reading this post it made me appreciate the fan base here on the west coast. last saturday at perris there was certainly a respectible crowd dispite the low car count. the fans did get to see some great racing with only a few cars getting tore up. the thing that i love about perris is the fact that a lot of the divers do stick around afterward until well after the lights go out. from where we were pitted, i could look both ways and still see Jones, Sheridan, Kruseman, Hansen, Spencer, etc. still lingering around with dozens of fans just talking. i've noticed that when these fans come into the pits to chat they know the driver by name, and the drivers know many of their fans by name. one thing that i think perris does well is that they let the fans into the pits immediately after the last car has left the track and the top three have stopped on the front straight. everyone has to walk past the top three cars on thier way into the pits.

just a few things i noticed...

MJ

Kevin,
Thanks for sharing that letter with us. That father & son have found out what we have known about the Spencer family for quite some time here in the Mid-west.

OMG! I found myself agreeing with Dean Mills.

Donmoore10 said;
Maybe you should entretain us all at the next intermission, put out a hat, and see how much you can collect. I'll ante up a buck in the blind!
Just what is your act anyway? And why are you not still at it full time instead of whining and moaning on here?
Probably sounds about the same!
:rolling:rolling:rolling

Thanks for sharing that letter Kevin. Good stuff and a great reflection on what is important to the paying race fan. Hats off to Josh and Jerry and the Spencer clan for being available and approachable to the fans and helping to promote the sport. Here in winged country, that goes a long way when trying to introduce traditional Sprints to the winged fans. Fans like to feel they have a vested interest in a team when they root for someone. Meeting not just the drivers but also the crew makes fans out of even a casual race attendee.

Great reflections on the situation by Dean as well.

It's always amazed me that drivers had to pay to get in to entertain when we folks in the Press and Media do not (for the most part). That never really seemed right to me. Unfortunately it's not a situation you are ever going to change. This is grass roots racing where the "back gate" is king at most tracks.

I know one track here in PA, until the promoter lost his mind and pissed everyone in the open wheel divisions off (not mentioning any names), used to give the driver a free pit pass when the car entry fee was paid. Crew members still had to buy pit passes but the driver got in free. I think that's a good compromise. The promoter gets enough back gate to cover the purse and the driver doesn't have to pay for the privilege of risking his/her own life so that the promoter can sell tickets.

Just my $.02

I Don't know what support series you have out West, but in the Midwest we have anywhere from one to five. While they often run the sprint feature first (thank you for that), and you can't get in the pits until all series have run their respective feature. The sprint teams have left by then. So no fan interaction with the sprint drivers and crews. People say to me "Well, then get a pit pass". That may be a good suggestion, unless you have enough trouble scraping the $$$ together for an admission ticket and gasoline, let alone a pit pass.

So what's the answer? I don't know.It's been talked about here many times and the answer seems to be not so easy. It depends on who's doing the asking and who is doing the answering. In a perfect world of the sprint car fan, get rid of the support stuff. The rest will take care of itself. But in the real world, that is not practical.

This IOW site is usually slanted toward the "insiders" point of view and not the fans. The fan almost seems like the red-headed step child around here at times IMO. I think all racing people need to listen to us fans. You need us as much (or more) than we want you.

the chilibowl. :rolling

We run at a track in the West that has anywhere from 3 to 4 support classes on any given night. The sprints are usually next to last to go out, and that seems to give the teams a chance to get back in the pits and get things organized before the gates are opened to the fans. Not sure it's by design, but that is how it works for us.

Some of the teams will load up and pull out the minute the gate is opened, but many will stay until the crowd thins down. Mind you - these are local drivers seeing the same fans week after week. We go so far as to leave the car just as it is - ready to race. RR stays on the car, wing(sorry - no traditional sprint cars up here) stays up, etc etc. I felt the fans should be able to get up close to exactly what they paid to see.

Our crew does a fantastic job of washing the car everytime its hits the track, and the last support class gives them a chance to clean it before the fans arrive in the pits. Then, as the driver is greeting the fans and signing some girls hand that she'll never wash again(he's 16 so it's OK:wink) we start packing the trailer. When what looks like the last fan has stopped by, the car gets pushed in trailer - usually with that last fan steering it in the trailer. It's a bonus if that fan has to stand up in the seat to see over the cowl.

I know we're not a national traveling team, and I hope it never gets old waiting for the last fan to arrive so we can load up and go to the car wash or motel - or home. But it takes all of about 5 minutes to change the RR, drop the wing, load the car, tie it down, and close the door.

The hour or so before that, and the look on someones face when you need their help loading a sprint car, is worth every single minute.

Ted

this past saturday we ran with the mini sprints, but we run without any support classes on many occations. in my mind, this is how it should be...only two classes per night.

there seems to be a catch 22 though. the promotors want more classes to make more money in the back gate and in turn they loose the fan base. if they would only build up the fan base on one or two classes a night, the promotor will still get his cut and the sport will grow. JMO

MJ

Great post Kevin, However from a fans perspective it goes further than your included and all points made so far.

Turning the question around a bit, What can USAC do for the fans and drivers that will help promote or help them to promote the sport. This could include Dashes, Driver interviews, Drivers between qualifying and heats mingling in the stands rubbing kids heads and signing a few Graphs.

Limiting support classes to one and running THE SHOW last unless inclement weather is a issue.

Building in a couple rain dates with a tour. I happen to know that getting the date a track wants ect is very critical to if a track will even host or not. The event itself (Like Sprint week) has to be worth it to fans, tracks and drivers to get tracks to buy into it.

Your format sets a lot of cars on the trailer and even out the door before a feature so why complain they aren't there after the race? Some of them didn't get a penny in return for all their expense (Non Qualifiers non transfers.

SQUIRRELS. Im possitive USAC isn't out to keep new talent out or locals, However the apearance of it deters people from even attempting. So what, they don't quailfy well don't get out of the C main (Which you don't have) The fan got to see em, The racer made a little back and they might actually help like Josh in the future to promote YOUR BRAND.

Until Squirrels are no longer looked down upon by other racers, the organizations they run and some of its super fans. IMHO there is a big problem. Todays stars are yesterdays squirrels and so are the squirrels of today, TOMORROWS!

Chuck

To Sprint Fan: I'm retired from entertaining but have recently become an adjunct professor at a local college teaching Remedial Moaning and Whining, Moaning and Whining 101, 202, 303 and Advance Moaning and Whining 404.

If you want to see a great example of fan participation then one only needs to visit the Rushville fairgrounds during a UMRA race. Back when I first started in the UMRA I was blown away by the number of people that would come into the pits. At 16 years old I couldn't believe someone would want my autograph. The look on the kids faces was priceless when the would be climbing around the car or talking to the drivers.

I honestly think that fan interaction is crucial for the welfare of our sport!