The whole thing's been a flat-out disappointment.It really has, despite my eager anticipation of a couple of weeks ago.The World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway has left lots to be desired.
There are some great things about the event, namely that it takes place just a few miles down Tomoka Farms Road from Daytona International Speedway. Race teams have come from all across the country to compete, and the fact that there's competitive short-track racing in February is surreal for us Mainers.
But there are some noticeable shortfalls of the event, one of the most notable being the lack of people watching in the grandstands. To be certain, the World Series is far more important to racers than it is to fans -- it's too cold at night for any self-respecting Floridians to head out to the track until nearly midnight, and it's too far away for enough northerners to come down and burn vacation time to watch a few faces they know well. In many ways, it helps you appreciate showing up for PASS race at Wiscasset Raceway or an ACT race at Oxford Plains and knowing a little something about everybody in the show.
Thursday night was a fantastic case in point. With thousands upon thousands of fans descending on the big track in Daytona, it's a great opportunity to open the gates to race fans on vacation. But instead of holding the feature event -- a 50-lap main for aguably the week's most competitive division, the Super Late Models -- for a few hours to allow fans to grab a bite to eat or time enough to get to the track, New Smyrna officials rolled that 50-lapper out at promptly 7:30 p.m.
To open the show.
No one's advocating running that event at 11 p.m., but it certainly shouldn't have been first, particularly when people are still pouring out of the Daytona infield a half-hour after that SLM feature takes the green flag.
SLM and Crate Late Models aside, car counts are disappointing, with fewer than 20 cars in the Modified divisions. Drivers and crews love time trials, small inversions at the front of the field, single-file restarts and leader protection at all costs -- it helps keep them from tearing up equipment over 9 trying nights of racing -- but it's a recipe for boredom in the grandstands.
For 42 years, New Smyrna has done the job of using its valued tradition as a draw for race teams at a time of year when most of the country is mired in the dead of winter. But in recent years, fans have been reluctant to turn out for many of those nights of racing, nights dedicated to the hardest of hard-core racers.
It's easy to see why.
15 comments:
Reading your accounts and those of Speed 51 have pretty much reinforced my own impressions of Florida racing in general....It is really a shame that Floridian fans just dont support the shows down there unless the weather is warm.....
When my daughter and her husband were living and teaching in Orlando, I made three successive mid-winter trips down there to visit them and of course the alterior motive was to take in the "Speedweeks" racing at New Smyrna....
My first impression of the racing was almost exactly what your's has been....
The last time I went down there, (2005) I waited until early March to visit and I was able to watch some Sunbelt Super Late Model action......
The tracks were shorter in length.... Brunson....Ocala... Orlando Speedworld.... but my impresions of the Florida racing didn't change a whole lot.... The sunbelt series struggled to get twenty cars....and as you mentioned they time trialed and went out of their way during the event to insure that the frontrunners who had trouble, still had a chance to be a factor in the race....(for instance... as you mentioned... waiting for them to fix flats or pulll fenders out .... that kind of thing etc.)
Not to be negative here, but that was just the way it is down there and the small crowds on anything but a perfect night.... And I do think the frontrunner favoritism is to keep what little fan interest they have in tact by making sure the hometown heros do well.... but to an outsider like me or you, it sure seems a bit unfair to the other competitors...... and makes me wonder if perhaps they would have more competitors if that wasn't the normal goings on at these events?
But whatever, I still enjoyed my trips down there and miss that warm midwinter trip....My daughter and her husband had enough of the big city hustle-bussel lifestyle, the uncontrolable and sometimes dangerous HS students in the inner city school systems and the hurricanes and packed up and moved back home (and I'm glad)..nice place to visit for a little while but I wouldn't want to live there.. so it goes....
I think the biggest fan counts are in the pits down there, especially at New Smyrna. Everybody that is there to watch someone and would rather go in the pits than sit in the stands. Happens up in New England too.
