Truck Series shakeup?

HoneyBadger

HoneyBadger

I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
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A short track somewhere
There's A LOT of talk around here that the Truck Series is going to return to its roots and add some short tracks next season. Among the rumored tracks are South Boston, Orange County and Myrtle Beach.

Supposedly, since these tracks are a half mile and shorter, NASCAR's saying they don't need SAFER barriers :confused:
 
I'd like to see some more tracks like that.
 
That, would be great. SoBo, Orange County and Myrtle Beach, all within driving distance for great racing. Gotta love those short tracks. Hope this is more than a rumor.
 
Whizzer said:
That, would be great. SoBo, Orange County and Myrtle Beach, all within driving distance for great racing. Gotta love those short tracks. Hope this is more than a rumor.
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Agreed. There are a lot of great racetracks down here. I'm getting ready to head off to Franklin County Speedway tonight :D
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
There's A LOT of talk around here that the Truck Series is going to return to its roots and add some short tracks next season. Among the rumored tracks are South Boston, Orange County and Myrtle Beach.

Supposedly, since these tracks are a half mile and shorter, NASCAR's saying they don't need SAFER barriers :confused:
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I'd love to see the truck series return to it's roots, the tracks you mentioned there would be great additions. As far as the safer barriers, I trust NASCAR's judgement. You figure a Super Late Model runs a track like South Boston quicker than a NCWT does, though the truck is heavier I still don't think with the HANS device a safer barrier would be a requirement.
 
Thegroundpounder99 said:
I'd love to see the truck series return to it's roots, the tracks you mentioned there would be great additions. As far as the safer barriers, I trust NASCAR's judgement. You figure a Super Late Model runs a track like South Boston quicker than a NCWT does, though the truck is heavier I still don't think with the HANS device a safer barrier would be a requirement.
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Yep. I think the success of the Rockingham race has awakened NASCAR as well. The fans are making demands. They didn't show up to the Nationwide Indy race. They showed up to Rockingham in a way that, I've got to be honest, I did not think they would. Hell, some of those truck races, they're lucky if they get 5,000-10,000 fans. Some of these tracks down here pack out every single week for a regular show. They might even be able to get away with selling tickets at $45 a head.

NASCAR really needs to think about how races are on television for the fans watching at home as well. Even if it's only 10,000 people, a sold out race putting on a thrilling show looks a whole lot better to fans, potential advertisers and to the networks than 230,000 empty seats at a 260,000 seat stadium.
 
Geeze ,a few months ago when that big wreck happened at the garage area entrance , everyone wanted soft walls and safety precautions all over the place . Pretty short memories ,if you ask me !.:rolleyes:
 
ted@economy said:
Geeze ,a few months ago when that big wreck happened at the garage area entrance , everyone wanted soft walls and safety precautions all over the place . Pretty short memories ,if you ask me !.:rolleyes:
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Ummmmm.....you're talking about wall openings and we're talking about safer barriers:confused:No track should have an unprotected opening.
 
This would be great. The safer truck frames, seats and hans mean the short tracks don't need safer barriers. Just cover up any unsafe openings. :D
 
You young guys change your minds every week. It's hard for some of us old people to keep up with you. So you are in favor of no safer barriers until someone gets hurt ?And then you will blame Nascar . Have I got it right?
 
ted@economy said:
You young guys change your minds every week. It's hard for some of us old people to keep up with you. So you are in favor of no safer barriers until someone gets hurt ?And then you will blame Nascar . Have I got it right?
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I trust NASCAR's judgement that it's safe to run tracks like South Boston (And the other ones mentioned) with no safer barriers and protected wall openings. The tracks are used for weekly shows with no issues. If we were talking 3/4 or bigger tracks I'd say we needed the safer barriers.
 
Adding short tracks would be great. However, they need to look for some short tracks in all parts of the country. I realize that NASCAR originated in the Southeast, but there are fans everywhere. Giving the Southern and Eastern parts of the country more races wouldn't benefit us fans in the central and Western US. I don't mean to sound selfish, but those places have more than enough tracks. But then again, I'm not sure about where all the short tracks are located or if there even are any worth racing on other than in the South and East.
 
Brent said:
Adding short tracks would be great. However, they need to look for some short tracks in all parts of the country. I realize that NASCAR originated in the Southeast, but there are fans everywhere. Giving the Southern and Eastern parts of the country more races wouldn't benefit us fans in the central and Western US. I don't mean to sound selfish, but those places have more than enough tracks. But then again, I'm not sure about where all the short tracks are located or if there even are any worth racing on other than in the South and East.
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There are plenty -- but they're more likely ASA and ARCA-CRA sanctioned and won't even be considered by NASCAR.

