*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: This week brought some surprising news to dirt racing fans around this region when a news release from the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series announced that their race scheduled for this Friday night at Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, KY had been cancelled. Further, the statement went on to say that the track has suspended operations for the remainder of the 2017 season. This is just one of multiple tracks in Kentucky to have closed its gates over the past few years.
I have been to Ponderosa a few times and on each of those occasions the grandstands were packed. Obviously, that was not the case every weekend or the facility would not be closing. That said, I have noticed a bit of a drop off in attendance this season compared to last year at many of the tracks I have visited. To some degree, I believe weather has played a role as it seems as if multiple big shows have either been washed out, snowed out, frozen out, or at least threatened by Mother Nature.
The Ponderosa news was particularly surprising with the Lucas Oil race coming to that track. I know those $10,000-to-win events come with a big overall price tag but they more often than not also come with a big return on investment. Perhaps the ownership of that track didn’t want to gamble with such a big purse if they were already in the hole.
Is this a trend or are the track closures we’re seeing isolated situations brought on by poor management or other circumstances?
Michael: I don’t know. That remains to be seen. Racing is such a fickle business. Make a couple of bad decisions, fans and drivers tend to look at other places. Get some weather issues and it’s hard to make up.
I read where a lot of fans get on to tracks for calling a race when the weather is questionable. I don’t know if some of these fans understand how the finances for running a racetrack work or they just don’t care, only thinking of what they want. I’m sure there were some fans that think Ponderosa should race this Friday not taking in mind their total purse for the night was over $60,000. That’s a big risk for any promoter who is already behind in the bank account.
Weather is always an issue every season. It seems like the spring time is when the craziness takes place. The problem from weather issues become bad for any track when the stretch of bad weather is spread out over a couple of months.
The most surprising thing of this season was the lack of crowd for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series race at Smoky Mountain Speedway. The track always has good attendance when WoO comes to town. It’s not clear if that race being in a long line of big money races in the area hurt their attendance or other factors were involved. But that was a real head scratcher.
Richard: The bigger issue with the Ponderosa situation is that it is the continuation of a trend in that area. Tracks such as Paducah International Speedway, 191 Speedway, Bluegrass Speedway, and Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway are among those to have been shuttered over the past decade or so. 201 Speedway and Clay City Speedway are also on that list but they may be in the process of re-opening in the near future.
Weather or mismanagement can’t be the only reasons for multiple track closures in the same area. The trend seems to be that people just don’t attend or watch sporting events like they used to. NASCAR, college sports, and even the NFL don’t have the guaranteed sellouts and high television ratings they used to.
Fortunately, east Tennessee has not seen this same sort of trend and hopefully it will not anytime soon. That said, good management can still be rewarded. Promoters who actually promote and run timely and entertaining shows can prosper. But those who are unable to do so will be weeded out more quickly than ever before.
Michael: Some of the tracks you mentioned are on prime real estate and it was easier for an owner to sell the property to get ahead than it was to continue as a racetrack and take the chance of losing money. Others, such as Bluegrass Speedway, have obstacles such as local government people and businesses that are not for the track re-opening. Meanwhile, it just sits there wasting away.
I think the one thing many of the tracks in Kentucky have not realized is it’s hard to run Super Late Models as a weekly class. I suppose there is the thinking that they can’t operate without that division. But tracks in Tennessee and other places have shown they can thrive without that class running every week.
Richard: And now to completely shift gears, Scott Bloomquist proved once again last weekend that he is never to be counted out. After a somewhat lackluster summer following his win at the Dirt Late Model Dream in Eldora, the Mooresburg, Tenn. driver surrendered the lead in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series to Josh Richards. However, the Hall of Fame driver stormed to a win in the coveted Topless 100 on Saturday in Batesville, Ark.
Even more impressive was the fact that Bloomquist came from deep in the field to earn that $40,000 victory. You can never count this guy out, can you?
Scott Bloomquist
Michael: I never would count him out until it’s mathematically impossible. There are some tracks coming up where he’s been really good in recent years. It should make for an interesting stretch run.
He was four laps away from winning the North/South 100, another Lucas event. It would be interesting to see where things would be now had he not let that one get away.
Richards has been in these points battles before and knows how to race when things are on the line. And Tim McCreadie is coming on strong as of late after a tough summer for him as well. He has quietly moved into second behind Richards.
Richard: On the other side of things, Brandon Sheppard continues to dominate the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. He picked up two wins and a third place finish in the three races that tour staged over the past weekend and there’s little chance anything is going to happen to slow him down on that circuit.
It ought to be interesting later this fall when all of those drivers come together in events such as the World 100, the Dirt Track World Championship, and the World Finals.
Michael: It’s always cool to see most drivers from both series there together for one weekend. I think Sheppard will have the title wrapped up by then which will put the focus soley on who wins each race.
