NASCAR - Sports Rumors

Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:40 am EST

Earnhardt Jr. fires back at track owners

By Joe Zedalis

Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR's most popular driver, fired a shot at some track owners who say drivers aren't doing their part to help sell tickets.

"That's not true," Earnhardt told reporters at NASCAR's annual pre-Daytona 500 media day. "We do winner's circle programs, we're constantly doing things every week for this guy and that guy to help race tracks. We were in Daytona for Fan Fest, I read off 20 damn scripts about selling tickets, that very thing.

"They've got to take a little responsibility for themselves. I was thinking the other day they ought to build their own hotels that way they can bring the hotel prices down and control the hotel prices in the region and make a little bit of money."

Earnhardt went on to dispute the assertion that live attendance is down because drivers aren't doing their part.

"People aren't coming to the race track because the drivers don't (care)," he said. "People are not coming to the race track because it's expensive to do it. Drivers do pitch in, drivers do try to go that extra mile and we're willing to do more. It's very easy to sit down and shoot a damn 30-second commercial. It's a piece of cake. I can do it at home. We got that NASCAR tech center where we can do live teleconferences for an hour.

"We can push all we can push but they've got to get a little more creative. They can't expect people to come back and spend that amount of money in this economy."

Source: Florida TodayNew Window

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  1. bcrammin
    1. Posted by bcrammin Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:03 pm EDT

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    Damn skippy!
  2. kenneth p
    2. Posted by kenneth p Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:11 pm EDT

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    good job dale, for one this was a sport now its just a business and the owners dont see all the profits just like the greedy ceo's of wall street did and they need to blame some one so y not the drivers. i understand that the world progresses but in 10 years i have watch nascar go from a great sport to another poorly run business. i think the chase was a bad idea and maybe if they would of done a point restructuring it would have done the same thing as the chase did but still keep every one on a even level. as for price five years ago i went to bristol for a race and spent 300.00 for the weekend for my wife and I. last year it would have cost us almost 1000.00 for the exact same trip. granted gas cost more but the hotel room had more than doubled so maybe dale is right if they build the tracks they should build hotels to go with them and then they would also have another steady revenue source year round.
  3. sluggo
    3. Posted by sluggo Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:38 pm EDT

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    I agree with the comment about the track owners building hotels. It would definitely help keep hotel prices reasonable, and people/families would be more willing to make a weekend or quite possibly a mini vacation out of it. Fire'em up JR!
  4. Jason
    4. Posted by Jason Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:17 pm EDT

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    Glad someone in NASCAR has a clue.
  5. JEFF
    5. Posted by JEFF Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:42 pm EDT

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    What else do they want these drivers to do? The track owners need to get with the hotels and quit gouging the fans!
  6. Don K
    6. Posted by Don K Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:39 pm EDT

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    Tell them JR When the race starts or NFL,NBA & whatever it sould be on full time.
    run the commercils on lower line of the TV. NASCAR!!!! C.O.T made a lot of fans walk away.
    maybe next all cars run honda motors and BMW's 5 speed trans, PLEASE DON'T GET ANY IDEALS. GO BACK TO THE OLD WAY WHEN WE ALL ENJOY RACEING!!!!
  7. SportsFan
    7. Posted by SportsFan Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:46 pm EDT

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    Track owned hotels won't work, tracks will need more than one or two races per year to justify the cost, which isn't cheap. The same thing has happened in all sports. Greed, greed, greed, and until fans stop going to games or races they owners won't get it. Look at the NY Yankees, they don't give a crap about the average fan, they will fill their high priced seats every game because there is a market for their product, and as long as that market exists, games will be unaffordable to the average guy.
  8. The Usual Suspect
    8. Posted by The Usual Suspect Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:55 pm EDT

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    who wants to see these drivers race on the same cookie cutter track week in and week out??????
    to many cookie cutters = the death of nascar as we know it.....
  9. bodymarshallbill
    9. Posted by bodymarshallbill Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:11 pm EDT

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    While we're talking about getting gouged on race weekends, how about the concessions making some price changes. $5.00 for a freaking bottle of water or a soda? I'm surprised they don't have pay toilets! Ooops! Better not give them any ideas!
  10. SportsFan
    10. Posted by SportsFan Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:46 pm EDT

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    Body, pay toilets are probably illegal, that would explain why they are free!!
  11. Roy S
    11. Posted by Roy S Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:43 pm EDT

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    Jr is correct and I would disagree with the Yankee analogy. I'm a life long Yankee fan and last year I went to a three game series and tickets to sit in the outfield, non-alcoholic I might add, were $12 a piece. I'm going this year and they are $15 a piece. I can't get into the parking lot at a nascar race for that amount.
  12. SportsFan
    12. Posted by SportsFan Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:46 pm EDT

