Originally Posted by Blitzman:
Did you read my whole post? Attica was a packed house for the World of Outlaw show. Even ASCOC last 2 nights in Wisconsin had good solid 80% capacity crowds, would’ve been even better with warmer temps. So that throws your theory out the window.
First, you can't compare the WoO sprints to anything else in short track racing, outside of maybe a big LM race in LM country. They draw all kinds of occasional fans for reasons we've already talked about a million times on this board. But even they, the premiere attraction in dirt racing, have very few Sunday dates on their calendar, and VERY rarely try to make up a rained out Sat race on Sunday. For example, this weekend they were rained out on Saturday and even though they were in a decent area for sprint car racing (Sharon) they cancelled.
Unless FLO forced the promoters to run on Sunday, I don't think you can blame them. I also don't think there would have been a lot more interest in the event had they not been streaming. For example, I watched yesterday on FLO, but I live 700 miles away, apologies for not being able to make it to the track on a Sunday night.
Originally Posted by Blitzman:
Did you read my whole post? Attica was a packed house for the World of Outlaw show. Even ASCOC last 2 nights in Wisconsin had good solid 80% capacity crowds, would’ve been even better with warmer temps. So that throws your theory out the window.
Yeah I read your whole post. Last nights races were both poorly attended. I was comparing an inexpensive thing to go to that had lots of people in past events. Much like racing, why was it poorly attended? Probably a combination of events, weather, economy,401k’s loosing thousands of dollars in people’s accounts etc.
To compare with your mobbed WoO race, for comparison, I recently went to a car show on a Saturday morning that was mobbed. Cars and Coffee. Not held every weekend. Yet some weekly cruise ins on Friday and Saturday nights all 3 close by to each other haven’t had as many cars as in past years, and these are every week, and all 3 different ones are free to get into.Weather was perfect for all 3 I’ve mentioned.
So why is that? Both have their own followers,and I’ve done both. Races cost money for admission, but cruise ins are free to come look at? Some are mobbed, some are average,and some poorly attended.
Are you speaking on behalf of the promoters or was there an actual public “rant” by them? I haven’t seen anything but positivity from them.
Every promoter knows what they’re getting into with USAC - or any series that has their races live streamed. Once a promoter agrees to sign the dotted line for a race, the right to complain goes out the window. Same thing with complaining about giving out free NOS. Hello, they are the the title sponsor for USAC.
I agree with Chief (did I just type that out loud?). Last night we saw mostly die hards instead of the casual fans and families / young kids. Hard to do on a Sunday night.
Have you ever seen the Sunday night crowd at the Knoxville Nationals after a the Saturday night final has been rained out?
Scott Ronk and Bernie are smart business men that have been around racing long enough to know better. The lack of a knee jerk reaction for a reschedule would have behooved them. Push the show to the September date so people could have planned better. Not sure what pressure may be behind the scenes at THAT, but this isn't their first promotion and seemed like an odd move.
Were they forced to run last night by USAC? If so, is just trying to pass the failure to someone else(NOS, Flo).
Deferring doesn't mean failure, in some instances it shows intelligence. In this instance a deferment would have been prudent.
I know I will get shot for saying this, but would Tuesday July 27th for sprint week have worked ? I know that would be 8 days straight of racing and hard on teams. Don’t some teams skip Terra Haute any way? Just an idea 🤔
One thing I can say Blitzman is correct about is his part about USAC dying, well at least some fans. My Dad passed away a couple weeks ago. A life long USAC fan and he did a great job of passing along his passion for it to his two son’s, my sister not so much. He was 83. A lot of USAC’s fan base is old, that is a fact. And one other thing is that I completely agree with is the current economic situation is affecting everything more and more. I have a good job and pays good wages. Many guy’s I work with have big campers and such. I hear a lot of talk now about how much the trip is going to cost and maybe we should find something closer to home. I’m going to stop short of calling anyone stupid, but if you don’t think it’s affecting things, you are delusional
I went to Attica for the WoO show and our group decided we're not leaving Ohio this year. Everything is to damn expensive right now. I'll stay in my area and enjoy what it has to offer.
As far as streaming, the promoters are way off. Streaming races is the present and future of this sport. It's the promoters jobs to give a product that people want to be a part of. Both THAT races have been USAC races and they have a deal with Flo, not THAT. The promoters should know that going in. I have never not gone to a race that I had planned on attending because its streamed. I watch much more racing now on nights that I can't attend.
