I was there too and everyone that came into one was lifting to some extent.

Where is this written?

Many teams can't afford to have a pavement car of either the old or new type. That leaves 6 dirt races.
Manzanita? With diesel at $4+ a gallon?
Fairgrounds? Rained out TWICE in TWO years, with NO effort to reschedule.
Terre Haute? After the pathetic promotion there by the last operator?
Springfield? You betcha!
DuQuoin? Ditto!
Eldora? Not likely to return after the 2006 4 Crown C.F.

Some teams don't like to run on the "little" tracks. Champ Cars belong on tracks between 3/4 & 1 1/4 mile. 1/2 mile tracks are for Sprint Cars.

Doesn't leave much for races.

Why should a team that runs just "The Miles" pay the same car registration fee as a team with both pavement & dirt cars? Heck, if you don't compete in 51% of the races you aren't even guaranteed that you can have the same car number next year. Seems they should get a least that if they have to pay the same price!

In spite of the problems I see in this series I will be at "The Miles". It's still the greatest show on dirt!

Don't know: All I can go by is what the pole sitter and other astute observers have told me.

Point is; If they were running 28 sec. laps in hot laps, the track was damn good.
If you look at the photo of the line up, the track has dirt around the top, but it must have been too loose to hold the cars at speed. It happens at ALL tracks from time to time. Bob has nothing to apologize about. Now, not rescheduling the Indy mile; that is another topic.

I know: Guys don't want to run the 1/2 miles,don't want to run the pavement, gas is too high,don't like the promotor etc. etc.

Doesn't matter: If you choose to buy a Silver Crown Car you know what the series is like and what it is about. It is a one of a kind and the only game in town. If you want to own one, you know this. There are only a select few dates for these cars and USAC I'm sure feels that if you have paid for the year, you will be more likely to support ALL of the dirt dates instead of pick and choose. I don't blame them one bit. It isn't like I don't feel for a guy like Craig Dori who runs the midwest dates. I know it's expensive, but it's the only series like it in the World.

This doesn't mean that they should continue to have races where the start money barely covers the cost to fuel the car for the race. They have alot of work to do on the purses.

I agree that I like the miles best, but it's been at least 25 years since the first Terre Haute Silver Crown race(I don't remember if there where any other 1/2 miles before that) I think it's time to accept that the Silver Crown cars do occasionally run the 1/2 miles.

By the way; what does it matter what the last promoter did? It's a race track; it's at the mercy of who is operating it at the time. If you don't like a promotor don't go, if the promotion changes and you like the track, then give it another chance. I think that if not for the latest promotion team, we would be speaking of Terre Haute in the past tense instead of the present tense.

I do agree that if a team pays full price that their number shouldn't be ripped. That should be their equity as long as they sign up and compete at least 1 race. I know the numbers officially belong to USAC, but as long as you pay the rent it should be yours until you lose your eligibility.

You might be right about the first hotlap session, because they were flying, and using what little moisture was there. By the last hotlap session, it was right along the rail. I went on the track to check the dirt after the race, and it was just some dried up little dirt nuggets on rock hard pack. I know day racing is real tough on a track, but I think they could dig it in a little deeper without making it dangerous. I know they used to, and it was just as hot and sunny.

On of the guys in my neighborhood went to the race. He is not a hard core fan like most of us. His reaction was that it was pretty boring. I really doubt that he will shell out for tickets next year based on this year. It is not up to me to educate anyone why the racing wasn't that exciting. The racing should speak for itself.

I love the Silver Crown cars and I love the miles. I think this division is capable of putting on the best shows in the country. I would like to see some of those great shows, it would bring more fans in and improve the division' s standing in the racing community.

SpfldMile,

Not trying to start an argument:angry-smiley-007: but it is up to all of us to educate the not so hard core fans. If we just stand by and hope they enjoy the show without explaining anything I would doubt that the majority would return. I certainly wasn't "hooked" the first time I ever went to a race. Not all races are entertaining and if you don't know any of the drivers and don't understand what is happening it can seem very boring. In my opinion it is all of our jobs to educate these types of fans for racing to prosper.

