The "Rock" on the Block

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One side of my brain understands, the other side screams in agony.................I fear the agony side will dominate if another of the great tracks loses a race.

Rockingham faces critical weekend

By Mike Hembree
MOTORSPORTS WRITER


It's quite ironic that a week that will include what many race fans consider the first "real" racing of the Winston Cup season also could be the beginning of the end of part of that racing.

Make no mistake: This weekend is an important one for North Carolina Speedway, the 1.017-mile track in the North Carolina Sandhills that on Sunday will host the Subway 400, the second race of the Winston Cup season.

In the first of two scheduled visits this season, NCS finds itself directly in the crosshairs of NASCAR officials plotting stock car racing's next offensive. As announced last month, they are calling it "realignment," and it carries with it all the angst and nail-biting of realignment in any other professional sport.

NCS has much going for it. It often has great, side-by-side racing, and, as the second event on the schedule, its fender-to-fender possibilities usually look good compared to the Christmas-parade-like single-file racing of Daytona.

Virtually every grandstand seat has a great view of the entire track. Compared to most other Winston Cup tracks, traffic in and out of the speedway is a cakewalk. The pleasant people who operate the speedway work hard to make the weekend a good one for all concerned.

Unfortunately, NCS also has a considerable presence on the down side of the ledger.
It is part of the saturation zone of Southeastern race tracks that places too many races too close to each other. It is located, almost literally, in the middle of nowhere, far from the major population centers NASCAR craves. The best thing that can be said about the track's location is that it's close to a boatload of great golf courses.

To complicate matters, weather in the Rockingham area in late February is questionable at best, dreadful at worst. For years, the track carried the nickname of Rainingham, as event after event was impacted by wet weather. For NCS, those often are the good years. February also can mean bone-chilling temperatures and sideways sleet, neither of which attract fans.

That brings us to the bottom line — crowds, or the lack of them. NCS has run into trouble filling its modestly sized grandstands in recent years, and the people in power notice.

As conventional wisdom goes, why run two races in tiny Rockingham with vacant seats all too visible when one (or maybe both) could be moved to a bigger track in a large market? Tracks in or near St. Louis and Nashville are crying for races, and other, established facilities with huge seating capacities and proven drawing power crave second dates.

NASCAR has made it clear that all of these considerations will be taken into account as discussions about realignment intensify.

There are no guarantees either way, but, as early as 2004, Rockingham could find itself on the wrong side of the equation.
 
I understand teh Rock losing one date but if they lose both it will be a stupid move. Yes both races don't sell out. If you take one date away then more than likely the other race will be a sell out. If they get ride of ONE race it should be the first race, and leave the other date in November. Move the second race to Texas or Nashville.
 
Yeah, that's a great ideal. Move a race from one of the truely unique tracks in NASCAR to 1 and1/2 mile tri oval. :huh: Why not give this track a date where they could possibly get good weather.
 
I would also be angrey if they give one of the Rock's race dates to another 1.5 mile tri-oval. If they gave the date to a unique track like Nashville (a 1.33 mile concrete tri-oval) or St. Louis (1.25 mile banked oval) that would be ok with me. Both of these track can also run at night which seems to be the what NASCAR is looking for.
 
I'll tell you one thing, if NA$CAR gets rid of great tracks like The Rock just to make room for more cookie cutter snooze-fests, I'm just gonna turn my attention to other forms of racing. Hopefully Speedvision decides to fully back the WoO in the near future.
 
Why don't they just re-do the schedule so the Rock has their dates in good weather or would that make way too much sense?? :rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by Mopardh9@Feb 20 2003, 02:08 PM
Why don't they just re-do the schedule so the Rock has their dates in good weather or would that make way too much sense?? :rolleyes:
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I've noticed in looking at the schedule that the prime time months for dry weather is when the series in in the Northern states. Makes sense in a way. They do have a lot longer winter than we here in the correct part of the country :p endure.

