Program to get more fans to divisionals...racers please read!

Will, I agree completely and am willing to jump on board for the Orlando area... I might also be able to get a few fellow Seminoles to raid Gainesville for the fun of it... But it goes back to what you said in that column, students aren't going to drive all the way down to check out REAL drag racing unless they know its free... Even if this free ticket thing doesn't pan out, I always had the idea of going on the air with some local radio station that late teens listen to... Teens are always looking for something to do, and you know drag racing will get the guys interested... Just go on for a bit and talk about where, when, and what is going on... Tell them there will be cars going over 250 MPH in under 6 seconds... It has to get some people interested.

CJ Curtsinger

 

Will,
I will assist in any way possible. I think it is a good idea but you are probably right, the tracks that do nothing now will resist. One other possibility is for racers to notify the tracks when pre registering for the race that they would be willing to display their car at local businesses, schools, malls, etc. It would either be up to the track to coordinate the locations or could be done by a racer in the area. You could blanket the local area with racers and their cars of all classes and maybe even distribute a few free tickets at the same time.
This would be a little extra work and expense for the ones who deside to participate but would also put their sponsors name in front of the public. As nice as most all cars which are at divisional races are any of them including other classes will draw a crowd which will benifit not just the TAD classes but everyone including the bottom line of the track.
It will also show the tracks that the racers want to help them get a crowd out.

 

Excellent idea will. I hope it works. I don't run divisionals, but why couldn't this apply to any event. I'll do my part.

 

We have done many public displays prior to major events in our area. And there have been a lot of interest expressed by the general public who stop by and look at the car. When you tell them about an upcoming race, they usually ask how much it costs to get in. When you inform them, you can tell they are adding up the costs in their head and you can see a lot them lose interest real quick. On top of that, people have a lot of entertainment options vying for their time in the summer. From all of the comments I hear, people do want to go to the races, but how badly is the question.

Medford tried jets and a Saturday night final in top alcohol but even that didn’t seem to work as the spectator count was disappointing. So I think money and to a much lesser degree time is the overpowering issues that’s keeping people away.

Seattle started giving out free tickets to their divisional event at the military bases around the area and the results have been fantastic. The attendance at the first divisional I went to in Seattle was a train wreck as there were only a hand full of people in the stands. I couldn’t believe it since the race was advertised on the radio. Since then, most of the stands have been partially filled thanks to that military give away. I also noticed a lot more fans buying t-shirts while they were there.

The Seattle model proved to me anyway that such a plan could work. Everyone would benefit as the track would sell a lot more concessions, and the drivers as well as the sponsors would get some much needed exposure. Nobody likes to race in front of empty bleachers and what company will want to back a sport, either the event or the participants if it fails to draw any spectators? At this point we have nothing to lose.

 

It's all in the packaging

In my opinion, it's all in the way the races are marketed that draws the fan base. It's already been proven that you can take a rock, put it in a pretty box, call it a pet, market the snot out of it, and laugh all the way to the bank. Example; a bunch of guys that I work with who are gearheads, and who know that I crew a TAFC, would ask if we're racing in Englishtown, NJ at the K&N Filters SuperNationals. How do they know about this race? Marketing on the radio (Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraceway Park!), billboards along I-95, discount coupons at Pep Boys, TV slots, local newspaper ads. When I tell these same guys about the divisional event that's held at the same track in September, they didn't know about it. Why? It's not marketed in the same way. Its these same guys who also know about the Night of Thrills Show that Raceway Park holds on a Wednesday night in the summer. Sponsored by P.C. Richards & Sons Appliance Stores (note: stock and super stock racer Gary Richards sponsors a great deal of the sportsman races and national open events in the northeast, along with many of the events held at Raceway Park), this event is also marketed to death through radio and TV blurbs, discounted ticket sales, $5 bucks for the kids, and they pack the place. And yes, they do have alcohol cars, fuel cars, Quick 8, Pro Mods, imports, jet cars, Robosaurus, and Benny the Bomb (the man has been blowing himself up for 30 years). I think that self-promotion is a good way to help spread the word, but I also think that there has to be more involvement from the track owners and the divisions themselves through promotion and advertisement. For example, have the track owners cut a bunch of promo tickets and/or discount coupons to the division offices and let them distribute to the racers through requests. The racers now have something to give to the fan who has an expressed interest in the sport that would entice them to come to a race. Once in the gate, the track makes their money on, as Will says, $5 hamburgers and $6 beers, and t-shirts and souvenirs, plus gets to see some great drag racing. We know that, at the division level, the tracks make their money on racer entry fees. With a little more money coming in from ticket sales, souvenir and concession sales, do you think we would see an increase in prize purse? Maybe one dilemma at a time.

