Divisional Spectator Attendance

[SBillinson]

There's almost nobody in the stands at divisional races. I imagine there's little to no marketing to promote attendance, such as radio or TV ads.

An idea would be to give two spectator tickets to each paid participant under the condition that they are not to be used to cover crew members.

The purpose of the program is to get spectators in the stands (i.e., not to get friends and family in for free who are going to lounge around the motorhome all weekend).

If the participant doesn't respect the conditions, then they no longer receive tickets.

Getting people in the stands could increase interest for long term growth. It would also increase concession sales and maybe help vendors.

Any other ideas?

[Mike Jones]

Originally Posted by SBillinson

There's almost nobody in the stands at divisional races. I imagine there's little to no marketing to promote attendance, such as radio or TV ads

Any other ideas?

Fuel Altereds

[partsbob67]

go to the local parts stores and give them tickets to hand out.

[427FE]

The .90 stuff is very hard to watch.

[Race Wife]

A/FX Match Races?

[Brett C]

No Problem Raceway had lots of tickets floating around and the place was packed! Well done by Nelson and group.

[SBillinson]

Originally Posted by 427FE

The .90 stuff is very hard to watch.

That's a very polite way to say "impossible to watch."

Most .90 racers say that the race is on the finish line not the starting line, which is probably true.

It would be nice to have competent announcers who explained that point and encourage spectators to go to the finish line if they want to see what the class is all about.

Stands at the finish line and PA speakers would be good for all classes.

[Bobby DiDomenico]

Originally Posted by SBillinson

That's a very polite way to say "impossible to watch."

Most .90 racers say that the race is on the finish line not the starting line, which is probably true.

It would be nice to have competent announcers who explained that point and encourage spectators to go to the finish line if they want to see what the class is all about.

Stands at the finish line and PA speakers would be good for all classes.

They long ago removed the stands near the finish line at Joliet. How many tracks currently have stands at the finish line?
Since you brought the topic up, do the televised Division races have a finish line camera? For the fans in the stands I've talked with, Stock and Super Stock are won at the finish line as well.

[Rory McNeil]

Originally Posted by 427FE

The .90 stuff is very hard to watch.

And even harder to explain to a typical spectator ! I ran Super Street for a few years, over 30 years ago, before the big MPH, "launch and die" throttle stop timers, and full tube chassis cars with a bunch of ballast became mainstream. Back then, a 10.0 car was fast, and often, the ET was maintained with a bolt on the carb linkage, to prevent full throttle. Now many of the 10.90 cars can run low 8s, "off the stop. I have quite a few friends that run the .90 classes, and I can appreciate how competitive it is, and how they can always "hit the number", but yeah, it certainly is strange for the spectators to follow. When I lived on the West Coast, Mission Raceway always had really god spectator turnouts, but they would run radio and TV ads, local auto parts stores had discount tickets and posters to promote the race, and they would bring in something of interest to spectators, whether it was a couple of wheelstanders, jet cars, Nitro Harleys, or Funny Cars. For several years, they had Hemi Shootouts, that would bring 8-10 SS/AH cars, from all over North America, the "race to the 9s" in Stock was fantastic, they had a Warren Johnson/Richie Stevens Pro Stock match race once, and the place was packed.

[rboyle]

Promote promote promote. Used to be radio and print media or TV ads. Now it's more social media and pop up ads. But if our own websites like NHRA..com and all the others do not promote their own races on their own website then it puts all the onus on the track operator.
You can promote Imports vs Muscle vs EV the trick is making up a nemesis. Drag racing is a great platform for it as the Snake vsMongoose wars