Kevin Gundaker explains the risk of hosting various national dirt races from the track owner’s perspective
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series hosts 60 races per year from South Dakota to Florida and Nebraska to Pennsylvania. Most races pack the crowd into short tracks all across the country.
But, if the weather is a little flaky, if it’s scheduled at the wrong time or something big in the area keeps the crowd at home then it could cost the promotors big time.
When the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series comes to your track, how big of a risk is it for you?
“It’s a large risk. It’s five times as big as my weekly show. Is it a risk vs reward? Yes,” Kevin Gundaker, the owner of Tri-City Speedway explained to RacingNews.co .
“Do we get to see the Lucas Oil people in our area very much? No. So, people come to it because of that.”
“They wanna see your Bloomquist, your Davenport, Josh Richards and right on down the line. My god, you can name 15 guys that could win a feature at any given night in the Lucas Oil Series. So, they know when they come here, it’s gonna be good racing.”
“It’s not just here. It’s at any Lucas Oil race. To bring them to the Midwest, we think it’s great.”
“We’ve looked at other things that we’ve done where the risk vs reward is more. The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series… My god, you can’t sleep for two weeks thinkin’ about bringing them in.”
The risk is more for them?
“The risk is twice as much as what this is.”
Just because the payout is more or because this isn’t really much of a sprint car area?
“The payout, it’s double the amount of money to put on vs my Lucas Oil shows. Nothing against them. But boy, our last one was 2006 because you can’t sleep.”
“You can lose $100,000 like, real quick.”
More
Related: Tri-City Speedway Results: April 27, 2018 – LOLMDS
Related: Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series director discusses attendance growth
Related: Kevin Gundaker talks track prep ahead of the Lucas Oil show at Tri-City
Related: Kevin Gundaker is bringing the crate late models back to St. Louis
LINKS
Tri-City Speedway | LOLMDS | Shane Walters
