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E-mail StoryMike Griffith: Late Model drivers pointing fingers the wrong way at Speedway
| Wednesday, Jul 2 2008 9:51 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Jul 3 2008 8:25 AM
Fireworks will light the sky Saturday night at Bakersfield Speedway but there's been plenty of fireworks behind the scenes lately when it comes to dirt Late Model stock car racing.
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In fact, some Late Model racers are ticked off that a graphic on Bakersfield Speedway's Web site lists Giant Fireworks Show at the top with the classes competing on Saturday night — Late Models, Street Stocks and Mini Dwarfs — at the bottom.
Don't those guys have better things to worry about or are they so self-obsessed to think the world revolves around Dirt Late Model racing?
Sure, dirt Late Models are awesome cars and are capable of putting on great racing. But at what price?
Competitive cars cost upward of $60,000, parts break easily, tires are chewed up quickly and drivers want a decent bang for their buck when it comes to payout. That's understandable.
But race track promoters also need some bang for their buck as do fans, who have to shell out more money to attend a Late Model show.
For the past two years it worked out pretty well for all parties at Bakersfield Speedway.
That's not the case this season as turmoil has reigned supreme in Late Model circles for the past few months. Much of the angst has been brought on by drivers themselves.
It's a complicated story as to how it got to this point.
In a nutshell, a handful of racers banded together in 2005 and created the Western All-Star Series, which was essentially two special races paying $3,000 to win, $500 to start and had a lot of other perks.
The "series" then went full time in 2006, although all of the races were held at Bakersfield Speedway, which really didn't make it a series, but I digress. The series was a hit with drivers and Speedway owner Scott Schweitzer as car counts averaged well north of 30 and crowds were good.
The new series also put the old Western Dirt Late Model Series, which generally paid under $1,500 to win and less than $200 to start, out of business.
In 2007 the racers who founded the series sold it to race director Chris Kearns but as it turns out there apparently wasn't a sale and no money ever exchanged hands. Anyway, the series expanded beyond the Speedway, car counts remained good and racers were mostly happy as pigs in slop. Heck, even those who did not make the feature went home with as much loot as drivers got for the bottom positions in the old WDLMT feature races.
But behind the scenes there were already warning signs. Debt had been incurred, a major financial contributor to the series was at the end of his two-year commitment and Kearns was seeking to become the promoter of Santa Maria Speedway.
Dick Shepherd and Steve Drake, two of the racers who started the series, wrestled the series back from Kearns, who as it turned out did not end up as the promoter at Santa Maria, and sold it to Bakersfield businessman Roy Piker.
That created a firestorm of controversy with Drake and Shepherd, who were instrumental in starting the gravy train all Late Model drivers had enjoyed the past two seasons, being carved up on a popular message board ( latemodelracer.com ) like a Thanksgiving turkey.
Piker was vilified by many drivers and fans. Drivers became fractured and a real-life soap opera played out on the message board. Still, Piker soldiered on, as did Schweitzer, who agreed to take on 10 of 21 series races this season.
But the previous positive buzz about the series had morphed into a negative buzz, despite the fact the purse structure remained pretty much the same.
By the time the season rolled around it was obvious that for various reasons — negativity, loyalty to this person or that person, lack of promotion, the economy or who knows what — interest among racers had waned. Bakersfield averaged well more than 30 cars per race in 2006 and 2007 but the first three races this year drew car counts of 22, 18 and 23.
With a reduced back gate, and grandstand crowds that weren't overwhelming, Schweitzer pulled the plug. When WAS would not reduce the cost to put on a race Schweitzer severed his ties with the series and said he would still run Late Models, but from now on he was paying $2,000 to win (while still paying $500 to start).
That created another uproar among drivers, with one actively promoting a boycott of Late Model race at Bakersfield Speedway on June 14.
Between the time Schweitzer cut his ties with WAS in late May and the June 14 race rolled around, Piker sold to DIRTCar Racing, the brand name for the sanctioning body run by World Racing Group.
Fourteen drivers showed up for June 14 race at the Speedway.
Schweitzer is now being portrayed as the bad guy (joining Drake and Shepherd) but in reality Schweitzer is the one promoter who stepped out of the box, upped the ante, and tried to bring Late Model racing to the next level in California.
Without him there would have been little change from 2005.
Sure, two grand to win is step back from three grand. But losing money on every Late Model race is not a way to keep the gates open to the racetrack.
There's a lot of blame going around for the present turmoil but none of the drivers seem to be pointing the finger in their own direction. Boycotting the one track that took the sport to a higher level hardly seems the appropriate thing to do.
All parties need to work together, ride out the storm and see how they can go forward in the future.
Bakersfield Speedway can survive, and quite possibly thrive, without Late Model racing. Can Late Model racing thrive in California without Bakersfield Speedway?
That's a question Late Model drivers might ask themselves before they go and kill the goose that laid the original golden egg.
QUICK SHIFTS
* While the Late Model guys are crying and whining, the Street Stock drivers have banded together (at least for one race) and there is nothing but positive vibe for the Bottom's Up 100 at the Speedway on Saturday night. The annual event is designed to reward all of those in the feature race and is not a normal top-heavy purse. Sponsorship has more doubled the regular payout for a 30-lap race. The winner gets $1,200 for going 100 laps (but yellow laps count) and it pays $300 just to start. It was only a couple of years ago that some drivers were grousing about the winning portion of the purse but it appears everyone has seen the light as to how this benefits an entire group. In addition, there is more than $1,300 available in a variety of bonuses, such as $100 for fast time, $25 for slow time, $25 for the first car off on the hook, $25 to the first car a lap down and $100 to the first one out of the main.
* By the way, as noted at the top of this piece, there will be an aerial fireworks display at Bakersfield Speedway Saturday night. Racing starts at 6 and the fireworks will go off between Late Model and Street Stock feature events.