Auto Club Speedway Demonstrates Utter Retardedness, Again...and Again...

[MattSRD28]

Just about every track has crappy gimmick packages like this, and for the most part they always have.

Really? What other track takes the crappiest seat they possibly have, drops a name, pushes it off as some kind of value against a horrendously increased price point, and still manages to be $88?

Other tracks have gimmicks, but they manage to wind up at prices that I *wish* I could pay for a race at ACS.

It's as if the morons running ACS have no idea that people here already drop LARGE sums of money for sports/entertainment all year round, and have a very good idea what's a deal, and what isn't. We also expect a certain level of product in return for the price we pay, and we know when we are and when we aren't receiving that.

What's retarded is that they'll probably sell...

Actually, not really. While people are stupid, SoCal people aren't as quick to buy something simply because of the "promotion" especially given how our nutball state is taxing us during a recession.

Some people will buy the package, sure. However, I don't think that this package will lead to a noteable increase in sales to either race. Like I said, most of the people here aren't idiots who'll pay anything for anything.

Disneyland, for example, advertises itself as a $6/month charge for year-round admission for locals. Sure it's not valid during most weekends or at all during July & August, but people love it. It's a great value. $88 for a crappy seat because Dale Jr & Danica's face is on it? That won't get very far, among all its other problems.

 

[dalejrgamer]

$88 for a ticket at the front row in which you can only see the frontstretch?

Might as well gouge out your eyes...and your ears.

 

[Frigus5]

at first glance, i thought it said "Auto Club Speedway Demolished" and got EXTREMELY excited.

Ha ha ha ha!

All I want to say is, "WTF???". Really? Danica can't drive and they are basically promoting her with terrible tickets for a terrible price? For god's sake, pull it together. That speedway is fast and exciting I'll admit, but also very stupid.

 

[dalejrgamer]

random thought: has California actually have a sellout/seats that are at least 90% full in its "glorious" history? Because I do not buy that "fans in the concourse" bullshit.

 

[MattSRD28]

random thought: has California actually have a sellout/seats that are at least 90% full in its "glorious" history? Because I do not buy that "fans in the concourse" bullshit.

Just try not to gauge what year this picture was taken in based on the cars' liverys.

 

[Bucket]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess 1997. I see that The Rooster's Tide Ride is a T-bird.

 

[super39fan]

I spy Ken Schrader's 25, Terry Labonte's 5, Dale Earnhardt's 3, and Joe Nemechek's 42.

 

[Bucket]

Just try not to gauge what year this picture was taken in based on the cars' liverys.

Oh, didn't see that. :laugh:

 

[Carson Downs]

One of the vendors that sells clothing at the track said that they plan on banking Auto Club more and adding restrictor plates to draw in more fans, "Dega of the West" Is what they want to make it he said.

 

[Bucket]

One of the vendors that sells clothing at the track said that they plan on banking Auto Club more and adding restrictor plates to draw in more fans, "Dega of the West" Is what they want to make it he said.

 

[Josh Mertz]

LOL!

 

[Fisha695]

One of the vendors that sells clothing at the track said that they plan on banking Auto Club more and adding restrictor plates to draw in more fans, "Dega of the West" Is what they want to make it he said.

So what you are saying that they are going to take what is already somewhat of a slow paced follow the leader race and turn it into an even more slowpaced follow the leader race?

IMHO tracks like 'Tona & 'Dega need to be ripped down and made into real race tracks, one that actually require braking and skill and perhaps even turning left & right.

Plus I have a feeling that "Dega of the West" will be as much of a failure as the “Indy of the West” was.



Something I noticed is people are always complaining that they want Rockingham back on the schedule or North Wilkesboro back on the schedule, but yet everytime they have the opportunity to say "rebuild that track like Rockingham or Wilkes", instead they say "Jack it up an put some of them there plates on 'em".
l0l

 

[dalejrgamer]

I much prefer a Wilkes or The Rock knockoff over the crap that we have now.

Hell, a revival of Riverside is better.

Or might as well turn it into an outlet mall.

Also:

Just try not to gauge what year this picture was taken in based on the cars' liverys.

I should have said besides 1997 :roll:

 

[MattSRD28]

Just when I thought Auto Club Speedway couldn't be any dumber, I'm proven wrong...

Train Service suspended for Auto Club race weekend

Due to current economic strains on thousands of race fans, Auto Club Speedway will not utilize METROLINK charter train service during the West Coast Premiere of NASCAR in February. However, tens of thousands of free parking spaces with easy access entrances await the throngs of race fans who will attend the Stater Bros. 300 NNS event on Saturday, Feb. 20 and the Auto Club 500 NSCS event on Sunday, Feb. 21 at Auto Club Speedway. "With the current economic downturn, there is very little demand for a service, no matter how convenient, that charges between $20 and $35 per person to ride the train," said Speedway President Gillian Zucker. "We have plenty of on-site parking that is free and hope our fans will take full advantage."

