“How’s business?” That’s a phrase that has been almost a greeting between people when encountering a familiar face. Fact of the matter is that of late the response to that, more often than not, has been “Slow”.

There are promoters at all levels of racing who wonder how well their races will be attended. At the highest forms of the sport, those with the huge stadia to fill are working overtime putting packages together so fannies will be in their seats. At the Sprint Cup level however, those promoters, at least to this point, don’t seem too worried whether there will be a full field of cars when their races take the green flag.

One could call what we are experiencing as an economic downturn or a recession. Things might not be going quite as well as they have for many of the folks in our little community as they were a few short years ago. Many factors have contributed to these woes.

Three years ago the price of gasoline was less than two dollars per gallon here on Long Island. Now we get excited when the price drops below three twenty-five. Higher petroleum prices also mean it’s more expensive to heat our homes.

As it costs more to keep a house warm or travel, those on a fixed budget have less discretionary income remaining to spend. As interest rates rise, those with money are more apt to save it. As stock prices decline, many have seen their retirement investments take a hit as well. Those who refinanced their homes into subprime flexible rate mortgages find themselves in the unenviable position that they might lose their homes.

What’s worse? As property values have declined, the resale value of some homeowner’s properties have become significantly smaller than their mortgage debts. Some of these people are walking away from the American dream as they feel their dream may eat them. Who ever thought anyone would be upside down inside of a mortgage?

Certainly it could become difficult for some tracks to attract big crowds as they compete for the public’s entertainment dollar which by the way, seems to be worth less and less daily. On the local and regional racing level, some venues, very existences in the future may depend on the spectators that come through the front gate this year. Racing however may be affected in a different way by the economy.

The groups of people who typically encounter the most duress during these types of cycles in the economy are small business owners. Those are the same people who make up a good portion of the drivers, team owners and sponsors of racing on the local and regional level. A tailspin in the economy can adversely affect the car counts at local racing venues just do to the fact that those small business owners can’t afford to compete.

Perhaps the group that is comprised of the greatest number of people who own or work for a small business is the crews of regional touring series teams like the Whelen Modified Tour and the Camping World East Series. Why is that? It’s because few people who work at a typical nine to five job have the ability to take the amount of time away from work to get to all of the races in the first place. Consequently, many of those who wish to work on a touring series team typically work in a trade where they can put the key in the door or where they can conduct some of their business over the phone from the track.

Will the current state of the economy drastically affect racing on the local and regional touring series level? Let’s hope not. But, if car counts and the amount of license requests this year taper off from previous seasons, let’s not point fingers at the “Big Bad Wolf” sanctioning body. Those who weather this stormy cycle will likely come out ahead when economic indicators take a turn for the upside.

Meanwhile, it is quite important that ALL of us…and this means YOU too, need to work to help those venues that host local and regional races put fannies in their seats. We need to PROMOTE local and regional racing. Regardless of whether we’re a part of a touring series team or interloping at a track from another area or a regular competitor at a local track, we need to help ALL of these venues get spectators through the front gate.

We lost Wall Township Speedway last month. What track will be next? With the rising cost of fuel it will be important that we work to get those fans that live closest to the venues to attend.

How can we help? Those who are going to races as a spectator can invite a friend or two. I’d like to see track and team owners get together to do some appearances. Maybe some of those appearances could be at locations that aren’t so typical like schools. All of us need to talk it up.

Regardless or even in spite of the economic conditions, our success and the future of local and regional racing is in our hands. Should we succeed we may call it a renaissance in Modified racing and a legacy will continue to grow. If we care not, we will be nothing more than a group of proud people who say “remember when”. The economy is likely to get worse before it gets better. Let’s do what we can together to keep our sport alive.