Glass Not Half Empty

London, Ontario (December 18, 2008) -

There sure is a lot of doom and gloom in the "big leagues" these days, with manufacturer support threatened or already gone in many racing series, and layoffs at many team headquarters. I can't say I feel quite the same about this little corner of the motorsports world. Oh sure, things aren't exactly rosy and I'm probably a little on the "glass half full" side of the argument, but I personally don't think we are living or dying by the economy the way the big-money series are.

For one thing, sponsors - while important - are not always plentiful in short track racing, and a lot of racers aren't necessarily out on the track because of sponsors. While helpful, sponsors at this level generally augment a racing program, rather than fund it the way they do higher up the food chain. There are also very few racers at this level who have any grandiose dreams about making money as a racer. The much larger problem with a bad economy is that racers at this level have real jobs - often in the automotive industry or in manufacturing - many of which are now in jeopardy.

Interestingly, the roots of midget racing can be traced back to the depression years - Back then, crowds of 10,000 or more regularly filled stadiums across America to watch Doodlebug (midget) racing on short tracks, and racing was just one form of entertainment that benefitted greatly from the bad economic times back then. Granted, it isn't the 30's anymore, but there are things to be learned from this phenomenon: In tough times, the public wants sports and entertainment as a diversion. It's been proven by many economists that entertainment is one of the last things most people will cut out of their budget when the economy is not performing. So, if your "brand" of entertainment can survive an economic downturn and still provide an entertaining product at a good price, it might be well positioned to draw spectators.

The trouble with big league sports (and especially big league motorsports) is that they are in bed with large corporations and other entities that are tied directly to the state of the economy...AND they got too big for their own good during the extended period of economic growth that some may have fantasized would never end. While I am sympathetic towards those who worked in the NASCAR industry and are now laid off, I do think that the teams and other NASCAR entities grew too big too fast, and now they are paying for it, but in the end the series as a whole may benefit from this reality check.

Having said all that, the bad economy is sure to hurt short track racing in some ways. The news out of Mansfield, Ohio today is that Mansfield Motorsports Speedway will be closing down. Earlier this week it was announced that the NASCAR Truck Series event which has taken place at the track annually since 2004 would not return in 2009, as a sponsor for the event could not be found. While I do not know for sure, I would suspect the event was a big revenue-generator for the Speedway, and without it the track is probably not likely to break even. No word from ISMA as to what - if anything - will replace the Mansfield date on their tentative 2009 schedule. The race was to be on Saturday, August 8 after the tour visited Delaware Speedway the night before.

ISMA's 2009 schedule includes 3 Canadian dates, with the August 7 date at Delaware and a July 12 visit to Cayuga joining the now annual visit to Delaware on the last weekend of September. Cayuga's full schedule is supposed to be released soon, but for open wheel fans the news is already good, as the NEMA Midgets, AVSS Sprints, and Can-Am Midgets are all said to be joining ISMA for an "Open Wheel weekend" at the track, which is still the largest oval facility in the country - at least for now.

Does it seem to anyone else that the NHL is going down a slippery slope with this Sean Avery thing? "Conduct Detrimental to the Sport" is a familiar phrase to NASCAR fans, and it seems to be that NASCAR has been making up the rules as they go along for quite some time. Now it seems the NHL is going down the same path by suspending Avery for his silly comments...While I don't condone Avery's remarks, it seems that the NHL is more concerned about what happens off the ice than what happens on it, which is much like what has been going on in NASCAR for awhile now.

A belated congratulations are in order for Londoner Mark Sammut, who won his first ever Supermodified feature last month at Kenly, NC. Sammut ended his season on a strong note, finishing 3rd in the ISMA finale at Thompson, CT in October and 4th in the 2nd annual East-West Shootout at Concord, NC. Look for an official team website for the Sammuts to make it's debut in the new year.

The indoor racing season gets going in earnest tomorrow night on two fronts, as Midget racing takes centre stage on the concrete at Toledo's Seagate Center, and on the dirt at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City. 2008 SOS Champion Glenn Styres of Ohsweken will be racing in Kansas City driving as a teammate to Wayne Johnson, Brad Kuhn, Shane Hmiel, and Justin Barger. Styres will also be racing with that Scott Benic team in the Chili Bowl next month, an event that will be tape delayed one week and shown on the Speed Channel. No Canadians in Toledo, but Ryan Litt of Lyons, ON will strap on Eddie Griffith's #41 the following weekend at Fort Wayne, IN, in another Rumble Series event.

Glenn Styres also made news promoter of the Ohsweken Speedway this week, garnering the National 360 Sprint Car Poll '360' Promoter of the Year award. Styres is always quick to point out that Ken and Cheryl Pelkie are the big reasons why he is a perennial award winner in this category. The Pelkies have been busy this month, representing Ohsweken in Reno for the RPM Promoters Workshops, and Orlando for the Performance Racing Industry convention. 2008 marked the first year of weekly 360 sprint car racing at the Styres family owned facility, and was a great success, with great racing and full fields every night.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone. See you all at the CPT Racing Experience next month at the Western Fair here in London. Until then, you can find me at tommygoudge@hotmail.com.