WITH ANY LUCK, RACING WILL REMAIN A REAL GAS
By Tom Gillispie
Are
racetrack promoters sweating out soaring gasoline prices? Some are;
some aren't, and all are hoping for the best.
Steve
Earwood, the promoter at Rockingham Dragway, says he doesn't worry.
"No,
I really don't, Tom," he said. "There's sticker shock when
you fill up the family car. But if you look at how much it is, it's
not that much over what it was last year."
Gas
prices are tough, Earwood said, but he added, "We've had two
successful weekends in a row."
For
competitors, prices are always high for racing fuel, and the prices
vary according to the many types of cars that race at Rockingham
Dragway. Earwood says that unleaded 104 octane is $6.59 a gallon; 110
leaded is $6.49; 112 octane is $6.79, and 116 octane is $9.79.
"Methanol
is $5.75, but it's gone up more than gasoline," Earwood said.
"In 2006, it was $2.28."
But
he isn't worried.
"Goodness,
no," Earwood said. "There are too many things to worry
about here other than the price of gasoline. My biggest worry is the
weather."
So
far, gas prices, and the weather, haven't hurt him. He said that he
had 320 race cars for an event last year, and 317 showed up for that
race this year. And the crowds were holding well, he said.
Sherry
Clifton of Hickory Motor Speedway, and Larry Thomas of Concord
Motorsport Park say they are
worried about the effects
of gas prices, but they're hoping for the best.
"Yes,
we are
concerned about the price of fuel having an effect on competitors and
fans," said Thomas.
Thomas
says that CMP vends Sunoco Purple 110 octane racing fuel at $7 a
gallon, and he expects prices to rise in a few days. It'll be the
same everywhere.
"People
will have to choose where they're going and where they spend their
money," Clifton added. "People are not going to go to the
beach or the mountains like they used to, so they can get
entertainment in their own backyard. At least that's what we're
hoping.
"If
they're spending twice what they did last year, then they have half
money at the end of the week to go and have fun on."
Fred
Brown, the promoter of Wythe Raceway near Wytheville, Va., is like
Earwood. He isn't worrying about gas prices; he's going to war.
Brown
says that the dirt track is combating price programs by changing
compression ratios from 12.5 to 1 to 9.5 or 10 to 1. The lower
compression ratio will allow drivers to run lower-octane fuel and,
thus, save some money.
"I'm
anticipating that it's going to have an effect," Brown said. "We
have a whole lot of classes, though, so it'll take a while to
implement.
"It
cost $6.75 last year for a gallon, and I guess it may be $7 or $8
this year."
Brown
says he also will push the fact that folks can pass up traveling a
distance and have a good time at the local racetrack.
"We'll
do it in a positive manner," he said. "We'll really work on
the fact that we have local classes, the local racetrack, and push
the entertainment value. We're close to their homes, and they can get
here and get home on a gallon of gas, rather than traveling a long
way.
"People
still love racing. If we do a good job and entertain them, they'll
come."
So
relax. And hope for the best.
This
and that
Clifton
was proud that the Hickory track won the Event Facility of the Year
award given by the North Carolina Motorsports Association. "It's
especially rewarding since Bowman Gray Stadium and Southern National
were the other tracks nominated," she said. "Bowman Gray is
a class operation, and Southern National is such a powerhouse for
little old Hickory to do well against them." ...
Apparently
Redwood Palms Pictures plans to do a movie on the life story of North
Carolinian Junior Johnson, a racing pioneer, the 1963 Daytona 500
winner, an all-time great team owner and one of the great
moonshine-haulers of all time. ...
This
is interesting: Ryan Newman, the winner of the Daytona 500, has 42
Cup poles and ranks 11th on the NASCAR Cup Series career rankings.
His 13 career victories put him last in victories among the top 25
pole winners in Cup history. He needs five victories to catch Geoff
Bodine, who has 37 poles (16th all time) and 18 victories (24th all
time). ...
I
hated it when the World 600 at Charlotte became the Coca-Cola 600,
and I wasn't thrilled when the superbly named Firecracker 400 at
Daytona became the Pepsi 400. Now, it's gotten worse. The Pepsi 400
is becoming the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola. Ugh, ugh, ugh.
TRJ
Editor Tom Gillispie is the author of three books, including Angel in
Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr. Tom's NASCAR books are
available for sale online at www.amazon.com.
(NOTE: I wrote this for The Racing Journal in 2008. TRJ, which covered short-track racing in north-central North Carolina and south-central Virginia, ended after four months because of the economy.)
EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com TWITTER: EDITORatWORK.
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