Will the economy hurt car counts?

racephoto1 · 3/6/09, 12:15 AM

Most of the people I have talked to say it is going to be like the old days, real outlaws. They don't plan on running anywhere that pays less then $5,ooo to win.I know some other guys want to start in July, after everyone else has used up there stuff.

People need to read a little history and ask the oldtimers how they did it in the 30's and early 40's. That was when times were really tough. Of course if we were smart, we would tell the politicians,"We're to big to fail, bail us out ."

micro94 · 3/6/09, 12:37 AM

It is going to be ugly I beleive.I hate it as much as everyone else but peoples mortgages,gas,food and groceries are first.People half to live and right now if you arent making a 20-30 dollar an hour range I dont see it happening.And those hourly wages I mentioned are all but gone.To the people who can afford it,thank you.You give us all what we want and that is to go watch some racing.To those like myself who cant afford it,I hope everything works out on the big picture and everyone is ok.I know Im only running micros but Im seeing maybe 6 races this year versus 25 or 30 in the past.I hope everyone on here makes it through it all but they are saying its going to be a while.

polecar · 3/6/09, 12:51 AM

my car is for sale.

Charles Nungester · 3/6/09, 2:06 AM

Im not quite sure. With cars selling for next to nothing 4500 rollers and 11,000 With Motors. I wouldn't be surprised many mini sprint and kart teams don't step up and take the places of those in trouble. Think about it, I was offered a top Kart ten years ago for 3000. Stick a injected truck motor in one of these rollers and race

SCORA? Wow, you could put a full season motor in one for about ten grand. T

I hope that those parking or selling off get back on their feet soon. I'll personally Pimp slap the person who don't buy a American whatever that isn't unreasonably priced

I kinda agree with the top teams not hitting less than 5g races, Hockett, Ballou ect. I remain optimistic.

Whats more important is that people find steady work, feed their families and pay their bills. Think next time your at the store. You work in America. If you don't buy a american made product (I don't care if its a honda made in america) Your affecting a Americans JOB!

I'll keep from going off on a soap box tour but its time you demand your Govt STOP what its doing. Change MY ASS its ten times worse!

IndyBound · 3/6/09, 1:06 PM

IMHO the economy startd to hurt car counts last year and will be even worse this year, all divisions and/or racing series are effected. Prime example the East-West Shootout for Supermodifieds held in Concord N.C. Nov. 2007 attracted 36 supers in 2008 only 13 supers made the haul to N.C. for the Concord race and the Keenly race the next night had 11 supers, two were destroyed at the Concord race and couldn't be repaired to run the next night.

Most recently the USAC races at Manzy, on Thursday night at practice I was really worried about car count, there were 23 sprints, 29 midgets and 15 SC cars take to the track for practice. However, on Friday when I arrived it was a different story the sprint car count had jumped to 54 which meant more than half of the sprint cars choose not to practice. Extra practice nights in my book in todays economy are a waste of money.

I see car counts being low, fan attendance being down, sponsorship money being elminated and race tracks closing down until the economy improves or some of them being lost forever. On the bright side of all of this maybe just maybe the innovation that so many great racers of the past had may just come back into racing. We never bought expensive enignes, chassis or enclosed trailers to go racing. Most racers of the 60's, 70's & 80's that I knew built their own equipment, many built their own motors and machined their own parts, very few had high dollar sponors; IMHO racing needs to return to those times. I personally think NASCAR is going to fall the hardest of any racing division, simply because they are the most costly to run. I am sure you have heard just as much as I have about the fire sale they are having on their cup tickets to fill the grandstands for tv. I had a friend tell me they could buy $200.00 seats at Daytona for $50.00.

Back to the form of racing that most of us care about, open wheel racing, for me Dave Darland only having a sprint car ride for the western swing tells it all. That more than anything told be how bad the economy is right now in auto racing.

One of my favorite sayings when we owned our race car was "Owning a race car was like flushing money down the toilet". We ran our car mostly unsponsored, from the money my ex-husband and I brought home from our 9-5 jobs. Some car owners have already expressed on here that they are in trouble. My other favorite saying was "When racing prevents you from putting food on the table and a roof over your head, then it is time to get out". Unfortunately today I personally feel that statement is going to become a reality for more racers than ever before.

Of course car counts are going to be effected in todays economy, everything has been, store closings, lost jobs, auto makers and banks in huge trouble; anyone that thinks auto racing won't be effected has their head buried in the sand.