Seems to me, though, that some shuffling could be done. Maybe it's just that the Great and All-Knowing Sanctioning Body wants to grease a few palms and Rockingham is the convenient scapegoat. Nahh.....they'd NEVER do that. :rolleyes:
 
Hmmmm....hehehehe :D Well i think they could do it no problem have a race in April right before or right after DEGA then have the fall race in early september right after or before Darlington, wouldn't take much to do that!!
 
This is something I don't understand. Fans say they want side-by-side racing. Nascar says they want side-by-side racing. The drivers say they want to be able to make passes. Rockingham provides all of those things and yet the tv ratings aren't particularly high and the track doesn't sell out. Why?

I love that place. Haven't been there in years but it looks like I'll have to return this fall. The place has history. And personality. The racing surface is brutal and forces drivers to wisely use their tires. Yet it also provides two or three lanes of racing so drivers can search for favorable lines all day. Can you really say the same thing about Loudon or Chicago or Las Vegas?
 
We all might as well resign ourselves to the fact that the Rock is losing a date.
 
I agree, follow the 18. Another storied track will bite the dust.I know it's all about the Benjamins, but I wish there would be more respect for history. :(
 
Awright....to save a track you have to show interest. First, the Rock has great tire strategy......good for Goodyear to market its engineering ingenuity.

2nd, it is a unique config, D-oval, high banked, different corner behavior, half way between short track and superspeedway, only RIR matches that.

3rd, I shoveled my damn RV out of snow for hours, dirt tracked it sideways out of my unplowed wooded driveway to fill it with LP gas for the weekend, had the LP Co. gas guy get on my case for filling it, got home and found a gas leak in my Octane Generator line, heard there's rain for the BGN race Sat., but you know what?????? I'm on my way to the sand dunes area cuz I like racing and would not miss it for the world Fri. Call it race fan, american spirit or luv the challenge nutiness :D :D :D ...see ya 'all at the Rock for the BGN and WC. (Half a cooler full of Beer to the one who fixes a leaky fuel line in a proper way!!!!!!)
 
I started going to the rock in 1965 when it opened. It's only about 75 miles south of me. I went for four or five years then quit mostly because the races kept getting rained out. When I became a photographer in the late 70s I started covering rockingham again.

We use to cover turn 3 &4 from a 10 ft; high photographer's stand on the inside of the turn. After several years the rain causedn the plywood floor to start getting soft and dangerous. We complaned to the press office about it. They said they would fix it before the fall race. When we cane back in the fall we found someone had cut it off at the ground and left it laying on it's side. We learned not to complain to the press office.

I loved covering Rockingham as it close enough to my house that I could drive back and forth each day. Being only a mile it's small enough you can cover all the turns during the race nwithout having to walk your legs off.
 
Great time to be headed for a race weekend MikeS...as if there were a bad one.

I hear tell the weather forecast is improving, but haven't checked to verify.

"Octane Generator"?? Didn't Mayfield and the Penske bunch get in trouble for using one of those a few years back? Pardon my ignorance, but I don't think I know what an octane generator is.

Have fun, full report required on your return.
 
I'm happy they will get rid of Rockingham. I hope they do away with Darlington to. I'd like to see the dates go to California or Kansas.


















:rolleyes:
 
I dont mind rockingham looseing a date, aslong as they dont give that date to a 1.5 mile track
 
The Rock in danger of losing a race, well ........................................

Unable to sell out a race since expanding to 60,113 seats in 1999, the track is a prime target for France to swipe a date and move a Winston Cup race into a larger market.

And we all know France needs th money...........................LOL!
 
The reality is that Nascar is BIG business, and that will always win out. We can go down memory lane and talk about the great tracks we hate to lose, but this is a business of "what have you done for me lately". Texas puts 220,000 fans in there stands in one race. That speaks volumes to Nascar.


Go Mark Go
 
I've said it before, I can't blame NASCAR for taking away a date, but I'm sure gonna miss two races a year there.
 
I've never been to the Rock, but from what I understand it only holds 60,000 + fans & hasn't been upgraded in years? Tough sell for a track that doesn't sell out.

I've been to Gateway in St. Louis & I don't think they can support a WC date. Maybe if the Rock loses a date it should go to Nashville or Kentucky.
 
