Empty seats all weekend

paul

paul

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I thought the empty stands were bad last night, but man the place is just dead today.

People in NC obviously don't care about NASCAR so I say ditch that track, both dates, and give them to people that want to watch it.
 
Originally posted by paul@Feb 24 2003, 01:04 PM
I thought the empty stands were bad last night, but man the place is just dead today.

People in NC obviously don't care about NASCAR so I say ditch that track, both dates, and give them to people that want to watch it.
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A bit harsh to say that fans in NC don't care about NASCAR. Rockingham has two dates succeptible to bad weather. All the good tailgating season they are up north or out west. Many times a Busch race doesn't sell out anywhere, and when you throw in a Monday makeup date when people do have to work, it kinda explains it. Had the race run on Saturday, the stands would have been a little better I am certain.
 
I would love to have some more races out west here. Perferably the North West. (Washington, Oregon)
 
Betcha 2:1 if this race were on a Monday up here in the north, or out west...the stands would have people in them.
 
Well, I'm at work and can't actually see the stands.

And you're on. People do work for a living, and IMO a vast majority of the fans at the track see the BGN race as an "opening act" for the Cup race. Every time I've gone, that's exactly how I felt about it. BGN tickets are plentiful for even the Bristol races. They are begging people to take them around here already. Furniture stores, McDonalds' car washes...everywhere is giving away tickets to the BGN race. Now, try to get some Cup tickets, and it's a different story.

Check the stands the next time a Cup race is rescheduled for a Monday, and you'll see afew empty seats then too. Some people are willing to take the extra vacation day for a Cup race; not as many are so willing to do that for a BGN race. Simple fact of racing life.

I assume people all across the country have to work most Mondays. I could be wrong.
 
Not being present myself, I can't speak for everyone, but I do know that I woke up Sunday to snow, and the threat of rain all week and weekend. I do know it was quite windy at the track, with some cool temps. I also know that the track gets shaded, meaning most or at least much of the stands do too, and the cooler air temps, combined with wind and the backdraft of 43 race cars, in a shaded area no less, makes for a rather uncomfortable day. Add the threat of rain and having to leave early anyway, and maybe it goes a little way toward explaining it.

But to each his own. You don't like the track, that's fine with me. I wager you'd see a different result if Rockingham had Loudon's nice summer date. Maybe New Hampshire in February would provide a few thousand hardy souls to watch a race...
 
Seeing as we're talking about NC and not NH, where there is most likely 4-5 feet of snow on the ground, I doubt there will be a Feb race up here.

It's warmer in NC at this time, I think that might be why they schedule it down in the south, maybe I'm wrong. <_<

A breeze and a threat of rain doesn't keep us away from a race, maybe we just don't take it for granted.
 
Me either. In fact, I would have loved to have been there yesterday.

I'd have left before today though. I have to work. :D

It's February here too you know. We DO get cold sometimes.
 
The weather has a lot to do with it.....move these dates : spring to after or before Talledega and put the fall date after or before Darlington. Also i think the marketing of that track needs to be upscaled, it doesn't get a lot of exposure where it is located , hardly a huge city nearby, and then you take into account the saturation of tracks in that part of the country ....it all adds up to them most likely loosing a date. I think it is a great track, probably one of the more interesting ones on the schedule. To be fair here though I have been to every Busch date at PPIR in the last 4 years and it has never sold out! We have people crying about getting a cup date here in Colorado Springs yet they can't sell out Busch and they never even came close to selling out for NCTS. Subsequently they dropped that date from their schedule this year, they being PPIR not Nascar. So it is all about the package deal in my opinion, fans want to see an entire weekend filled with stuff to do. Like Vegas....when i get there thursday night i can go see Kyle Busch at the Bullring or check out the WOO on the dirt thurs. and friday, plus i have the qualifying friday to go to , Busch on sat. , then Cup on sunday. That is 5 days of racing do to the fact that the WOO starts on wed. This is why Vegas will get another date next year, plenty of activity if you want it, most likely they will schedule their second date in conjuncture with NHRA.
 