Patti

3/6/09, 3:29 PM

:loser:Who knows? I may be the fool but I for one plan on running more sprint shows this year than ever. With the addition of Vermillion county speedway running every saturday and 10 or 12 Morgan county shows, I can run 30 or more shows for less than what it cost me to run 18 last year simply because of geography. Things are looking up for sprint cars around here in IL and hopefully those like me who race on a shoestring budget these closer races will help.
If not for the help of my dad and a really good friend, a couple of small sponsors we would be in the same boat. If we can keep the fuel prices down this summer that would also be a huge advantage.. Right now fuel is almost one third the price it was last year during race season. I for one depend on other racers who are friends and they also depend on me. If I have a part someone needs to keep racing, I will gladly help as will most of you. We have too help each other stay on the track.

Looking forward to Danville and also Illinois sprint week. It is sunny and 71 degrees here today. Lets go racing. OH wait. .......... my motors is not done yet. nevermind.

IndyBound · 3/6/09, 4:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RACEADDICT

:loser:Who knows? I may be the fool but I for one plan on running more sprint shows this year than ever. With the addition of Vermillion county speedway running every saturday and 10 or 12 Morgan county shows, I can run 30 or more shows for less than what it cost me to run 18 last year simply because of geography. Things are looking up for sprint cars around here in IL and hopefully those like me who race on a shoestring budget these closer races will help.
If not for the help of my dad and a really good friend, a couple of small sponsors we would be in the same boat. If we can keep the fuel prices down this summer that would also be a huge advantage.. Right now fuel is almost one third the price it was last year during race season. I for one depend on other racers who are friends and they also depend on me. If I have a part someone needs to keep racing, I will gladly help as will most of you. We have too help each other stay on the track.

Looking forward to Danville and also Illinois sprint week. It is sunny and 71 degrees here today. Lets go racing. OH wait. .......... my motors is not done yet. nevermind.

Good luck in 2009 Raceaddict, hope you have a great year!

Patti

HRI99 · 3/11/09, 8:07 PM

On the down side yes of course the economy will hurt car counts and racetracks alike. Every aspect of racing is hurting from indy to gokarts and everything in between. On the plus side though with as bad as it is I personally hope it will affect certain drivers we run with every weekend that have way more money than intellegence. Its expensive enough for a low budget guy to support sprint car racing week in and week out let alone you add some of these "gassers" you all seem to love so much ,to come and run wfo with no clue where there headed on the racetrack. Mommy and daddy may have to start to prioritize their kids non existent stock car career and instead of supplying them with new cars to destroy every week have to actually do something useful with their hard earned dollars. I can only hope those that are fortionate enough to still get the opprotunity to race may actually learn HOW to race and not drive over their head because that is when it gets expensive and we are ALL affected by that.

3/6/09, 2:06 AM	#14 Re: Will the economy hurt car counts?
Charles Nungester Senior Member Race Count This Year: 6 Race Count Last Year: 14 Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 22,250	Im not quite sure. With cars selling for next to nothing 4500 rollers and 11,000 With Motors. I wouldn't be surprised many mini sprint and kart teams don't step up and take the places of those in trouble. Think about it, I was offered a top Kart ten years ago for 3000. Stick a injected truck motor in one of these rollers and race SCORA? Wow, you could put a full season motor in one for about ten grand. T I hope that those parking or selling off get back on their feet soon. I'll personally Pimp slap the person who don't buy a American whatever that isn't unreasonably priced I kinda agree with the top teams not hitting less than 5g races, Hockett, Ballou ect. I remain optimistic. Whats more important is that people find steady work, feed their families and pay their bills. Think next time your at the store. You work in America. If you don't buy a american made product (I don't care if its a honda made in america) Your affecting a Americans JOB! I'll keep from going off on a soap box tour but its time you demand your Govt STOP what its doing. Change MY ASS its ten times worse! __________________ Charles Nungester _________________________________________________ Last edited by Charles Nungester; 3/6/09 at 2:12 AM.

3/6/09, 12:15 AM	#11 Re: Will the economy hurt car counts?
racephoto1 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 4,253	Most of the people I have talked to say it is going to be like the old days, real outlaws. They don't plan on running anywhere that pays less then $5,ooo to win.I know some other guys want to start in July, after everyone else has used up there stuff. People need to read a little history and ask the oldtimers how they did it in the 30's and early 40's. That was when times were really tough. Of course if we were smart, we would tell the politicians,"We're to big to fail, bail us out ."

3/6/09, 12:37 AM	#12 Re: Will the economy hurt car counts?
micro94 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 517	It is going to be ugly I beleive.I hate it as much as everyone else but peoples mortgages,gas,food and groceries are first.People half to live and right now if you arent making a 20-30 dollar an hour range I dont see it happening.And those hourly wages I mentioned are all but gone.To the people who can afford it,thank you.You give us all what we want and that is to go watch some racing.To those like myself who cant afford it,I hope everything works out on the big picture and everyone is ok.I know Im only running micros but Im seeing maybe 6 races this year versus 25 or 30 in the past.I hope everyone on here makes it through it all but they are saying its going to be a while.

