One of the constant refrains you hear if you are in the racing business is that things are "not like they used to be." In talking to folks that were at Oxford in the mid-70's, the crowds were supposedly huge. I think that they were likely larger than our current crowds. A commenter on another post says that nothing has changed in the last 30 years with the world outside of racing. The implication, of course, is that somehow it is something that we are doing, or more likely not doing, at Oxford that has purportedly diminished the crowd.
I thought I might mention a few of the things that have arrived as competition for the entertainment dollar in the last 30 years.
Satellite television
Cable television
VCR
Malls
Portland Sea Dogs
Lewiston Maineacs
New Hampshire International Speedway
DVD
Personal Computer
Internet
Video and computer games
IPod
Live Cup racing on television
This is just a partial list.
The competition for the consumer dollar is intense. We have to put out a great product in order to compete with the other great offerings out there. To say that nothing has changed since 1975 is just ridiculous.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
38 comments:
one thing i have noticed that has changed is movie theaters. go drive by a NEW cinemagic on a saturday night......the parking lot is over flowing!!! its ridiculas! i would rather be at a local short track with my friends but a lot of kids today just gravitate to different types of "entertainment". i think bill ryan and ops have been very progressive at giving the fans a good product. us short track fans are actually lucky to have entertaining tracks here in northern new england. ops, beech ridge,white mountain,thunder road are the best!!! if you dont belive that go down south....the shows drag out and and its as if the fans dont even exist. thank you bill and other promoters for working bhard to keep it alive for us racing maniacs!!!
Really matty? where? The ones i have seen are ghost towns. Maybe i am not there at the right times.
One thing that i have noticed over the years (was pointing this out on another post too) is that the sense of urgency to go to the races seems to have declined. Anybody think of why that may be? I wonder sometimes if its an overload with multiple nights of racing every week. Is racing more boring these days? Are there not enough rivalries? Or does it just boil down to people having "more important" things to do and don't have time to care.
Man when i was a kid i used to absolutly devour the track program...bet i read it cover to cover 5 times in a week. If we could not go to the races i would beg my dad to take me down and stand of turn 1 so i could get a peak at the cars. And i wasn't the only one, i remember other folks standing down there too. Also seems like there are no heroes or villians any more. Is that me getting older, or is that tracs becoming more professional and not allowing those feuds to carry from week to week. just some thoughts
kvarn
the one in westbrook near congress st. is insanely packed on weekends.i agree with ya on the rest......
The implication, of course, is that somehow it is something that we are doing, or more likely not doing, at Oxford that has purportedly diminished the crowd.
When you go to the Maniacs or Seadogs,or even NHMS you know how much your gonna pay at the gate, unless it's the playoffs, and if it's the playoffs your pumped because you've watched all season long.
In the spring when you're itching to go to the races, you're ready to go to OPS, you pull out the Advetiser Democrat and you see some tour coming to town. You're unfamiliar with this tour and it's drivers AND it's $20.00 each to get in the gate. Well maybe I'll stay home and just watch some cable tv instead. Maybe I'll pay twice that and go see the stars of NASCAR at NHMS.
See it's the first race of the season and I've already lost intrest in the track. All the hype is about some series I know nothing about. And you want me to pay more to get in at all those events. Give me local or at least weekly drivers I can root on. Give me some familiarity.
If I give my kids the option to go to the races or the mall, they'll pick the races everytime. They have the same passion I had as a kid to go but I don't want to sit thru some 150 lap feature every week and pay extra for it. Keep it simple. Keep the local fans hooked not the out-of-staters.
Thanks for the comments. We have cut down on the special events next year. There will only be five events next year that cost more than $10 for adults. Kids are always $5 except at the 250 when they are $15.
This is last year's results from opening day. I thought the names looked familiar. Plus, there were a number of familiar names in the 20 plus guys that did not qualify.