Originally posted by Mopardh9@Feb 20 2003, 06:54 PM
66why don't you like The Rock and Darlington?
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Its not that I don't like Rockingham or Darlington, I just really love the racing at California, Kansas or Chicagoland. I mean, you can't beat the excitment at those tracks; the lead changes, side by side racing and dramatic finishes. C'mon, think about it man.



Oh yeah, I was joking. :lol:
 
Originally posted by martin#6fan@Feb 20 2003, 09:56 PM
The reality is that Nascar is BIG business, and that will always win out. We can go down memory lane and talk about the great tracks we hate to lose, but this is a business of "what have you done for me lately". Texas puts 220,000 fans in there stands in one race. That speaks volumes to Nascar.


Go Mark Go
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Texas Cup race sold out: Texas Motor Speedway recorded its earliest sell-out ever as the final tickets for individual seats to the March 30 Samsung/RadioShack 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race were sold to Jason Wargo of Alsip, IL shortly after noon on Tuesday. Since opening seven years ago, Texas Motor Speedway has sold every seat in the 154,861-seat facility for its NASCAR Winston Cup event.. This is the earliest the event has ever sold-out.. Last year the event sold-out in late-February.
Hell yeah can't wait for March 30 ! ...............Beer's to y'all
 
Originally posted by PureDeathRacing@Feb 21 2003, 08:19 AM
Hell yeah can't wait for March 30 ! ...............Beer's to y'all
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Will be there with ya! Got my season tickets in the mail last week! WOOHOO! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:
 
I hope that The Rock doesnt lose a race but you know that it will. I love Rockingham and saw Ward Burton win his first race there, but I wouldnt mind seeing Nashville or Kentucky brought into the schedule. Maybe not Kentucky as much as Nashville.
 
Originally posted by The_Mad_Hatter@Feb 20 2003, 08:07 PM
This is something I don't understand. Fans say they want side-by-side racing. Nascar says they want side-by-side racing. The drivers say they want to be able to make passes. Rockingham provides all of those things and yet the tv ratings aren't particularly high and the track doesn't sell out. Why?

I love that place. Haven't been there in years but it looks like I'll have to return this fall. The place has history. And personality. The racing surface is brutal and forces drivers to wisely use their tires. Yet it also provides two or three lanes of racing so drivers can search for favorable lines all day. Can you really say the same thing about Loudon or Chicago or Las Vegas?
Click to expand...
The interest at Rockingham is not high to spectators as the creature comforts in the area are sorely lacking. There are few overnight accomodations or eating establishments, it is not centrally located, and the weather always plays a major role of scheduling the race. Therefore, Rockingham will lose a race and possibly two, in the near future. This is not money in the pocket of the France Family. This is good business. When a business spends as much as 18 million dollars a year for a sponsorship, they want th e most bang for the buck. They do not get it at Rockingham. If the France Family made these changes soley for the purpose of additional dollars in thier bank account it might be considered greed. This is more of an exposure thing for the people who put out the mega-bucks necessary to fund the racing. They spend the money for the advertising and should get as much return on investment as possible. Without them there would not be racing as we know it today.

As for the Rockingham race itself, this is where the cream rises to the top, and the teams and drivers are the biggest part of the program, overshadowing the chicken-droppings of the high speed ovals where aerodynamics and engineering play a major role and have become more valuable than driver or team skill.

Drivers who win or post consistent top five or even top ten finishes on tracks like Rockingham, Darlington, Martinsville, Bristol or Richmond, Watkins Glen and Infineon, are the top in the trade moreso than the ones who cherry pick the restrictor plate races but rarely finish well at other venues. And yes, you can say the same about Loudon. There are more passes made there than at many of the cookie-cutter tracks. Watch for the races this year at Louden to be among of the best on the circuit. The real drivers are the ones who post top fives at road courses, short tracks and super speedways.

As for restrictor plate tracks, they are an enigma to the term, "auto racing".
 
Good post Whizzer!!! I don't think the Rock will loose both dates though since it is part of the ISC group of tracks. Most likely the February race will be gone...It's seems this is the race weekend that is almost always affected by the weather.
 
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