3/6/09, 12:51 AM	#13 Re: Will the economy hurt car counts?
polecar Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 153	my car is for sale.

3/6/09, 1:06 PM	#15 Re: Will the economy hurt car counts?
IndyBound Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 2,626	IMHO the economy startd to hurt car counts last year and will be even worse this year, all divisions and/or racing series are effected. Prime example the East-West Shootout for Supermodifieds held in Concord N.C. Nov. 2007 attracted 36 supers in 2008 only 13 supers made the haul to N.C. for the Concord race and the Keenly race the next night had 11 supers, two were destroyed at the Concord race and couldn't be repaired to run the next night. Most recently the USAC races at Manzy, on Thursday night at practice I was really worried about car count, there were 23 sprints, 29 midgets and 15 SC cars take to the track for practice. However, on Friday when I arrived it was a different story the sprint car count had jumped to 54 which meant more than half of the sprint cars choose not to practice. Extra practice nights in my book in todays economy are a waste of money. I see car counts being low, fan attendance being down, sponsorship money being elminated and race tracks closing down until the economy improves or some of them being lost forever. On the bright side of all of this maybe just maybe the innovation that so many great racers of the past had may just come back into racing. We never bought expensive enignes, chassis or enclosed trailers to go racing. Most racers of the 60's, 70's & 80's that I knew built their own equipment, many built their own motors and machined their own parts, very few had high dollar sponors; IMHO racing needs to return to those times. I personally think NASCAR is going to fall the hardest of any racing division, simply because they are the most costly to run. I am sure you have heard just as much as I have about the fire sale they are having on their cup tickets to fill the grandstands for tv. I had a friend tell me they could buy $200.00 seats at Daytona for $50.00. Back to the form of racing that most of us care about, open wheel racing, for me Dave Darland only having a sprint car ride for the western swing tells it all. That more than anything told be how bad the economy is right now in auto racing. One of my favorite sayings when we owned our race car was "Owning a race car was like flushing money down the toilet". We ran our car mostly unsponsored, from the money my ex-husband and I brought home from our 9-5 jobs. Some car owners have already expressed on here that they are in trouble. My other favorite saying was "When racing prevents you from putting food on the table and a roof over your head, then it is time to get out". Unfortunately today I personally feel that statement is going to become a reality for more racers than ever before. Of course car counts are going to be effected in todays economy, everything has been, store closings, lost jobs, auto makers and banks in huge trouble; anyone that thinks auto racing won't be effected has their head buried in the sand. Patti

3/6/09, 3:29 PM	#16 Re: Will the economy hurt car counts?
RACEADDICT Posts: n/a	:loser:Who knows? I may be the fool but I for one plan on running more sprint shows this year than ever. With the addition of Vermillion county speedway running every saturday and 10 or 12 Morgan county shows, I can run 30 or more shows for less than what it cost me to run 18 last year simply because of geography. Things are looking up for sprint cars around here in IL and hopefully those like me who race on a shoestring budget these closer races will help. If not for the help of my dad and a really good friend, a couple of small sponsors we would be in the same boat. If we can keep the fuel prices down this summer that would also be a huge advantage.. Right now fuel is almost one third the price it was last year during race season. I for one depend on other racers who are friends and they also depend on me. If I have a part someone needs to keep racing, I will gladly help as will most of you. We have too help each other stay on the track. Looking forward to Danville and also Illinois sprint week. It is sunny and 71 degrees here today. Lets go racing. OH wait. .......... my motors is not done yet. nevermind.

3/11/09, 8:07 PM	#18 Re: Will the economy hurt car counts?
HRI99 Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 51	On the down side yes of course the economy will hurt car counts and racetracks alike. Every aspect of racing is hurting from indy to gokarts and everything in between. On the plus side though with as bad as it is I personally hope it will affect certain drivers we run with every weekend that have way more money than intellegence. Its expensive enough for a low budget guy to support sprint car racing week in and week out let alone you add some of these "gassers" you all seem to love so much ,to come and run wfo with no clue where there headed on the racetrack. Mommy and daddy may have to start to prioritize their kids non existent stock car career and instead of supplying them with new cars to destroy every week have to actually do something useful with their hard earned dollars. I can only hope those that are fortionate enough to still get the opprotunity to race may actually learn HOW to race and not drive over their head because that is when it gets expensive and we are ALL affected by that.