I agree that it was sad to see that many seats empty yesterday! I kinda understand it today! BGN is not winston cup and the race was on Monday. Many people had to work or have school so they were unable to go to the race today.
I think during the realinment they should get rid of one date and move the other date to late spring or late summer. If belive that if there was one race there each year it would sell out. Rock is too good of a track to see go away!! If its replaced with a race that would be single file and others are done the same, NASCAR will have shot them self in the foot.
I would not mind Nashville or Kentucky to take the place of one of the dates, and the other take place of a Pocono race.
 
I agree with PettyBenson, Let them keep one of the dates and move the date of the other. It is just sad that they can't sell out, maybe because there are so many tracks down south that they can't truelly appreciate them as much as people that have to take there vaction and wait years to get tickets to go to races, that has to be one of the only races that you can walk up to the ticket window on raceday and get tickets.
 
The empty seats yesterday might have been due to the high winds. I have attended one sporting event with the high winds before and will never do it again. I have never been so cold in my life as I was that afternoon. If I had tickets, I might have passed due to how cold it would have felt with the winds. We have -34 wind chill this a.m. and it was bloody cold. Todays race was probably due to it being Monday, have to get to work and school, no Gordon, Earnhardt, Jarrett, Martin to watch. just preparing myself for a lot of rain at Texas Motor Speedway this year, looks like a trend is starting.
 
Originally posted by TexasRaceLady@Feb 24 2003, 03:00 PM
txracingdiva, where are your seats at TMS?

I'm in Section 405, row 65, on the aisle.

Maybe we can hook up.

And, I hope you're wrong about the rain. LOL
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TRL, I'm praying for the "NO RAIN" or any bad weather for that matter for the Texas race. Seats are in Sec. 108 Row 25. Camping in the outside reserved camping area. :D
 
Looks like rian for Bush race in Vegas this year,Cup looks good, i was there 2 years ago race time temp was 43 with light drizzle and wind. No one was prepared ...at least very few, you couldn't find a sweatshirt in the place ....all the vendors sold out....lol. Next year i bring all my gear just in case, nice and toasty 67 degrees, just never know with old mother Nature. B)
 
yea just what we need is to move one of the dates to one of the "cookie cutter give me a reason to nap tracks".
Yesterdays race was a great race. if you didn't like the last 15 laps check your pulse you must be dead.

I have been to rockingham several times and like TWF said the weather is allways a problem it can and most of the time is COLD and rain. or snow. NASTYCAR dosen't care just another reason to take away more of what made it and cater to the Networks.

Move the date to mid May be willin to bet it would be a sell out just Pleaseeeeeeeee don't move the date to one of the "modern" 1 1/5 flat boring tracks.
 
Originally posted by TexasRaceLady@Feb 24 2003, 03:35 PM
I won't be at the track until qualifying on Friday. I stay in McKinney and come down from Denton on race day.
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You come the smart way! Will be there Thur. afternoon. Maybe we can hook up for the qualifying on Friday! :)
 
Mark Twain said, "everybody talks about the weather and nobody does anything about it". True enough. But at Rockingham, the weather is only a part of the problem. If the weather were the problem, Richmond would have been vacated before the date change. But the fans stuck by RIR.

If you have been to the Rockingham track, you already know there is nothing there to support racing. Hotels, motels, etc., are few and far between. Beyond Rockingham (population est. 9900) The nearest places are Laurinburg (pop. est. 11,000), Charlotte (approx. 75 miles), Raleigh (approx. 85 miles) Southern Pines, Aberdeen and Sanford (collective pop.est. 26,000). The restaurants ??? Forget it. Only one or two decent places unless you are geared for fast food and none are in close proximity to the track.

Rockingham is out in the woods. There are not many ammenities for fans. Several years ago there was a special train chartered to travel from Raleigh to Rockingham, dropping fans within one-half mile of the track. It was there for the return trip yet that was discontinued after the first run. Fans do not support the track, plain and simple. When a prospective sponsor sees a race with unfilled seats, they wonder why spend money there. Contracts for television and race teams are not written with an exclusion of the two Rockingham races.

