Dirt From The Stands by Greg Cybulski... March 2009

Dirt From The Stands  by Greg Cybulski

Racing In A Troubled Economy

Well race fans,

In the face of an economic crunch, dirt track racing heads into the 2009 season with many questions before it. 

How will this affect race night?  How many teams will run full or limited schedules?  What will become of touring groups?

More than any other year, 2009 will be the year that racing promoters and managers will prove their worth and passion for the common good of the sport they love.  If a self-proclaimed promoter, who only opens the gate and sells tickets, thinks that he/she will get by this year they had better think again.  Advertising is at a premium in all sectors of entertainment and products as businesses fight for their survival with the consumer's dollar.  A seasonal business like a race track has to work just as hard, if not more so, due to it's narrow window of opportunity, to bring in their customers, to entertain them for 3 hours and hope they did a good enough job to get some valuable word-of-mouth customer advertising around the community.  Never underestimate the power of a satisfied customer.

The groups this reporter will be watching with great interest are the tours.  Not so much the larger national tours like the World of Outlaws and Lucas Oil ASCS National Series, but the regional series.  Organizations which are able to prove their management skills, such as look after the interests of their customers, the speedway, and the majority of teams in their region should, in theory, remain in good shape.  Having said this, there would be no surprises if some schedules were shortened this season.

Specifically in the sprint car class, co-sanctioning may be a necessity in keeping up car counts.  Regional managers including Chuck Zitterich of the ASCS Northern Plains region and William Gold of the ASCS CanWest Series will look after their teams and work towards a satisfactory product on the track come race night.  This season, I believe the 360 sprint car class will show race fans why they will survive during a low economy.  A nationally accepted ASCS rules package allows many teams the freedom to travel and offer support to races outside their region.

One does not have to look far to see that this is a model for success.  In Canada, the two largest sprint car events are without a doubt, the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals, at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario and Castrol Raceway's Gold Cup race in Edmonton, Alberta. The Canadian Sprint Car Nationals are held each September with no less than 5 affiliated 360 sprint car sanctions with 70+ teams participating.  Castrol's Gold Cup features some of the best ASCS teams in western Canada, western and northwestern United States.

The late Fred Brownfield of Snohomish, WA., was instrumental in creating one of the largest regional 360 sprint car tours in North America, the Northern Sprint Tour.  His legendary speedweek tours along the Pacific Northwest achieved consistent car counts of 50+ on race night.  Since his passing, the torch has been passed on to people who understood Fred's dream and with it a knowledge of how to create growth in a sport loved by many.  Each year these same people, who's lives Fred Brownfield touched, return to Gray's Harbor Speedway in Elma, WA. to race, pay tribute to and honor the man and his vision with the Fred Brownfield Memorial.

Until next time...

Take care and good racing,
Greg Cybulski