The single biggest problem with Late Model racing in the Northwest, to me, is the lack of
a common theme shared among the promoters of the individual tracks in the region. What
I mean by this is a sense of direction, working together, common ideas and rules. If you
look at Late Model racing in its current state within our region you see a scattered
handful of cars at each track. Looking at the Eastern states you see a much fuller field at
each track. While some will say that the Eastern states enjoy a denser population, I think
the truth is that they have figured out how to work together toward a mutually beneficial
result.
So what can we learn from them? A lot really. The one thing that jumps out right away is
that most of those tracks share a similar set of rules. While they may vary a little from
track to track, the end result is that a guy can race just about anywhere without huge
changes to his equipment. Anyone who knows anything about this type of racing knows
that changes in rules mean more money for the teams. The best way to help keep costs
down is to keep the rule changes to a minimum. By sharing a common set of rules
between multiple tracks I believe you can start to build on that common theme I was
referring to. By locking the rules down so they aren't changing every year you can help
save the teams money they are currently spending in modifications to their equipment
just to keep up with the rules.
What else can we learn? Let's look at the schedules. In the Eastern states there are a lot
more tracks in tighter areas than we have. But that is offset by much denser populations.
But there are some things that they are doing that we should look at a little closer. Some
tracks choose to run on Friday night instead of Saturday night, some on Sunday and a few
on a Wednesday or Thursday night. While this may seem crazy at first, think about what
it does for a second. By running on a night that the other tracks are not you open yourself
up to teams being able to run your track by removing schedule conflicts. Or you provide
an opportunity for a guy to run multiple tracks in a single season if his budget allows.
How many times in the past have we seen tracks schedule races on top of another track
that is only a few hours away? Sharing dates is bad for car count. So why not work
toward a common schedule where tracks are not competing for the same days on the
calendar?
Now, I'm not saying that you should start racing on Wednesday night. What I am saying
is you should not be running the same class of cars on the same night as a track close to
you. It really isn't too hard to figure out either. If you take a map of the Northwest and put
a dot on each pavement track you can begin to see how a schedule could be constructed
in a manner that allows for the best car count at each track and provides the opportunity
to run for a championship at multiple tracks during the same calendar year. Think about
this for a second. If we assign weeks to tracks, starting with what we will call "Week 1"
and working through a typical 3 week turn around, it might look something like this -
Week 1 - Wenatchee Valley Super Oval, Douglas County Speedway, Spokane County
Raceway
Week 2 - Southsound Speedway, Yakima Speedway, Stateline Speedway
Week 3 - Evergreen Speedway, Ephrata Raceway Park, Columbia Motor Speedway
You can quickly see that the result is that each track races late models one week and has
two weeks off before the next late model race. Also, no track is running late models on
the same week that its neighboring track is running them. The end result should be an
increase in car count as teams can run multiple tracks during the same year. Instead of
having only 4 or 5 cars at each track all racing on the same night; we might end up with
10 to 15 cars racing as many tracks as they can. The end result is a fuller field of cars that
the fans can enjoy watching.
So how do we build a better show? We are in the entertainment business, right? The
show is what brings the fans out, right? First, we need to look at what is wrong with the
current show. Programs that start late run up against curfew issues. Gone are the days
when we could just race until we were done. Now we live in a time where we fight
housing developments that require noise curfews and the reality of families that want to
go home at a decent hour and put the kids to bed. Factor in a half hour drive after the
races and think about what that means to a family that has a child they need to put to bed.
Get the show started at a realistic hour that allows you to send everyone home at a decent
hour. Does this mean we need to star the show at 2pm? No, but we need to think about
moving start times to accommodate the reality of families wanting to go home and sleep
too.
Another factor in bad shows is huge down times. We've all heard it said that a given track
had almost an hour intermission with nothing to do and it bored the fans to death. While I
do feel that intermissions are a must to allow racers a moment to fix early damage and
stay in the show all night, we also need to keep them realistic and entertain the fans in
some fashion. Some tracks use pit reporters. This to me is a great idea. Send a guy with a
microphone through the pits during that intermission. Have him talk to the drivers, ask
the fast qualifier how he feels about the coming main event, talk to the guy thrashing to
fix his broken car about whether he thinks he will make it or not or just tell us what
broke, let the fans hear what is going on behind the pit wall. Some tracks have a driver
meet and greet time. This is another great idea. Local tracks around here have a huge
disconnect between race teams and fans in my opinion. Back east, the idea of a "local
hero" means something. Fans cheer for "their guy", they wear his t-shirts, put his stickers
on their cars, and they boo his rivals. Around this area, fans don't even know who the
drivers are other than a name they hear at the beginning of the race. Providing some sort
of interaction can only benefit the show by giving the fans a face to put with the name or
a person they like after meeting them.
Next we can look at the on-track action. How do we make it better? A topic I hear
debated heavily is "full field inverts". Several tracks run an invert of the top qualifiers. A
few select series or tracks across the country run a full invert. The full invert should be
the only option. Fans want passing, invert the field and make them pass. Drivers will tell
you they don't want an invert because it tears up cars. So make them learn to drive
cleaner. It has been proven that it can and does work. If drivers are forced to do
something, they will learn how to make it work. They don't have to like it; they do have
to put on a good show. Give them some incentive for passing all those cars. I've seen
points given out for each position gained, this seems to be a good answer. In the end, fans
come to see passing, give them passing.
Gimmick rules are another topic I hear from time to time. Things like the "tap out" rule.
Back in the eastern states they use the same rule we use of "all cars involved in an
incident go to the back", but they also allow a driver to admit fault by tapping his roof
above his window (tapping out) and allow the other driver to remain in his spot. This
builds a level of respect between drivers and adds some accountability. Will every driver
be so honest? No, probably not. But I think the end result is something the fans can enjoy
watching and cheering for. Cone restarts are another gimmick rule. The cone restart
should be implemented at all tracks. It adds another dynamic to the race and can change
the outcome of a race in a matter of seconds. This type of excitement is exactly what the
fans come to see. Some drivers don't like the cone restarts because they feel double file
restarts tear up cars. Again, make them learn how to drive cleaner. The excitement for the
fans is paramount.
I could go on and on with ideas that I feel will help Late Model racing in the Northwest.
In the end I think what I've outlined is more the start of a conversation than and ending.
I'm also sure there are plenty of people out there that have more great ideas about how we
can change things for the better. Maybe they don't voice their opinions because they don't
know where or how or to whom. Maybe this will be the start of that conversation and
provide them with a means to build on the things I've outlined. The challenge for you, the
promoter, is to listen to these ideas and improve your product. In the end it should benefit
everyone involved.
Tim McDougald
Driver - Haywire Racing #68 Late Model
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