The timing of this article seems to hit at a perfect time as NASCAR just announced its segment racing plan for 2017. Believe it or not, this is a piece that has been brewing for a few months now. For that reason, we won’t dive too much into NASCAR’s version…which may leave something to be desired in comparison to the short track versions discussed here.
Segment racing is nothing new. Tom Curley and the team at Thunder Road International SpeedBowl brought this spectacle to life a long time ago in the immensely popular Milk Bowl.
“It’s 54 years old now and was started as a segment race because we wanted something special toward the end of the year back in the 60s,” Curley explains. “Our format of having three 50 lappers with inverted fields is the way short track racing ought to be. It’s volatile. It’s what fans want to see. I think it’s what’s missing from short track nowadays.”
While segment racing may have been before it’s time, it seems the time has come. Now there are events such as the Dick Trickle 99 and JMK 63 at Oktoberfest Race Weekend and several other segment races popping up around the country.
How Segment Racing Works
In case you haven’t heard of or visited the Milk Bowl or the Trickle 99 – or haven’t seen NASCAR’s version during the All Star Race – here is the breakdown of how segment racing works.
Races are split into a number of segments. The driver with the lowest score at the end of the three segments is the overall winner (1 point for a win, 2 for Second, 3 for Third, etc.). In the Milk Bowl it’s three 50-lap segments. In the Trickle 99, it’s three 33-lap segments. Drivers qualify to set the field and the first segment is lined straight up from how drivers qualify. The second segment is where things start to get interesting.
The starting field for the second segment is inverted based on finishing order of the first segment. Sometimes it is limited by a certain number, sometimes it’s everyone who finishes on the lead lap. For example, the driver who wins the first segment could be forced to start 20th for the second segment. Time to get on the horse and make it to the front, right?
The third segment has been aligned several ways. Some will base it off the finish of the second segment, some will calculate points after the first two segments and create an inversion based off that. Again, the overall leader could be in the middle of the pack and could need to make some slick passes to secure the overall win.
Why the Science of Segment Racing Makes Sense
For as long as most race fans can remember the biggest of the big events were the longest ones. Every major race went 250, 300, or 400 laps. But now, how many “specials” are 100 or 200 laps? How many have seen laps cut in the past few years? Let’s face it, back in those days racing never had to compete with the internet, cell phones, and a huge amount of entertainment options.
How about NASCAR’s switch to segments? What has been one of the biggest complaints against the sport? The lack of anything happening in the middle portions of the race. You watch the start. You watch the finish.
Here is where the science comes into play. Recent studies have suggested that the average human adult’s attention span is now around 8 seconds. That’s a shorter attention span than a goldfish. Just think about it. How long do you look at something online before switching to another web site, or changing a channel on TV? There is just too much competition out there for anything to keep your attention for too long.
This explains why we like to see the volatility of a fast car in the middle or the back of the pack making passes every lap. Keyboard Crusaders on Facebook love to throw out terms like “choo-choo train racing,” and commenting how boring a race could be. (Yeah, we promoters see it). Those same Crusaders don’t have much to say when the field is changing every lap.
But, what about the race as a whole? How long can someone stand to watch the same cars on the track? Eventually the fast guy will get to the front and the passing will stop. For this we looked at studies done on presentations and public speaking. It might not be the easiest parallel (sales presentations don’t have the same buzz as sporting events to most people), but the numbers make sense. Studies suggest that the average presentation should last around 10 minutes. The average length of each 33-lap segment of this year’s Trickle 99 was 14 minutes. That number is pretty close to the length of a quarter in football and basketball (which don’t seem to have too many problems keeping people’s attention).
You may ask why we’re not seeing many of these types of races on dirt. It could happen, but as of now, dirt seems to be doing it right. Look at their format – quick heat races and features of 40-50 laps (100 for the major shows). It’s a fast-paced, ever changing landscape. It seems like every time you turn around, something different is on the track or something different is happening in the race. However, it would be pretty fun to watch Pierce, Richards, Bloomquist, and Davenport roaring from 20th to the front in 30 laps. We’ll just have to be patient for that one.