 

I heard the one ticket per carload deal worked out pretty good. Some tracks are not even set up for spectator gate, Atco gets pretty full with rigs alone for a divisional. Theres no separate parking for some tracks. What about small to medium series sponsors per division? Would they bring promotion with them?

 

That could very well be the problem to why some tracks don't want to advertise, there's no room. At Atco, there are rigs parked out on the entry road to the track during a divisional. Check out their web site and you'll see what I mean. Scroll down to the middle of the home page and take a look at the overhead photo of the track.
http://www.atcorace.com/
I guess when you have 300 racers show with all of their equipment that takes up every inch of the track's real estate, that could pose a problem for spectator parking.

 

Don't you think it's time we stopped kicking this dead horse. It's obvious that the "lazy & clueless" track owners are not interested in our vast superior knowledge of track owning and operation -OR- could there be somthing that we don't know when it comes to making money at NHRA races? And besides, I want to keep our class as stealth as possible for fear another kid is going to ask their parents "what's that thing" and the father will reply "why that's an alcohol drag racing car" -then- OH DADDY I WANT ONE I WANT ONE !!! and out comes the fat check book and another "for the love of it racer" has to scratch and claw that much harder just to try to make the field.

 

open your mouth

I have to agree with Scotty on this. We as racers need to spread the word of ALL of us, the Super classes, Comp, and us Alky guys to get people to the races. Just look in the stands at any divisonal, it's just family and crew watching until their class is called. We need some word of mouth, at work, in the neighborhood, and just let people know what they are missing. The E-Town crew is the best promoted track, hell their Wednesday night Thrill Show looks like a national event!!! People fill the pits and stands. Not every track owner/operator has the deep pockets to put EACH show on the TV, radio, or papers. WE need to be promotors too. If it takes beer, women and powertools to get guys and their wives/girlfriends out, so be it! And for the ladies...we have Scotty Mac in a Speedo dancing for $1's AND $5'S!!

 

With the back gate at over $100,000 why would they need to get front gate money.

Lanny

 

Mike- The people that go to thrill shows are not drag race fans. They are thrill show fans. They want to see fire & explosions. And if someone crashes and burns, that's all the more they have to talk about thursday morning. That's why TRUCKASAURUS or what ever the hell that thing is called, is such a big hit at E-town. The're not interested in going to a divisional and seeing Manzo and Newberry run side by side 5.60s.

 

I'm with you Will. If you sit around complaining and waiting for somthing to happen you might not like it when it does. It's called being proactive.

 

Will- If a alcohol racer shows up at the track with a respectable looking race car, goes to the line with respectable looking crew and tow rig, makes a decent/clean pass down the track and is fan friendly between rounds, than that racer has done their job. If the track wants more money than they should do their job. BUT... I'll make you a deal. I'll do everything I can to promote the next race I go to. BUT... if I wreck a motor at that race, then I want you to make sure somone from that track shows up at my garage on monday night to help me tear down everything. Oh... and tell them to bring some of that front gate money.

 

And my point Will, is the only one who would benefit from this is the track.You could never put enought people in the stands to impress a sponsor at a track where people stay away from now. I don't know where you live, but on the east coast there are thousands of ways to spend your hard earned entertainment dollars- And I for one would not spent $22 to see a division race at Englishtown in August- when it's 98 degrees in the shade. I think the time & energy would be put to better use on other forms of exposure for a sponsor or potential sponsor.

 

you have to be extremely motivated just to attend a race in division one- for this is were the "KING" resides. I wish you all, good luck in Texas next month and hopefully.... IT WON'T RAIN.