As for moving out of the southeast -- they took the Southern 500 AWAY from the southeast to appease all you "there are fans everywhere" types and, of all the dumbass things Brian France has done, that was probably the worst thing he's done. The outrage that caused, to this day, has been unmatched. NASCAR flipped the bird to their core fans to appease the "there are fans everywhere" types, and y'all didn't show up to the races.
 
Hell, just a few years after we lost the Southern 500 AND Rockingham, NASCAR had started talking about pulling Martinsville off the schedule to appease all the fans in Chicago, Los Angeles and Kansas City who don't show up to the races you already have.
 
As many dumbass things as NASCAR has done, they know where their fans are. Yes, there are fans everywhere -- but they know their core fanbase is in the south. They've spent 15 years branching out. The last ten years or so, they've doubled down on branching out to the midwest and the left coast. And what NASCAR has to show for it is: declining revenues, declining TV ratings, declining ticket sales and declining overall fan interest.

I guarantee you -- I would bet money, that if they had seven Cup races within a five hour drive of each other in the midwest or left coast each year, those races wouldn't sell 40,000 seats. Bristol routinely sells 130,000+ seats, Martinsville routinely sells 60,000+ seats, Charlotte routinely sells 120,000+, Richmond 85,000+, Darlington, 60,000+.

Some of your midwest and left coast tracks are lucky if they sell 80,000 tickets for ONE race.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Hell, just a few years after we lost the Southern 500 AND Rockingham, NASCAR had started talking about pulling Martinsville off the schedule to appease all the fans in Chicago, Los Angeles and Kansas City who don't show up to the races you already have.
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Thank you Andy. The NHL did exactly the same thing trying to expand into the southern US with the same results . Thumbing their nose at their hardcore fans in the North and watering down the product.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
As many dumbass things as NASCAR has done, they know where their fans are. Yes, there are fans everywhere -- but they know their core fanbase is in the south. They've spent 15 years branching out. The last ten years or so, they've doubled down on branching out to the midwest and the left coast. And what NASCAR has to show for it is: declining revenues, declining TV ratings, declining ticket sales and declining overall fan interest.

I guarantee you -- I would bet money, that if they had seven Cup races within a five hour drive of each other in the midwest or left coast each year, those races wouldn't sell 40,000 seats. Bristol routinely sells 130,000+ seats, Martinsville routinely sells 60,000+ seats, Charlotte routinely sells 120,000+, Richmond 85,000+, Darlington, 60,000+.

Some of your midwest and left coast tracks are lucky if they sell 80,000 tickets for ONE race.
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What are you smoking?

NASCAR may have started as a "southern" based sport but racing has been going on throughout this country for as many years as the tire has been around. And the decline in attendance is pretty level across the board. Even Bristol is suffering terribly.
 
I think that Andy was lamenting the loss of tradition that came with expansion. As a northern fan , I went first to Daytona , Darlington, Bristol and Martinsville . Even drove by North Wilkesboro and Rockingham. Because those were the tracks that I watched on tv. I still don't have much interest in trying to get to races at the newer tracks because they don't have the history or interest for me .Really happy to see the return of the Rock , and am hoping they get a Nationwide race there soon.
 
Smoke14 said:
What are you smoking?

NASCAR may have started as a "southern" based sport but racing has been going on throughout this country for as many years as the tire has been around. And the decline in attendance is pretty level across the board. Even Bristol is suffering terribly.
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Bristol, on a bad day, still gets more fans in the stands than Kansas or Chicago on a good day.
 
ted@economy said:
Thank you Andy. The NHL did exactly the same thing trying to expand into the southern US with the same results . Thumbing their nose at their hardcore fans in the North and watering down the product.
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Yep. NASCAR's core fans are in the south. They know that. If all these "expand the sport" fans actually showed up to the races, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
 
buckaroo said:
Bring em to Bowman Gray Stadium where there are 17,000 seats and almost sells out each Saturday night.
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Bowman Gray is way too small. Not to mention the race would be a glorified demolition derby. The K&N races at Bowman Gray are unwatchable.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Bristol, on a bad day, still gets more fans in the stands than Kansas or Chicago on a good day.
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What good does it do to compare a short track with tons of history to just another mile and a half track? The talk here is short tracks in the truck series. We have no way of knowing what kind of attendance a short track would get outside of the South and East because there aren't any short tracks on the schedule that are located anywhere else, unless you consider phoenix a short track. I think Iowa speedway is the closest short track to the West coast. I went to Bristol a few years back and it was a good experience. It'd be nice to be able to go to another race like that without having to drive 14+ hours one way.
 
