NASCAR President, Mike Helton talks about possibility of Labor Day race returning to Darlington. How do you feel about it. Personally. I would like to see this...it would be very good for the economy in our area.
http://www.scnow.com/sports/article_b0a732ea-c2ab-11e3-873f-001a4bcf6878.html
Aye
Body count does play a roll in the power of the play date -- and it seems that the lady rules there for the time being. Lets see how this year fares on labor day
I have heard for two years Bruton wants to sell Atlanta. Given the track's incompetence (Ed Clark moving out of the finale to October, from October to a Chase date, to out of the Chase completely and on Labor Day...) it won't be long before he gives the second date to Kentucky and leaves AMS off the schedule completely. It's sad, really, because of HOW much the drivers like racing the track and the worn out surface now.
What happened to the good ole days...... only memories left
Atlanta, in the original configuration, was an awesome track. Bruton moved in and ruined it. I hate to see it gone from all the memories I have from being at all the races there from 1963 through 1995, but when I think of the traffic situation and the incredibly rude law enforcement officers around that area, I'm just as happy not to go back over there. I will miss it if it's gone, but with Bruton, he took Wilkesboro and The Rock. If he takes Atlanta, someone should check his background to see if he's related to William T. Sherman.
With ISC owning Darlington & NASCAR scheduling the dates, I suggest the common management between the 2 can pretty much do as they please. If NASCAR/ISC decide it's in their best interest to return the Southern 500 to Labor Day weekend, it would happen.
Bruton would snort a good bit if such a move were made, and he'd rattle his saber with threats to sue this one and that one. In the end though, he'd pretty well have to accept wherever NASCAR slots Atlanta.
While I'd love to see the return of tradition to Labor Day and Darlington, I wouldn't bet my meager savings on it. Moving the race back to its traditional weekend would be a popular move. But the return would also bring a new focus on the return of other traditions associated with that weekend - traditions NASCAR is deathly afraid of these days (e.g. Southern pride).
As long as I've followed racing and as big a fan as I am of the on-track competition, I (like others I suppose) know little about the inner workings of getting a sanctioned date from NASCAR, working with local and state authorities on traffic and parking, collaborating with hotel operators, etc.
While I'm sure Bruton's people have worked for ages on trying to help with traffic, I'm just not sure they've had much success. After going pretty regularly in the 1st half of the 90s, I quit going for 1 simple reason: traffic. I didn't go back until a couple of years ago when I won tickets for the weekend. After finding the traffic as bad in 2012 as I left it in 96, I swore I wouldn't return - even if the tix were free again.
I too liked the original Atlanta config - but I've grown to accept the Charlotte copied version b/c I have no other choice. But from early 90s forward, fans flocked to both configs in droves - but primarily for the fall race. The spring one was repeatedly doomed because of weather issues it seemed.
If the remaining date is moved (be it to Ky or to Vegas), I'll be disappointed in it's removal from the schedule. But I don't have a romanticized view of ATL like I did for Wilkesboro and Rockingham.
Legend... I suspect Bruton Smith, Speedway Motorsports, ISC, NASCAR and the France family and their combines of attorneys have bantered the Sherman name frequently in their closed door discussions:
Could see that rumor being out there. But having an interest in selling it and being able to do are two different things. It shows the exposure in the economic model of race track ownership. Who else could possibly buy it except ISC? ARCA and Indy Car don't have the deep pockets to buy a facility for their series. Penske is out of track ownership. And Dover found it pretty much had to shutter its facilities in St. Louis, Memphis and outside of Nashville because there was no market for tracks with no revenue streams.
I suppose a non-racing company could buy the land for other uses. If that were the case, they'd want to buy it for cents on the dollar to compensate for the demolition and re-build costs. And Atlanta has a LOT of acreage. Hard to believe there is a business out there at the moment who would need it all, and that area south of Atlanta doesn't strike me as a booming residential area where new homes could be built in place of the track.
Speaking of homes, Atlanta's future would seem to be complicated by equity owners of the condos at Tara Place. I'm not sure what the ramifications would be for SMI if Bruton / NASCAR agree to move the remaining date. With nothing going on out there, would SMI still be on the hook for maintenance, landscaping, security, etc. for those who own the condo units?
I can tell you that I began dealing with the old Atlanta track on a professional level in 1981. Mike Helton was then employed there working for bankruptcy trustee Walter Nix. Mike worked diligently with local authorities on traffic. Mike once related that when a substantial contribution to a county sheriff's campaign fund wasn't made that no officers from any jurisdiction worked the highways or intersections leading to the track on race day.
Ed Clark faced the same challenge later. I know many promises were made, political contributions donated and then business conducted as usual by the local Cracker authorities.
