Earl Baltes, meet Tod Quiring.Quiring is a couple of generations removed from Baltes, one of the greatest promoters in the history of motorsports who left us in 2015. But the two men share one key trait: The guts to do something audacious, something big, something that elevates the landscape.
Earl Baltes, meet Tod Quiring.
Quiring is a couple of generations removed from Baltes, one of the greatest promoters in the history of motorsports who left us in 2015. But the two men share one key trait: The guts to do something audacious, something big, something that elevates the landscape.
Quiring recently announced that the High Bank Nationals at his Huset‘s Speedway will pay $250,000-to-win next June 21-24. It is — by far — the largest first-place purse in the history of sprint car racing.
It was early 1984 when Baltes made a similar announcement. The inaugural Kings Royal — set for July 28, 1984 — would pay $50,000 to the winner. That amount of money — 50 grand — was a sensational prize in 1984, as Baltes was well aware. He knew the announcement would create a buzz and that‘s exactly what it did.
When July rolled around every eye was turned toward Eldora and those on hand felt like they were experiencing a moment in history — and we were. It was a first, just like Earl‘s first Historical Big One — $100,000-to-win — was a first in 1993.
Of course, $50,000 isn‘t what it used to be. According to the U.S. Consumer Price Index, the 1984 $50,000 has the same buying power of $136,161 in 2022. That makes Quiring‘s recent announcement even more striking. $250,000 in 2022 is far more impactful than $50,000 in 1984.
Can he pull it off? Can Quiring hold an event paying $250,000 to the winner ($5,000-to-start) and come out? Time will tell.
Every promoter faces what‘s known as “the nut.” That‘s the total cost of the purse, the staff, food and supplies, fuel for equipment, insurance and advertising. The nut for a major event can easily top $80,000 to $100,000, while a regular show at a weekly track is often in the range of $20,000 to $25,000.
Income is comprised of the front gate, the back gate, sponsorship, concessions, camping and maybe some streaming revenue. Experienced promoters can usually figure in their head the number of people they need to cover the nut. A weekly show might need 800 people in the stands and 400 in the pits, for example.
That‘s why promoters always have one eye on the weather; the threat of rain can easily curb your gate by 400 people, costing you thousands in revenue and putting you short of covering the nut.
What‘s the nut for next year‘s High Bank Nationals? Hard to say precisely, but it can be summed up in one word — intimidating.
What is especially interesting in this case is the video streaming element. The race will be sanctioned by the World of Outlaws, which owns and operates the DirtVision network that streams all Outlaws events. Based on feedback from several promoters, thus far DirtVision does not share streaming revenue with the track. Many Outlaws events, in fact, are promoted by the Outlaws themselves on a track lease basis, making the streaming issue irrelevant in those situations.
But in this case, one has to wonder: Is DirtVision willing to help Quiring by contributing streaming revenue to cover the cost of the event? It‘s an intriguing question, because a number of major events in recent years were made possible only through streaming revenue. In 2020, you might recall, some events took place with nobody in the grandstands, financed by sponsorship and streaming revenue alone.
At any rate, kudos to Tod Quiring and his staff. They have truly elevated the stakes and taken an enormous risk in order to do so. No matter how you feel about anything else, we should be cheering for their success.
Earl would be proud, there is no doubt. I wish he and Quiring could sit down and have a beer together because they could share a lot of stories, a lot of sentiment. That would be a fascinating conversation.