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PLEASE PROMOTE LOCAL RACING !!!!!!!! This seems to be a hot topic as many more folks get more computer savvy. I believe there are many opinions on this matter and I have heard many folks say they are good, others say they are bad and…even others say they are ugly and wont visit them from past ugly experiences. I have some thoughts that I have collected over the years from talking to other folks who have had forums up for years, others who have just had one open for a short amount of time and others who shut theirs down. I personally thought about starting one on numerous occasions and after weighing out my options, I decided against it every time. The main reason why I chose not to and continue to not want to start a forum is due to the time commitment to properly run one. Good---What is good about forums and posts; Track officials can post important updates in more locations than just their "official" website. Some of these other fan based websites have other fan friendly information that wouldn’t be exactly club related, like articles on favorite drivers, racer parties, etc. Questions can be answered when it is a genuine question from a competitor about rules or track procedures. Updates on order of events or special events on certain nights can be posted for all to see. In order for a forum to really build a good reputation, it MUST have good moderators. This is not an easy job to do, as it takes a strong time commitment. You have to really check posts carefully to make sure they are positive for the sport. (Most forums/websites have disclaimers saying they are created for the positive promotion of local racing, or something similar to that). Bad--- Being a moderator is a tough position for anyone to put themselves in. Damned if you do damned if you don’t. If you do not moderate things to back up your disclaimer, you will have track personnel contacting you about appropriate content. If you delete or edit too many things, you are a censor-maniac. Then, you have the dilemma….Do you keep things up without deleting them, as they are getting many hits and views? Or is it because people like gossip and the same reason why people buy the National Enquirer that they are visiting foul posts. Do people think you have a delusion of power because you own and maintain a website? These are all the headaches that go along with having a website with a forum. They all have to be overcome and the right decisions need to be made in order to keep folks coming back for the positive reasons that support local racing. One solution that I have seen over the years is to get more moderators involved, so it is not one person doing the deleting of posts and such. In fact some forums have several people moderating them for appropriate content who are not associated with track management. This creates a more respectable forum where people don’t have to read through rubbish to get to the useful stuff. You have some posters that like to "stir the pot" and others who claim to be many. One positive solution that some moderators have used is requiring posters to put their name on all their posts, or risk getting deleted. This makes people stand up for what they believe in and not take shots in the dark. These people usually claim to represent many, when in reality they are few. Typically, you don’t see a lot of these people on quality forums, as they get deleted pretty quickly. In one forum’s case, they don’t even get "a voice" until they can prove to the moderators who they are through IP address identification. A forum can turn bad much easier than it can turn good. The key is proper moderation to keep things productive. UGLY---When some folks go beyond "stirring the pot" and become the pot. They seem to get obsessed with carrying on a crusade for others. They continue to repeat the same sour grapes over and over again and sound like a broken record. They speak as if they were prophets about how dire a situation is and how things should just be abolished. In the worst of situations, they have created situations where folks won’t even visit a website. Forums have failed from letting these people run rampant. It is just an ugly scene. One that can destroy a good website’s reputation. So, to answer the question…are forums good or bad…or ugly for racing, I think the true answer could be any of these three. It is up to the user to decide what they want to be reading. Everyone has their own personal preference. I don’t think that forums should take the place of productive discussions that could be had at track and club meetings. They can however, fuel up some great ideas on how tracks can improve race procedures and such to work together to get more fans in the stands and more sponsors involved in racing. Disclaimer: anyone who reads this article and thinks they are being referenced to, they are not. I have witnessed several cases of stirring the pot and becoming the pot over the years. So, it is absolutely NOT about one person. Not even close. This article is instead about every forum owner, moderator and poster. 2007 Chapter 3 Well, as you may or may not have heard, 141 Speedway is up for sale. This is a bummer for any race fan who has ever attended or competed there. I am doubly saddened as I have done both. This was a GREAT track with a lot of tradition. Yet, this is the second track that may close down for lack of $$$ from decreasing fan counts. One similarity that I noticed is the fact that both tracks (Lake Geneva and 141) run on Saturday Nights. While car counts may seem up a bit at W.I.R. and fan counts seem to be way up this year....this is ONLY for the Fox River Racing Club, not the Red, White and Blue Series. That series is struggling with fan counts over the past few years.....once again a Saturday Night show. It seems that Marshfield is doing ok, but I beleive was also up for sale last year....Saturday Night track. SATURDAY....one common demoniator. Why you may ask? I have one hypothesis.......NASCAR adding more night races on Saturday Nights. It may be a good idea to look at attendance at any of these tracks on nights when NASCAR races and weeks when they race on Sunday afternoons. When I first started getting involved in racing as more than a fan back in 1995, I noticed already that car counts and fan counts were slipping a bit at W.I.R. on Thursdays. There were actually years the Fox River Racing Club debated whether Thursday, being a weekday was the best choice to run weekly races. Boy, has that changed. Now, it seems to be an advantage to have a weeknight show that doesnt interefere with NASCAR, kid's soccer games, tee league and other things that compete for families' entertainment dollar. We still have some things on Thursday's that some fans have to skip a night or two to attend (late scheduled softball games, etc) But, overall, there are typically less things scheduled on a weeknight, even a Thursday Night than say a Friday or Saturday. Slinger