Brent said:
What good does it do to compare a short track with tons of history to just another mile and a half track? The talk here is short tracks in the truck series. We have no way of knowing what kind of attendance a short track would get outside of the South and East because there aren't any short tracks on the schedule that are located anywhere else, unless you consider phoenix a short track. I went to Bristol a few years back and it was a good experience. It'd be nice to be able to go to another race like that without having to drive 14+ hours one way.
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That's my point. North Wilkesboro is gone in favor of Texas and New Hampshire. Rockingham is gone so California could get a second date. The sports history is in the south. And NASCAR's abandoned that to appease their new, casual fans who will quit watching the second Earnhardt Jr quits racing. Bristol isn't the only track to bring in good crowds. Martinsville, on a bad day, still sells close to 90% of its seats -- and that track has two really really bad dates. Richmond and Charlotte do better on a bad day than the midwest/left coast tracks do on a good day.

Bottom line, the fans are out here. If there are so many fans out in the midwest and the left coast, y'all need to start showing up.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
That's my point. North Wilkesboro is gone in favor of Texas and New Hampshire. Rockingham is gone so California could get a second date. The sports history is in the south. And NASCAR's abandoned that to appease their new, casual fans who will quit watching the second Earnhardt Jr quits racing. Bristol isn't the only track to bring in good crowds. Martinsville, on a bad day, still sells close to 90% of its seats -- and that track has two really really bad dates. Richmond and Charlotte do better on a bad day than the midwest/left coast tracks do on a good day.

Bottom line, the fans are out here. If there are so many fans out in the midwest and the left coast, y'all need to start showing up.
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http://www.jayski.com/pages/tracks-seating.htm

This year, Sonoma had more in attendance than Richmond, and Michigan and Kansas each had more people through the gate than Martinsville.

Those reporters at Jayski are just a bunch of dang liars.:rolleyes:
 
Smoke14 said:
http://www.jayski.com/pages/tracks-seating.htm

This year, Sonoma had more in attendance than Richmond, and Michigan and Kansas each had more people through the gate than Martinsville.

Those reporters at Jayski are just a bunch of dang liars.:rolleyes:
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whoosh.gif
 
Smoke14 said:
http://www.jayski.com/pages/tracks-seating.htm

This year, Sonoma had more in attendance than Richmond, and Michigan and Kansas each had more people through the gate than Martinsville.

Those reporters at Jayski are just a bunch of dang liars.:rolleyes:
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My point is, since you missed it the first time, there are several tracks within five hours of each other who all bring in great crowds. Bristol, on a bad day, does better than Michigan on a good day. Hence the reason NASCAR has like 13 races in the southeast. If there were three races in the San Francisco area or five races in the Detroit area, those attendance figures would fall, rapidly.

Fans in the southeast will show up, and will continue to show up no matter how many races there are here -- which is why NASCAR wants to add more races here. Fans in the midwest -- not so much. Kansas might be fine as far as attendance goes since there's nothing else to do in that middle of nowhere stats and Texas is pretty much part of the south. The rest, not so much. If Sonoma had two dates, their revenue wouldn't double. Auto Club did have two dates and we saw how that worked out -- at the expense of pissing all the fans off.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
My point is, since you missed it the first time, there are several tracks within five hours of each other who all bring in great crowds. Bristol, on a bad day, does better than Michigan on a good day. Hence the reason NASCAR has like 13 races in the southeast. If there were three races in the San Francisco area or five races in the Detroit area, those attendance figures would fall, rapidly.

Fans in the southeast will show up, and will continue to show up no matter how many races there are here -- which is why NASCAR wants to add more races here. Fans in the midwest -- not so much. Kansas might be fine as far as attendance goes since there's nothing else to do in that middle of nowhere stats and Texas is pretty much part of the south. The rest, not so much. If Sonoma had two dates, their revenue wouldn't double. Auto Club did have two dates and we saw how that worked out -- at the expense of pissing all the fans off.
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As usual, you are merely quoting your opinion. Rockingham was taken off the schedule because no one went to the track.
 
Smoke14 said:
As usual, you are merely quoting your opinion. Rockingham was taken off the schedule because no one went to the track.
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Rockingham also had the two worst dates on the schedule.

And NASCAR's going to add more Truck races in this region because the fans showed up at Rockingham this year. No matter how you spin this, that Rockingham Truck race surpassed EVERYBODY's expectation. There was absolutely nobody in the sport who expected the fans to show up. That was a wakeup call for NASCAR.
 
i am sure one of the major reason going back to these 3 short tracks is to also cut travel costs down for teams. who knows maybe they will split the series into two regional series. east and west.
 
I've been dreaming about an east and west for years. Then we could have a real playoff.
 
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