replaced. Who was going to pay for that?
Regarding Terre Haute,
How is track prep going to be done for 3 events a year? Let's hope someone will groom that dirt before the day of each race.
I’m sure track prep will be done more than one day before a race whether it’s 3 races or 6 races. Bill Hopton’s group did it as well as Bob Sargent and Scott Ronk’s group. Only one I can think of that that didn’t do much track prep was Dave Allison.
Back in the day the fair board thought they had a good promoter with the banker. The improvements to the racetrack were being done as needed. That was until they found out that what it cost for the improvements was being paid for by the banker and the banker was putting liens onto the property for that amount. Someone discovered that the banker was about to pay the liens and take over the property. So several rich farmers came and paid the lien. This was the story from a USAC racer who lived in Terre Haute at the time. The truth is that no money can be made by any promoter who takes over the racing at THAT. Half mile dirt tracks are a thing of the past as it costs more to race on a half mile than 1/4- and 3/8-mile tracks, these tracks are where the action is.
Originally Posted by DaleDuBois:
Back in the day the fair board thought they had a good promoter with the banker. The improvements to the racetrack were being done as needed. That was until they found out that what it cost for the improvements was being paid for by the banker and the banker was putting liens onto the property for that amount. Someone discovered that the banker was about to pay the liens and take over the property. So several rich farmers came and paid the lien. This was the story from a USAC racer who lived in Terre Haute at the time. The truth is that no money can be made by any promoter who takes over the racing at THAT. Half mile dirt tracks are a thing of the past as it costs more to race on a half mile than 1/4- and 3/8-mile tracks, these tracks are where the action is.
BS on the last part. The bigger tracks separate the men from the boys. THAT, Port, Perris. Awesome racing and the more laps they get they better they get. I've seen tires look like new at the end of 30 laps at THAT and I've seen em bald and blowing as the race went on. Track prep has everything to do with it and a Quarter mile will eat tires just as fast if it becomes abrasive. I've seen two races at Bloomington that the first one to blow his RR tire was the one who won. Because everybody else did too.
Im really hoping that more will race at THAT now that the ARMCO eliminates the possibility of landing on or hitting a hard edge concrete block
