Caraway Rant

SpeedPagan

SpeedPagan

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So I went to Caraway Speedway last night with my brother and father. It was $5 kid's night so why not? The race was delayed for about an hour as they dried the track off from the rain that afternoon. Which is fine, no big deal.

After they dried the track off, they had the "ride in a race car" thing for the kids. That in of itself was fine, but after the rain delay, you think they could've cut that part of the lineup out and get right to the racing. However the pile of bull**** started when they had a rule where the drivers who didn't bring their cars out to this thing was sent to the back of the pack.

Okay, I'm going to have to disagree with that, just because you don't want to take part in an ultimately pointless event shouldn't be any reason for you to lose your starting position in the main event. The only two classes that were exempted from this was the Legends and the Stadium Modifieds.

However, the most bull**** call came from the Street stock races. One of the guys didn't take part in the kids ride-around and had to start from the back. He worked his way up and after one of the restarts, he was black-flagged. Now the official reason was that he jumped the start, but none of us (dad, brother and myself) saw that. So our current theory is that he was black-flagged for taking the lead when he didn't take part in the ride-around.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great to introduce kids to the world of short track racing, one of those kids can be the next Gordon, Earnhardt Sr. or Johnson. However at the end of the day, it's a stupid ass gimmick and it should not affect the race! If the drivers don't want to take part in the gimmick, don't force them and don't punish them!

/rant over.
 
If that's the case ( I believe you, don't take that wrong) If I was a driver or car owner, I'd make sure nobody showed up for the next event. That's BS.
 
Short tracks are struggling all over the place, sounds like this place is trying to emphasis the fan-friendly crap to keep the families interesting. Crappy from a competition point-of-view.
 
Every track does this. One of the cool things about short track racing, IMO, is how involved the fans can be. Much better than NASCAR where all the drivers spend all day in their motorhomes and go out of their way to avoid the fans.

Glad Robert Tyler won. That dude is the man... a complete Honey Badger.
 
And Kevin's right. Short tracks are struggling - ESPECIALLY in North Carolina and Virginia. It's nice to see tracks trying to give back to the fans. Darren and Renee Hackett try really hard to make it exciting for the fans.

I'm not a purist though. I realize things have to be done for the fans. We don't live in an era anymore where you just build a track, open the gates and the fans will pack the joint. Darren and Renee understand that as do many other tracks. The only track that will sell out every week and not have to do a thing is Bowman Gray (and even their fan counts sucked up until the drama and bull****) and that's because Bowman Gray is WWE on wheels.
 
Well I understand that tracks have to do these gimmicks to bring the fans in so that they can keep revenue up. All I'm saying is that the gimmicks shouldn't affect the races. The drivers shouldn't lose their starting position and they shouldn't be black flagged because they didn't take part in the gimmick.
 
Other side of the coin. If the track owner is almost ready to shut down or having tough financial problems, racers that don't or won't help out to build attendance, what good are they? France #1 would have ran them off. Sounds like the "kids night" helped to draw the original poster and his bunch to the track, hopefully many more fans, and the track owner kept his word and had the event. I think he was sending a message to the group that didn't participate, and the drivers that did go out of their way to help were shown that. I can see the point from his side though, race fixing. The ride along probably would have been finished quicker if all the drivers participated. Good idea to build attendance. We race fans and car people kinda have blinders on. I had a route I drove in a bus that took me into a neighborhood off the beaten path. The highlight of the trip was when I went by a place that had old cars and trucks in about 5 acres. He had good stuff, old coupes, and pickups in parts and pieces. One day a passenger said to me..that is so ugly, they should make him get rid of all that junk. People like that are why tracks are disappearing. There are more of them than there are of us sad to say.
 
I love the track but the good car count has been going down for years now. Once in a while they put together a nice race package and the count is better, but I haven't seen a full field there now for over ten years. I think the last good year for car count was back when Labonte, Vickers and Hmeil raced there. It's hard for small tracks to attract a big crowd these days for many reasons. The cost isn't the only reason either. Technology has raised the cost of racing a car so high that teams are folding their doors. Even the cost of the lowest class cars are getting prohibitive.
 
buckaroo said:
I love the track but the good car count has been going down for years now. Once in a while they put together a nice race package and the count is better, but I haven't seen a full field there now for over ten years. I think the last good year for car count was back when Labonte, Vickers and Hmeil raced there. It's hard for small tracks to attract a big crowd these days for many reasons. The cost isn't the only reason either. Technology has raised the cost of racing a car so high that teams are folding their doors. Even the cost of the lowest class cars are getting prohibitive.
Click to expand...

