I hear you Kevin, but when is the last time your race director friend paid $20 and sat in the spectator stands for the entire night of racing? You're a good guy to have this discussion with because I know you work as an official and a flagger, but I also am pretty sure that you still take in a few shows from the cheap seats as a spectator at a few local tracks on occasion, so you know both sides of the fence.... My point is, yea... I get it... Not enough cars... and you end up with not enough show! But on the other hand, with folks having a lot of other alternatives to getting their weekly racing fix, somebody better have an eye on the show, from beginning to end... and make sure that it's still worth driving to, paying for, and sitting in the stands in person as a spectator. I've been going to races for quite a while and the one thing that I know for sure is that none of the local tracks that I go to actually have someone on staff with a clipboard (or a phone that they can capture notes on) on race night, from beginning to end, whose one and only job is to sit in the stands, without a headset... without a walkie-talkie.... without other staff sitting near them... without getting up and doing busy work, without strolling through the pits.... probably only getting up as a race fan might, to hit the concessions stand (as a paying customer) and to maybe hit the restroom before heading back to their seat - as a fan... again... capturing more notes... so that those "notes" could then be be reviewed that week with other staff, so that improvements can be made where needed. Yea... there's usually someone running around, looking busy because they probably are... talking on their walkie-talkie, zipping arouind in a golf kart headed somewhere.... taking care of something that needed to be taken care of... But name the person at any local track, on staff that is taking in the show from beginning to end, experiencing it as a fan, and then reporting their findings? Nobody "eats their own cooking".... meaning promoters/others put all the effort into putting on the show, but they really have no way of knowing, did the fans get a good show overall? Did the many interruptions and delays make it a choppy show, with no momentum, making for a crappy in person experience, or did the show have a flow to it that kept folks engaged and maybe... just maybe... excited to come back next week? Had tracks done this over the past decade or so, the sport would still have challenges (too many to list here, and most out of a promoter's control....) But I think the sport would be a lot more healthier than it is... I think there would be more fans in the spectator stands if tracks thought it was important enough to see how the complete show experience really was, followed by making adjustments for improvement for the next week, and the next... and the next..., rather than hoping that it was a good show (but not really ever knowing) and then wondering, "Where did all the people go?....
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