For those now driving, in addition to free parking and easy access entrances, Auto Club Speedway has partnered with the Inland Empire's MRN affiliate  KFROG  to make the trip a little easier. Fans making their way to Southern California's Premier motorsports facility, can tune to 95.1 FM en route to the track for real time traffic updates and tips for easy entrance into the facility. For more information on the races at Auto Club Speedway, Feb. 19-21, call 1-800-944-RACE (7223) or visit Auto Club Speedway - Auto Club Speedway.

Did you catch the bold part? Let's bring that out:

"With the current economic downturn, there is very little demand for a service, no matter how convenient, that charges between $20 and $35 per person to ride the train," said Speedway President Gillian Zucker.

Earth to Gillian "I can't tell the difference between a pebble & the moon" Zucker, nobody EVER wants to pay between $20 and $35 to ride a train!!! It has NOTHING to do with any kind of economic downturn. Paying $35 to ride a train is STUPID, especially when you've got all this free parking, easy-access entries (which are anything but), blah blah blah to tout in people faces. If the parking & access was so great, why charge people $35 to ride a train? Where's the value in that? You're either admitting that you're vastly overcharging for this "convenient" train service, or you're outright lying about how great the parking and access is. Which is it?

Ms. Zucker, people here are not stupid. When the Metrolink regularly charges less than $10 to get ANYWHERE from ANYWHERE, NO ONE is going to feel happy paying $20-$35 for a relatively SHORT train ride to a relatively local racetrack on the SAME TRAINS that some commute on every single day for FAR, FAR less than that price. Honestly, what kind of fools do you take us for, especially when people are already paying VERY EXPENSIVE PRICES to attend the races at your track while you deliver bare bones at best service?

Quite frankly, Auto Club Speedway ought to be reported to the Better Business Bureau for having the nerve to charge race ticket prices far above what other racetracks in the country charge, and then charging as much as $35 to ride a friggin commuter train to/from the track for the race. And then, because people finally wised up, didn't buy train tickets this year (the real reason why you're not offering the service this time), you're just going to kill the service and leave your potential customers to fend for themselves in the mess of traffic that has to bottleneck down in the city streets in order to reach your anything but easy-access track entries. If that's your attitude Ms. Zucker, I fear for the future of Auto Club Speedway, and there will be no government bailout that will come to your rescue.

A trained monkey could run this facility better than you have, Ms. Zucker. The race fans in Southern California deserve better than this, but I fear you'll leave us once again without NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing just to spite us before you do what really ought to be done to properly accomodate us, and to properly compete in the highly competitive Southern California sports/entertainment market.

Okay, now I know some of you whose local track does not offer free parking will say I should just shut up because it could be worse, and you're right about that. However, if your track charged you $35 per person to ride a commuter train to the track, would you pay it? Is your local track selling its crappiest seats for $88 and presenting it like they're doing you a favor before they even get to charging you an obscene amount for the train? That I doubt. So to you I say, bear in mind the absolute BS we have to deal with from Auto Club Speedway here. Also bear in the mind that we have to hold our noses and deal with it LONG BEFORE we ever sit down to watch the races there whose most commonly-heard adjective is "boring." When you see the partially-empty grandstands at that track, know that it has really little to do with boring racing, or the economy, after all SoCal's professional sports teams are doing just fine in attendance, including the Clippers. Know that really has to do with the single dumbest track management I have personally ever seen, and we in SoCal vote with our wallets. Screw with us, and you simply won't get our business. Period.

 

[Enter Sandman]

Very well said.

Unfortunately, Ms. Zucker will probably never read it, and even if she did, it would just be disregarded as some disgruntled fan............

You have to wonder how some people get the jobs they have.

 

[dalejrgamer]

For the love of god, sell the property and let it turn into a recreational park or an outlet mall.

 

[MattSRD28]

For the love of god, sell the property and let it turn into a recreational park or an outlet mall.

...or just install a management group that actually has a clue about running a racetrack.

I honestly don't understand how ISC can own this track and let this kind of stupidity reign. They must not be paying one moment of attention. Think about it this way. The Daytona 500 advertises $55 tickets to see the Daytona 500, and Auto Club Speedway was charging $35 simply for a train ride to the track. That is amazing.

 

[wslates]

And as I said, this is why I have never been to a race.

 

[canadienhits]

You know....as a "Sim" Driver, ACS and Michigan are my two favorite tracks.

That being said, our closest track up here is Michigan, and they do a heck of a lot better job promoting/managing the track than ACS. I have ACS om my myspace, and get stuff from MIS, and there's no comparing the two, Michigan as a fan wins hands down. Michigan, for about the same ticket package is $30 off ($50 for the June weekend, which I'd rather see because you get the Cup race, Trucks, and ARCA series. That and they don't have to rely on Dale and Danica to bring in fans.

 

[David24]

I honestly don't understand how ISC can own this track and let this kind of stupidity reign. They must not be paying one moment of attention. Think about it this way. The Daytona 500 advertises $55 tickets to see the Daytona 500, and Auto Club Speedway was charging $35 simply for a train ride to the track. That is amazing.

That's So. Cal. for you.

Simple: If you don't like the prices then don't go.