NEW ENGLAND DODGE DEALERS ACT 150
Fin. (Start) No., Driver, hometown, laps completed, reason out if any
1. (2) #02 Randy Potter, Groveton. N.H., 150
2. (19) #32 Jean-Paul Cyr, Milton Vt., 150
3. (24) #97 Joey Polewarczyk, Hudson, N.H., 150
4. (11) #57 Doug Coombs, Livermore, 150
5. (17) #10 David Avery, North Woodstock, N.H., 150
6. (6) #6 Cris Michaud, Williamstown, Vt., 150
7. (5) #24ME Mike Rowe, Turner, 150
8. (20) #03E Travis Adams, Canton, 150
9. (18) #99 Roger Brown, Lancaster, N.H., 150
10. (25) #78 Ryan Nolin, Georgia, Vt., 150
11. (23) #05 Ron Henry, New Gloucester, 150
12. (9) #27Q Alexandre Gingras, Quebec City, Quebec, 150
13. (29) #18 Jamie Fisher, Shelburne, Vt., 150
14. (1) #7VT Eric Williams, Hyde Park, Vt., 150
15. (31) #11RI Ryan Vanasse, Warwick, R.I., 149
16. (16) #94 Shawn Martin, Turner, 149
17. (10) #44 Dave Pembroke, Montpelier, Vt., 149
18. (4) #51 Ricky Rolfe, Albany Township, 149
19. (27) #13 Jamie Aube, Bow, N.H., 149
20. (14) #40 Eric Chase, Milton, Vt., 149
21. (12) #90 Gary Chiasson, Peru, 149
22. (32) #89 Scott Payea, Milton, Vt., 149
23. (21) #60 Tim Brackett, Buckfield, 149
24. (33) #93 Mike Ferguson, Rangeley, 149
25. (28) #26 John Donahue, Graniteville, Vt., 149
26. (26) #72 Scott Robbins, Dixfield, 149
27. (30) #07 Glen Luce, Turner, 148
28. (13) #4 Ben Rowe, Turner, 147, handling
29. (8) #14 Phil Scott, Montpelier, Vt., 142
30. (22) #24VT Steve Fisher, Shelburne, Vt., 125, transmission
31. (7) #8 Dennis Spencer Jr., Oxford, 89, electrical
32. (3) #45 Brian Hoar, Williston, Vt., 39, rear end
33. (15) #27MA Marc Curtis Jr., Worcester, Mass., 34, clutch
We have to put out a great product in order to compete with the other great offerings out there.
Why does a great product have to be bigger to be better? Let the weekly performers shine.
Whose familiar out of those names? 5 or 6 guys maybe from the Oxford Hills area. That's my point. No local guys.
20 out of 33 are from out of state. I want a rivalry between Adams and Rofle every week, maybe throw in Spencer and Martin. And if you get Green to mix it up even better.(I don't like Green at all by the way). My kids pick the 113 strictly every week we used to go. And if you could get a caracter like look-a-like Fred Durst to entertain the fans even better- the kids associate with that. That's what makes it awesome. Why do you think Thunder Road is packed all the time? It's not just great product it's also fan favorites. It needs character- right now it feels kinda distant.
PLease don't get me wrong, I think you're a great promoter and you are doing what you think is best for the track in the long run but at some point you have to return to your roots.
Returning to the roote may mean getting the names back that were sent packing with the changeing of the classes. How do you do that? Thats a good question. It may involve some undoing of the current classes. Something in the way of a more PRO LMS type of car. Let Vermont do what they want. Maybe also something along the line of a PRO Limited also. Take a SLM and a LMS and merge the two into one add something along the lines of the Pass Sportsman. Put some race back into the word Race Car.
Why don't we write a mini-series called "Roots"! Oh wait a minute, I think that has already been done - never mind.
From what I have seen the crowds at OPS were as big last year with the Late Model races as with the predominately ME PASS shows in previous seasons.