How much would it cost to field a hornet or U-CAR car?
 
buckaroo said:
I love the track but the good car count has been going down for years now. Once in a while they put together a nice race package and the count is better, but I haven't seen a full field there now for over ten years. I think the last good year for car count was back when Labonte, Vickers and Hmeil raced there. It's hard for small tracks to attract a big crowd these days for many reasons. The cost isn't the only reason either. Technology has raised the cost of racing a car so high that teams are folding their doors. Even the cost of the lowest class cars are getting prohibitive.
Click to expand...


Caraway isn't the only track struggling with car counts. Even South Boston Speedway is having a hard time drawing cars.
 
I wonder why they didn't combine the track drying with the kids' ride-along? The cars would have been going slow anyway, could have helped dry the track, and overall consolidated how much time it took.

If they told teams during sign-up or the drivers' meeting that they would be penalized if they didn't participate in the kid's ride-along then they shouldn't complain. Although I'd rather know before I towed to the track (post it on a website or tell me during the previous week, etc.). But if it was a surprise then that's not fair. Not everybody can afford the extra gas and wear on the car. I agree that tracks need to do fan friendly things, but not at the expense of the racers. If it is true that a car was black flagged for taking the lead after not participating in the kids' ride-along then that is plain wrong. I wouldn't bring my car back there (even if it didn't happen to me) because I'd wonder if I would get the next unfair treatment.

Caraway has been struggling ever since they got NASCAR sanctioned. That caused entry fees to go up, forced you to buy expensive NASCAR licenses, and obsoleted a lot of cars. I would have thought that a NASCAR sanction would be a good move, but it has turned Caraway into a ghost town.
 
gone said:
I wonder why they didn't combine the track drying with the kids' ride-along? The cars would have been going slow anyway, could have helped dry the track, and overall consolidated how much time it took.

If they told teams during sign-up or the drivers' meeting that they would be penalized if they didn't participate in the kid's ride-along then they shouldn't complain. Although I'd rather know before I towed to the track (post it on a website or tell me during the previous week, etc.). But if it was a surprise then that's not fair. Not everybody can afford the extra gas and wear on the car. I agree that tracks need to do fan friendly things, but not at the expense of the racers. If it is true that a car was black flagged for taking the lead after not participating in the kids' ride-along then that is plain wrong. I wouldn't bring my car back there (even if it didn't happen to me) because I'd wonder if I would get the next unfair treatment.

Caraway has been struggling ever since they got NASCAR sanctioned. That caused entry fees to go up, forced you to buy expensive NASCAR licenses, and obsoleted a lot of cars. I would have thought that a NASCAR sanction would be a good move, but it has turned Caraway into a ghost town.
Click to expand...

The Southern Mod Tour races are worth it for Caraway. That place is rockin' during those races. There are just so many options for drivers to race around here. Caraway and South Boston both began hurting (the former more than the latter) when Southern National re-opened. Southern National pays a good chunk of change and they usually draw 20+ cars.

As for spectators, every track's struggling there. Hickory's struggling. South Boston's struggling. Even the great Motor Mile Speedway struggles to bring fans in. The only tracks bringing in fans are Bowman Gray and Langley and that's because those tracks are in the middle of the city. Fact is, fans would rather sit at home and watch NASCAR on TV than go out to their local short track. And fans won't go if the weather's perfect.

Franklin County turns in to a ghost town if there's a Cup race on TV or if it's chilly or if it's cloudy or if the news calls for a chance of rain.
 
You're probably right about Southern National luring away crowds. But I know several race teams who quit or found new tracks after Caraway's NASCAR sanction.
The Southern Modified Tour does do well at Caraway. But several people have told me they're only there because the modifieds are there (and Bowman-Gray is usually closed during those races). Several complained about the restroom stink that you could smell in the front stretch grandstands (hope they've fixed that).

As far as televised NASCAR races hurting local track attendance, again you're probably right. But I know several fans who are tired of the NASCAR drama and quit watching those races. But they're also not showing up at local tracks because too many of them put on poor shows. There are many reasons attendance is down but local tracks need to up their games - not just blame their fans.
 
gone said:
You're probably right about Southern National luring away crowds. But I know several race teams who quit or found new tracks after Caraway's NASCAR sanction.
The Southern Modified Tour does do well at Caraway. But several people have told me they're only there because the modifieds are there (and Bowman-Gray is usually closed during those races). Several complained about the restroom stink that you could smell in the front stretch grandstands (hope they've fixed that).

As far as televised NASCAR races hurting local track attendance, again you're probably right. But I know several fans who are tired of the NASCAR drama and quit watching those races. But they're also not showing up at local tracks because too many of them put on poor shows. There are many reasons attendance is down but local tracks need to up their games - not just blame their fans.
Click to expand...

It's disheartening to see so many fans not supporting short tracks. Honestly, it's the better tracks that are closing down while tracks that just don't put on a good show survive. Can't compete with free either. Fans can watch races online and on TV for free and just won't pay to go to a race.
 
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