ge_traveler said:
The main problem with Rockingham years ago was the placement of the "spring" race in the schedule. The fall race was usually in November and that race was always good. But, in the early 2000's, NASCAR was trying to expand into other states and Texas got one of the Rockingham slots.....the fall race. That was pretty much the dagger for The Rock. Had they taken the February race instead of the November race, there may have been a chance for survival. But, they were after the money and went after the fall race first, knowing the spring race was already tough on fans.
The "spring" race was tough because it was always the weekend after the Daytona 500. Following Daytona was tough, as a lot of fans had gone to Daytona for speedweek and blown through their money already. The second reason it didn't do well was because it was usually so damn cold. There were some races where we froze our butts off. With the attendance dwindling, it was just a matter of time. The powers-to-be (Bruton Smith) knew this and used it as leverage to move the races to other tracks that he owned and could get better attendance. Like everything, it's always about the money.
The races at The Rock were always good......the fans loved it and so did the drivers. I miss those races! We always camped across the road from the track for both races each year. Good times!
The order use to be Riverside, California, Daytona, Rockingham, Richmond. I have sat with my Dad at both Rockingham and Richmond while it was either sleeting or freezing rain begging for them to postpone the race lol.
I asked a ref if he could give me a technical foul for thinking bad things about him. He said, of course not. I said, well, I think you stink. And he gave me a technical. You can't trust em.
