DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript

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Dirt tracks need to stop blaming streaming services and go to work | Daily 5-26-2022

Today I've got some more thoughts on tracks and promoters blaming streaming services, plus we talk Xtreme Midgets at Millbridge, Lucas late models at Wheatland, NARC in Oregon and Washington, and more. Let's go!

Today is Thursday, May 26th, two thousand and twenty two. Welcome into DIRTRACKR Daily. I'm Justin Fiedler.

Back on the Tuesday Daily we talked about the comments from over the weekend made on social media by Terre Haute promoter Scott Ronk. Following two nights of USAC sprint cars at the track he took over this season, Ronk was clearly upset by the lack of attendance and what probably amounted to a not-so-great financial weekend. Jump back to that episode if you want to know more. But this idea of tracks and promotion has kept me thinking about it all week, and I even had a back and forth with a member of the dirt racing media later in the day on Tuesday about. I won't say who, just because it doesn't really matter, and I didn't ask permission to include them here, but the wheels continue to turn. And then last night, I took my little guy and we rolled up to Millbridge to catch night two of the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets. It was his first time at a dirt track ever, and my first time in a few years, basically since I left World Racing Group. It was a nice reminder of just how much better it is to be at the track to see the racing, versus watching a live stream. Watching him get showered with dirt clods for the first time, answering his million questions about the cars, him seeing inside the cockpit of a midget, and that one, small star struck moment he had when he saw that driver walk by that he's seen on TV and heard the name so many times. He turned to me and asked "is that Kyle Larson?" And of course, it was. Millbridge is a bit out of the way, and the good thing there is your cell phone doesn't really work that well, so you basically don't have any other choice but to be engaged in what's happening around you. It reaffirmed my belief that if fans are able and can afford to go, they would much rather be at the track to see these races, then watch them on a streaming service. There is just no comparison. You will never convince me that a one or two camera broadcast, with the track PA piped in, even at a low price, is enough of a show to keep race fans away. It feels like there are some out there who either want to do away with the streaming completely, or raise the prices dramatically in hopes that this will push people back to the track. But both things are wrong. First, people right now have three options when it comes to consuming dirt racing. They can go to the track, watch online, or do nothing. If for whatever reason the first option doesn't happen, either through distance, cost, or anything else, if I gave track and series people the choice, would you rather those fans watched online or didn't consume the sport at all? Because to me, the answer here seems pretty clear. I'd rather they were doing absolutely anything to be involved, versus nothing. Second, dirt racing isn't a commodity. You don't raise and lower prices on the two sides like they are equal. This isn't crude oil, or pork bellies, or frozen, concentrated, orange juice. Raising streaming prices won't push those folks back to the race track that some want you to believe are staying away. They will just find something else to do. So instead of being apathetic, and blaming someone else, in this case the streamers, the industry needs to do better. And I see two big areas for improvement. In all of this, you have to convince people there is no other option but to come to the track. How do we do this? Through continuing to improve the at track experience, and through better marketing and promotion. This is the part of the discussion where all of the head-in-the-sand, antiquated thinking, apathetic people in the sport say to me "but Justin, who is going to pay for all that?" I'm not advocating for $10,000,000 track renovations here. These places need to start small, build over time, and make progress where they are able. Power wash some grandstands. Update your social media and websites regularly. How many tracks and series do any sort of digital marketing, like for example email lists? You can start a mailchimp account for free, and they have free templates. You don't need to have someone on your staff with a PHD in computer science to do some basic email marketing. You know all that spam you get in your inbox? Why do they do it so much? Because it freakin works. Get people in and out of your track in a reasonable amount of time on a race night. Offer premium concession and beverage options. Have a party deck area, where people can stand around, enjoy a beer, and talk to their friends while the racing is going on. That would take a few pop up tables and some bicycle fencing to do. Leverage the situation with the streaming platform that covers your track to provide you with highlight packages that can be shared on social media. Make them work for you instead of blaming them for your problems. There are a million ways that don't cost much or anything at all, to do all of this better. There is no reason why weekly shows can't be viewed as bigger events. Turn your drivers into stars. And then once we start doing all of this, we'll get even deeper and talk about tracking online ticket sales, paid social media campaigns, creating YouTube channels for produced video content, and maybe even paved parking lots! Until we can start doing the basic stuff well, I don't want to hear a word about streaming services driving away race fans. It's a lame excuse and that sort of thinking will do nothing but drive the industry down. Let's do better instead of complaining. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk today.

Now, let's talk about some actual racing.

