|
About the Author I once
acquired a race track which was loosing a great deal of money and put it into a sound financial position. I made a great many influential friends in an area where the words, 'auto racing", had previously been dirty
ones. In doing these things I worked long and hard hours both physically and mentally. Finally, I received great financial rewards for my efforts. Because my earlier experiences followed a course most promoters
encounter, I'm going to describe them for you, not in detail, because it will be done elsewhere, but enough to give you some understanding of the situation. I became an automobile racing fan
about eighteen years ago. Eight years ago I bought and drove my first race car. I almost purchased my first race track about four years ago, but fortunately for me at that time the deal fell through and I was saved from
financial disaster. Most people think as I once did, anyone could easily make a fortune if he owned and promoted a race track. Consequently, I felt bad when the deal fell through and thought I
missed the opportunity of a lifetime. After all, I felt I knew all there was to know about race promoting. I had gained my knowledge week by week in the grandstands and pit areas from the spectators, race care owners
and drivers. The road to success appeared to be a simple one. First, all I had to do was buy a race track, any track. Second, I would post a large purse for the race drivers. Third, I would
advertise effectively. Then every hot race car in the country would come to my track and the spectators would break each other's necks running through the turnstiles. As a result., I would get rich quick. Determined to make a fortune promoting races, I was soon out looking for another race track to buy. I found
there were a lot of race tracks for sale. As a matter of fact, once most track owners realized I was a bonafide potential buyer, almost all tried to sell me their tracks. This included a number of owners whose tracks
were closed. Supposedly all these people had to sell suddenly due to health, family or other reasons unrelated to the track or
racing. Each attempted to convince me his track would be a good investment but could not or would not present adequate financial records to substantiate the claim. Surprisingly, none of these people were crude enough to
say they were selling because their tracks were producing too much money. They were, however, obviously falsifying the facts enough to convince me they would not tell the complete truth about anything. Therefore, I got
the distinct impression they were really losing money. Poor promoting was the only reason I could attribute to these apparent failures. Thus, for the first time I began to doubt race promoting was actually the simple
road to success I had previously envisioned. |