Giving consideration to other tracks and the facilities, Bristol has three cities in the area to cover the crush of fans for the races and a selection of accomodations and varieties of food. Same with almost any track on the circuit. Even Pocono, with the barren mountaintop location, offers more accomodations within driving distance than are offered at Rockingham. Rockingham is not mainstream. Kentucky or Nashville, are. Who ever thought the day would come when someone would call Nashville or Kentucky mainstream???

IF............................ the quality of the racing were the only thing to consider, Rockingham rates with the best of them and there would be no question of it keeping both dates. But history and real racing alone do not make money or give enough exposure to the sponsors, despite television. Many of the newer fans only see the fast pace of the one and one-half mile and other high speed tracks. Too many overlook the strategy and patience at a tire management track like Rockingham or Loudon. This could be a bigger reason they do not support the facility. Funny, but drivers such as Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin give the track high grades for racing and competition. They not only love the place they are quoted, "I like Rockingham, it is a drivers track. Here the driver is what counts and has more control over the outcome of the race. More than the engineers, computers and aero push. Here it is all driver and pit crew."
 
There is a lot of truth in Whizzer's analysis. I agree with and have experienced all of his points on accomodations and eatery's in the Rockingham area.

I would add that the weather or the expectation and frequent presence of less than comfortable weather contributed to a fairly miserable race weekend some years back when myself and a few other fools went the rustic camping route. A summer date would make this a more viable option and might improve attendence.
 
Originally posted by TexasRaceLady@Feb 24 2003, 03:00 PM
txracingdiva, where are your seats at TMS?

I'm in Section 405, row 65, on the aisle.

Maybe we can hook up.

And, I hope you're wrong about the rain. LOL
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For the busch race, we will be seating in section pu 120, row 62. For winston the seats are section pu 442, row 62. We will be arriving before qualifying on Friday. Hope to see you there.
 
Originally posted by TexasRaceLady@Feb 24 2003, 07:40 PM
I think Tower B4 before qualifying might be the best thing.

txracingdiva, sure hope to meet you and majestyx.
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I'll be there! :)
 
Getting back to the thread at hand here....Whizzer brought up some excellent points, the surroundings are not suitable for a huge crowd(that being the lack of hotels, restaurants, ect.....)this being said, the only way to change this is to invest a lot of money in a a few huge hotel and restaurants in the area. If there is a developer out there that could do this in the next few years, possibly, and this is a huge if, The Rock could survive with 2 dates. I don't think Nascar will wait for this to happen though unless they have a plan for the "bigger" picture that includes The Rock.
 
Maybe it's just me, and it probably is. But I've been to a few races. I leave about 2 AM, drive all night, grab a Shoney's (Big Boy I think for our Northern audience, maybe Bob's) breakfast bar, get to the track around 8 or 9, mingle, souvenir shop, find my seat, grab a Coke and a smile...AND WATCH THE RACE. I don't NEED a 4 star hotel or 27 restaurants within a mile of me because I'm watching a race.

Case in point: Lowe's Motor Speedway. It's about a 4 hour drive for me. I hit the Shoney's early, 5:30 or so, and chow down in Biblical proportions. I'm talking vapor trails here folks. Hollow legs, all that. I'm out of there before the crush of fans gets there, and pleasantly plump(er), on my way once again. I park, mill around and souvenir shop until say 11, hit the car again, toss down a sandwich I made at home, (yes I like to eat!) and go find my seat. Having eaten all morning, I won't be hungry until well after the race.

I leave the track after the race, and make my way to the highway. When I get hungry, guess what...I stop. It's no big deal.

