I respect people who are not afraid to say what they feel.
Okay let me clarify that, I respect people who are identifiable and who are not
afraid to say what they feel, so AWP’s on internet forums, twitter, etc. are
not included. And while I do respect what was said by the following gentlemen,
I can also respectfully disagree with them, just as I am sure that they or
anybody else who reads my thoughts here have done from time to time.
I looked up the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of “racing”
and found the following:
“the sport or profession of racing horses, cars, etc.”
Okay, so yes the Brickyard 400 technically did fall within
that rather loose definition, but for Tony Stewart to try to convince race fans
that this is an event worth buying a ticket for was somewhat futile. Tony’s
quote can be found within Terry Blount’s recap of the event at ESPN.com, but
perhaps the better quote of the day came from one of the ESPN.com race chatters
with “More people will pass a kidney stone in the grandstands today than cars will
pass each other on the track.” I went to the Brickyard 400 back in 2005 and had
a great seat one row from the top in turn one. I was in the shade and there was
a cool breeze blowing despite it being a typically hot day in central Indiana
and you guessed it, I fell asleep during the race. It is not a fan friendly
event and after twenty years the newness has worn off as evidenced by the
shrinking crowd. Tony Stewart was the winner that day and I was thrilled for
him. I like Tony Stewart not only as a driver, but as a personality as well and
perhaps nobody is doing as much for the sport of dirt track racing right now
than he is. But he will have a tough time selling the Brickyard based upon the
definition of “racing” as fans want quite a bit more than that.
Another gentleman, whom I have mentioned here before, that I
admire for speaking his mind recently said in his blog that Pay-Per-View (PPV)
does not hurt dirt tracks, but instead helps them. Yet if you read his daily
entries both before and after making that assertion you will see multiple
instances where he talks about the cost of making a trip to an event, or how
late that he might get home from a show so instead of going to an area track and buying a ticket
that particular evening he is going to stay home and watch some PPV from some
far off track that he will never ever attend in person. I love ya Ron, but you
are kind of proving my point!
I don’t know what kind of deals tracks are getting when they
host a PPV, but if they truly are getting a good chunk of the revenue from each
subscriber then yes, perhaps it is a good thing for that particular evening.
But bookmark this entry and mark my words, because if we keep seeing more and
more live PPV events we will also eventually see fewer and fewer people
actually attending those same events. Trust me, I hope that I am wrong, and I
will be more than happy to have any of you come up to me five or ten years from
now and say, “Hey, you were an idiot when you thought that live internet
broadcasts would hurt dirt racing,” because that would mean that our sport is
still at least as strong as it is now.
There is a reason why the Knoxville Nationals is no longer
shown on live television and it is probably not the one that most people think
it is.
In Overexposure I gave an example of how all of the free
next day internet video will eventually erode attendance and I am glad to see
that some tracks are now enforcing a “no videotaping” rule. Yes, I know that
this is a bummer for a racer’s wife or mother who might just be taping her one
car so that the driver can watch it and then make improvements to his or her
driving style for the following week, but that’s just the way it is now. Oh
yes, and by the way, the event that I refer to in that entry was run again this
past Friday night in front of a “smaller than expected crowd”. And you could
confirm that by watching more than an hour’s worth of video of the event,
including the support classes, that was posted on YouTube the very next day.
I wish that I would
have bookmarked it so that I could provide you with more details, but I did
read recently that a driver and his team were suspended by a short track for a
couple of weeks due to making remarks on an internet forum that went against
the track’s policy for social media content. Yes, you have a right to free
speech, but keep in mind that a track promoter, just like any other business
operator, has the right to refuse service and many tracks have signs posted to
remind you of that fact. I know that if I was still a promoter I would also
have very strict rules for my staff in regard to posting their opinions on a
forum. Promoting the track with facts and information is one thing, but stating
opinion and getting into pissing matches with one another is just a downright embarrassment,
something that we have seen play out on one of my favorite forum boards over
recent weeks.
The “silly season”, where tracks start to open, close or change
hands got off to an early start this year when the owners of the Quincy
Raceways announced on Sunday night that the quarter-mile bullring is up for
sale or lease. And, if nothing is worked out prior to the 2014 season, special
events only would be staged and it would be quite possible that those “special
events” might not actually be “racing” events (see definition above). It was
reported by “Stevie Dirt” that prospective new owners are already in
negotiations, so hopefully something can be worked out to keep this Sunday
night staple from fading into the sunset.I’ve ruffled enough feathers for now, time to focus on nine nights of racing in ten days beginning on Thursday when I plug the World of Outlaws Late Models at Independence in between four days each at Knoxville featuring the 360 and 410 Sprint Car Nationals. Hope to see you on the Back Stretch!
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