Nitromater
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I thought Norwalk pulled good crowds?
- Thread starter Toejam
- Start date
You weren't watching the Broadcast I take it, the Baders are probably the best in the business of promoting, but stands looks pretty bare today!
Sean D, shondoo
Nitro Member
That track is at the mercy of the sanctioning body when the big show comes to town. He's already proven time and time again that when he's in control of the entire shootin' match it's a different story. Like was said before, he could pack the house for a Jr. Dragster race. But when you're not in control of admission, you're compromised.
Although it's been beat to death on this and other forums, the Bader's don't have anything to prove to anyone. They let people in for free and STILL make money. Not to mention how well you get treated over there, both as a spectator and competitor. Glendora could learn a lot from them.
Sean D
Although it's been beat to death on this and other forums, the Bader's don't have anything to prove to anyone. They let people in for free and STILL make money. Not to mention how well you get treated over there, both as a spectator and competitor. Glendora could learn a lot from them.
Sean D
Jimbo
Nitro Member
I still like the line that empty seats don't buy hot dogs !!!!!!!!!!!
Today owning a drag strip appears to be a difficult way of making a living. Hopefully better day's are coming !!!
Jimbo
www.nostalgicracingdecals.com
Today owning a drag strip appears to be a difficult way of making a living. Hopefully better day's are coming !!!
Jimbo
www.nostalgicracingdecals.com
Well you just opened another can of worms, ticket prices! Every year Joliet has tons of empty seats in an overbuilt facility, yet they have the most expensive ticket prices in the Country! Go figure....
Nick Name
Nitro Member
Unless you cater to the grudge racing crowd.
vegasnitro
Nitro Member
The crowd looked great on Friday and Saturday night. Sunday was a smaller crowd, but it was still a strong crowd as those are big grandstands at Norwalk (30,000 permanent seats, by comparison the main grandstand at Vegas is 18,000). Bader Jr said in the article linked above that they were going to get near 100,000 for the whole weekend. They also contend that they have outgrown the property they currently sit on and are looking to buy a bigger piece of property in the area to build a bigger facility. Norwalk and the Baders are just fine.
We were there and the crowd Friday and Saturday was great. We lost 3rd round and pulled out Saturday night for the 1300 mile drive home. I'll have to say that it is a very early arriving crowd, about 11am or so you are trying to figure out how to pull out of your pits into a mass of fans .... and that is on the sportsman side of the track. The crowd really gets into the whole show ... but both Friday and Saturday night the exodus started a bit earlier than you'd see at almost any other national event. The prime reason I kept hearing was the traffic jams getting out of there (this year they did have the runway shut to the north of the track and that seemed to help a lot).
Sunday seems to be like Sunday at the Masters (easiest ticket to get). Mainly hard core fans ... verses Fri/Sat where we had hard core and AND those that were there for the whole show the Baders put on which involves much more than just cars going down the track. After we lost Saturday, I came out of the trailer from analyzing Racepak and three camera recordings, to see that my wife had a mom and her 2 very young daughters all sitting in her racecar ... Dad and granddad were thrilled and snapping pictures .... this is a scene that played out at least 20 times throughout the Thursday through Saturday time period that we raced.
High Friday and Saturday was mid 70's .... I understand Sunday got into the 80's ..... and can I say that I'm melting unloading the trailer in Houston this morning!
One of the cool things about Norwalk (one of a ton!), they regularly announce a text number for you to submit complaints, comments, or suggestions .... they really want to know what they can do better! And they are very quick to respond (I saw one upset fan and described the situation, which got very quick attention).
Sunday seems to be like Sunday at the Masters (easiest ticket to get). Mainly hard core fans ... verses Fri/Sat where we had hard core and AND those that were there for the whole show the Baders put on which involves much more than just cars going down the track. After we lost Saturday, I came out of the trailer from analyzing Racepak and three camera recordings, to see that my wife had a mom and her 2 very young daughters all sitting in her racecar ... Dad and granddad were thrilled and snapping pictures .... this is a scene that played out at least 20 times throughout the Thursday through Saturday time period that we raced.
High Friday and Saturday was mid 70's .... I understand Sunday got into the 80's ..... and can I say that I'm melting unloading the trailer in Houston this morning!
One of the cool things about Norwalk (one of a ton!), they regularly announce a text number for you to submit complaints, comments, or suggestions .... they really want to know what they can do better! And they are very quick to respond (I saw one upset fan and described the situation, which got very quick attention).
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Sunday having the smallest crowd seems to be a common occurence for national events. Maybe it's just a bang for the buck deal, with many Americans still needing to be careful about their spending. These are the kind of trends that need to be watched and strategies built around. Fact is, national events draw people over 3 days, I think in years past many fans spent the weekend, now more are picking a day or two that's the best deal.
my friends call me Zappy
Nitro Member
Thanks Chris, I hadn't heard this. The Baders building a ALL NEW facility from the ground up.
(move over Belagio) WOW!!! I can't wait to see this. Wonder if they'll
make it all concrete.....
Contrast that with Zmax and Joliet which I think are overbuilt! You couldn't fill those with $10 seats!
Leebone
Nitro Member
I was there on Sunday and it was actually a welcome relief having a smaller crowd. Got out of there a lot quicker instead of being stuck in traffic for over an hour. However, small crowds don't pay the bills. Evidently the crowds like the "show" more than the actual competition, thus the large crowd on Friday for the fireworks and Motz. The Night Under Fire crowds in August are nearly suffocating. That's when Motz burns down the sign. On those nights, the stands are totally full and the crowds at the fence are 5 to 6 people deep. You can't see anything but header flames going by when you're stuck behind that. If you have to pee, forget it. You'll be in line forever. So I can see why Bader would want a bigger facility. Not only that, but the shut down area is really short. I'll never forget the time Angie Smith rode over the sand pile and into a corn field.
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vegasnitro
Nitro Member
How about Von Smith going way off the end of the track and having to steer around a tree?!?! Norwalk has the catch nets now, so hopefully these incidents are a thing of the past. I was at Norwalk last year, and the shutdown didn't look particularly short compared to some other tracks. They did have to change out the brakes on Hagan's FC and there were lots of glowing rotors during the night sessions though.
We all talk about wanting to see huge crowds at these things, until we have to deal with them!
From Bill Jr:We ran out of camping and motorhome space this year, which is over 1,000 spaces. We have the opportunity to create some new traditions for families. Having the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day is tradition. It’s been like that forever. I want that same mindset here for July Fourth.
About 6-7 years ago when ADRL was giving away free tickets to their races, the Texas Motorplex had an estimated 50,000 show up, that a the good news. The Bad news is the Bathrooms, Concession stands were all overwhelmed! PJ os right, unless a facility is prepared for such crowds, it will be a major headache!