If I were to attend a race at, say, Dover I'd do the same thing....stay somewhere a couple hours from the track where the price gouging is reduced anyway, get out of bed a little early, and go to the race without worrying about how many "fan amenities" there are. I truly don't see how that's so dang inconvenient, especially if you've already travelled numerous hours to get to the dang track in the FIRST place. (Huffing, puffing...) So there's not a Red Lobster right there...who cares?! Eat a ham sandwich, it won't kill ya. No Garden Plaza to stay in? Great, that frees up another $20 for Ward stuff anyways. It's a bed, you sleep one night on it. Jeez.

The above tirade is directed at no one in particular. If your feelings are hurt by it, I apologize. Unless you whined. Then I don't care. Get over it. :p Now quit trying to steal races from one of the most competitive tracks we have left, NASCAR. It'll be OK, Junior will win one there SOMEDAY. I guess. Maybe. Odds are. OK, maybe he won't, but it's STILL a damn fine track.
 
Originally posted by TN-Ward-Fan@Feb 25 2003, 08:50 AM
find my seat, grab a Coke and a smile...AND WATCH THE RACE.
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People weren't even doing that this weekend.

Empty seats man, empty seats.
 
Then I guess it IS just me. Today's fans are too spoiled. Off with their heads.

:D
 
Alot of people said this race reminded them of races from the old days, it is not the old days anymore. The sport has gotin larger and has gotin more coverage, alot more fans and they can see alot more of the sport. Maybe most of the general audience now, just doesn't like this type of track.

I like to see the track myself, I would be a little angry to see both dates takein away, but one is fine.

With all the jr fans, I just pray nascar doesn't add anymore rp tracks, or dates to the current ones.
 
Originally posted by paul@Feb 25 2003, 09:02 AM
Food and shelter....how dare they!
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Really! I mean, how needy can you get?

You know what I'm saying dude. I saw the fishing report this morning on the news...they ain't biting. :cheers:
 
Not fishing at all. The track has nothing to offer other than good racing, and we all know that most don't care about decent racing...hence the empty seats at the majority of truck races and the majority of Busch races.

If they had more than that, then perhaps the track would stick around.
 
AH yes TNWard fan, how well I remember those days. They range from 1956 until about 1997 when I figured very few creature comforts were acceptable. Why heck, the thought of driving all night after a day of work on Thursday, from New Jersey to Martinsville or North Wilkesboro, ten to twleve hours one way, work the weekend and then rush to get away from the track Sunday after the race, drive the same time back to New Jersey and be on the job at eight Monday morning to put five men in the field was some sort of fun. This all became somewhat tiring after the age of fifty-six. SO the thrill of victory and the feel of de-feet took a turn. The interest is still there while the mind sez yes but the body sez no. AH YOUTH !!!!!!!!!!!

The weather does have something to do with Rockingham but also the fans participation or lack thereof, is a leading factor. Despite all the inquiries and observations we make individually, consider the new fan does not understand nor do they care to understand the object of an automobile race. As per conversations with many spectators who say they have been fans for less than ten years.

It is to win and not necessarily at the highest rate of speed. But rather the smartest driver with the best pit strategy and the greatest amount of patience, combined with some racing luck. Many of the newcomers are waiting for the crashes (I know, I know, they will all jump up in disgust and say they do not watch the races to see the wrecks) yet when there are no crashes it is a boring race. The newer fan seeks thier thrills on the high speed, close packs that await the "big one" at tracks where the exhibitions and shows (Talledega and Daytona) are thrilling but not to be confused with any actual automotive competition event properly entitled "racing". The one and one-half mile tracks will be the precursor of the sport and then and only then, when the sport goes back to its roots ,will real racing begin once more and places like Rockingham entrench themselves. In the meantime, the facility will lose one date and possibly two.

But TN-Ward-Fan, surely you know about roots. East Tennessee State University with the two majors, B.B and a B.P. That's a Bachelors in Bluegrass and a Bachelors in Pig Pickin'. But with all due respect, it is really a good thing. Bluegrass keeping the hillbilly banjo and mandolin pluckin' heritage alive and on the other end of the spectrum teaching Yankees how to eat without using a fork. Just a little humor there young fella. :rolleyes:
 
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