It seems to me rivalries will quickly build if a track can put on the occasional show where the local hot dogs have a legitimate chance against the traveling pros. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that is exactly what is happening now at OPS and several other New England tracks that offer Late Model racing.
Go weekly and you will learn who the drivers are.
The last anonymous has a good point. In addition, I think there are plenty of good rivalries on a weekly basis. In the strictly division alone you have the Tompkins/Sessions/Tripp fighting for the win on a weekly basis, not counting occasional "outside" invaders like Dave Brannon and Maurice young who are a threat to win any time they show up. That doesn't even count people like Glen Henderson and Larry Emerson. Yes the numbers were down, but that happens from year to year in fluctuations. I still think the division puts on a good show.
Andy- will you stop with the ACT/PASS thing, if you get you're wish we'll have 80 cars show up weekly at OPS and send 55 of them home because they can't compete. Do you have a home track Andy or do you chase racing? We all don't have the luxury of driving 3 or 4 hours a weekend to watch a race. I'm tired of the touring series, takes the competitors away from home tracks.
I do both, I go to Thunder Road every week and I chase tour shows as well. I also catch weekly shows at several other tracks during the course of the summer and what I have seen at OPS (yes I've seen a couple of non-ACT shows there) for a regular show is just about as good as anything else I have seen in terms of competition, entertainment & value.
For reasons I have yet to understand, ME (other states too) have these little pockets of what I call “provincialism ” where everything is suppose to stay “local” and be resistant to any outside forces or changes. In a way this attitude reminds me of the segregation laws of the south. I suspect this attitude is held by only a vocal few that probably aren’t well educated and “never get out much” for lack of a better term.
I think a strong & healthy ACT Tour only helps Oxford to promote and grow Late Model racing which in turn hopefully will spawn more local interest to get involved with racing at some level, be it just to spectate, work on a car, or perhaps driving a car in one of the divisions Oxford has.
Remember this, regardless of the type of car that has been featured in the 250, that race has always had it’s most success as a regional event, with teams from all over New England & Canada participating. Changing Oxford to a “locals only allowed” type of track can be accomplished as other tracks have gone that route, unfortunately, most of those tracks struggle to get 300 fans and 50 race teams spread out over 8divisions.
Times have changed from the 70's 80's back in those days you could ride to the track with your dad get dropped off at the front gate and mom would come later.walk around watch practices sessions have popcorn or a poor boy and drink look at pictures from the photo stands read the program ( that was weekly and had last weeks finishes ,point updates and driver inforomation ,watch good racing then go down on the track to get autographs . BUT with the freaks out in this world today I would never dare to let my 9-13yr old without an adult to have them watched over Back in the old days you could run and play but not today
There is one thing that has not changed in 3 decades is familys that race there,my namesake has been racing since the mid 70s and we will continue to do so till we die, and we deffinitly put on a show And im thankful to Bill that I now have the chance to compete in the top division at OPS and am exited to get the chance to maybe race the 250 something i thought would never happen. I also got the chance to crew 4 my brother last year in the 250 that was a dream come true and to shake things up there will be 3 childs in lms next year, should be interesting to say the least.
Jimmy it should very interesting because i have not seen a race where there was childs in it that didnt have a problem now that the 3 of you are in an more expensive division there wont be the need for fighting we can only hope that all drivers treat each other with respect
Good point keeps being brought up but not discussed here. What happens when everyone lives the dream and drives a LMS at OPS. You'll have 50 cars show up every week and 15 going home after a heat race. What happens when a guy running for points doesn't make it into the race?
then it would be just like the old days when the carger champion never won a race and missed a show or two over the season. thats what we want right? the good old days.
If 50 lms shows up weekly then maybe Bill would split into two features , no heat just like he did to the Strictly stock class with high point an low point feature
Well I appreciate the encouragement an if im correct childs 5 diff CHILDS won 20+ races this year so what races did u watch?
