wilkesboro vs. martinsville
General
i think that the wilkesboro race will take some fans from the martinsville race. there seems to be more of a loyalty to the mods and late models run at so many different tracks on a regular basis. my point is that there are just so many fans that would be interested in these races. wilkesboro will be lucky to draw 20 mods as the track is very abrasive and will require the teams to use a lot of tires. throw that in with the fact that the northern mod tour runs in conn. the same day meaning little or no yankees will come down and you have a recipe for failure. the lates at martinsville have drawn well enough to keep that race going for many years and will probably do so again..i'm interested in what years the rock and martinsville clashed. i didn't see this in my research, but it seems that i recall this at least once in the early 90's.
N.B. Arnold said: In my opinion the races draw a different fan base and are in different markets. More than likely, no one from the Wilkes area is going to a Late Model race at Martinsville and vice-versa, no one around the Martinsville area is going to Wilkes, except for a small group of modified loyalists who drivers, or a small group who may know a participant. Plus North Wilkesboro is only 45 minutes from here and there has been no advertising around here (Mooresville) and Martinsville does not advertise the Late Models very much except in the local area.
As far as previous conflicts, the Martinsville doubleheader also ran the same day as the Rockingham Cup race on two occasions that I remember because of weather. The NHRA also ran in Bristol the same weekend as the All-Star race at Charlotte. Both SMI tracks, but different markets and different fan base.
The fact is that the market does not bear drawing from a wide range for the type event being held.
Some fans may have to pick and choose but the majority do not have a conflict. The weak economy does not help matters in that race fans may not as far, or may save their dollars for the larger and/or Cup races, so the speedways depend more on the area fans for support.
As far as North Wilkesboro and Martinsville, neither will probably draw very well, unfortunately.
