Let's face it, we have really been spoiled during the Fall Specials season with above normal temperatures and, for the most part, not much for rain. The races that are scheduled for this coming weekend will be paying the price though as the season's first big shot of cold air will settle in on Friday and last throughout the weekend. I would almost be more accurate to say races that "were" scheduled for this weekend as most of them have already pulled the plug including LaSalle, Webster City, Dodge City, Tipton, Granite City and Southern Oklahoma. As of right now the two events that I know of that are pushing forward are the season finale at the I-35 Speedway in Winston, Missouri, and of course Shiverfest. (Update: It looks like the Thunderbird Speedway in Muskogee OK is going ahead with its two-day show this weekend. No word yet on the Bahama Brackets at Rockford)
With a name like Shiverfest you don't let an arctic blast slow you down and in fact the first time that this event was staged back in 1999 the weather conditions were very similar to what is predicted for Saturday with temperatures in the 40's and winds from the northwest. That evening the race was called The Millennium Grand Finale since the software for the computerized scoring and lineup system would soon fail when the year switched to 2000 (actually we didn't have that fancy stuff back then) and after what was a very cold yet successful evening we all gathered in the pit shack trying get warm once again. When co-promoter Jenni Hoenig walked in to join the crew she stated "well that was a real shiverfest," and a new tradition began.
The annual event at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa, has been spoiled recently as well running in seventy degree conditions last year, so now we will see what kind of support that it can still generate when the conditions are not ideal. I have my layers of clothing at the ready and you can bet that I will be sitting in my sleeping bag in the stands on Saturday so I hope that drivers and fans alike will come prepared and ready to continue the tradition of one of the true fun events in our sport! Make sure that you note the revised starting times with trick-or-treating starting at 2 p.m., hot laps are at 3:00 with racing getting underway at 3:30. And, as we always advise before you head on out to any event especially when weather conditions are a challenge, check with the track before making the trip. Here is the link to the Lee County Speedway Facebook page.
I am still trying to decide how I feel about the Dirt Million event announced last week. One thing that you can say about Cody Sommer is that he goes big or with nothing at all, and he is a master at looping in the right people to help promote his event either for free, or by connecting them to it in a manner where they can make money as well. Think about it for a second....
Essentially he is taking the concept that has been used for several years at the Street Stock "Little Dream" Race at Rice Lake, Wisconsin, and multiplying it fifty times over with the world of big time Late Model racing to make an event that will be surely talked about regularly until it is held next August. So going through the press release, for me at least, generates the following questions and thoughts.....
How much does it cost the driver to register for the event and what will be the cost of the tickets? I have seen people point out on the forum boards that Sommer is "sticking his neck out" with the $100,000-to-win and $2,000-to-start purse, but just how far out that neck is depends upon these two key price tags. I seem to recall that there were several drivers who left the Dome last December none too thrilled about the tow money, or lack thereof paid to the many non-qualifiers in both divisions. I would love to see a full structure of the base purse and the cost of entry fee and tickets.
"For the racers, by the fans"......hmmmm, so does that mean that most other races are for the fans, by the racers? If so, then if you are going to qualify I want to see some inverts in the heat races you racers, you.....
"a portion of every ticket, camping reservation, VIP suite and PayPerView package sold will go directly to the growing purse" At first I took at this as a "duh" statement since a promoter always uses these revenue sources and others to pay a purse. But then I caught what was being said here by using the word "portion" which to me at least would imply that with every one of these items that sell, the purse will grow since the bulk of it will go to take care of the base purse and that the remaining "portion" will add to the base. But is that how this is truly going to be handled? If a ticket is $50, will $45 go to pay for the base costs of the event (purse, insurance, overhead, employees, etc.) and the remaining $5 will be added straight to the purse? Again a vague statement that on the surface sounds great, but I'd love to have the details.
Sommer's quote on the event essentially having a "rev limiter on the promoter side" is entertaining in itself because again we don't know how the base structure is set up. Remember that while he outlines how the "contributions" appear to go 100% toward the growth of the purse we also know that only a portion of the other revenue streams listed above do. While speaking with friends about this event one of them said that this is a pretty neat deal because since he is a Bobby Pierce fan he could go ahead and, for example, pay his entry fee for him. My response was, "yes, but can't you already do that for any event that Bobby is going to run in?"
So now that I have typed this out I guess that you can say that I am intrigued, yet skeptical. I am very impressed with the promotional skills of Cody Sommer and how he gets the right people to buy in. One thing is for certain, it will be an interesting story to follow over then next ten months.
