ABSOLUTE Must Reading

I found this while reading Chris Moses' Oval Operations site. It's from the Des Moines Register, and EVERY weekly race fan needs to read this.

My little rant:

Nobody is safe right now. I've been saying that the Knoxville Nationals carry the weekly program for years, and been chided by "experts." If the pinnacle of the old school has to change, then we must all. It's time to step up, it's time to change our thinking, to quote the 'Verizon Guy:'

"Can you hear me NOW?!?"

Iowa tracks try to stem losses, rev up revenue

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pb...705060359/1013

SPECIAL REPORT

May 6, 2007

Knoxville Raceway is at a crowded crossroads. Without the windfall from the Knoxville Nationals - sprint car racing's "Super Bowl" - one of the planet's most hallowed half-mile dirt tracks could be on thin ice in terms of its weekly program.

"It takes almost 3,000 paying customers to cover our costs of a weekly show," Knoxville race director Ralph Capitani said. "Last year, we averaged a little over 2,200. That doesn't cut it. If we did not have the Nationals, we'd have to do things a lot differently.

The Nationals lets us do things other tracks can't do."Iowa's race tracks - from border to border - face an increasingly competitive landscape in pursuit of the state's entertainment dollars.

There are 56 functioning race tracks dotting the state, according to the 2007 National Speedway Directory, which puts Iowa fourth nationally to more populated states Texas, Pennsylvania and California in number of motorsports-based facilities.

"There are so many venues vying for the entertainment dollar," said Boone Speedway promoter Robert Lawton. "I'd say there are nearly 100 things that these people didn't have 15 years ago.

"Whether it be (youth) soccer, go-kart facilities that let people rent cars to race - you can go on and on about the opportunities people have to spend their discretionary dollars. "The race for those dollars has become a constant and ever-shifting undertaking.

Most tracks are discovering that accepting change, not resisting, is key to remaining viable in the 21st century.

For example:
- Knoxville is considering the Internet as a marketing tool to attract younger fans.
- Boone is adding offbeat events such as donkey races and also giving away a car each month.
- Hawkeye Downs Speedway, Iowa's only facility featuring both asphalt and dirt stock-car racing, continues to tinker with its structure and the positioning of popular school bus and minivan races.

The buzz term is "value-added," and tracks are pursuing its elements full throttle.

"What do they say about the definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result every time?" said Iowa Speedway vice president and general manager Craig Armstrong.

"I see that, unfortunately, in some short-track promoters, but thankfully, not a lot of them I've seen around here."Spurring recoveryAt Boone, a dip in attendance has led to several "value-added" options, from the new car giveaway to donkey and chuckwagon races.

"We had a downturn in the late (1980s)," said Lawton, whose track hosts the sprawling and well-attended IMCA Super Nationals each September. "And it's never recovered." Lawton said that dip halved weekly crowds from about 2,000 to 1,000.

So the track added an "Eve of Destruction" demolition derby show to its slate last season and the event quickly became a popular offering.

This season, the donkey and chuckwagon races will be sprinkled in, along with bull poker, as seen at many rodeos, and "Faster Pastor" races, to name a few.

"Just this year, we decided we needed to change our program to try to attract not necessarily the hard-core race fan, but the casual fan who just wants to come out one or two times a year to be entertained," Lawton said.

"That's what our whole philosophy has been ... Even though you're still giving them the hard-core race program, you want the value to be there for them to have a more enjoyable experience.

"A "Catch-22"

Knoxville faces the potential of shifting from a weekly racing venue with 20-plus full programs to several big event weekends. Capitani said it's more likely weekly shows would continue to run, but with the potential of 360-cubic-inch sprint cars, not 410s, shouldering the regular load.

"There are only eight tracks, by my last count, in the United States that run a weekly 410 show," Capitani said. "So I don't know how the change is going to occur, and maybe it won't. Maybe I'm crying wolf, but it makes me nervous.

"You might see the day where there's still a weekly show, but it will be 360s and maybe 305s, and you'll have special events for the 410s.

"Knoxville is battling a drop in weekly attendance of more than 1,500 in five years.

Capitani said five years ago, an average weekly crowd measured about 4,000.

Everything from fluctuating gas prices to the addition of entertainment options such as casinos and minor-league hockey teams affect attendance, Capitani said.

"I'd say the very first year Prairie Meadows opened, we lost 400 paying customers on Saturday night," Capitani said. "They got jobs up there, or they were there. Or else they lost their money during the week and couldn't afford to come to the races.

"Knoxville is planning the unprecedented step of marketing itself to youth-oriented Internet sites to help augment its loyal fan base.

Adding concerts to the schedule has been discussed.

But that would increase costs, which, when factoring in a $29,000 weekly purse and burgeoning electric and utility fees for Knoxville's sweeping complex, brings its own set of challenges.

Therein lies the rub: Do you spend more money to drive attendance, thus revenue, when the racing you offer is already top-notch?

"It's kind of a Catch-22 situation," Capitani said. "The economic situation affects everything."

Ahead of the curve?

Brad Steffens, co-chairman of the race committee for Hawkeye Downs Speedway in Cedar Rapids, came up with the idea of adding school bus races as he watched late-night TV while staying up with his child.

"There was some 'Spills and Thrills' video showing school buses racing," Steffens recalled. "I said, 'Gosh, I've never heard of anyone doing that around here. We ought to try that.' "The school bus races, and accompanying minivan events, are now a staple.

"It's the cheap shows that make the money sometimes, which is kind of ironic," he Steffens said.

Downs officials continue to tweak their ancillary events, pairing monster truck spectacles with the school bus and minivan races.

So far, so good.

Steffens said the track's average attendance of roughly 2,000 has remained stable."That's part of why I think we've been successful, too, is being willing to think outside of the box," Steffens said.

Looking Ahead

Creativity is key as Iowa's racing venues - big and small alike - cater to both sets of customers: fans and drivers.

The new model, crafting an experience based in racing, but bolstered by celebrity appearances and fun tangential elements, is increasingly taking hold.

Iowa will continue to be a haven for short-track racing, and Knoxville will remain a huge draw with the Knoxville Nationals and other events.

So will Boone, Hawkeye Downs, Adams County Speedway in Corning, and dozens of other racing venues across the state.What tracks face is not a crisis, but an opportunity to grow in new ways.

"There's a core amount of people out there who will sit at any race track, in any part of the country, and watch cars go around in circles and always enjoy it, always attend it," said IMCA vice president Brett Root, whose organization sanctions classes of cars at the majority of Iowa's tracks.

"I think fans are getting a little bit more sophisticated; they're a little bit more savvy about how they spend their money. With the entertainment aspect, they want more."