Will Watkins Glen Get ISC Axe?
An interesting wrinkle has been added to Kansas Speedway’s plans to add a 300-room Hard Rock Hotel & Casino outside turn two.
The casino plan announced nearly two weeks ago included ISC president Lesa France Kennedy intentions to petition NASCAR for a second Cup date: “I have made a commitment on behalf of ISC to ask NASCAR to bring a second Cup date to Kansas Speedway,”
At the time I saw this as a Battle of the Titans between the sports powerhouses, ISC and Bruton Smith’s SMI.
But maybe not, maybe it will be an internal ISC struggle that sees Watkins Glen sliced off the Cup schedule in the future vice snatching a date from SMI.
Kansas Speedway officials announced Monday that in addition to a potential second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, the facility will add a road course to its infield if the hotel & casino proposal submitted to the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission is approved.
Kansas Speedway’s proposed road course has caught the eye of Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), which is based in Topeka, Kan.
“As the largest active motorsports membership organization in North America, SCCA would certainly welcome and support another venue to host events,” said Jim Julow, SCCA, Inc. President and CEO. “Any time ISC has included a road racing course within one of its facilities, it has been nothing short of first class.”
The addition of a road course might set-up an interesting scenario no?
Although it would be tough leaving upstate NY considering the large Canadian contingent that attends, and as the only NASCAR penetration in the area it’s one they are loath to abandon, the Glen has exactly been lavished with dollars by ISC to bring it up to the standards of today’s modern road courses.
I can picture this scenario:
Sometime after 2010 Kansas gets the Watkins Glen date vice a Cup date. The Glen keeps it’s NNS date - or whatever it’s called by then - in addition to the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series making its first ever trip into the U.S. as part of a triple header weekend with the Camping World East series. The ARCA RE/MAX Series could be tossed into the mix as well.
Or, this is all just a SWAG (Surface warfare Wild Assed Guess) on my part, a term commonly used in my former occupation in the U.S. Navy.
Take your pick. And make your own guesses how this will all play out.
The track that ought to lose a race is Fontana, but that’s not going to happen simply because it is such a large TV market.
If Kansas does get a second date I would imagine that Martinsville will be the one to lose a date.
Believe it or not I tend to think NASCAR learned a lesson when they pulled a Darlington date and won’t make the same mistake with Martinsville.
All we have heard over the past few years about WG is the need to upgrade the facilities both on and off the track. One of the last tracks that refused to upgrade when asked was North Wilks, and today it is nothing more than a pasture.
Bottom line, this series deserves state of the art facilities, and if the venue isn’t willing to upgrade when asked, then they deserve to lose a date.
As for Fontana, Caly still outdraws many of the ‘east coast’ tracks, there problem was that they just built too many seats!
Martinsville lose a date?
I’ve seen some really dumb moves. Some which were more political than anything (selling Rockingham to SMI to settle the suit, for example), and some of which were based in greed (California and its market, in which there is a far less saturated percentage of fans).
However, I think (or would like to believe) that NASCAR is coming around a bit and learning that they can’t just dump on those who have got them to where they’re at now.
First, short tracks are the backbone of the whole shebang. It’s roots, it’s rubbin, it’s racin. They draw an audience, more so than the cookie cutters. Why watch Kansas when you can watch Chicago, Charlotte or Vegas for example? Martinsville, Bristol or Richmond on the other hand, each is unique.
Next, they’ve take our Southern 500, our Rock, our North Wilkesboro, and the sport which we’ve grown up loving. Change happens, sometimes for the better. However, I honestly believe that NASCAR has learned from the past decade, and in the back of their minds know that taking a date from their short tracks without extreme precedence would be a knife to the fans that remain and have been loyal to the sport for so long.
California? Yeah, they built too many seats. About 60,000 of them.
Racing is the product. If the product is junk, the results from attendance and viewers will be junk.
Kansas: Junk.
Martinsville: Racing.
California? Yeah, no so much.
Short tracks are the backbone? Maybe 30 years ago, and if you need a fix of one grooved racing, go see an ASA or Hooters race (if they still offer those)
Sadly, even with all those empty seats at Caly ,they still out draw NW and the Rock, even when both those venues were warned about attendance and possibly losing dates. And even with those warnings, the ’saturated’ race fans of the east coast didn’t support those venues fully, thus they lost their dates. But those east coast race fans, had a ton of excuses, but for some reason if Caly used the same excuses, that doesn’t count!
You said that ‘racing is the product’, if this is true, i guess those empty seats a Mville speak for the product too? Or those empty seats at the Rock, or even the Southern 500 at Darlington 10 years ago.
Okla, a man after my own heart.
While I also lament the loss of the “old” NASCAR venues I also mourn the loss of Tiger Stadium and freezing my “asshola” off at Candlestick, all things must pass.
Without tracks larger than 1 mile the sport would have stopped growing, and “national” sponsors would have passed on spending big bucks.
The Rock is my prime example, they whined, cried and moaned like milk truck struck puppies when the track closed but they failed to upgrade it and fans stayed away in droves. When the chance arose to show their “support” this past spring the “fans” of The Rock could only fill the place 1/3 full.
BLAH!
They intentionally phased out the Rock by keeping it off the upgrade list.
ISC knew what it was doing well in advance on that one. They knew they were going to be moving dates, so why spend the money?
You know, 1/3 of a full house (and for an ARCA race, no doubt) was no small feat. Quite a good crowd for an ARCA event, and one that was larger than a lot of the concerts at arena’s across the country.
Um, and how big is Rockingham? (1.017mi, FYI)
Axing The Glen would make sense. Then again, cutting California in half would too.
What’s more, is that NASCAR really needs not only both dates at Martinsville, but Bristol and Richmond too.
Why?
Usable highlights that can last quite a while, that draw a lot of attention and interest.
Example: Jimmie vs Jeff: Martinsville 07 (Spring)
They sure are milking that one, aren’t they? Making it seem like every race is a bumper to bumper, beatin and bangin, knockdown drag out to the finish.
Wonder how much they’ll use the highlights from last week at Bristol?
Hmmmm…
And we all know there’s a lot more to it than just those.
They have to have that balance, and right now 1/6th of the races happen on tracks under a mile.
Even more realistic would be HRH France and Bruton coming together to pull another North Wilkesboro. This time, however, Pocono would be in the sights. One to Kansas, one to Kentucky.
Bruton picked up New Hampshire last fall, and thus far is still committing to keeping both races up there. If one were to fall from there, I’d bet on Vegas. That Chase race is pretty appealing.
So you know Kentucky is next on Bruton’s list for getting in the Cup door. Kansas is on ISC’s list.
That’s two dates not on the schedule. Where are they coming from? Think SMI is taking one from Bristol to give to Kentucky? Heh, think again.
Then again, they could kill both road courses and carry on as well.
Point being… plenty of other choices out there where they won’t have to commit suicide.
We’ll have to disagree on the Rock, it wasn’t just ISC lacking funds to upgrade, even if they had the track had zero facilities in the area to host anything larger and the locals absolutely refused to budge on improving them.
Ultimately I agree that both road courses will go and possibly Pocono as well. NH will represent the Northeast as as well as The Glen could.