Last night at Millbridge for the second round of the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series, we had another wild feature. With so much talent and experience in the field, I really felt like these two nights were dominated by the young drivers. Gavan Boschele ended up on top on Tuesday night after battling with Bryant Wiedeman, and last night it was Cannon McIntosh picking up the victory after a late tustle with Boschele. McIntosh led most of the feature last night, but he and Boschele started trading sliders late. Coming to three to go though, Boschele screwed up into turn three and got too high. He banged off the cushion and the wall pretty hard and turned over. He ended the night 18th. The incident with Boschele basically ended the challenges for the lead, but we weren't done with flips. On the ensuing restart, Kyle Larson went tumbling in turn two after he fought his way from the back all the way up to third. He caught the wall wrong in one and went over a few times. He was also done for the night. McIntosh was able to hold on over the final few circuits and bag the victory, with Taylor Reimer finishing second and Zach Daum grabbing his second podium finish of the event in third. Daum leaves the event as the series points leader over McIntosh and Nick Hoffman. The next Xtreme event is June 10th at Lake Ozark for the sprint cars. The next midget race is June 26th at Jacksonville. It was a very solid two nights of racing I thought, and kudos to Casey Shuman, Brian Dunlap, and their crew for making it all happen. Starting a new series is no easy feat for sure.

Elsewhere last night, we were supposed to have USAC sprint cars at Circle City, but that show was lost to rain, and tonight's race at the track has also been cancelled as of this morning. So the next event on the calendar for the series is June 14th at Grandview Speedway in Pennsylvania.

Looking ahead to tonight, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is scheduled to kick off a three day weekend at Lucas Oil Speedway in Missouri. Things will culminate on Saturday night with the $50,000 to win Show-Me 100. The forecasts for Friday and Saturday look pretty good, but today could be a tough day for racing. As of this recording, no calls have been made, but stay tuned to websites and social media today for updates. Brandon Sheppard enters the weekend as the series points leader by 130 over Tyler Erb. Tim McCreadie, Jimmy Owens, and Ricky Thornton Jr. complete the top five. Hudson O'Neal is the defending Show-Me 100 winner from 2021, but over the past six Lucas races at Wheatland, we've had six different winners going back to 2020. The names on the win list include Payton Looney, Chris Ferguson, Josh Richards, McCreadie, O'Neal, and Jonathan Davenport. This weekend is a co-sanction with the MLRA series, and on that side Johnny Scott leads Chris and Chad Simpson in the points standings with four nights complete in 2022. According to Dirt on Dirt, besides the Lucas regulars, we should see names like Davenport, Bobby Pierce, Mike Marlar, Shannon Babb, Frank Heckenast Jr., Mason Oberkramer, and more this weekend. If racing does happen tonight, the dirtrackr.com analytics prediction formula likes Brandon Sheppard, and I'll go with that pick as well. He's been strong lately, and has run well at Wheatland in the past. Don't forget if you're doing fantasy racing picks, like at dirtdraft, the analytics section of dirtrackr.com has a ton of free resources available. And if you want more, grab a subscription to dirtrackr Plus for just $4.99 a month. This weekend's Lucas races will be live on MAVTV Plus.

Out west, the NARC 410 sprint cars begin a four race weekend, with stops in Oregon and Washington. Tonight is Southern Oregon Speedway, Friday is Willamette Speedway, and Saturday and Sunday they'll be at Grays Harbor. With five races complete, Dominic Scelzi leads Mitchell Faccinto and Shane Golobic in the points standings. Scelzi has three wins, Colby Copeland has one, and Corey Day has one so far. It will be interesting to see how the car counts play out over the next few nights as the series leaves it's traditional base of California tracks to head north. Further complicating things is that the Sprint Car Challenge Tour for 360s is also racing this weekend. They have stops at Stockon and Marysville. It will surely split the field up a bit, and we know that Shane Golobic will be one of those drivers making choices. His schedule shows he'll be at the Oregon races on Thursday and Friday, but the Sprint Car Challenge Tour shows over the weekend. The same is true for Colby Copeland. The NARC series has put on some really good races this year, so definitely check these out on FloRacing this weekend. And good luck to fellow YouTuber and past Conversations guest Tanner Holmes as he'll be taking on the series for all four nights.

There are nine programs on the streaming schedule for today. FloRacing has USAC sprint cars from Circle City, NARC 410 sprint cars from Southern Oregon, and Flo 24/7. MAVTV Plus has night one of the Lucas late models from Lucas Oil Speedway. Fast Four has the first night of the non-wing world championship from Circus City, Sprint Car Unlimited has 410s from Selinsgrove, and there is IMCA and WISSOTA racing on Speed Sport from Southern Oklahoma, Kossuth County, and Gondik Law. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.

That's it for the show today, have a good Thursday. If you have thoughts about the topics on today's show, leave them in the comments below or tweet at me.

Thanks everybody for tuning in, I'll see you tomorrow for more DIRTRACKR Daily!