DIRTRACKR Daily Podcast - Episode Transcript
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What is a fair weekly dirt racing purse? Plus why drivers should help promote... | Daily 3-8-2023
Today on the show, some thoughts on weekly track purses and why drivers should get more involved, plus news on LaSalle and Calistoga and more. Let's go!
It's Wednesday, March 8th, I'm Justin Fiedler. This is DIRTRACKR Daily.
On yesterday's show we talked about the reaction to the news that Port Royal was bumping their weekly purses, and the now $5000 to win regular 410 races has them on par with tracks like Knoxville, Huset's, and Williams Grove. One of the sidebars of that news was the heat that Ohio tracks continue to take for not having better purses. I wanted to double back to this today, because I've got a few points to make and I'm curious what the expectations really are for race teams that run big divisions weekly at a track. I know everyone always wants more, but how much is really needed from these purses? We know in places like Central Pennsylvania, if you are at the sharper end, it's possible to make a living as a driver. Not everyone is, most crew members aren't, and car owners are not making back their investment. In most places though, the idea of running a track weekly and making enough money to pay your bills just isn't possible. And that's really how it should be. Making a living as a professional race car driver just isn't for everyone. Thanks to Bill V over at sprintcarratings.com, we've got a decent look at what some 410 tracks pay to win weekly, and a lot of those Ohio tracks are $3000 to win from a total feature purse of $12k or $13k. For those higher weekly purses though, you are looking at a doubling of the total payout. Knoxville pays $5000 to win from a total of more than $28,000. There's just no way a track can make that type of jump. To even bump the winner's share from $3000 to $5000, with no other changes down through the field, that $2000 has to come from somewhere. If that means ticket sales, that's 100 extra tickets a week at $20 each. That's a big leap to make if you are a promoter. I'd like to see some of these drivers and teams really take ownership of some of these weekly tracks from their end. If the track is important enough to you to race at weekly, then make a commitment to help in promoting it. Instead of adding cash to a weekly purse if I'm a track owner right now, I'm creating a bonus program for promotion. Your team and driver will get extra cash for posting on social media about the race, going on local media or podcasts to talk about the races, rolling your car out somewhere to draw a crowd at a shopping center, etc. Do your part as a driver to help that track draw more folks in. One of the reasons why I've throttled back on doing interviews here is because I get tired of trying to chase people. You either can't get a response, or you get something setup and then get ghosted. It's just not worth it. Over the last 90 days I've had over 300,000 people tune in to a show, so it would seem to me like a driver would want a chance to get their name and sponsors in front of a group like that. But many can't be bothered to follow through. So if you aren't doing that for yourself, we know you aren't doing it for your track.
There is a little bit of race track news floating around this week, including updates on the future for LaSalle Speedway and Calistoga. First, you may have seen the story floating around, but LaSalle Speedway in Illinois is for sale, and has apparently been for sale since it closed up following the 2021 season. The price was recently reduced to $1.9 million and track owner Kerry Izzo cited the difficulties in getting employees and racers at the track as some reasons for it being put up for sale. The 1/4 mile track sits on 57 acres and is located about 90 miles south and west of downtown Chicago. The Izzo family has owned the track since 1991 and it's been the host of series like the Summer Nationals, MARS, IRA and MOWA Sprint Cars, the MLRA, and even the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. While the track remains for sale, Izzo told Outside Groove that she's open to other options to keep the facility operating, like bringing in outside investors.
The other track that continues to have a murky existence is Calistoga Speedway in California. I don't believe we've had any racing there since 2019, and the track and surrounding fairgrounds have been in flux basically since then. City officials wanted to buy the facility in 2020, but the pandemic put the screws to their plans. Then last year the city council agreed unanimously to purchase the property, which also includes a golf course and several buildings, but it was pending a vote by the local community. The deal would cost $15.9 million for the initial purchase and an additional $9.1 million in improvements, with a tax being levied on lodging, commercial and industrial uses, and vacant land and real estate to pay for it all. But that vote happened last night, and local residents did not pass the measure in the special election. It needed 2/3 of voters to say yes, but nearly 70% voted against the measure. So what happens now I don't know, but whatever it is, it's probably not good for the possibility of reopening the race track.
I always try and keep you guys updated on cool dirt racing content out there, and FloRacing announced another documentary piece yesterday. Coming soon, they are going behind the scenes with Jonathan Davenport for what they are calling Dirty Dollars. Looks like they'll be talking about his $2 million dollar season in 2022, and we get to see his Dirty Dollar Ranch. The announcement doesn't say anything about when this will premiere, but hopefully soon. Also, Michael Rigsby did confirm on Twitter last night that the DIRT doc series following Kyle Larson will get rolling in April. I've been curious about that, and I know some of you have as well.
You can add young Chase Randall to the list of drivers who are planning on hitting all 11 points paying High Limit races this season. The Texas driver released his schedule yesterday, which will be centered around weekly 360 competition at Knoxville where he'll run for the track championship. The team though also has a sizeable slate of 410 racing coming up, including those High Limit races, plus starts with the Outlaws, the Eldora Million, Knoxville Nationals and more. It's a pretty healthy slate of sprint car shows all around the country, and this is coming on the back of a successful stint down under for Randall where he was impressive at a lot of those shows. You can see Chase's full schedule on his social media channels.
One event note for you, the Spring 50 at Florence has been postponed from this weekend to April 1st because of weather. The $10,000 to win late model show was set to draw some big names, but fans will now have to wait until March 25th to see the season open at the Kentucky race track.
In podcast land this week, Winged Nation has Dylan Cisney. I actually co-hosted Winged Nation with Steve Post yesterday, so check that one out, good stuff to with Cisney on his win at Port Royal and his season ahead. LoudPedal has Vince Welch, Open Red has Bundy and Ethan Mitchell, Forward Bite has Chris Ferguson, Ohio Dirt has Ryan Prosser and Sean Rayhall, Quicktime has Carson Macedo, Dirt Tracks and Rib Racks has Kyle Hammer, All Gas No Brakes has several new interviews, Hoogie's Garage has Brant O'Banion and Austin Lloyd, Dunewich on Dirt has Fergie as well. There are also new episodes of The Dirt Reporters, the Dirt Nerds, and Dirt Track Confessions. To see all these shows and all the new episodes. head over to dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
Three shows again on the streaming schedule today with more IMCA racing on Speed Sport, plus FloRacing 24/7 and DIRTVision Now. To see the full daily streaming schedule with links to watch, visit dirtrackr.com/watchtonight.
Have a good Wednesday out there, we'll see you guys tomorrow.