DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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An inevitable ending and more dirt tracks in trouble | Daily 9-30-2024

An inevitable champion is crowned, the BC39 delivers, and more dirt tracks hit the market. We'll discuss all of that, including a look at what the path forward could be for dirt tracks in an increasingly difficult time. Let's go!

It's Monday, September 30th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily presented by Kubota Genuine Parts.

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At the Dirt Track at IMS yesterday, they did get the BC39 completed with a double header. That included the second prelim program, which Kale Drake won, and the finale. With all the rain they received, it was a big effort to just get the track into any sort of raceable condition, but that did mean a heavy surface and a technical day of racing. It created an entertaining main event though, with three different leaders, and a late pass for the win. Chase McDermand was able to control much of that main event, but he made a late mistake out of turn four on that tricky surface, and both Cannon McIntosh and Jade Avedisian slipped by. McIntosh was able to hold Jade off for the win, to score his first career victory in the event. The second place run for Jade was her best of the season, amid a year where she is only running a partial midget schedule. McDermand was third after winning the initial prelim night on Thursday. With seven races left in the year, Daison Pursley still in control of the championship, leading McIntosh by 87 points. Ryan Timms, Logan Seavey, and Zach Daum complete the top five. The USAC midget season goes quiet now until the middle of November, when they begin the final run to the end with that west coast trip that includes stops at Placerville, Tulare, Merced, Bakersfield, and Ventura. You will be able to see midgets this coming weekend though when the Xtreme Outlaw series ends their year at Jacksonville, Friday and Saturday.

A High Limit note for you, with Florence and Atomic cancelled, Brad Sweet's lead in the standings is large enough with four races left that he's officially clinched the High Limit championship for 2024. Coming off of five straight World of Outlaws titles, this was not a shocking outcome in this first full year of High Limit as a national tour. Sweet's consistency was going to be difficult to contend with, and that was true again here. 41 top tens in 47 races, with 32 top fives and seven wins. It's been something we've talked about here in recent years, that if you can get your feature finish average down near five, you're going to have a very good chance at winning any big dirt racing title. This season for Sweet adding to that argument, with his 2024 feature finish average at 5.17. Interesting to point out that Sweet and David Gravel's average finish within each series is nearly identical. We'd likely have a very tight battle between the two again had there not been the split. There is still plenty to play for with High Limit over the final two weeks, not only for Sweet, but also many others down the standings. You can see the Kubota High Limit sprint cars next Tuesday, October 8th at I-70, then Wednesday at Wheatland, and that following weekend at Texas Motor Speedway for the finale.

If you are in the market currently to buy a dirt track, there are no lack of options, with two coming on the market here recently. The freshest one is Red Dirt Raceway in Oklahoma, with the owners there just posting within the last day that they are putting the track for sale after this 2024 race season. Cody and Melissa Brewer purchased the track late in 2016, and started operating it in 2017. Over the last several seasons, beyond their weekly program, Red Dirt has hosted the All Star Circuit of Champions, USAC midgets, the ASCS, and High Limit. The 2300 seat facility is on the market for $750,000, and includes everything to continue operation. That means equipment like tractors and trucks, outfitted concessions, radios, transponders, and more. Red Dirt sits on 32 acres about an hour east of Oklahoma City in the town of Meeker. The Brewers are going to stay involved in racing even after the sale, including continuing to promote USAC midget shows in Nebraska and Kansas. Hopefully they are able to find a buyer quickly who wants to keep the track going far into the future.

And in Wisconsin, Beaver Dam Raceway is now listed, although the future of this site is likely not as a race track. The 130 acre property is listed at $3.25 million, and includes 130 acres, with frontage to Highway 151. Beaver Dam is about 65 miles north and west of Milwaukee, and has been a regular stop for the World of Outlaws sprint cars. It's been operated by Scott Boyd, whose name you may recognize because of SLS Promotions, which promotes a significant part of the World of Outlaws midwest schedule each season. This year that included stops at Beaver Dam, River Cities, Ogilvie, Wilmot, Red River Valley, and the Dirt Oval at Route 66 Raceway. The track had previously announced back in August that they would cease their weekly racing programs after 2024, and that a special events schedule was likely for 2025. The real estate listing though, says that this property is quote "ideal for developers with creative ideas" unquote. Maybe there is a possibility that this could remain a race track into the future, but I think it's much more likely that if purchased, the facility would be transformed into something else.

It seems clear that we continue to be in a period of significant transition for the race track business. There is more and more competition for people's attention and dollars these days, and a lot of tracks are under threat from other factors like urban sprawl. The margins that most tracks operate on are razor thin, and subject to all sorts of outside forces like weather cancellations. One rainy year can break some of these tracks. It is also not uncommon for some of these operators to have jobs outside of running the race track, which is true of the Brewers who own Red Dirt. That was clearly a factor for their decision to walk away. There are only so many hours in a day, and you hear often that they want to spend more time with family in the aftermath. That's certainly an understandable reason to get out. I do think there are track owners and promoters out there who are their own worst enemies, with a lot of their issues self-inflicted. And instead of working on solutions and innovation, we just blame things like streaming. That's fine for them to do, but it's not going to fix their business. I would like to see more tracks become multi-purpose facilities, and have their places booked beyond just Friday and Saturday night racing. Concerts, camping, event spaces, car shows, swap meets, holiday activities, there are so many different opportunities for some of these places to seize on. They have grandstand seating, big parking areas, concessions, bathrooms, and all of these are needed for events beyond racing. I live near Charlotte Motor Speedway, and there is always something going on over there beyond just NASCAR races and NHRA. They've got racing schools, I've seen circus tents in the parking lots, monster truck shows, the yearly Christmas lights, carnival rides, music festivals, they do regular car shows, and they have meeting and event spaces. I also worked at the Office Depot Center in Florida in college during the NHL lockout season in 2005. The CEO of the organization at the time was Michael Yormark, and he kept that building busy with a packed concert schedule and all sorts of other events to fill that down time. There is a business model that exists to keep these tracks busy and profitable all year, but it would require getting outside of the racing bubble. I've said before that I'm not going to come on here with complaints about things and not offer at least some ideas on solutions, and that's true here as well. We need healthy race tracks, which means we need business models that keep owners and promoters making money. I still think that's doable.

Alright, that's your Daily for today. We are at the moment just shy of 20,000 followers on Facebook, so if you are active there, maybe drop by and give us a follow, help us break into the 20s. The daily show gets posted there every day, along with photos, reels, and other fun stuff. That's my sales pitch.

Hope you guys have a great Monday out there, we'll see you back here tomorrow!