The Potential Fan Interaction
If a promoter is going to take a swing at this, he or she is going to do it for one reason – to put more people in the stands. Aside from the “attention span” argument, there is a world of possibility when it comes to fan interaction.
As you may have seen in the NASCAR All Star race, fans have had the right to help determine the invert and some other aspects. The short track racing version should be no different. Also, it gives the fans a chance to play along and keep track of who is running where. The race on the track may not be what it seems. This causes the fan to go back, check point standings, and start to figure out where the chips have to fall for their favorite driver to win it all. It isn’t always as simple as being the first one across the line.
LaCrosse Speedway has been doing it well over the past few seasons. They began by passing out score cards and then evolved to some of online procedures, including the creation of the “Fest Lineups” Twitter page. The page was devoted to showing the lineups and the standings as they were calculated. Now all of those fans who were on their phones checking social media had a reason to bring their minds back to the track.
What About the Drivers?
The center of the argument for segment racing is the perceived enhanced experience for the fans. Without entertained fans, there would be no race tracks. But, there wouldn’t be many race tracks without drivers either. So their input on this kind of event is important too.
Dan Fredrickson is the only three-time winner of the Trickle 99 at Oktoberfest and held the cheese-wedge trophy after the completion of the 2016 event. Fredrickson has become a veteran voice for the state of racing, having run in big Super Late Model events and the ASA National Touring Series.
“It’s definitely very stressful, but it’s a lot more fun,” Fredrickson said. “There are definitely some unknowns there. My wife says she’d just like to see my run that race; she thinks it’s the greatest thing ever. It definitely has a special spot.”
Fredrickson said the most important part of the segment races is the track where it is held. From his standpoint a bigger track with plenty of room to pass is ideal. In contrast, a track like Thunder Road makes for a stressful few segments. Track positioning and lines to pass can be at a premium. For those drivers, strategy also comes into play as they get another set of tires to use throughout the days. Drivers in the Trickle 99 stay on the same four tires throughout the three segments.
“The goal in the first session is to not piss anyone off. The goal in the second session is to leave some tires for the third session. That’s pretty much it,” Fredrickson said.
“Where all of the magic happens is in the second and third segments,” said Nick Sweet, who won his second straight Milk Bowl this season. “There is tire strategy involved on top of having the slower cars in front, so you see a little bit of havoc at the front of the race. There is a lot of movement in the second and third segments of the race, which makes it exciting.”
What may be most important from the driver standpoint is urgency. Whether it’s the 33-lap segments of the Trickle 99 or the 50-lap segments of the Milk Bowl, drivers don’t have time to wait around. They have to make things happen – especially in the final two segments.
“I think I race with urgency. I’m a little more cautious about it now,” Fredrickson said. “The drivers that really can get by cars quick and in a hurry (have an advantage). I witnessed a race down south a couple weeks ago – it was the first one I’ve seen in years – I’d guess if you had a segment race down there you could probably get Five Star Bodies to sponsor the whole thing. Up here, I don’t actually see a lot of wrecking in those races, but certainly the guys that can get after it and make it work in a short amount of time, it definitely plays into their hand.”
The same point was made by 2016 Thunder Road Champion Scott Dragon just before the Milk Bowl. Dragon came up just short of a qualifying race win and secured a Top Five finish overall in the event.
“You pretty much have to charge hard for 50 laps,” Dragon explained. “During the season you’re thinking about points so you kind of have to be a little careful. In a deal like the Milk Bowl, it’s 50-lap segments and there are no points at stake. You can run a little bit harder. Finishing Second doesn’t do you any good. You kind of throw caution to the wind a little bit.”
“You Can’t Overdo It”
As the science suggested to us, changing things around can be beneficial. While segment racing may be an answer to spicing up a special event, there will always be a place for the 100-lap features and even the 250s, 300s, and 400s of the past. A weekly 50-lap feature, a special longer-lap feature, a segment race – that could make for a pretty spicy season. It’s why Tom Curley was happy to see segment racing catch on in other parts of the country, but he also passes on a warning.
“When (LaCrosse) called me about this, we wanted to share everything we’ve got with them because we think it’s the best format there is. We’re proud of that. You can’t overdo it. But it sure makes it special when you do it once a year.”
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