Food City 500 at BMS

[bbhero]

Originally Posted by oldhp
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
Originally Posted by dave123
Sad really sad looks like 100 people showed up to watch a race.


Very high chance of ran and hotels charging $300+ per night.


I can afford the tickets, gas, food, T-shirts/track stuff, etc. But I will not be held hostage by the hotel's. So....here I sit watching it. Sad part is NASCAR can't do a thing about the cost of rooms, which is hurting them big time.


It's a large amount of differing factors...

#1 Cost of hotels, food, and travel... Contrary to common belief... Many people are in touch and go circumstances than many want to think about.

#2 NASCAR leadership... SOS... Stuck On Stupid...
Rule changes all the time... Chase rule changes... None of which are good... Way way too many rules... Aka like big govt...

#3 Let's get back to real car shells... Notice the word shell... In the 60s through mid 90s the outside of those cars were factory shells... They looked like the real cars on the outside.. Though highly modified underneath that shell exterior ... Which is how NASCAR started... Heavily modified cars racing on dirt tracks..

#4 No one likes these drivers .. when Petty retired there was no doubt NASCAR was in good shape... Dale, Rusty, Mark and Jeff were there to carry the banner really well... After Dale Jr, Jeff and Tony retired... These guys are guys most fans don't care about or for ... To make matters worse.. the distance between fans and the driver's changed greatly from the mid 90s going forward... Not helpful.

#5 Bruton Smith... That number2 exit bought tracks in order to shut them down... North Wilkesboro... So that his stupid corporation could make stupid cookie cutter tracks in "bigger" markets... Remember this phrase... "Don't forget where you came from."

#6 People losing the ability to watch anything that last all that long... Our minds are being bent by technology and instant results or entertainment all the time.. Even Pocono race shortened to 400 miles is a long event...


#7 Track owners charging $120-160 and would rather see EMPTY seats than cut seat prices .. Stuck On Stupid... Mega time here..

#8 Here's a novel concept... Make a race weekend go along with say another type of event. ... Like how about Charlotte race go with a Carolina BBQ food contest and let many and I mean many vendors come in and make food to sell at this event... Win win... Better food and get more people in the door..

#9 In some tracks it used to be quite common to have people aka regular people all over the infield... Even races at Richmond and North Wilkesboro had this phenomenon in the 80s and 90s... This stopped or was very different after the late 90s... Something wrong with that. Big-time. Now.. either no one allowed in those places or you have to have significant money to get that "honor"... Go back and watch old races... You will see what I mean...

#10 Too much $$$$ needed to even try to get in this "sport"...

And before any if y'all say it always needed money...

True story time... Dale Earnhardt took a short track car from where he typically raced at in Hickory NC and took the nose off that car.. put a new nose on the car and him and the Eurys went to Daytona to race that car in the 500... They had no big sponsorship... They had no big money to speak of... Yet Dale ran top 5 for much of the race until a flat tire caused him to pit which put him a lap down for the rest of that 500... He still finished the 1st car a lap down at 11th place..

Imagine that happening in today's NASCAR.... ???
Yeah it wouldn't. Wonder why people don't care about these drivers?? Here's. a big part of the reason why.. . These guys are paid for drivers... Who get there by money... And stay there by money... There was far more talent on the track in 70s 80s and 90s. Because those guys truly had TALENT... And they EARNED the way to a good car and sponsorship... Like Dale did... When he got with his first big race team. But again... Back then you could take a car on a total shoestring budget and compete with the best. . Not anymore. Something really not good about this either...

 

[oldhp]

bbhero, All very good points, especially #7. Did you see all the empty seats at Bristol??? Wow. Rules and technology have got us where we are now. Somebody finds a "gray" area. New rule. Repeat. Repeat. I wish I had all the answers....................

 

[kstanf150]

All excellent points... I attended my first nascar race in 1977 and became an instant fan. The run through the 80's I believe was probably some of the best racing years I can recall
Ford got back into racing and the Elliott's came along and it was a war between Ford and Chevy. Drivers [censored] weekly about the other brand having an advantage and about each other. There's no brand compation today, the cars all must meet the same guidelines or your penalized. There's talk that NASCAR is going to bring back a more true stock engine platform in the next few years, I hope that's true.

 

[02SE]

One big factor is that there is simply less interest in cars and motorcycles, much less the racing of them. When I was in highschool, the autoshop class was always full, and everybody wanted their drivers license ASAP. Now, most schools don't have an autoshop class, and lots of kids couldn't care less about driving. Mommy and daddy drive them around, or they call an Uber on their smartphone.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by bbhero
#8 Here's a novel concept... Make a race weekend go along with say another type of event. ... Like how about Charlotte race go with a Carolina BBQ food contest and let many and I mean many vendors come in and make food to sell at this event... Win win... Better food and get more people in the door..

I think that's crucial for a lot of motorsports, particularly when you want them to be a family outing. You already mentioned the long races, and having something to keep those in the family who are less of a fan occupied. Heck, as much as I like motorsport, I'm not going to be glued to my seat for the entire 24 Hours of Spa if I were there. Food, contests, displays, concerts, and so forth all could help.