Published: March 30, 2016
Holding their own
Slinger, Plymouth, Beaver Dam tracks making it work
Daily News
Ten years ago, race track owners and promoters were stubborn, reluctant to share information.
Now, they have almost no choice.
Otherwise, an “out of business” or “closed” sign may soon hang on the
entrance gate to their race tracks and it may never come off.
Economic hardships and instability continue to make short-track
racing an expensive hobby, but the thrill of competition continues to
aid this addiction. The drivers, crews, promoters and owners hang on for
as long as possible.
The same goes for fans.
Luckily for area racers, tracks like Slinger, Plymouth and Beaver Dam are confident with their positions.
“Slinger Superspeedway has survived through the economic downturn by
diversifying the business,” said Todd Thelen, the track’s cop ro moter along with Rodney Erickson. Other tracks haven’t been so lucky.
Recently, Illiana Speedway, an asphalt track in Schererville, Indiana, closed.
Columbus 151 Speedway, an asphalt track about 30 minutes northeast of
Madison, is marred in a legal dispute. Madison Area Technical College
agreed to purchase the property for more than $580,000 to convert it to
an emergency vehicle training facility. The track’s ownership backed
out of the agreement and MATC sued to force the sale.
Chilton Speedway, a dirt track, closed as a full-time track after last
season and will run one race — The Chilton Fall Invitational — this
season.
“It saddens me,” said Carolyn Mueller, general manager at Beaver Dam Raceway, of tracks closing. “I’ve been in the racing community all my life. It’s too bad they have to close.”
Thelen compared race tracks to drive-in movie theaters.
“Only the strong will survive,” he said.
Knowing that, area track owners and promoters decided they had to put
aside any stubbornness there was in order to protect what’s dearest to
them: racing.
About
five years ago, the Promoters of Wisconsin Auto Racing group was formed.
Several tracks from around the state got involved, including in
Slinger, Oshkosh, Wisconsin Dells and Madison. The purpose of the group
is for promoters and owners to get together and discuss ideas on several
topics, including fan promotion.
Ten years ago, it’d be a surprise to see any two track promoters
discussing ideas on how to improve their product. It’d be a bigger
surprise if they were on pleasant terms.
“It’s been practiced more,” said Warren Luedke, member of the race
committee at the Plymouth Dirt Track. “We’re pretty close together. We
talk about a lot of issues almost on a weekly basis. We share a lot of
stuff with other tracks. We feel it’s good for the industry as a whole.”
Other things that are discussed include what are the dates of special
events. Fair rules and consistent enforcement is another hot topic at
these meetings.
Mom-and-pop-type teams are falling
by the wayside, unable to remain competitive because their funds can’t
stack up against others who are more fortunate in the billfold. So when
cars aren’t in attendance, fan attendance dips with it.
“If you have the cars, then you’ll have fans,” Luedke said.
Maintaining affordability is a challenge for drivers, teams and the race
tracks.
“There is no margin for error,” Luedke said. “It keeps you on your toes.”
Keeping drivers happy is also a challenge.
“Having a good and fair tech, that’s always a challenge. It keeps the
car count up,” Mueller said. “We try to be as fair as we can.”
“It’s an ongoing fight with the rules to keep it affordable,” Luedke said. “You’ve got to make it affordable.”
So what are these tracks doing about that?
Beaver Dam and Plymouth have targeted kids as their audience of interest.
“That’s our future,” Luedke said. “Stay family-oriented, cater to the kids so they come back and support when they get older.”
At Plymouth, the track organizers have started a kids club.
“We offer bus rides on the track every Saturday night and they can
tour the pits,” Luedke said. “It seems to go over very well.”
This season, Plymouth will have two new divisions — micro sprints and
sport modifieds. The track has stopped the outlaw compact and super
modified divisions.
“There was a fair amount of cars,” Luedke said. “We just couldn’t keep them consistent.”
New divisions will hopefully change that.
“We think that’s going to bring new life into the show,” Luedke said.
Beaver Dam also has a kids club where youngsters can win a bicycle or
wave the green flag during a heat race. The track also offers a carload
admission discount, $20 for one car-load of people. If there is five
people in the car, admission is $4 each.
That promotion, Mueller said, started five seasons ago and has nearly doubled the track’s attendance.
Plus, when Mueller started the Kids Club, there were about 45-50 members. That number has swelled to more than 200.
“I have a lot of people with younger families, regenerating the fan base,” Mueller said.
At Slinger, there is SlamFest, an all-night demolition derby in
August, outside of the normal seven-division program on Sunday nights.
Slinger, Beaver Dam and Plymouth each report positive happenings.
“We’re doing wonderful,” Mueller said. “I have a lot of people that
help me out, volunteer their time and talent, which is huge.”
But they’re also conscious of what’s going on around them.
“It’s tough to see it, because you know sooner or later, it’s going to
be you,” Luedke said. “I always say ‘The bandwagoners can only lead
if the band is a good band,’” Mueller said.
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