Quote:
Originally Posted by Adger Smith
Guys, Remember it is not necessarily IHRA that is the bad guy here.
Remember they "Sell" points races to tracks in each division. As a track owner you have to weigh the profit and loss of the events you are putting on. To some track owners/promoters it just might not be worth the gamble of paying out the money for any (IHRA or NHRA) divisional event. It takes X number of cars to break even and add in spectator head count for profit. As a former track owner I can tell you just having an event doesn't guarantee your bank account will be in the black after the Points Meet weekend. Could it be that there are a bunch of track owners are watching the racers be "no shows" at these events and the dismal car counts put the tracks in the red. So like the guys at Richmond said "it wasn't worth the aggravation". What most class racers fail to remember or don't want to hear is a track can put on a big bucks bracket bash and have better car counts and go to the bank on Monday with money that will keep the track in the black and operational.
Back in the 70's I could have a 16 or 32 car Modified and Gas meet and pack the house with quality cars and fill the stands with spectators.
I didn't need a points meet to make money.
It is up to the tracks what happens at their facilities, not the sanction bodies.
Please don't shoot the messenger. I'm just telling you how a track owner/promoter usually sees the value of events.
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The people with the Tulsa track learned the hard way. Went IHRA one year, had a points race and a national event. Lost their rears big time on both. Went NHRA, first Div 4 points race they said they made more than the whole previous year. Had near no cars at the IHRA races. Good car counts at the NHRA Div 4 races here. I don't know why nobody shows up for IHRA races. About all we had here were based very close around here. Not even all of those. Last IHRA race I went to in Texas had like 9 SS cars. The IHRA officials are very nice people. Treated us really well. Div 4 & 5 NHRA guys do as well. Maybe hard for many to get off work enough to run both?