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View Full Version : Ideal distance to travel to a race



fastbackss
08-23-2012, 02:56 PM
Breaking off from the other thread:


Actually, he is on point. Yes, Bristol is good exposure. But, that's a long drive (So is Thompson for the SOUTHERN TOUR)

Prices to compete in this NASCAR Tour keep going up, and cars keep disappearing.. 88/23 not there yesterday.. two of our big dogs..

Believe what ya want, Time to get SMART if ya know what I mean.

As long as I have been on this board, and even before at MSS, there was always consternation about expanding our beloved Modified series. We want new tracks and we want TV coverage and we want exposure, but seemingly these are always met with resistance if there is any inconveniencing. It is readily apparent that there are differing philosophies from this constituency as to what is best.

So, I have decided to discuss one aspect - travel distance - using data. Let's discuss!

Using a team home base of Stafford Springs, CT (admittedly I should have taken some team shops and averaged their location, but didn't want to put in that much effort)...here is the northern schedule with ONE WAY mileage to the track.

Thomps - 33 miles
Stafford - 0
Monand - 85
Stafford - 0
Waterford - 46
NHIS - 143
Staff - 0
Thomps - 33
Bristol - 652
Thomps - 33
Riverhead - 192
NHIS - 143
Staff - 0
Thomps - 33

That is 1393 miles (or 2786 total).
14 races - 2786 miles - or an average of 199 round trip miles per race.

Let's take out Bristol
13 races - 1482 miles - or an average of 114.

Diesel haulers - let's use 7mpg and $5/gallon.

That is $1990 to compete in 14 races (398 gallons) or $1058 to run 13 (211).


Southern Tour, using Winston-Salem as a starting point.
Caraway - 40 miles
Car - 40
So Bo - 107
Car - 40
Car - 40
B-G - 0
Bristol - 145
Langley - 277
Thompson - 739
Car - 40
Charlotte - 65

That is 1533 miles or 3066 total.
11 races at an average of 278 per race.

Let's take out Thompson

10 races - 1588 miles or an average of 158 per race

Same gas calculations
11 races - 438 gallons - $2190
10 races - 227 gallons - $1134


***************

Both tours visit 7 tracks.

Based on the above - is this "too much?"

mod35
08-23-2012, 03:28 PM
Stafford to Bristol is 750 miles not 562

fastbackss
08-23-2012, 03:36 PM
Stafford to Bristol is 750 miles not 562

According to Google Maps it is 652, which means that I must have flipped it when I wrote it down. The above shall be corrected. Thanks for checking!

fastbackss
08-23-2012, 04:05 PM
m0ar data!!!!!

If I counted correctly Mahoning Valley Speedway has 25 points race nights for their Modifieds this year. If a driver lives 55 miles (one-way) from the track he/she will commute the same amount as a team following the NWMT.

The Super DirtCar Modified schedule is comprised of 14 race "trips," similar to the NWMT. There are 11 stand-alone races, and three multiple races jaunts. (For the multiple race weekends I presumed a team would commute directly to the next track from the previous). A team based out of Syracuse, NY (where a fair amount are due to the proximity of local tracks) would need to commute 5899 miles to run the entire tour*.

*Also note that this tour points system includes "home-track" points from weekly racing as well. I have not included any of those trips in the above, although it is likely a requirement to win the series.

JMB
08-23-2012, 08:22 PM
I think the West Series(former Winston West) has had all the other regional NASCAR tours beat in the travel department for years. Use for example that most teams are probably based in southern CA. They have to travel to:

Phoenix- 350 miles
Roseville- 420 miles
Miller Motorsports Park 650 miles
Iowa- 1700 miles
Vegas- 250 miles
Sonoma - 430 miles
Evergreen-1180 miles
Portland- 975 miles
Montana Raceway- 1311 miles
Spokane-1219 miles
Colorado National -1020 miles
Havasu- 277 miles
Stockton- 352 miles
Brainerd- 1973 miles
Albuquerque- 768 miles
And in the past they went to San Antonio which would actually be closer for the NC based East Series teams.