More bad Rockingham news

The Nature Boy said:
Rockingham's failure can be summed in two points:

1. The local economy is terrible so the locals aren't able to financially provide adequate support for the track.
2. Because of 1, they have to rely on outsiders traveling to Rockingham to attend races and there is frankly no reason to travel to Rockingham. If you want to use the earlier "Charlotte is nearby" argument then those inclined towards Charlotte would probably rather go to CMS.
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EVERY track relies on outsiders to boost attendance. IF race fans REALLY wanted racing at the Rock, CMS being 45 min closer to Charlotte wouldn't have stopped them from attending.
 
SpeedPagan said:
Citing North Wilkesboro Speedway's age and lack of modern amenities, former New Hampshire Motor Speedway owner Bob Bahre and Speedway Motorsports, Inc. CEO Bruton Smith, who already owned several NASCAR circuits, purchased the track in 1996. North Wilkesboro's spring date was given to Smith's new Texas Motor Speedway, while the fall date was taken over by Bahre's New Hampshire track and moved to early September as part of a schedule realignment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Wilkesboro_Speedway
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I don't know anything about NW's geographical location, but that says Bahre realized he could make more money with 2 dates at 1 track, rather than invest in a second track that already had 2 dates. I bet Bruton paid Bahre a huge premium to nab that 2nd date for TMS.
 
The Nature Boy said:
Bob Bahre and SMI bought it jointly. Bahre used one date for a 2nd New Hampshire date and SMI used the other to get Texas on the schedule.
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So that proves my point about money and 2nd dates being the main driving force behind the schedule. This is exactly why some drivers have complained about some lackluster tracks having double dates. SMI and ISC see the bottom line before considering expanding into new markets. Even if the stands are empty, why split 2 dates of TV money between 2 different tracks?
 
FenderBumper said:
I don't know anything about NW's geographical location, but that says Bahre realized he could make more money with 2 dates at 1 track, rather than invest in a second track that already had 2 dates. I bet Bruton paid Bahre a huge premium to nab that 2nd date for TMS.
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It has the same problem that Rockingham has. It's in the middle of nowhere, nearest city (Winston-Salem) is an hour away, and honestly Winston-Salem is North Carolina's version of Detroit. Once the tobacco companies dried up, Winston-Salem became one of those cities that you lock your car doors on as you drive through it. I know because I lived in Winston-Salem for about six months one time and I do not want to live in Winston-Salem again. I got the **** out of that city as soon as possible.

Statesville, NC is a nicer town, also about an hour away. It's also a small town. Greensboro, NC is about an hour and fifteen minutes away. and finally, Charlotte, NC is about an hour and eighteen minutes away.
 
SpeedPagan said:
It has the same problem that Rockingham has. It's in the middle of nowhere, nearest city (Winston-Salem) is an hour away, and honestly Winston-Salem is North Carolina's version of Detroit. Once the tobacco companies dried up, Winston-Salem became one of those cities that you lock your car doors on as you drive through it. I know because I lived in Winston-Salem for about six months one time and I do not want to live in Winston-Salem again. I got the **** out of that city as soon as possible.

Statesville, NC is a nicer town, also about an hour away. It's also a small town. Greensboro, NC is about an hour and fifteen minutes away. and finally, Charlotte, NC is about an hour and eighteen minutes away.
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IMO, that isn't in the middle of nowhere. By that logic, Loudon is in the middle of nowhere.
 
The Nature Boy said:
I don't know if Bahre ever considered doing anything with NW. He's a New England native with no ties to the South at all.
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Exactly. NW lost it's dates to guys who wanted the cash, which I can understand. The problem is, where is the planning, or room, for tracks in new markets? THAT is how you grow the sport. You get NEW fans to visit a local track that also has some nascar dates, even if it's every other year. I wonder how many tickets sales nascar lost because people moved to many of the vast ares with no nascar track within a 4 or 6 hour ride.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Too bad they won't run Portland or Evergreen anymore.
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Spent years watching IndyCar at Portland. Amazing accessibility. Facilities sucked, but you were right on top of everything. Great fun.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Right, but to say it's not close to anything is disingenuous. The fans didn't support that place when Winston Cup raced there, they didn't support it when ARCA raced there and they didn't support it when NASCAR went back there.
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Well if the fans didn't support it all the way back to the WC days...it was stupid to think it would change
 
Bucky Badger said:
Well if the fans didn't support it all the way back to the WC days...it was stupid to think it would change
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yep, businesses close up and relocate all the time, location, location, location. Quite a bit tougher for race tracks, not enough race fans out there, you have to find a depressed area and promise them the moon, and then you don't know for sure it will make a profit after all that.
 
The Nature Boy said:
Logistically speaking, if there are 75,000-100,000 people in the grandstands, it's doubtful that you could have that many people in RVs at the track. I don't know if hard data is available but I doubt the majority of people at the track camped out.
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Never been to Talladega huh? Campers of all types as far as the eye can see and beyond.

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I wished I could have made it down for Rockingham's truck race. Kicking myself that I didn't.

I think without TV money, keeping a big track like that profitable has got to be difficult. If you don't have a strong local economy and lots of people to be able to support it, then you have to draw from further away. I think that is one of those things that has changed over the years. In the 50's/60's/70's it was nothing for a family to jump in the station wagon and drive off for a road trip. Stop at any of the million road side picnic tables on the way for lunch. Then pop into a little strip motel right off the side of the highway if need be. Just looking at where I live, which is rural, there used to be tons of tiny motels, wierd rest stops on non-Interstate highways, restaurants in the middle of nowhere, etc. I see these things on postcards all the time (why were there so many postcards back then?) Now, you are lucky to find a single gas station between towns.

Nowadays people that are traveling expect more. They want more than an un-airconditioned motel room and a hamburger at a road-side cafe to go with 3-4 hours of driving. Places like Rockingham and North Wilkesboro just aren't able to provide that, on a scale to keep a Nascar track open.
 
The Nature Boy said:
To be fair though, Talladega has an ENORMOUS infield.
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If you go to Talladega, as you approach the track on your left look to your right. As far as the eye can see there's hill after hill full of campers. Three of those pictures are part of the hills outside of the track. In person It kinda boggles the mind.
 
The fans had a chance to save rockingham when the trucks went there, but attendance was lackluster. Granted that's partly NASCARS fault because who is going to go on a road trip to see a truck race? Rockingham is pretty far out there, they should've had a nationwide/truck doubleheader or something
 
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