Regarding the boring race as commented by your friend: I wasn't there this year but I've seen most of the SC events at Springfield since 1971. The format, that is the show that is presented to the fans, has not changed since the beginning. I think you have to consider that entertaining people today is quite different than 40 years ago and the entertainment dollar is sought after by many different venues. We are also saturated with TV coverage of various types of racing. I remember when it was an absolute treat to see ABC's Wide World of Sports cover the race from Trenton, NJ and the Hoosier Hundred live. Now we have racing on TV almost 24/7 with the Speed Channel and other cable networks. So people now don't even have to leave their easy chair to see racing as opposed to 40 years ago. Bottomline: Times have changed. What's different about the SC show? What's the entertainment value?

It was exciting to be there when they had entries of 50-60 cars a few years ago. Now we have 25. Not good any way you look at it. So USAC is going to have to make it more inviting to get more cars out and more teams interested in participating. charging more to participate is not going to do it, IMO. not good. The purse hasn't changed much. Not good again. Pardon me traditionalists, but fans come to see racing. The SC cars are a bit harder to sell than the tintops. Everybody has seen them, but not a SC car. Not good again. So some PR is in order. BUT:

The product that will sell the show and get fans back in the stands is the entertainment value. People want to be entertained today. It's the electronic digital age of people sitting in front of a TV and being entertained every two seconds. Watch the commercials! They are fast moving and entertaining. That's what people are plugged into today.

Now back to the SC racing. What can be done to make the show entertaining for today's fan? Well, maybe a slightly different format should be used. Maybe lock in the top 4-6 qualifiers and let the rest of the field battle in 3-4 heat race type events of short duration.

Another fan friendly idea would be for ALL the drivers to converge on the grandstand at once, spread out amongst the people, go up and down the aisles and shake hands with the fans, with a short chat here and there. Fans would love it!!!!! And you can't get that on TV. The drivers could even lineup down front of the grandstand and have the announcer intro them very quickly, 4 seconds per driver and keep it moving. that way the fans would have an idea who and what the drivers look like.

Just a few suggestions, but you've got to start rethinking the BOX for today's entertainment buck.

Don,

I really enjoyed your post. Nice thoughts. Your right, the action has to COME ACROSS as being a little quicker. Maybe some mobile video boards(I know they are expensive, but it has to be on the horizon) and a way for the FANS TO GET TO KNOW WHO THE DRIVERS ARE. THERE HAS TO BE AN INTIMATE BOND TO DRAW AND TO KEEP THE FANS INTERESTED.

For the fans in the infield and the grandstands to stay interested for now, maybe we need some sort of short wave radio signal so they can listen on their car radios, head phones, or maybe scanneres so they know where people are at and what is happening. Scanner numbers should be handed out so the fans can listen. I really enjoyed the Silver Crown Shows at IRP when they ran with the trucks and Busch and used the video board. It really adds excitement.

As a competitor, I would not be sold on running heats because of the size of track and the wear and tear on the car and tires. Not to mention fuel.


Great Ideas Don.

Scott,

When they had 50-60 cars they would run 2 last chance races. I always enjoyed those as much as the 100 lapper. A lot of dicing around to get in the show. So those races were similar to, say, heat races. It also might be interesting to invert the field somehow after 50 laps, but not work on cars!!!!!!!!! Stop em and start em right away or just have them get in another order after 50 laps. Just some ideas to make things more interesting.

Don, I don't know if you remember the USAC vs the Outlaws show at the fairgrounds in 82'. They did have a really different format for that one. I've got some pictures of 4 cars ready to go green in a heat race. If I remember right, they ran 4 cars for 4 laps. Someone correct me if they remember differently. Thinking back, it was kind of interesting, and they still had the 100 miler at the end. Jack Hewitt won that race in the Vance #3 I think. Danny Smith won one of the preliminary races in the Kenny Rogers 82. Mudpacker, I think if I was sitting with the guy, I could have said a few things. Back home talking in the driveway, his mind was already made up.

Attend an NBA game sometime and you'll see what it's like to be entertained and I'm not talking about the actual basketball game. You are bombarded from beginning to end with multimedia ppresentations and entertainment.