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    The Yankee ananogy may not have been the best one, but I think a lot of venue owners in general will not budge until they are really hurt. If they cut prices now it will be harder to raise them back up later. I think a lot of them would rather take short term losses to hold their prices. I see Daytona is cutting prices on selected seats, but that does the traveling fan no good, it's probably too late to get a plane or a room. At least some locals might catch a break.
  13. Matt
    13. Posted by Matt Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:54 pm EDT

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    Racin' cost alot... but it still aint not much for beer and jerkey. I just watch on that there tv while mother deep fries god knows what... its good though
  14. Chris
    14. Posted by Chris Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:03 pm EDT

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    I am the biggest junior fan I know and alot of what he says is true. I also think that the drivers should get payed less money so they can make the tickets more affordable for the average person.
  15. EDWARD
    15. Posted by EDWARD Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:22 pm EDT

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    First of all, most NASCAR tracks allow you to bring in your own cooler with beverages and/or food, at least Texas, Gateway, and Bristol i know for sure, and that saves lots of $ for the fans be it soda or beer. Otherwise, concessins are a bit high but not as bad as the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL. Dale Jr makes a real good point and i agree the drivers do more than thier fair share but that's what the promotions dept is for so get out there and use it, hell the average fan base can provide several really good ideas as to how to bring some butts through the gates...
  16. tarheel u
    16. Posted by tarheel u Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:43 pm EDT

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    i try to at least go to one race a year. last year martensville. parking/camping for the weekend cost 200 bucks, food and beverages about 150.00, tickets 110.00 each! yeah its sucks but if you love it you love it and it should not matter.
  17. RootieDawg
    17. Posted by RootieDawg Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:47 pm EDT

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    Jr's right. The drivers do their part by entering the races. They're the show, when they race, the fans come out.
  18. mjknascar
    18. Posted by mjknascar Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:23 pm EDT

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    Hotels won't work! They will only jack the prices on the rooms on race weekends and the averge family will not be able to afford it,also the hotel will not make any money when there is no race in town! So hotels will never work because only the wealthly will be able to afford to stay there!!
  19. Rudy88
    19. Posted by Rudy88 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:16 pm EDT

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    Chris Kobe Bryant makes 41 mil this season. Jr makes less than a tenth of that. Which one of them puts their life on the line every week?
  20. Go Dale Jr!
    20. Posted by Go Dale Jr! Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:03 pm EDT

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    Way to go Jr! The drivers are doing their best, and they are not the reason the tracks aren't selling tickets, NASCAR is. Why? Because the COT's. Ever since they started having those things, the competition, well there really isn't much competition now because everyone just plays follow the leader. Also, now that NASCAR says that they don't want bumping and all that stuff to go on, even though they said they were going back to their roots, they haven't.
    So, not the drivers fault, NASCAR's fault.
  21. David D
    21. Posted by David D Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:50 pm EDT

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    the only place to see a real good race with out all the commericals is at your local dirt track and thats no longer cheap. i still say that brian france is following in the foot steps of tony george. hell he even wants danica patrick in nascar. i know you can't go back to the 70s/80s because of the high cost of everything, however you can go back to when a chevy is a chevy etc. the ole run what ya brung works for me, thats what stock car racing on the map. in five years they will more than be likely be driving hybrid toyos if france has his way. maybe us fans should sit out a season so they wake up.
  22. Traci
    22. Posted by Traci Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:19 pm EDT

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    Hotel prices in Daytona start at 350 anight with a 3 night min.My house payment is less than that
  23. JTM
    23. Posted by JTM Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:19 pm EDT

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    nice going jr. nascar has been jacking ticket prices for years and years. its to the point now where you would honestly spend $1500 for a weekend which includes travel and tickets. thats absolutely ridiculous. i would bet not many people in the us clear $1500 in a month of paychecks!
    if nascar wants more people to come out to the tracks, lower the freakin ticket prices. its that simple. and why would i pay $30 for a hat at a nascar event that i can buy at wal mart for $10? the merchandising in all professional sports is way out of hand. but these companies may see the true downfall of their strategies this year when honestly people dont have the extra money to spend on these events.
    lets see, either i can make the house payment and feed my family, maybe even turn on the ac a couple of times a month ..or, i can go to a nascar race and have overpriced merchandise shoved in my face all weekend? hmm...
  24. richard r
    24. Posted by richard r Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:44 pm EDT

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    nascar gotten boring just going around in circle, not much passing with new car. once in the lead they perty much stay there. the teams with money win which is about 3. go back to bring it to track and run it , i can't tell if its a ford, chevy, or toyota now days!

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