Myron Pembleton: Hard Nosed Promoter

Myron Pembleton has taken over as the promoter at several different tracks and he has a unique way of handling people on Facebook.

Pembleton recently worked out a deal with a race track that was on the verge of sitting idle in 2018 after it struggled last year seeing its car counts drop to below 50 in five divisions. When Myron announced that this track will actually be open in 2018 with an abbreviated season he also noted that there would only be four classes racing weekly this year. Almost immediately a "fan", not a driver posted a comment saying "What????? No A-Mods???"

Myron responded, "That is correct, there will be no A-Mods this year due to the fact that their car counts in 2017 did not justify the total purse that was paid out to the class each night. Perhaps you weren't in the stands that night when only four cars signed in? Or you have no concept of math. Thank you for your comment."

At the end of 2017 Pembleton had also purchased a race track that the previous promoter had said all season would be up for sale because he could not make any money at the facility and if no one purchased it the track would sit idle until someone did. Myron checked the books, reviewed the car counts from the past few years to identify trends, and released the 2018 schedule that would run Sunday nights weekly from mid-April through mid-September. One of the first comments on Facebook said "Only two specials? Guess I won't be coming there this year"

Myron responded, "I consider all race nights to be special, some turn out to be more so than others. If your business would like to put up some extra purse money on a given night we would welcome the sponsorship and will do everything that we can so that you get your money's worth out of it. If you do not find the efforts of our weekly drivers worthy of your attendance, that is your choice"

Pembleton was also aware of a track in Michigan that was going to close for 2018 after losing money nearly every race night last year, a track that on one night only had two Modifieds sign in. But, since he grew up in the area and went to the track as a child, Myron stepped in to keep the track open. After checking the race schedules for other tracks in the area Pembleton announced a five race schedule that would feature the Late Models, Street Stocks and Pure Stocks. Facebook comments were quick with one saying "If you don't race every Friday night, nobody will come" and "Thanks for dropping the Modifieds, I won't be there anymore!"

Pembleton replied, "Thank you for being two of the one hundred or so fans that were in the stands last year. We will miss you. For those of you who still want to see racing at XYZ Speedway please mark these five dates on your calendar."

Myron will be a busy man in 2018 and his final track that he is taking on has six divisions and has recently struggled to get the races over with before 11 p.m. When he announced the plans for 2018 that would still include all six classes the first comment to pop up on Facebook was "You need to be running the Mod Lites weekly"

Myron replied, "No thanks, only four Mod Lites showed up after last year's promoter was promised twelve or more for the end of year special and besides I already have two more classes than I need. So drivers, let that be a challenge to you and your class for 2018."

I love Myron, he is a good friend of mine and he shoots from the hip and doesn't worry about being politically correct when he responds to stupid single-minded comments on Facebook. Most promoters, especially new ones, fall into a trap where they actually try to reason with the idiots on social media, but they soon learn that this is a total waste of their time.

For Myron, and the other new promoters out there, I would recommend that they add the following disclaimer at the end of each one of their Facebook posts:

We use Facebook to let you know about what is going on at the track, not to have a conversation with you. After making this post the promoter will NOT check back to answer any questions in the comments and for those of you who are friends and supporters of XYZ Speedway we ask that you do not engage with anybody who is obviously attempting to spread rumors or negative information about the track. All questions or concerns may be expressed via phone or in a direct conversation at the track. Thank you!

And then stick to it.......

I have asked Myron if he might consider hosting the Open Trailer Nationals at one of his tracks and he replied, "Show me the money funny guy"

Hoping to dodge the rain and get my first show for 2018 in the books tomorrow. Thanks for visiting the Back Stretch and don't be an idiot on Facebook!