CLASS RACER FORUM - View Single Post

Steve1118 · 07-20-2023, 01:45 PM

All of that is true. Add to that the hidden costs, real estate and amusement taxes, Workman's Comp insurance for employees. Plus, track prep. A close friend has a large facility in western Pa., and he has $3K in spray and track prep for a quarter mile race before he sends a car down. If it rains, kiss that $ goodbye. And, right now there is a shortage of that stuff. One of the big reasons they are going to 8th mile. Insurance? You bet. In today's world daddy big bucks can buy his 17 year old kid a 1000hp Challenger and turn him loose. The cars are just so fast. The other night some kid had a high end Tesla at test and tune that ran 9.50s at 150 mph. Another reason for 8th mile. Any $ he makes comes from special shows, bracket racing pretty much breaks even because local business pretty much pays the purse for each class. Entries and what gate there is covers pretty much the rest, plus the sale of t-shirts, trinkets, stuff like that. There are a number of class racers in the area, and he gets zippo support from any of them, although it is a first class facility. He does it because he's a good guy, and he loves this sport. As far as a business model, it stinks, frankly, and I can't help but notice that the tracks that are in trouble are these big time facilities, Atlanta, Houston, Atco (greater Philly, NY), because they have big bills to cover. The ones that are doing OK are the out of the way 8th mile tracks without a lot of overhead. Just an observation.

07-20-2023, 01:45 PM	#64
Steve1118 Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Walton's Mountain Posts: 116 Likes: 2 Liked 13 Times in 3 Posts	Re: Atco is done All of that is true. Add to that the hidden costs, real estate and amusement taxes, Workman's Comp insurance for employees. Plus, track prep. A close friend has a large facility in western Pa., and he has $3K in spray and track prep for a quarter mile race before he sends a car down. If it rains, kiss that $ goodbye. And, right now there is a shortage of that stuff. One of the big reasons they are going to 8th mile. Insurance? You bet. In today's world daddy big bucks can buy his 17 year old kid a 1000hp Challenger and turn him loose. The cars are just so fast. The other night some kid had a high end Tesla at test and tune that ran 9.50s at 150 mph. Another reason for 8th mile. Any $ he makes comes from special shows, bracket racing pretty much breaks even because local business pretty much pays the purse for each class. Entries and what gate there is covers pretty much the rest, plus the sale of t-shirts, trinkets, stuff like that. There are a number of class racers in the area, and he gets zippo support from any of them, although it is a first class facility. He does it because he's a good guy, and he loves this sport. As far as a business model, it stinks, frankly, and I can't help but notice that the tracks that are in trouble are these big time facilities, Atlanta, Houston, Atco (greater Philly, NY), because they have big bills to cover. The ones that are doing OK are the out of the way 8th mile tracks without a lot of overhead. Just an observation.