I do a fair amount of crewing at the local oval tracks but have noticed a decided down-turn in participation figures in the mid to upper levels (late models up to mods). This is a sign of the economy and that kind of racing makes little economic sense regardless of sponsorship.

Given the fact that they try to get out weekly (even more with traveling to other local tracks), the expenses add up pretty quickly despite low entry fee and less travel. Afterall, tires and fuel cost the same wherever you race. Very expensive racing.

Forget the bomber, Hornet, Queen Bee Figure-8 classes. That is simply crash-o-rama or disgused high budget and not even real oval track racing. Any class that mandates "Roll Posts" instead of Roll Bars or cages is pretty ridiculous.

Fun but dangerous.

The tracks have insurance, probably from the same sources as SCCA. Any serious claims at the local oval impact all of us.