The beer batter idea was just one example of a promotion from baseball. I don't care if any promotion involves beer, as I've never had a beer in my life.

Trust me, I have all the respect in the world for the old-school fan that hasn't missed a week at their local track in decades. Those folks helped build the sport. Still, if we're going to have a discussion on how to draw new fans to this sport so it can continue to survive and thrive in the upcoming years, we shouldn't get hung up on the objections of folks that won't be around in 30 years.

I'm just not sure that the kids of today are coming up in the same car culture that kids did a generation or two ago. So perhaps the mere presence of cars and racing might not be enough to attract large numbers of fans a few decades from now. It might take something extra to get them to come out on a Friday or Saturday night and plunk down some of their discretionary income. We can bemoan that fact, or embrace the reality and figure out how to make it work for us.

I know the former promoters of the Berlin Speedway used college students (interns) in their marketing departments. They could be found at Ivy Tech and and other local learning centers. Maybe even people conected with theJunior Acheivement programs could be contacted. A win win situation for both parties.

The avererage age of the spectators at the midweek regional midget series and the crowd at Grundy County is 50ys plus. Not a good sign. The participants may be young but as marriage, job responsibilities and daddy's money runs out, they may not be fans in the future.

On a good note the spectators at weekly races at Plymouth and to some extent , Kokomo seem to draw families and young people.
Marketing is everything! Look at the popularity of cage fighting!
Look at Rockford speedway, 2 nights a week for years, in one of the most depressed areas in the country.
The late Hugh Deery said something to the effect that his job wouldn't be finished until every resident of Rockford was at his track on Sat night. Thats a great attiude.
Dale Weis
Valparaiso IN

this is a great idea. I know that many of the college interns take these jobs at no pay. They will work for free just to get the experience on the resume, or maybe you could get them to do it as an independent study course. The best thing about this idea is that these kids will not be burdened with "that can't be done here" mentality. It will take a lot of work by the owner to keep them going the right way, but the energy level would be great.

I also am a fan of minor league sports (mostly hockey) There are a ton of things to be learned about promotions by minor leauge sports. However, there is a lot of things that a promoter could do to help his show at no cost. My biggest pet peeves are: Start the races on time. If the ticket says 7:00, then the first heat should be hitting the track at 7:00. Limit the car classes. I don't need to see four class of cars that all look the same. Have a set intermission or no intermission at all. The best intermission I ever saw was at a track that had a timer on the lap board. When the last heat was over, a ten minute count down started on the clock. When the clock hit 0:00 the main events were on the track.

I go to see the races and could care less about anything else they do. I would rather they pay more in the purse then give it to some clown entertaining the kids. Bigger purse = better cars and counts.

I completly agree. In fact I have issues with the invocation done at most tracks. BUT, the promoter is selling entertainment to the casual fan. I'll sit through delays because of track prep and things of that nature. I was one of the idiots that left Kokomo at 4.00am years ago at Wolverine midget nationals. But I didn't have kids with me. The casual fan has to be considered in the promoter's plan.
Dale Weis
Valparaiso IN