10/04/2025
An open letter to the ice oval racing community:
The past 60 days have been a roller coaster when it comes to hopes, dreams, and disappointments in the ice oval world. Without dwelling on the past, I now find myself compelled to share some thoughts with all of you. So whether you are a spectator, driver, team member, team owner, sponsor, venue or sanctioning body, this letter is for your consumption.
Ray Kroc, founder of the McDonald’s empire had a favorite quote he challenged his entire workforce to embrace. Kroc said, “When you’re green, you’re growing. When you’re ripe, you rot.” I first heard this quote back in my high school days and it has stuck with me ever since. No matter the situation in life, I try to apply Mr. Kroc’s wisdom to my current situation. Now, more than ever, I believe it applies to the ice oval community.
Without subtle or significant change, our sport can never expect different outcomes. How often have we heard, “Where are the spectators?”, “How come there is no one on the hill?” “Our sport is dying.” And more. Yet, few if any of us, are willing to listen to those statements and institute change. The audience we are trying to attract demands a different product than the one currently being supplied; a model from 20+ years ago. But for some odd reason, collectively, we refuse to hear the comments and mold our sport to their desires. We can say we are listening, but we are failing to hear. For example:
1. Most of our history proves we have run races for racers. Our thought process and decision making is focusing on the racer as our primary audience. Have we ever thought about running races with the spectators interest as our first priority? For example:
A. Before the race day even begins, racers know who they face in each heat throughout the day. Other than at the CPTC, spectators do NOT have access to that information. If fans of a driver want to know who she/he is racing against in the heats, they have no access to that information.
B. Racers know which class is up next. Spectators rarely know the class when it hits the track. Yes, we may have published a race order, but is it too much to ask to have some sort of information board at the start finish line? Our announcers try and fill in the information, but that service is mostly for live stream coverage. Engine noise, conversations, and other distractions don’t allow the in person spectator to access the information when they want it.
C. Do we understand what we expect from a spectator? We ask them to please stand outside with little information and hope you are still there when the class they are waiting for appears. They better come at 9 am as not to miss something, but we often fail to be on time. A little information goes a long way to spectator satisfaction.
2. We MUST manage time better. But what does that mean?
A. It means we start on time. Plain and simple. If we can not race at a specific starting time, then there must be a plan for other activity. Driver interviews, promotional give aways, pit walks and hauler visits are just an example of what can be done.
B. Produce a race order of the day has time marks in it (which we publicize) and we do our absolute best to meet those.
C. Demand that our plow breaks are efficient. Plow break equipment is staged and running before the last checkered flag of the session. Corner workers are pulled quickly and then returned to the corners BEFORE the equipment is off the track. The next heat race is leaving staging as the equipment rolls off the track, etc. Eliminate unnecessary down time.
D. We add a flagman assistant at all venues. The assistant helps with starting line and restart line up allowing the flagman to be in position to pull the flag as soon as the last sled is staged.
E. Set realistic schedules. We group classes with low sled counts together. No more two or three sleds on the track for a race. A minimumof five sleds on the track at any one time.
F. We finish efficiently without dragging stuff out. Publish a start time (maybe even more than once a day by classes) and hit the mark. Help people make the decision when they want to attend or watch on the live stream. Encourage fan attendance for the finals.
3. Can we cooperate on live stream concepts and potentially coverage? There must be a way to join forces and offer consistent content, schedules, and cost (if any). If we are trying to reach a bigger and broader audience, individualized live stream broadcasts don’t work. Individual live stream only attracts the current spectator base.
There are so many avenues and ideas that could be explored, planned for, and given an honest attempt. To grow, we need to do better.
Growth requires change.
Be progressive.
Be helpful.
Allow and encourage change.
Try something new.
Show the fans you care.
Join forces.
Personally, I have tried to effect change in the ice oval snowmobile race world. It is not easy and you often get knocked down and pushed back. But change is hard. It is time to join forces and re-create, re-energize, and re-birth the sport we are all passionate for. It is time to offer probable alternatives to the same old process. Create new ideas and help the implementation. Be bold.
Back to Mr. Kroc’s quote. I fear that the ice oval world is “ripe”. The lack of current ingenuity, the lack of pro-active change, and the lack of listening has dug an awfully deep hole. It is time to start climbing out of the hole. It’s time for venues and sanctioning bodies to not just listen, but to hear what their fan base is saying. Don’t speak, just listen. Focus on the desire of the fans and allow them to come back to your race. If the sport continues to turn a deaf ear, Mr. Kroc’s vision may very well come true and the sport will rot.
Now let’s get collectively to work.
Thank you,
Brett Richter
