SHORT-TRACK RACING’S DIRTY ‘C’ WORD

by Matt Panure
Surprisingly, there are a lot of words that begin with the letter c that have a negative connotation in the world of short-track racing. Cheating, crashing, catastrophe, cancellation and any variation of those terms are things with which no one wants to be associated. And that’s just the short list (or at least the ones that I can publish). However, these days, none of those seem to be the dirtiest word in short-track racing.

One word that begins with the letter c sends everyone in an uproar in these days of short track racing. One word causes more controversy (another one of those c words) than any other term we throw around. That dirty c-word is change.

It seems something changes every year. Whenever you get back to your short track, something isn’t the same as it was when you left it, for better or worse. But why can’t things stay the same, especially if things were going well the previous season?

Some changes are bred by necessity: the pit steward can’t make it on Saturdays, your track gets a better deal from one soft drink Company than the other, or a new noise ordinance pushes the curfew a half-hour earlier. But some changes leave us all scratching our heads.

The saying goes: “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” Is our world of short-track racing broken to the point where changes are needed? Ask promoters, ask drivers, ask fans and they will more than likely tell you that short-track racing isn’t what it used to be. So the days of Trickle, Shear, Watson and Detjens are gone. But we have the days of Carlson, Fredrickson, Haseleu and Wimmer. So is our sport really broken…or has it (cringe) changed?

I would argue that our sport isn’t broken, but is rather a victim of circumstance. Let’s face it; our sport is reliant heavily on the support of sponsors and fans. We’ve lost fans to the professionals racing on Saturday night instead of Sunday afternoon and we’ve lost sponsors to those same professionals and an incredibly battered and bruised economy. But how long can we sit back and blame the circumstances before we get proactive?

So if our sport isn’t broken, but the circumstances around it are, something needs to be fixed. Well, we can’t tell the television stations to stop airing professional racing on Friday and Saturday nights. And that economy thing…some guy in a white house in the eastern part of our great nation has been working on that for two years to no avail – so there isn’t much more we can do about that, at least until November of 2012.

If the circumstances of our beloved sport are broken, and we can’t fix those circumstances, we unfortunately have to “fix” our sport. My rant here is news to no one. Promoters, racers and fans have been making adjustments to get their racing fix since the economy started to slide several years ago. However (here comes that ugly word again), changes still have to happen.

Changes have been happening at every track and in every race operation, but no change comes without controversy. Why is it that when we attempt to change something for the good of the sport, things seem to go into a cycle of drivers fighting promoters, promoters getting angry with drivers, and fans threatening to boycott tracks because of changes to the program? More on that later…

Drivers, think about that last rules meeting you attended. This was proposed, that was proposed and it all seemed like too much. Who was the driver who stepped up and said, “Everything is fine, why are we always trying to change things?” You have a point. You already have $200 shocks on your car and the track just passed a rule with a $125 limit on shocks. If a rule changes (even if it is to save money) you have to go out and spend money to get the new part.

Even worse, what was your response when you had your payoff adjusted because the finances could no longer support your purse? There is one change that no one, even the promoter who is forced to do it, likes to see.

Fans, think about when a track did something that upset you. Maybe they changed the night they run, their concession prices, their classes or (gasp!) their ticket prices. Trust me, this wasn’t done specifically to upset you, but that was the result, wasn’t it?

The fact of the matter is that all of these changes are made with a purpose in mind. Those new rules are designed to save you money or to allow more cars to come race with you. The track had to change nights to fend off competition (which may not be another race track, but something else in the area). They had to make adjustment to their prices, purse and show for the business aspect of their track. .

But when these changes are made, things tend to seem pretty one-sided. The big bad promoter waves his magic wand to change things and everyone else be damned. Let me assure you, this isn’t true.

Here is where the fighting starts. Drivers get angry that their rules or their class has changed, and fans get angry because their Saturday night experience isn’t the same. Promoters get angry after being bombarded by drivers and fans that they should do this or they should do that.

So where is the fix in this whole mess of fighting? Ironically, there are a few words that begin with the letter c that can help fix all of the uproar.

Compasssion – no, not the kind of compassion where you feel sorry for someone – there isn’t much room for that in short-track racing. Have compassion by putting yourself in someone else’s situation. Maybe it’s not so easy to pay that purse every week. Maybe the rules in your class are out of touch. Maybe a ticket over $10 is too much for a family of four. Maybe it’s time to leave the rules alone for a few years.

Consistency – do as you say, and say as you do. Don’t change that rule midseason because something comes up. Don’t ask for something to be changed in midstream. Give things time to run their course. If it is destined to be changed, it will be changed. Give it a chance (see compassion).

Consequence – every change has one of these, so be ready for it. Example: Drivers at a track were upset with a top official who, after several years of service, decided (on his own terms) not to return this upcoming season. Drivers had been calling for his resignation for some time and were happy to see it. However, said track is still without a replacement for this top official, mostly due to word of mouth as to how he felt he was treated. It seems a change was made just for the sake of it, and the consequence may be the loss of consistency from the top officiating spot.

Finally, my favorite c-word…Communication. So much can be solved by this word. Any change can be communicated effectively, but often in the world of short-track racing is not. It may not be an easily-accepted change, but if the proper channels are opened, the door is opened for compassion. If the reasoning of a change is explained, it’s much easier to take a few laps in that person’s Hoosiers (or walk a mile in their shoes for you traditionalists).

We need to remember that we’re all either promoters, drivers or fans for one reason…because we love short-track racing. If we keep that in mind and work through the changes (are we ok with this word yet?) we can help our sport thrive. Because we all know – Short-track racing in the Midwest is short track racing at its BEST!