I don't think they favor any one driver over another either. They have just as many Fl. drivers in the back of the feild as the front, and isn't that 13 year old from TN? How is that favoritsm?
I don't think people from New England can go anywhere without complaining about the track officials, the food, the show, the car counts, favoritsm, time trials, invertions, restarts, the weather etc etc etc. Nothing is good enough for you bitter New Englander's.
How does it get any better than the winner in the SLM's coming all the way from the back to win?
Hmmmmm.....Speed 51's account of last night's race quoted Choquette who had already won two events.
"The right rear tire was going flat," said Choquette. "Sometimes you dont always feel it until you start spinning the tires. So I had to stop and cause a caution. They knew that so they made me hurry."
Brother!.... that would be a one lap penalty in PASS....or about any short track around here...
But as you can determine from that the officials "knew"!
And you wonder why we think this could be favoritism?
Take nothing away from Choquette for being on his game, but to my way of thinking he should have had to come to the front twice to win....JMO
Can't seem to find that 1 lap penalty anywhere in the rules. Is it implied?
Saw Bub Bilodeau do the same thing at Beech Ridge last year. Had a tire going flat, stopped in turn four and caused a caution, went into the pits and changed the tire. He came out on the lead lap.
TB- what difference does it make how many fans are sitting beside you watching the race? Are you there to watch the crowd or the cars? And if you haven't huddled beside one of those burning barrels yet go try it, maybe you'd be having a better time.
Favoritism sucks whenever and wherever it happens....at New Syyrna, in NASCAR or even at the Ridge or anywhere ..... It happens from time to time and when it does, fan's and other competitors notice...
I would not have been happy with that Beech Ridge senario either....I'm sure many folks who were not Bilodeau fans had a simular reaction....its just not fair or right!
What probably screws up New Smyrna seems to be the whole way of doing things on the ashpalt tracks there. I don't think it ever paid much for there World Series, but I think I have mentioned in the past I had couple programs from from the early to mid 80's events there, and things have changed. Back then they did three divisions, Tour Modifieds, Late Models(now the super Late Models), and one of the weekly support classes. The Modifieds had most of the names from the Northeast and the Late Models was a mix of ASA, All Pro, and the local Florida stars. For some reason, many of the top NASCAR Mod teams stopped coming years ago and each year the SLM's appear to get closer to a Florida only show. I am not sure if it is the pay or the officiating that turned teams off. However, the lack of the bigger stars probably kills the crowd in regards to the vacationing fans. Could be the reason they are trying to "back gate" it as well.
On the other hand the 2 main dirt tracks in FL seem to have another approach. East Bay and Volusia run 1 or divisions a night and pay a decent purse for the main events. They also "switch" the divisions", meaning while one track on one side of the state will have the Sprint Cars one week, the other track will have the Late Models. Just about every big name for those type of cars is down there every year. This mean they are having 40+ sprint cars and 70 to 80 Late Models going throught time trials, heats, and last chance races in additon to the features each night. Plus Volusia will have a support class with plenty of cars each night. The prices are almost too high for the dirt races, but I was down there this year, I am pretty sure that is where I would go.
JMB
TB- please stay at Daytona if you can't find a story to write about at New Smyrna. The same old "racing sucks" angle is old.
I'm with you on that one JMB..... Sounds like the dirt track folks have the numbers and more fan interest... They must be doing some things right?
I don't see results with 70-80 cars anywhere. Can you help?
They had 70 to 80 Late Models trying to qualify each night when they ran Volusia and East Bay. You have to find the sites that show a full rundown(time trials, heats, B-Mains), not just the ones that have the feature finish.
go to east bay raceway home page and it says 93 cars tries to qualify.
wiscasset has the intentional caution penalty you stop on the track for a flat tire or what ever the case might be your going down a lap
wiscasset has a rule if stop on the track for a flat tire or what ever the case mite be and cause a caution your gonna lose a lap
bingo
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