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Sep 1, 2010 - 10:46 AM |
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A New Speedway Open! |
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This past Sunday, we decided to go to ALH Motor Speedway in Morden, Manitoba to experience something that is extremely rare these days; the opening of a brand new dirt track racing facility.
First off a little background. Morden is in south central Manitoba, about 3.5 hours west of Emo, and 1.5 hours southwest of Winnipeg. Morden, and its close neighbor, Winkler are two mechanic/car/truck crazy communities. In fact, there are about a dozen or so drivers that race at Red River Co-op Speedway in Winnipeg that are from the Winkler/Morden area. In many ways, it makes sense that a facility would be built nearby at some point.
The track is located a couple miles west of Morden, which is a beautiful place. The trees hang over the main road and its organized fairly well. The Apple and Corn Festival, which took place that weekend was also pretty cool. I will definitely go there again in the future.
The facility is not complete, which was noticeable right when entering. Only one set of the grandstand was up, there was no electricity (except generators), and the place had an general unfinished look. It was ready to be raced on, but plenty of work will be done in the future to get it all ready for next season.
The track is about a 3/8 mile and has fairly steep banking. You could tell a lot of work was put into it, as there was plenty of material to set the place up. There were plenty of classes running, including five Lightning Sprints, five Super Trucks, five Super Stocks, two Modifieds, approx eight 4-Cylinders, and twelve Pure/Street Stocks.
The crowd was really good. Almost packed out the one grandstand making it close to a few hundred people. The racing was good too, but you could tel there was plenty of work to do in the corners since they seemed a bit uneven. Having the races definitely will help Al and the crew to get the kinks out of a fresh surface. Overall, the track held up VERY well, much better than a few people thought it would. I was impressed how fast the track was, although that was probably due to the high banking.
The program itself was very good as well and I think it will be an excellent program once everything is set in stone for the facility and the classes.
My overall impression is VERY positive. That place it teeming with possibilities and if managed well in its early years, should create a GREAT local racing community.
But as with all new things, it is important to tread carefully and make sure not to extend too far too soon, whether it comes to fans, sponsors, drivers, prices, etc. Below is a list of things that I think might be integral to making sure that ALH Motor Speedway or any other new dirt track in Canada becomes successful in the short and long road.
1. Only Run a Few Classes
It will be VERY important that the Speedway does not saturate its driver pool. By limiting the amount of regular classes that race on a weekly basis, they will be able to get the maximum amount of car count, allowing a streamlined program that has large amounts of cars in each class. One thing that plagues several speedways are having too many classes and not enough in each class to create a solid show. ALH Speedway would probably do best with three classes in at least the early going.
2. Make Prices affordable for all age levels
One of the best ways to get a business going is making sure prices are competitive and fair for all ages. Charging $15 for Adults can actually be a negative in many regards, especially if there are several adults and one person might be paying. You want the maximum amount of people to come into the main gate, and one way of doing that is making sure prices are fair. I know that one must make money to pay for the expenses, especially for a new facility, but what is more important in the long run is getting a full grandstand every week. Providing a family package may also help entice more people.
3. Providing A Smooth and Consistent Program
As with any racetrack, the return of fans (especially in Canada) is dependent on a great program. One that is short and sweet. The generations coming up are short on attention spans, so the importance of a quick program that doesn't seem to drag on forever will be key to getting young people continuing to be involved. Hence why its important, to have only so many classes. This will keep the program under control, even when there are accidents and other possible delays.
4. Develop a Local Driver Base
As said earlier, there are several area drivers, however, not necessarily enough to have a full program at this point. Another important step to developing the Speedway community is by NOT relying on travelers. If the Speedway wants to survive, it will have to promote a lot in the area to get young and new people interested in building and racing cars. A track is only as stable as its weekly drivers, and travelers are never a guarantee to show up every week, or at all.
5. No Specials or Invitationals for at Least a Year or Two
The best way to start to build a local community of racing is to not spoil it. That is, Sprints, Late Models, even Modified specials will only create a group of people that will go only on those nights and not on regular nights because "those classes are more exciting and worthwhile to go to". If you spoil your local community with that too early, then your weekly fan count may suffer in the short and long run. Once again, its about establishing a great weekly program that draws in the crowds, not the specials.
6. Pay Fair to the Drivers
Start pay will be key to getting new drivers and more drivers to attend and race. You can pay out big to win, but if you don't support the drivers that bring the rest of the field, then one day, you will continue to see a shrink of the total amount of cars. Paying out heat races isn't a bad idea either (Top 3). If you build a local community of racers, a good start pay will be key to maintain it.
There you have it. Just a few things that I think can help make the track in Morden an established success. Promoting will be the biggest thing to be done over the next year, getting people pumped for next season and see new cars being built. The airways, newspapers, internet, etc. should be pounded locally to make everyone feel like ALH Motor Speedway is the place to be EVERY week during the summer months in Morden.
If you need any clarifications please let me know. You can check out the ALH Motor Speedway website at http://www.alhmotorspeedway.com/ for more information.
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I am now running in the provincial election in Ontario and really hoping to work hard and have a good time and meet lots of people.