*Turn 2 Blog is a regular feature on InsideDirtRacing.com. Here, site operators Michael Moats and Richard Allen take turns offering their thoughts on the dirt racing topics of the day from east Tennessee and beyond.
Richard: As a teacher in the Sevier County(TN) School System, I understand the difficulties involved in trying to make decisions based on weather forecasts. Our Superintendent of Schools is often faced with having to decide whether or not to close schools in a county riddled with remote back roads when the television and radio meteorologists are offering up predictions of varying amounts of snow. If he calls schools off and it doesn’t snow, he is open to criticism. If he doesn’t call schools off and it does snow, he is open to criticism. It’s a no-win situation.
The same can be said for dirt racing promoters as they try to decide whether or not to race based on forecasts for rain. And in today’s information-based climate, it is the forecast that matters more than the actual event.
That said, we had three very different approaches regarding what to do in terms of calling off races or not in our area last weekend.
The United Crate Racing Alliance was set to have a big weekend in east Tennessee with races scheduled at Crossville Speedway on Friday night and I-75 Raceway on Saturday evening. Also, the Southern Nationals Bonus Series/Iron-Man Series was poised to race at Tazewell Speedway on Saturday.
The weather forecast called for rain on both nights with possibly strong storms hitting the area on Saturday. This put those particular race promoters in the midst of the very scenario I mentioned above.
Crossville Speedway called its race off almost 24 hours before its scheduled time as their website announced the postponement on Thursday evening. As it turned out, it did not rain on Friday night in Crossville. Tazewell Speedway made the decision to push their event back to Sunday night with that call being made several hours in advance of the originally scheduled start time. And I-75 waited until the rain actually hit late Saturday afternoon before they announced their decision to postpone.
As I said above, these are tough calls to make. These three tracks/series provided examples of three very different approaches to handling weather related calls but there really is no right answer, is there?
Michael: Not really. Having worked some with each of those promoters, I can tell you they all have different approaches and their respective decisions followed those very approaches.
Crossville Speedway is under relatively new ownership. They tend to be more conservative because they don’t want to start their ownership tenure in a big hole. I-75 Raceway takes the approach of not calling it unless it is actually raining. Tazewell Speedway basically looks the forecast that morning and makes a call based on that, especially for a special event race.
There are pros and cons to all approaches. Call too soon and the weather never materializes, that promoter is left with an embarrassing decision. Wait until it does actually rain, then out-of-town drivers and fans get mad because they traveled a great distance only to turn around empty-handed.
Richard: Part of the difficulty, as I see it, is the ease of modern technology. Now, everyone has the hour-by-hour forecast and radar images at their fingertips. As a result, I think people are more likely to make their own decisions based on the amount of information they have available to them. That, in turn, forces the hand of promoters because they fear that fans will stay away when the forecast calls for rain, even if the forecast calls for only a 30 or 40% chance of precipitation.
And more, the news sources out there also contribute to the problem. Networks like Fox News and CNN report every story with a worst case scenario type angle to it. What many people don’t realize is that the primary job of those networks isn’t to report news, but rather, to make a profit for their parent corporation. They figured out a long time ago that the way to increase ratings and thus drive up profits is to make their viewers either scared or mad so that they will continue watching.
The reason I point that out is to say that I believe such “reporting” has made its way into the weather. The Weather Channel and many local stations now do the same thing. Notice how many times they use words like “possibly”, “could be”, and “might” before predicting things like severe storms, snow, or other weather catastrophes. When people see such wording in the forecast, they are far less likely to plan any sort of activity that will take them outside.
That very scenario happened last Friday as “possible strong storms” were predicted by weather outlets only to have nothing happen except a race get postponed due to a bad forecast.
Tracks and series are very much at the mercy of those who “report”, aren’t they?
*By the way, the UCRA races slated for Crossville and I-75 last weekend were rescheduled for this weekend(July 7 & 8 respectively).
Michael: Oh. I agree. Even the weather reporting has turned into worst case scenario. Some of that also comes from fear of underestimating a storm system that people will take lightly, then get caught up in something that turns out to be worse than expected. The lawyers just love that.
