Big $$$ S/SS Races as a Business Model..Viable?

[Mark Yacavone]

Still looking for thoughts on how to make the promoters some profit for all their hard work...and trust me..It is a lot of work.
Moving the round money around and playing with the entry fees is not the answer.
Bringing in spectators is the key, in my opinion.
Take a look at The Southeast Gassers on Youtube (SEGA) before anyone disagrees with me
1/8th mile only
Stick shift only
Straight axles and wheelies required
Flat out racing
No ET on scoreboard.
Car names highly recommended
Racers do not pay entry..They are the show
They do race for money..It comes from the spectator gate.
...People drive halfway across the country to spectate and race
More new cars every year

Doesn't relate? Okay, what does?




.

[Mike Pearson]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

Still looking for thoughts on how to make the promoters some profit for all their hard work...and trust me..It is a lot of work.
Moving the round money around and playing with the entry fees is not the answer.
Bringing in spectators is the key, in my opinion.
Take a look at The Southeast Gassers on Youtube (SEGA) before anyone disagrees with me
1/8th mile only
Stick shift only
Straight axles and wheelies required
Flat out racing
No ET on scoreboard.
Car names highly recommended
Racers do not pay entry..They are the show
They do race for money..It comes from the spectator gate.

Mark. I think it all comes down to the promoter selling his product to the locals that might be interested in seeing some really good racing and nice cars. The promoters need to promote. Does not matter if it is a high dollar event, bracket race or a divisional event. Getting some butts in the stands is the job of the promoter. If the race is on good weekend the racers will come. Neither of the two big money events that just happened had any spectators in the stands. Obviously it takes some effort for the promoter to do some sort of advertising to get the word out that there is a big event at the track to get some spectators there. I am not a promoter and I don't know how they can make that happen but it would be a game changer if the tracks could get some money at the gate from other sources besides the racer entry fees. Both of the recent big money events the entry fees were fair for the amount of money that we were racing for. I think that the final 4-6 cars that were still in at the end of each race did some sort of split so they all got a good payday but I don't know the specifics of that.

[Signman]

Unfortunately I'm old enough to remember when McDonald's and Burger King were a treat you had to drive for then years later no big deal since they were everywhere usually lined up down a heavily traveled road.

Being a sign maker my whole life our product is a retail business best on site marketing. Discovering this coming up we started to look at why the burger chains located where they did. Worked for a guy a couple years who before buying his business worked for the biggest most prestigious union shop working up to sales then covering their McDonald's work. First time I heard about demographic studies back in the 1980s said WTF is that of course with some time understood McDonald's looked at the population in a region and income plus age and family status since they market to kids in choosing locations. They chose locations years in advance even purchasing real estate leaving it sit for years until their projections developed or didn't.

The word was when McDonald's built a location Burger King would follow since their demographic studies were very effective their success was obvious. Local sign companies competed for their business.

Raceway Park in Englishtown NJ packed the stands for every race and show. The surrounding area was middle class America raising families with dads who liked cars. A farming region being developed into residential there were not a lot of entertainment choices drag racing was popular marketed on the radio in Philly and NYC markets. Dads liked the cars his kids liked the wild show and moms likes seeing their kids have a good time. Some moms even liked drag racing plus entry to the event food and souvenirs were not expensive. It was an affordable day out with the family with smiles on the way home. and talk of coming again.

From the 1990s on the region built up, cost to spectate the event with family skyrocketed most importantly CHOICES OF WHERE A FAMILY COULD SPEND THEIR DISCRETIONARY DOLLAR ON A FAMILY DAY OUT INCREASED. Not only were there more choices these came at the same or much lower cost AND kids enjoyed a day in a bounce house or video game hall MUCH more than walking around a dirty noisy drag strip. Dads had to give in By By RP National Events and Nights of Thrills.

The reason these drag race events don't draw crowds: Firstly there is no advance marketing budget to let locals know there is a big event with unique cars racing on the drag strip. Secondly there are other entertainment choices families are familiar with enjoy and visit regularly since they are permanent establishments. Thirdly the car culture does not rage as it did years ago not saying there is none there is but is smaller and not focused on drag racing. Yep the kids like to rip their cars and street race but they do not want to actually compete on the drag strip.

If you want people in the seats the event needs to take place in a demographic that has few or fewer entertainment choices. The event must be marketed to those who would attend well in advance so families can hear about it get excited and plan to attend. Of course this all costs $$.

With all the conversation among racers about this rarely is this point brought up for discussion.

New England Dragway comes to mind they pack the place Saturday evening of a points race featuring alcohol cars and a couple rounds of everyone else. Alcohol cars are not top fuel but are loud and fast people there like it.

[Mark Yacavone]

Frank, Several good points here.

Mc Donalds never seems to miss, do they? They can't afford to even have the image of a slow location. That's why they get what they do for franchises.

It seems to me that a nat'l event track like St. Louis must have to charge a pretty penny for rental. Possibly why we saw the early date this time..
There are plenty of "lesser" 1/4 mi. tracks that that can hold 2-300 cars...Look at the Midwest guys' tracks.

Dates..When we rented WHMP, Phx. we had a real good date , I felt. ..By the time of the race, there were free car shows and other sports events and draws all over the city. We didn't lose any money but didn't make enough to warrant the time spent and the gamble.
That event cured me of trying to promote an event at a Supertrack, in a large city.