The perils faced by the Atlanta track with corrupt officials really makes you appreciate professional dealings I've encountered with organizations like the North Carolina Highway Patrol and Henrico County Police Department and the weeks of detailed traffic planning they put into events at Charlotte and Richmond.
Traffic things have been so coordinated for years with ISC that the same Daytona Motorcycle officers who work the Daytona races are transported twice yearly to Talladega along with their Harleys. The bikes get local sheriff's department insignia and the Daytona motorcycle officers are temporarily sworn in and given uniforms as local Talladega deputies. I hired local deputies to work my suites and made contributions to their local funds.
Big Bill France left nothing to chance with traffic control. One of my first stops in Talladega was always the huge Alabama Highway Patrol Command Center behind the speedway to deliver cases of racing hats and other paraphernalia. I always received outstanding cooperation getting motor coaches through traffic, etc. Sometimes it pays just to be nice and play the game up front.
To Jay Coker's point, he had it. Not sure what the trade-off was, but SMI somehow surrendered the season closer to Homestead. With ISC as Homestead's corporate owner, they won't relinquish it back to SMI. Phoenix or Fontana might get it - or another ISC track suitable for November - but France & Co. isn't going to cede money back to Bruton without something in return. And with the new championship format, the season ender in Homestead is gonna bank more dollars than ANY race on Labor Day weekend.
Plus, as much as I'd like to see the Southern 500 on Labor Day weekend again, that weekend is now dominated nationwide by college football.
As much as we seniors would like it, I think sufficient time and general degradation has passed, and the holy-grail date of anotherLabor Day Southern 500 probably won't make any difference. Each week the sport generates new all-time lows in the all-important TV number sweepstakes. Too much change, and for too long, has apparently taken the life right out of the thing. Even Dale Jr. can't move the needle anymore.
just a question to you Bobby, why was the stands so full last Saturday nite at Darlington? There were several other high drawing functions around the Carolina area.
Was this a fluke or does the name Darlington only draw the crowd -- could it be the "Lady in Black" resurfacing after certain folks deemed her dead? And yeah im one of those ole pesky ass seniors thats loves the good ole days !!
If the crowd was great, why would ISC want to change the date? The 'now' generation does not have that Labor-Day mindset. From Jayski:
Early Darlington TV Ratings: Primetime coverage of "NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing From Darlington " with 5.921 million viewers, adults 18-49 a 1.4 rating in front on Saturday. In 2013 FOX was the top draw on Saturday (4-13-2013) with its coverage of "NASCAR: Sprint Cup Racing from Texas" (5.908 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.5, #1).( Futon Critic ), for past TV Ratings for the 2014 races and a 5-year comparison chart, see the 2014 TV Ratings page .(4-14-2014)
UPDATE: Saturday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Southern 500 from Darlington (SC) earned a 3.2 overnight rating on FOX, down 9% from each of the past three years (3.5) and the lowest ever for a Sprint Cup telecast on FOX (dates back to 2001). The previous low for NASCAR on FOX was a 3.3 overnight for the 2009 Subway Fresh Fit 500 from Phoenix, also on a Saturday night. Six of the seven lowest rated NASCAR races on FOX in the metered markets each took place on a Saturday night - 2014 Darlington (3.2), 2013 Richmond (3.4), 2012 Richmond (3.4), 2011 Richmond (3.4), 2010 Richmond (3.4), and 2009 Phoenix (3.3). The lone exception was the rain-drenched 2012 Fontana race, which earned a 3.4 overnight on a Sunday afternoon. Prior to this year, the Darlington race took place in May opposite the NBA Playoffs.( Sports Media Watch / Sports Business Daily )(4-14-2014)
I would love to see some tradition re-established. Darlington, and
the Southern 500 are the best in NASCAR
Hey Doc. Does this mean the back gate is open for us old fogies or seniors as Bobby describes to quietly leave the infield and get up on the porch with our rockers??
What a nice thought Labor Day at Darlington . Would even make a nice night race !!
I agree Harvey. It would make a great night race although there is something about running Darlington in the brutal South Carolina Pee Dee heat and humidity of a Labor Day. But then, with this "climate change" situation where we have the heat on this morning, on April 19th, I wonder if we would need heavy coats for a Labor Day race?????
Honestly, I wish the big-time would give Saturday night back to the local tracks........from which it came. Lighting the big tracks was novel, and was ultra-successful for a while, its magic has waned some, but it still hurts the Saturday night tracks.
I tend to agree, Bobby. I was near the forefront with the lighting of Richmond and we were the first track to stage two Cup races under the lights. However, I don't think anyone foresaw the current number of night Cup and Nationwide races and what the effect may have been on weekly racing.
Nascarcloses Rockingham and North Wilkes, takes one away from Atlanta,cancels the Labor Day race at Darlington and is just now starting to realize their wheels are no longer balanced. What happened???
It's called abandoning your roots.
Should have never been taken away, good news.
A great big