I watched enough form the 70's to current and seen alot of fights because of whaT DID OR DID NOT HAPPEN on the track, a big brawl in pits during one of the last few races which I do belive it was between Stearns & childs ( who went to stearn pits )
Let me correct you it was between mark sr an his own crew an leon heckberg an mark got taken off the track by him so after the race he went to ask him about that an leons crew member hit a 17 year old in the face an that didnt sit well with others so a fight did happen in the minst of it all another member from another lms came over at the same time to ask leon y hes such an idiot cause he did the same 2 his driver,An in my defense the first lms race i was in leon tried driving threw me an i said or did nothing about it,So ill give u the same speech i did at the banquet when it comes 2 next year I plan 2 learn from the more experianced an take my time, but dont forget I am a racer an will race 2 my cars potential on any given night.
thanks for correcting me but i do think there alot childs in the fight, lie the one with no shirt trying to be the biggest toughest thing on earth - which he should grow alot ot be that .- and as far as racing to your car potentail that is should be the way for any driver as long as it dosent mean pushing an bumping other driver out hte way no matter what your crew on the radio says to do an if something on the track happen only the drivers involved really know what it was an if it was intentional or not
I think most fans enjoy seeing the best drivers from around New England come battle with the Oxford regulars a few times a year. That is our roots and it is always the way it has been done at Oxford.
We need to have a car that is a standard throughout New England. Oxford and our partners are creating that.
Jimmy, good luck next year. I am sure you will do well. I have to hand it to you, you are one of the few people with enough courage to come on here and use your own name.
True enough. The amount of anonymous posters is rediculous, but thats par for the course for the internet, people don't want to reveal their names.
do the best drivers from around new england still race at oxford? i think not.
Do the best drivers in New England still race at Oxford?
A resounding yes. Any argument to the contrary is flat out silly. I realize that we have not seen some Oxford back markers that have gone on to fame and fortune in the Tremendous Amount Of Money League. Like I have said before, the ability to afford to travel does not make you a great driver. If I finished 9th in touring points this year, would I be one of the greats? I could have.
yes there are still some of the best drivers racing at ops weather you reg driver or tour driver or just driving for the fun everyone is equal
I realize that we have not seen some Oxford back markers that have gone on to fame and fortune in the Tremendous Amount Of Money League.
WHOS' THAT?
Why does this blog always turn into a hit on one another.
This blog is just not normal, can you people not be mature for more than a couple of days because people won't read it?
Please don't make excuses that someone else started it either, we all get enough of that from our kids.
I agree. It always has to turn into "Late Model drivers suck." I feel obligated to respond to those comments because they are so stupid. I should probably ignore them, but I do not want any one to have the impression that it is true. Like I have said before, it has been such a weird time with the personal attacks on myself and Oxford. I hope that those folks can move on and enjoy the racing that they are participating in.
You don't think you're comments about the Pro Stock Drivers are just as stupid?
Not really. I think that I am just showing how hypocritical those comments are. When we had those cars, there were drivers that did not do well. Nothing against them, but they simply did not perform well. Now, those drivers are touted as superstars. What happened overnight?
Nothing.
You're the worst carist of them all. On a lighter note, I don't care if you like Pro Stock drivers or not, but go check out TBarrett's blog and get a huge laugh.
Hey just for the fun of it, who do you think are the top 5 drivers in N.E. right now?
You are wrong about that. I think that there are obviously talented guys driving those kinds of cars. Just as there are talented guys driving Late Models. I have never denied that. What I have constantly attempted to understand is how certain guys were elevated over night when they were not competitive here on a weekly basis. As for naming them, you can name them yourself.
A top five is hard, but if you are talking about touring drivers I think that any list made this year would include Mike and Ben Rowe, Jean Paul Cyr, Ted Christopher, and Eddie MacDonald.
What I have constantly attempted to understand is how certain guys were elevated over night when they were not competitive here on a weekly basis. As for naming them, you can name them yourself.
I honestly do not know who you are talking about.
Post a Comment