Chris my point is most of tracks have been around longer than cars have. There was never a time when they were that profitable. In fact most of the raqces I like are held at government owned facilities, or they would not happen. I do like some of your ideas, but I don't know how you get people there. When these cars were king, there were only 3 TV channels, no internet, no videos to rent, and no forum for everyone to get on and complain about the product. Think about it every thread about the champ cars turns in to a bunch of people complaining about the promoters and the sanctioning body. That sends the message, that it isn't the place to be.

Brent, you forgot the biggest draw they had, Indy car drivers. I'll stay with this topic, but I could easily wander off. The guys that ran the 500 also HAD to run the miles if they were to win the title. Foyt, the Unsers, Andretti, etc.It was a very exclusive deal to run these cars back then, and you knew every driver in every car.

Also , look at the view count on this thread. There's interest, but how people looking at this thread will actually go to a Champ dirt car race?

People really need to read Dick Wallen's book on the 1950's Champ car races, not every dirt race [with the 500 drivers] was a success. They tried one year to have a June race at Springfield one year, the crowd was weak and they lost money. Not everything in the old days was great.

I remember Gary Bettenhausen saying once that the good ol' days were not necessarily that good.
I think that's true. It's just our selective memory chooses to remember the good, and not the bad.

I think Chris is right about one thing. The sizzle for champ dirt cars was the opportunity to see Indy 500 drivers races on local tracks, especially for people who could not, or did not want to, get to Indy. You could see Foyt and Andretti up close and have a real chance to get their autographs.

Now, for champ dirt cars (Oh God. I forgot. SILVER CROWN.) to survive, we must excite the fans in other ways. Maybe we should look at what is done to excite people with monster trucks, mud pulls, and ESPN's extreme sports.

And for all of those armchair promoters out there, there is no easy answer. The simple fact is that race promotion is very hard work. Work for a promoter for a while and you'll get your eyes opened.

But, for me at least, all of the negativity expressed here, and elsewhere, is a huge factor in turning people away. Why would I want to spend my money on fuel, food and tickets when everything I read tells me how horrible things are? Why would I want to go where idiots are running things?

When I first attended champ dirt car races, we talked about how great that duel was between Andretti, Unser and Howerton, not how stupid USAC was.

Maybe to find out what is wrong with Silver Crown racing a person should look in the mirror, and stop living in the past. Let's live for the future.

I believe they went belly-up because USAC ended the new SC pavement car experiment & returned to the old ones.

I doubt fans would flock to SC races to see the current crop of Indy Car drivers race on dirt, it's not like the average fan knows who any of them are anyway.

steiny

I think you can lay the "blame" at a lot of things, starting with the economy, and working backwards, a gallon of gas, or a gallon of milk, a pound of hamburger, or a treat for the kids, or school pencils. Not to mention, the demographics, considering the age of those of us who even know what a SC/Champ car is, or a midget, or a sprint car, like it or not, NASCAR has taken a bunch of those people away from open wheel racing, plus the generation of young folks, don't really know much about racing, some may even be so retarded to think it has something to do with skin color, on TV this week, the death of Margaret Thatcher has been in the headlines, on one news show I watched, the reporter was on the ground at a college, asking students about her, and only one young lady was able to find that she had heard of her, and who she was, history has folded over itself, it isn't taught hardly anymore, and with all the old folks not being able to relate to the current generation, history for the most part will never surface anymore, technology is too advanced for anything as simple as learning how we got where we are in the US, last week at the truck race, you coulda had an open hunting day in the stands, very few people there, no one would have been bothered. Print advertising, and media advertising has come and gone, unless it's something on sale at a local dept store, I think we gotta face it, there just aren't that many people, with the extra money to field a race car, or even take in an occasional race, I hate to see it come, cause I been doing it for over 60, of my 75 years, in mostly the nut behind the wheel position. That's my 2 cents worth, as much as I hate to say it. At the current rate, how long will it be, before we see open trailers at the Nascar Cup races, I think there have already been one or two at Nationwide and Arca shows! Bob

To me, they will always be Champ Dirt Cars.

My dad is 72 and owns two crown cars and still calls them champ cars. Believe it or not there is quite a few young people who still love these cars. I'm 23 and the best feeling in the world is to watch a crown car/champ car full bore through turn 3 at DuQuoin

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Nothing more beautiful then a Champ Dirt Car on a dirt mile.


IMG_7878 copy by uncloose1, on Flickr

POWRI would breathe life into this series. Look what they have done with midget racing. They have their National series, one in the NE and one in Austrailia. Obviously they know what to do to make something work correctly when it comes to racing.

POWRI hasn't "tweaked" much on their midget series. USAC can't say that about the Silver Crown series. They tweak things more then a "tweaker" does. Dump the old cars for those NASCAR "supported" cars then back to the old cars, then split 100 lap events then back to solid 100 lap events, then to ethanol, then to ethanol/methanol split then drop a race then add another then drop it again. Stop screwing around and get a clear, concise, well thought out plan to get this series moving forward. Make a rule book and stick to it year after year with minor changes made at USAC discretion and major changes at the consesus of all involved parties (USAC, promoters, team owners) so that everyone has a chance to say their idea or comment on the topic.