Well actually two things are for certain. The second being that attendance at every other Late Model race in the country that weekend will suffer because of people gathering in groups to watch one guy's purchase of the PayPerView instead of going to their local track and each one of them buying a ticket.
This observation is a bit on the random side but I noticed that Paul Niznik has made a couple of long pulls with his Modified from his hometown of Medford, Wisconsin, the past couple of weeks. Niznik finished second at the Fairbury Speedway in Illinois on October 7th and then showed up at the Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana, last week where he finished eighth.
Alan Vaughn beat the rain and the other five competitors to win the Late Model feature at the Nevada Speedway in western Missouri Saturday night. It was just the second night out for Vaughn who had been retired from the sport for the past several years
The Darkside had a good reason to go Topless this past weekend at the Farley Speedway as it tied in nicely to the event sponsor, if you know what I mean. However I don't get the lure of running a topless special as I would prefer to see the cars as they normally race. With tops. Probably just another "old man" thing that I am going through.
It was announced a couple of weeks ago that the US 36 Raceway in Osborn would be the first track in Missouri to add the Racesaver 305 Sprint Car division to its weekly Friday night program in 2018. Today I see an announcement by the Lake Ozark Speedway that they too will be adding the Racesaver Sprint Cars, but here is the interesting part. The division will run on Friday nights along with three other classes to be announced and this apparently will be in addition to the track's normal Saturday night program that features the 360 Winged Sprint Cars.
Just think, this place sat idle for several years before coming back to life under new ownership in 2017 and now next year they will run two nights a week! Will it work? Keep in mind that the tracks that ran weekly on Friday nights in the area before, the Callaway Raceway about an hour north in Fulton closed down this year and the Dallas County Speedway an hour or so west closed down at the end of 2016. So you can either look at it as Friday nights don't work down there, or that they have no competition. Once again, another interesting scenario to follow. I do know that I am going to tune into Track Talk with the Racin' Boys this Saturday morning because I am sure that Scott Traylor will have plenty to say about the idea and let's just say that he doesn't hold back like yours truly.
Okay, it is time for the first ever Back Stretch Poll where I look for you the reader to respond either by clicking the Comments below, or by making a comment in the Facebook post that linked today's Notebook on the Positively Racing page. Which purse structure below will draw more race cars, Purse A or Purse B?
| Purse A | Purse B | |||||
| 1 | . | $1,000 | 1 | . | $1,000 | |
| 2 | . | $600 | 2 | . | $550 | |
| 3 | . | $450 | 3 | . | $400 | |
| 4 | . | $375 | 4 | . | $325 | |
| 5 | . | $300 | 5 | . | $250 | |
| 6 | . | $250 | 6 | . | $200 | |
| 7 | . | $225 | 7 | . | $175 | |
| 8 | . | $200 | 8 | . | $150 | |
| 9 | . | $180 | 9 | . | $130 | |
| 10 | . | $160 | 10 | . | $110 | |
| 11 | . | $150 | 11 | . | $100 | |
| 12 | . | $140 | 12 | . | $90 | |
| 13 | . | $130 | 13 | . | $80 | |
| 14 | . | $120 | 14 | . | $70 | |
| 15 | . | $110 | 15 | . | $60 | |
| 16 | . | $100 | 16 | . | $50 | |
| 17 | . | $100 | 17 | . | $50 | |
| 18 | . | $100 | 18 | . | $50 | |
| 19 | . | $100 | 19 | . | $50 | |
| 20 | . | $100 | 20 | . | $50 | |
| 21 | . | $100 | 21 | . | $50 | |
| 22 | . | $100 | 22 | . | $50 | |
| 23 | . | $100 | 23 | . | $50 | |
| 24 | . | $100 | 24 | . | $50 | |
| Tow | : | $50 | Tow | : | $0 | |
| Pit Pass | : | $30 | Pit Pass | : | $30 | |
| Entry Fee | : | $50 | Entry Fee | : | $0 | |
| Ticket | : | $15 | Ticket | : | $15 |
Don't worry, there is no right or wrong answer, and if you would like to include your reasons as to why you chose the purse that you did, please do so.
That's it for today, thanks for reading and I hope to see at least some of you on Saturday at Shiverfest!
3 comments:
Wow, this is a tough one. Most drivers I know would not pay $50 entry fee for a $100 to start, and most would pass on a $50 to start race. So...if I had to guess, I would say option one with the entry fee.
it looks like the same amount of cost vs reward--I might be missing something
Damman
After looking at the two options, I really don't see that much difference. Option A pays $50 more per place, but has a $50 entry fee. Option B doesn't have an entry fee, so to me it is a wash. I guess I would look at the entry fee as a saved cost so I would go with option B.
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