We are far enough into the season where I can assess the good, and not-so-good, that I’ve seen in racing during the 2023 season. All my own view and opinion.
Here we go.
The good…
--Late Model counts locally have been strong at River Cities and solid at I-94 EMR Speedway for weekly events. NLRA shows continue to draw solid numbers at most events. An influx of talent over the last 3-4 years, including Mike Greseth, Jason Strand, Greg Moore, Tyler Peterson and Josh Zimpel, for example, has helped add depth locally.
--A few times I’ve seen full houses in the stands and some other nights I’ve seen good crowds. Not consistently, but there are a few nights.
--Dirt Race Central does an incredible job of covering racing in the region and provides a service for folks like me who can’t always get to the tracks.
--Having three World of Outlaw Late Model shows within 80 miles of Fargo is a huge boost for local fans.
--Dirt Race Central Street Stock Tour is running on all cylinders, attracting top cars from South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The racing continues to be top notch and car counts have been good almost every night.
--I saw the black flag used for rough driving twice this season. That’s a positive. There’s also a negative, read further below.
--Some track conditions. Some nights I’ve seen great racing on great surfaces.
--continued growth of females beyond the wheel. Blog readers know I am a huge proponent of this. These folks do more than hold their own many times they are in the hunt for wins. Many are great role models for folks like my daughter.
--INEX Legends numbers. Red River Valley Speedway and Buffalo River Speedway are piling in this class weekly, to the point of running B mains. Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon is also holding its own. There is a lot of young talent in the class right now, including many go-kart graduates.
--The hard work of many people behind the scenes that keep race tracks running. That includes pit gate personnel, ticket sellers, concessions, security, tow-truck drivers, track prep workers, scorekeepers, tech inspectors, among others. We don’t appreciate these folks enough.
--The hard work of the photographers in the region. That includes folks like Cody Papke, Mike Spieker (And the folks from Speedway shots), Collin Nelson, Lisa Rhen, the folks at AOK Photography (Alex and Krystal Ostenson), among many others. All have helped me with blog photos, and all provide outstanding photos (and cards in many cases) for tracks and drivers alike. That is a lot of work, folks, and a lot of hours and miles these folks put in.
--The IMCA Stock Cars. They continue to put on a good show wherever they race locally.
The not-so-good
--Cost. Cost for everything is up. And keeps going up. Hoosier, for example, seems to be missing the boat on keeping costs down while actually producing a quality tire, whether its for IMCA or Wissota cars. Might be time to shop around.
--Long (too long) racing programs. Shows consistently lasting 4-5 hours that should be done much sooner than that. Some nights you have a ton of cautions and or a red flag for a big crash or a weather delay – I’m not talking about those. Every track has those kind of nights. It’s the lack of urgency to start on time, keeping the show moving smoothly (not having long delays between races), keeping intermission at a minimum (some of these are running way too long) and getting going again after a yellow that are adding unnecessary time to racing programs. This sport will continue to lose fans with attitudes like that. Frankly I'm sick of weekly shows dragging on and on unnecessarily which is why I won't be covering many the rest of the summer.
--The Short Tracker/Mini Stock numbers are down at most tracks. It’s an affordable starter class for many but the numbers have shrunk. Those things are cyclical but it is a cause for concern.
--Some track conditions. I said I’ve seen some great racing surfaces this year; I’ve also seen too many tracks that haven’t been good at all and the poor racing has clearly reflected that. Which is sad. I’m not singling tracks out, but it seems to be a growing problem.
--Bonehead driving and the lack of the usage of the black flag. There has been some piss-poor driving this season in ALL classes with a lack of respect for fellow drivers and equipment, and we’ve seen torn up race cars as a result. A deterrent to this is to use the black flag more often, but we are not seeing it nearly enough. I saw it Sunday at Bemidji for an incident on the first lap of one race and I almost stood up and cheered just because I haven’t seen it used in a while 😊
--Politics. Racing has had politics since the dawn of time and that never goes away. But as a reflection of a divided society the ability to work out disagreements or conflicts has vanished. Battles between tracks and drivers and drivers and sanctioning bodies usually lead to nowhere in the end. Maybe having in-person conversations instead of fights on Facebook would be more productive.
--Weather. We had several cancellations early because of the lack of spring, and then the weather warmed up. But some tracks have faced weather conditions during their races – Red River Valley Speedway, I-94 EMR Speedway, Norman County Raceway all have faced rain during shows. The recent weekend of rainouts wiped out a bunch of shows.
A question I have going forward:
-- A big question I ask, is are track promoters/owners inviting and talking to drivers – either via phone or in-person -- and asking them to come to their track? That seems to be missing today. You can’t just rely on social media posts to attract cars and fans. Having an actual conversation in-person with folks makes a difference, I believe.
I will be curious to see what the rest of the season holds for racing. I’m hoping for good weather and good racing on the track. I’m hoping to see good crowds and car counts.
Comments