IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

November 5, 2007 No Place To Play **EDITORIAL OPINION** by BJ Cavin Over the past few years I have enjoyed getting involved in the Florida racing community as a fan, then as a volunteer at the track, then as a track announcer, and finally as writer. I have met many wonderful people, found deep and lasting friendships, and experienced things that just a couple of years ago seemed impossible to me. It has been wonderful and I have enjoyed almost all of it, and hopefully I can remain involved for a very long time. As I have become more involved in the racing community here in Florida and at my local short track, I have gotten a much deeper look into how the sport operates, what drives the track owners, drivers, and fans, and how it all comes together to keep the sport going. I see things that sometimes the drivers and fans never get to see, and I have learned volumes from all that I have been exposed to through being there and experiencing it. I never have claimed to know it all and I always have room to learn more, but the process has been a fun ride for me and I enjoy immersing myself in the atmosphere at the track and in the racing community at large. But there is a downside to all of this in that I often become exposed to the "not so pretty" side of racing here in Florida, and sometimes I know things that I really wish that I did not know. You see, racing is a popular sport in the states and especially in the south, but the local racing scene is going through a process of morphing and adapting to changing times. After years of paving race tracks because NASCAR made racing on asphalt all the rage, today the shift is back to racing on dirt. Tracks that were paved are being ripped up and replaced with clay, and the fan counts and car counts at dirt tracks are growing. Here in Florida the situation is the same, but with some added complications that I won't go into here. Most dirt tracks across the state are seeing renewed success while many of the asphalt facilities are having some issues. It doesn't mean that asphalt racing is on the way out, but it does mean that the rise of dirt puts asphalt tracks in a more vulnerable position. And as the popularity of dirt racing increases, so do the risks that asphalt tracks overcome, especially when it comes to leisure time in our more technological world. Today people have less time to go out to the speedway for a night of entertainment, and you have other distractions that people amuse themselves with as well. Even the movie industry is suffering from all of the distractions that our technological society has created, and some predict that movie theaters will be gone within the next couple of decades. NASCAR may be the top dog in sports in America, but local short track racing is in the same slow state of decline in many regions. We live in a time and in a place where the real estate under a race track can be far more valuable than the facility itself, or the money that facility can generate, and that above all has led to the demise of many local tracks across the country. Another issue is growth as communities expand and surround tracks that used to be in outlying areas. A track that once was bothering no one with noise is now bothering whole subdivisions up to three miles away with the roar of the cars. People complain, and race tracks either get slapped with restrictions on noise, curfews dictating hours of operation, or get zoned out of business. And then there are the internal changes that have come to racing at the local level. Expenses have increased, both for the tracks and for the drivers as well, so profit margins are narrower and racers are having to cut corners or stop racing. Some racers are demanding far more from the local tracks than racers ever used to expect, and some track owners and operators are unable to go that extra mile. The net result is a vicious circle where the drivers want more and the tracks find it harder and harder to provide it, and in the end it results in an inescapable cycle where everyone takes their toys and goes somewhere else to play. The playground might look bigger and better over there right now but what about in the future? If a racer goes over there to play what happens to their old playground? If the old playground is deserted and turned into something else, where do you go to play when the new playground also begins to show the same symptoms? I could write for hours about what ails racing here in Florida and in other regions of the country, but I won't. Those of us who are deeply involved in this sport know what the problems are, and many of us are constantly doing our part to eliminate those problems. But in the meantime, the adapting and changing to our changing times continues to hurt race track owners and racers too, and more and more of them are finding it very difficult to keep doing what they want to do. If you peel back the cover from the operation of many short tracks across America, you'll find that all is not as it seems, and while the track may give the outward appearance that all is well, there may be stress and sickness lying underneath. A huge part of what ails racing is stress. Racers want to do what they love to do, but expenses are becoming a major issue for many. So in order to try and keep racing, they demand more from the track owners in the form of payouts and such. Only trouble with that is the fact that the tracks' profits have declined as well, leaving less to distribute to the racers and less in the owners' pockets too. Everyone has a plan to fix this and thinks that their plan is a sure fire remedy to the problem, and yet costs continue to rise, fans are distracted away by other things, and there is less money to go around as a result. Right now the situation is quite stressful on everyone involved simply because of suspicion. The drivers believe that the tracks are holding out on them while the tracks a seem to believe that the drivers are getting greedy. Race tracks and race drivers need each other, and this clash is not making them become closer. This conflict is causing the stress that is causing owners and racers to throw up their hands in desperation when no one can come up with enough cash flow to keep things humming, and many are to the point of simply throwing in the towel. It is a shame when racers and track owners become this frustrated with things, but under the current circumstances it is a fact of life in the racing community and a grim reality that may occur more often as time goes by. Such is the case in Florida right now as the 2007 racing season winds down. If I were to ask most people supposedly "in the know" about racing, they probably think that they have a good idea of which tracks are healthy and which are not. Unfortunately, all is not as it seems at all tracks, and some track owners and operators are feeling extra stress at the moment along with the racers who frequent those facilities. In fact, many supposedly informed people might be totally shocked if they knew how close some tracks are to closing indefinitely or forever, simply because money woes are creating a stressful situation. --Advertisement-- When the 2007 season ends and the 2008 season begins, there should be some positive changes on the racing horizon in Florida, or at least that is the hope most people have. But as we have unfortunately come to know, some plans are not carved in stone and can crumble thanks to circumstances beyond any one person's control. What appears solid may not be, and those who appear willing and able may have hidden weaknesses. 2008 will reveal some truths, and all of the truths may not be pleasant ones for the racing community. With that said, time marches on and changes are inevitable. Whether changes are positive or not, hopefully we all learn from them and adapt in ways that we can continue on despite the hardships and losses. Each year fewer and fewer racers are out there on a weekly basis doing what they love to do, fewer fans sitting in the seats and taking in all of the action, and each year there are fewer race tracks as a result. Where will it all lead? I'm not sure, but it can not be good for the sport as long as this trend continues. So when everyone gathers their toys and gets set to play in the new year, I predict that there will be some surprised eyes when some discover that the playground is closed despite everything else that they have seen and heard. It has happened before and it will happen again, maybe not at the playground in my community, but possibly at the playground in the community right up the road. Trouble is, who is going to take notice and make changes before all of the playgrounds are closed? I'm not sure, but someone needs to. A little give and take can go a long way as long as all of us are willing to use it. Have an opinion on this story? 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