Quote:
Originally Posted by B Parker
Alan all good points. With Ken and Tim not doing their race this year maybe it will open more eyes. Gainesville should also be an eye opener. This is the direction our Classes are going. BP
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Barry, I agree with your thoughts that both those races not being run,
and with the Gators shutting out so many races, that this year might be, and should be, an eye opener for a lot of people. And it could be a harbinger of the direction things are going. That thought saddens me.
I don't know if I'm right or I'm wrong in my conclusions about why people aren't coming to independent races. Those are just observations from talking to people at various locations, trade shows, speed and machine shops, and the races, and reading what people are posting on the forums, as well as just what I've seen over the years.
We're fortunate here to not only have Bowling Green willing to accommodate and support Stock and Super Stock, but also to have a pretty good bunch of racers support the combo series at Bowling Green, as well as having a couple of sponsors support the series over the years. Kevin and I were very fortunate to do pretty well in the series, too.
I would absolutely love to see what we have at Bowling Green spread, and grow.
I do sincerely believe that the race that I described is absolutely possible at Bowling Green, possibly more so there than at any other place. As you said, there are a ton of cars in Divisions 1, 2, and 3. And Bowling Green is probably as good a location as you're going to get, if you're going to draw from all three divisions. But we need someone besides me to believe in that and promote it. We need a Biondo, a Butner, a Connolly, or a Bohannon to promote it. Or maybe some combination of them.
As it stands, looking back over the past 15 years of information and experience, I think that maybe there's enough devotion to Bowling Green, and enough potential there, to pull off a big race. Bowling Green is successfully hosting a bunch of big events. It stands to reason that with the base it already has, and the success it has with other events, that Bowling Green is the facility that can pull it off. My hope would be that if one facility can pull it off, there might be other facilities with the right locations that could use the model.
I get that Ken worked with a track in his area, same with Michael. But right now, I think the key to getting one of these races to really thrive is sort of like the key to real estate. Location, location, location. Honestly, I think that if the next big attempt isn't at least moderately successful, there won't be any more attempts. So I don't think you can go very far south OR north from a relatively central location such as Bowling Green. Because
you are correct, it must draw heavily on Divisions 1,2, and 3.
I'd be thrilled to hear other people's thoughts on all of this, I wish more people would speak up. That's how I learn. The perspective of other people. That's why I asked the question about how many cars we have to draw to make a race better than break even. Barring miracles, you're not going to have a Stock and Super Stock race make a track and a promoter wealthy, for damned sure not the first race(s). But you damned sure have to keep the track and promoter from going broke, and you have to have enough cars to keep the sponsors at least interested. I've watched my friends go from booth to booth at PRI, trying to get sponsors on board. That's a tough job.