There are also those folks out there that hear a word or two in a weather forecast and take that as to what the weather people are predicting. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve had people tell me it was going to snow simply because a weatherperson refers to it in a oh-by-the-way mention. Sometimes, people hear what they want to hear.
Richard: Shifting gears now, I recently had a talk with someone on the inside of the dirt racing industry who has growing concerns about the future of weekly racing. This person mentioned several tracks(inside and outside of our area) that seem to be struggling with both fan counts and car counts this year.
This person believes this particular season has been hurt by the weather we were just talking about more than many other years. Either complete rain outs or times in which there was a threat of rain or cold temperatures that kept fans and racers away from the track. Further, the insider believes some of the current struggles are being brought on by the tracks and racers themselves.
Tracks have created too many classes which, in turn, has weakened car counts because there are only so many racers out there. As a result, the more classes that get created, the fewer drivers there will be to race in each class. But the tracks are merely responding to the demands of their racers. Further, failure to stick with rules meant to keep costs down in particular divisions have driven costs too high and put some out of the sport.
And more, it was pointed out that the modern day mindset of people is just different than it used to be in regard to racing against tougher competition. This person said drivers simply don’t seem to be as willing as they used to be to take on full fields of cars and would rather race against small fields.
“It sounds better to say that you came in 5th out of ten instead of saying you came in 12th out of twenty.”
I have always been of the opinion that three or possibly four classes with noticeable differences among the cars to the average person sitting in the grandstands is an ideal number of regular classes for tracks who run on a weekly basis. What are your thoughts?
Michael: I agree completely. I have brought several people with me to some of the area’s tracks and the first question I get is why are there so many Late Model classes. When I answer that question, the next question is why don’t they combine some of them to have bigger fields of cars. Again, that goes back to the comments made to you.
I had a similar conversation with a Late Model driver in our area last year. His opinion is too many drivers are willing to “step down” in class to win a race instead of competing in the top Late Model division. His thinking was those drivers are spending nearly the same amount of money just to race for half the purse for the sake of winning a race. Having heard those comments, I feel like you’re on to something about going against the competition and the quality and quantity of those fields.
On another hand, I’ve had one track owner tell me he thinks weekly racing is struggling because there are too many Super Late Model special events. His comment was there is something scheduled nearly every week in this area and it’s hard to compete with that by having a weekly race. Combine that with the reasons you gave about too many classes with a few cars, costs forcing drivers to quit, and other issues like qualifying too many classes are all combined to have a negative impact on weekly racing.
Richard: I can definitely understand the point of there being so many Super Late Model shows in this area. Every year I buy a planner and write in the special events I hope to make it to throughout the season. I have something on the calendar highlighted for virtually every weekend.
Along with the points we just made, I recently had someone to contact me regarding the fact that the cost of racing continues to go up while purses remain close to the same amounts as they were years ago.
Unfortunately, this is, for the most part, true. However, even more unfortunately, this is something that racers and promoters have done to themselves. For the racer’s part, everyone wants to have the latest and greatest component that will make their car go faster. And when one racer sees another going faster, he is going to seek out the same technology for his car. Before you know it, everyone has gone out and bought whatever that thing is.
For the promoter’s part, it seems as if some are so determined to keep their racers happy that they allow the rules for particular classes to get bent out of shape. That, in turn, causes costs to rise over the long run.
But I will say this, I think some people believe track owners are making tons of money and simply keeping it for themselves. I can assure everyone that this is not the case. As I stated above, there are actually very few who are breaking even.
I have often said that racing, to me, doesn’t make economic sense from any angle. That’s one reason I love it as much as I do, however, because those who participate do so because of their passion for the sport and not just to make money.
Michael: The rules are getting out of hand in most classes. As much as the racers complain about the cost of competing with rules that are in place, it’s ironic they complain the loudest when it’s mentioned to change the rules to make it more cost-effective. The common complaint is they have X dollars tied up in an engine that would no longer be legal and they would have to spend more on a different one. Typically, those classes fade away because of the costs and the same ones complaining either adapt to become legal with the new rules or spend even more money to move to a different class.
The sad reality is the cost of racing has skyrocketed while the purses are relatively the same as they were 20 years ago. One has to wonder how long a sport with that business model can survive.
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