Posts
20
Joined
5/13/2008
Location
Graham, NC
US
Edited Date/Time
3/25/2016 4:26am
I have searched and read the past threads about this, including all of the negatives and speculation of negative outcomes and examples of extremely high expenses. The general opinion on owning and operating a practice track is equal to or worse than jumping off a bridge into a pool of Justin Bieber songs, yet we all go ride at these tracks.............
So that justifies me starting a new post about it.
Would any ACTUAL owners of tracks be willing to email me to provide a little real world insight?
Thanks!
So that justifies me starting a new post about it.
Would any ACTUAL owners of tracks be willing to email me to provide a little real world insight?
Thanks!
The Shop
Free shipping: VITALMX
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
This allows tracks to be backed by a larger power and obtain the resources they need to be protected. I think it is $1,000 per year for the track owners and $26 for riders per year. Since both parties buy into these, they are all bound by the rules and liability that is and isn't covered.
Cra wants to post a schedule and you come race. But it doesn't work that way anymore.
Oma is providing quality prepped tracks and they launched a huge social media campaign.
CRA is dieing. Oma is growing.....
Advertise damn it. And not on Facebook. Facebook sucks.
Now on the the track stuff. I had the awesome opportunity to have my best friends help me run this place. Now that's where it can get a little in the grey area. I grew up racing with these guys and girls that helped. So we had lot of opinions coming from everywhere. You gotta stand your ground as Cheif. Another problem I ran across was to many people saw the money coming in and NEVER going out. Well when trophy bills, ambulance, insurance, water, employee's, pro purse (I paid out really good), sign up shack supplies, diesel (mind you it was 2011-2014 diesel was not cheap), equipment rentals, water truck breaking, outdoor light failure, radio advertising, and anything else I could be forgetting, they all saw it as I was raking in money hand over fist. Well that is not at all the case. I did it because I loved it not really for the money. I had a full time job and ran the track trust me there are some sleepless nights but it's all fun when you get smiles and hand shakes at the end of race night. I closed up the track in 2014 because I was tired of dealing with the fairgrounds it was on. They wanted more money and less help to keep their property up to code. They saw the people stacking the stands and went from $2.50 tall boys the first race, to the last race I had beer was either $4.75 or $5 per tall boy. They got greedy and thought I was going to make them a bunch of money while they sat back and did nothing. Don't get me wrong though I would pry start up another track and the drop of a hat but property will play a big part in it....it's pretty fun tho
There is always a way to make it work! Throw the old school methods out the door and start fresh! Don't do what the other tracks are doing just because they are doing it! Do it your way! Change things up and be the best you can be at it! Failure will be yours if you let it!
I am looking to correspond with track owners who have owned and/or ran tracks. I have the opportunity to open a practice track. I am not interested in holding races (unless it moved that direction). I would ask the owners of tracks local to me, but am weary of information from people who may see potential competition.
I don't want to clog up the message board so if anyone would like to PM me, that would be greatly appreciated.
Pit Row
Good luck.
Sounds like the bastards threatened to sue you also.
Having owned and operated several tracks it's a labor of love most days. There are days when it is very good, and days when you wonder why you put up with it. I feel if you ride yourself your track will be better and you will enjoy putting the time in to make it better.
Going back to the scale of operations, if you yourself can operate a dozer and build/prep tracks and water yourself for the days you are open and can limit your labor costs, equipment costs including (wear & tear) you'd be amazed at how many flats a water truck will get or how expensive a bull dozer under carriage (sprockets/track/pins) is and how often you need to replace them, you can make money. You will need less riders to break even. If you have to hire someone to build/prep then you need to make enough to cover the expense of a good track build/prepper because there's tons of people that can operate a dozer on flat ground, but can't build a proper track. You will need more riders to pay the staff.
Liability insurance isn't that expensive in the grand scheme of things, but if you have a bad record of injuries you will pay high rates. Some insurance is by the day, some is by the rider, some is by the year.
If you own the property at least you will have the capital improvements of building a score tower, starting gates, fencing, PA system, entrance booths, equipment garage, grand stands etc. if you are leasing the property the capital improvements will stay with the land.
There's lots that goes into it, but the reality is it can be done if you are in a friendly environment (city/county governments) and have enough riders to cover your costs. Make a good fun track for all skill levels, with good dirt, good prep, have flaggers and an EMT on site and you will do okay.
It is actually the same problem if you have a ski area or a golf course, they operate the slopes/course to break even and rely on things like Food/Beverage and Real Estate to make money.
I have been involved in tracks in a variety of ways and had thought about opening one as well. After crunching the numbers, the traditional model just doesn't get it done. I think the future of MX tracks is something akin to a country club and I guess we are sort of seeing that with some of the newer full service type training facilities. But if you are counting on day users to make a living for you, you will not be having steak and lobster very often.
Equipment wise we have:
1968 International water truck
2004 F450 water truck
Case 310 dozer (Not big enough)
Oliver 1850/cultivator/chisel
Ford 4000/grader box
Case 580E backhoe
I probably run 15 days a year. So not much. I do improvements and all work myself and last year I landed at making about 25 per hour time spent at track. I do it on a bear minimum and have never depreciated equipment into the equation. I use equipment for other things so I dont soak the cost into the track. Feel free to message me any questions.
Post a reply to: ACTUAL Track Owners.....