also seems to be doing just fine on car counts and fan counts and may be the only other asphalt track right now with car counts being the same or up a little from last year. Slinger is once again a track that runs on what most would consider a weeknight (Sunday). When I saw posted somewhere last year that Slinger may consider moving to Saturdays, I was shocked. that would not be a good move, based on what "trends" have been taking place on other Wisconsin asphalt tracks. They made the best choice...stick with Sundays. What would be interesting is if a Saturday track maybe comparing attendance numbers for nights when NASCAR was on primetime television and weeks when it is not. I am not trying to be negative about NASCAR by any means, but more or less trying to figure out why attendance numbers are slipping on Saturday Nights, yet Nascar seems to be booming and running more Saturday Nights. I think seeing a local show is 10 times better than sitting home and watching Nascar, but on the other hand, it is a lot cheaper to sit home and watch the TV, or have friends over to watch the nascar race. I am not sure what the solution is, if indeed this is one of the reasons for slipping attendance numbers, but If there is a correlation, I sure hope some one figures out how to rectify it and get more fans to the tracks on Saturday Nights. One other cause could be many tracks running on the same nights, too. W.I.R is the only track that runs on Thursdays and Slinger is the only one running on Sunday nights. But most of these tracks have been on the same nighst all along. PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL RACE TRACK...YOU CANNOT DVR LOCAL RACING, SO.....DVR NASCAR AND WATCH IT LATER !!!!!! PPLR2006--Chapter 2 I am wondering what it will take to get more "butts" in the stands. I believe it is hard to get a die hard football or basketball fan out of his easy chair and on a hard bleacher surface. Cable bills can run anywhere from $50--$100, depending on if you have Roadrunner thrown into the mix. If you are paying this much money for free football, baseball, basketball games or even nascar if you are a little curious about racing, why step foot out of the house to go to a local show? What "special" things can local tracks do to spruce up the "entertainment" piece of their weekly program and make it worth the new race fan's time to give a short track a try? Here are a list of questions that I have in mind for promoters and track owners: 1.) What type of promotion or advertising is done to get these new and old fans to visit their short track? 2.) First impressions are EVERYTHING !!!! What is each short track doing in preperation for possible first time visitors to their race track? 3.) Any door prizes given out each night? 4.) Anything offered to kids attending the track to get them excited about racing? 5.) Are local tracks working together to get identified race fans to other shows in close proximity? such as ticket swaps, etc? New fans are hard to come by, but identified fans may be easier to get to another track every so often. Now a VERY IMPORTANT SET OF OTHER SUGGESTIONS. This list is for drivers and team members, not promoters and track owners. If you like to glance at the crowd every so often and see actual people in the stands and not empty bleachers, you may want to consider some of these. 1.) Are YOU showing your car at any special appearances for your sponsors? Sure this may feel like it is giving something back to your sponsor for what they do for you. But, what you may not have completely considered is that you are also advertising for yourself by showing the patrons of the business a real-life,up close stock car. Bring schedules with you for the track you will compete at that year, or even for a traveling series that you will be competing in. Kids go CRAZY over seeing a real life car and driver up close. Sit some of them in you car and take polaroids for them. If you HAVE kids, you know they will never leave their parents alone until they dragged them out to the track. 2.) Buy a few passes and bring them with you on appearances, or where ever you normally hang out at. Ask people if they have ever been to a local stock car race? If they have, ask them for feedback. If they have never been to the track you race at, give them a pass on the house and ask them to come into the pits to say "Hi" after the races. this makes them feel "important" right from their first experience. When fans feel important, they want to contribute and be a part of the program for years to come. Because in reality, the racer has no clue how important the fan really is. 3.) Bring schedules to the places that sponsor you for the track you race at to sit up on their counter. Always be mindful of people that may not have been to a race before. Bring the topic of local racing up 4.) Try to visit a new track once in awhile, either as a fan or with your car. Many fans get sick of seeing the same ol' same ol'. This might be easier said than done, as there are many rule differences and tracks have to be more on top of this, (like the IMCA sanctioning body has done). But, the days of blaming the tracks for the lack of fans needs to be done NOW !!! It is your turn to step up to the plate and make things happen. Who knows, if you don't join a traveling series or visit a different track every now and again, you may never get the opportunity, as the track may be gone by the time you get around to it. If you feel that it is a disavdantage to visit a track, tell them why, so they can do something about it or at least consider your point. DONT BAD MOUTH OTHER TRACKS. Working together is much more important than which track is better than the other. 5.) VIEW YOURSELF AS A SALESPERSON--You are selling people on your sport, which is local racing. DO NOT THINK FOR ONE STINKING MINUTE THAT NASCAR IS PROMOTING YOUR SPORT, because it is NOT !!!! NASCAR and local racing are not even close to the same thing. So, stop thinking Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart is doing you a favor when you hear Nascar is the fastest growing sport. In many ways, this can harm just as much as it helps the local race fan. (easier and more comfortible to sit on the couch to watch Nascar than to sit on a hard bleacher and watch local racers) NASCAR may be the fastest growing sport, but local racing is NOT !!! If you look at the numbers, it is closer to a dying breed. (tracks closing, car counts down,etc) Please do not single anyone out, like I have witnessed on other posts, unless it is for positive praises. We have GOT to stay POSITIVE to keep this sport going, and hopefully some day turn the tide back in the opposite direction. Clint Smith 2005 PPLR AWARDS----#17 Charlie Menard/#55 Rich Loch/#10 Andy Monday 2006 PPLR AWARDS----#52 Jim Jesoshek/#45 Mike Gardner/#2K Dillon Kralovetz 2007 PPLR AWARDS---#8/#71 Josh Bauer/#7 Mark Schroeder/#36 Tom Gee, jr. |
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