[mud goodsleeve]

This afternoons trip to race at the Burg was cut short due to "unexpected and persistent rain" aka 3 5min sprinkles..The P.A. said that the track was "to wet to race on". As far as I know we race on dirt and water is a good thing.

After unloading the car a trip to check out the track was taken. A screwdriver pushed into the surface went into the clay about half an inch before it reached the end of the moisture and hit the dry solid. telling me that the track was left alone since last week and watered this morning to give the slight appearance of track prep.

5:15 hits and there are 13 sprints tops, a handfull of mods(at a track that usually has at least 30) and I did not count the minis but there might have been 10 or 12.

A few sprinkles later and the race is called. The sun is shining and we are loading up and heading out due to rain. This is honestly one of the worst calls I have ever seen. You saw you were not going to make any money and used the rain as an excuse.

We do not leave our cars in a trailer, pull em to the track, race and leave them sit for a week. We put our lives into these machines to go out and race on saturday nights. For you Mr. Rudisell to cancel the show because you were not going to make any money is ridiculous.

Maybe calls like this and your "track prep" is the reason car counts are the way they are.

Would have been nice seeing as we didnt even fire the car off to get our pit money back. At least you turned a profit on the day.

-Matthew Schlensker

[ekohl23]

Get your popcorn ready
Posted using Mobile Device

[Chris Nunn]

[Gee2]

Originally Posted by ekohl23 Get your popcorn ready Posted using Mobile Device

waitng for the shots to come across the bow

[Charles Nungester]

Rain out, Boespflug team folds. Cars in the shop.

[mcveyracing]

"sprinkles"... really?? While loading up my car in those "sprinkles" I got completely soaked, maybe he could have worked the track and saved it, but it looked awfully wet to me. Not sure how cancelling leads to him making a profit, since our armbands are good for admission to any of the remaining races. It's not like he's headed to Mexico with a suitcase full of gate money.

Tony McVey

[SprintManDave]

there was a downpour just as I pulled in the parking lot.

[kstudley57]

unfortunaly, it was bright, sunny, and dry only 2 miles north of the track but the track recieved way too much rain to race on. adding insult to injury was a followup shower as we were pulling out of the propery which further supported the tough decision Dave had to make in cancelling. No way could that track have gotten worked in, in any reasonable amount of time.

[Gregg]

Last time the race was called this late at the 'burg was a few years back. We had one of those pop-up showers at the track that decided to stick around for a little while. Tom Wieck had a picnic table full of prepared concession food to get rid of and ended up giving it away to anyone who was left at the track including myself. I'm sure he lost his shirt that night even though not a wheel turned on the track.

I didn't feel a drop of rain today until I was a mile east of the I-275 exit to US 50. By the time I passed the Walgreens there were puddles along the sides of the road and rooster tails coming off the car tires. I wish my house had as much rain as the track. If I did I wouldn't have trotted out the lawn sprinkler for my brown lawn.

[Jonr]

One of the biggest misconceptions about rain outs is that they are a money maker. In fact, unless done early in the week they are a big money loser. Below is one of my favorite posts from another forum from a guy who used to work for a bunch of different tracks in Texas including Devils Bowl. Once you read the posts and start thinking about the costs associated, it becomes obvious that a rain out is a monely loser.

Re: WHAT'S THE MOST $$$ A DFW AREA DIRT TRACK HAS MADE
by ReggieF » Thu Jul 29, 2010 8:04 pm

Now let's talk about a rainout.

Insurance - (Note the insurance has to be in the mail before the race night for an established promoter. A new promoter often must have his check to the insurance company before the date of the races)

When you call the rainout is important.

No one in the pits - your entire premium can be applied to the next race night

Open the pit gate - 25 to 30% of the premium forfeit

Hot Laps - 50-65% of the premium forfeit

Any race takes a green flag - 100% of the premium forfeit

C-Stand - about 25-35% of your concession stand supplies for the night cannot be saved and reused. Throw them out or eat a lot of burgers.

Staff costs - most track staff get paid nothing on a rainout, maybe half pay if the races have started.

Security, ambulance and often c-stand workers get paid for the hours worked.
Depending upon the track and locations - you may have to pay a full night ambulance fee. That was the requirement at NTMS which was expensive. Once the ambulance left Tyler for NTMS - we had to pay a minimum 8 hours at $85 per hour.

At a minimum - 40% of the race night costs without the purse is what a rainout costs you. That does not include any weekly costs which are almost all wasted.

You also loose between 3 and 5% of your potential yearly income with a rainout. If you get six rainouts per season - your yearly gross have been cut by 20 to 30%.

You can never make up that income.

The absolute worst for a promoter is to have a rainout after the races have started. The next week the pit gate income will likely be below $700 as everyone comes back with their armbands from the previous week. Probably half the front gate crowd will get in free.

So you've taken two nights income and barely get enough for one good night. You have your good race night full expenses and 30% of the previous rainout night expenses.

Money loser anyway you look at it.

This thread is about three pages long and most of it is an education on the financials of how a track runs. It is a must read for all race fans.

http://www.elbowsup.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=31610