I think you can add a few related categories that will bring in a few spectators. If you guys remember, the USCN 1 had the Nostalgia Super Stock boys brought in ,and also Top Stock..I don't think many S/S racers will complain about that.
Give the N/SS guys a free tech card, but charge any of their crew or fans, a spectator fee. ..Let them collect their own pay out amongst themselves.

2 or 3 shots at making some $$$ are a great idea.. Better than NHRA, where you could be done and off the radar by Friday afternoon.


Keep the ideas coming..

[GUMP]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

Take a look at The Southeast Gassers on Youtube (SEGA) before anyone disagrees with me
1/8th mile only
Stick shift only
Straight axles and wheelies required
Flat out racing
No ET on scoreboard.
Car names highly recommended
Racers do not pay entry..They are the show
They do race for money..It comes from the spectator gate.
...People drive halfway across the country to spectate and race
More new cars every year

Doesn't relate? Okay, what does?

We get two SEGA races at Shadyside Dragway each year. The place is packed beyond capacity for both. They sell tons of food and souvenirs. Quain runs a great race!

The place is also well attended for the Shadyside Owtlaws and No Prep races.

The one thing that they have in common is that all the racing is HEADS UP. Fans can relate to that.

Bracket racing is dumb to most people that don't race.....

[Nick Heath]

Originally Posted by GUMP

We get two SEGA races at Shadyside Dragway each year. The place is packed beyond capacity for both. They sell tons of food and souvenirs. Quain runs a great race!

The place is also well attended for the Shadyside Owtlaws and No Prep races.

The one thing that they have in common is that all the racing is HEADS UP. Fans can relate to that.

Bracket racing is dumb to most people that don't race.....

Daren, I gotta comment here because I think you hit on an important point. A while back, I took my wife to a S/SS combo race at Brainerd. I explained Stock Eliminator eliminations (e.g. the bracket racing) to her. She laughed and said, "I don't get it." Then when two B/SA's line up, I say, "Watch this, a heads up race! First to the finish line wins!" She intently watched that round and asked, "Are there any more of those?" I laughed and said, "Now you know why I take 2-3 days of vacation every year to go to Indy!"

Bracket racing will always be a niche attraction to most spectators because it takes more than 10 seconds to explain. If you want spectators, I think you need a lot of promotion and a lot of heads-up racing. If you don't care about spectators, then then you need other avenues make money - and I'm not smart enough or qualified enough to comment on that.

[Mark Yacavone]

Okay..Lots of folks think heads up racing would be the big draw for spectators.

Lets think about this , but first a little history lesson. Heads up class racing was all there was in the beginning . Someone got the idea to run all the class winners in eliminator fashion.. You had to win class to be in the eliminator..Obviously, you had to have class runoffs first.
Not so today..Everybody gets a chance to qualify.
But maybe , for the sake of promoting heads up, spectator friendly racing, we need to re-think this.
I'll just throw this out here.
What if class runoffs were held Saturday night, under the lights? You can imagine what the local radio commercials would sound like?
Maybe channel some of the entry and / or advertising money towards a class win. Or racers could put up a Franklin towards the pot. Strictly an optional program.
Of course, run them in order...A,B, C and so on.
How about that, Larry Hill? 1500 bucks cash for a class win?

How about it? Any merit to this?

[GTX JOHN]

How about combining classes stick and auto plus lumping three together
ABC@B weight DEF@E weight GHI @ H and so on = no limit to ballast and run them each heads up.

The winner of each Mini Eliminator could then
run off with each other winner on a dial in for a final winner.

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by GTX JOHN

How about combining classes stick and auto plus lumping three together
ABC@B weight DEF@E weight GHI @ H and so on = no limit to ballast and run them each heads up.

The winner of each Mini Eliminator could then
run off with each other winner on a dial in for a final winner.

John, I see your point but I'm thinking we would keep this simple and easy as possible.

Thursday.parking, .tech and possible T&T.

Friday..Two Q hits, then go right into a random paired gambler race, S/S combo, rather than having a consolation deal later on..Run a few rounds, then pair up for Main event , 10 grander .Run a few rounds here.

Saturday, finish Main event and Gambler.
Guys who want to run class...Take the pairings right off the original Q sheet. Nobody, including spectators have seen the cars run all out, weight out oil out ,timing up ,etc. yet. Lots of surprises for all..and all heads up!
I suppose you would have to have the combo classes. Handicapped, but still flat out. The fans should be able to understand that, with a bit of help from Unk or whoever.
Manufacturer's contingency could be posted here


Would this be enough racing to make the trip worthwhile?

[Dave Muller]

How about this for an event-within-the-event to get more spectator interest. Have a no breakout race where everyone races off of their index. Make the entry a separate deal so it's just those who feel they have a shot at it.

While I agree the bracket format is confusing to spectators I think it's only the dial-in/breakout combination that confuses them. They can easily understand that the guy with the little engine gets to leave first and the guy with the bigger engine chases. In fact it adds excitement in many cases. People always seems to like it when a 9 second car chases a 14 or 15 second FWD car. So basically just run it like one big combo race.

Seems to me that's just about how it was done way back when.