Here is my quick analysis of what I think it will take to restore the Florida Winter Series, and just about any other Big Bucks Bracket Series to the huge car counts they used enjoy.

1. Lower the entry fees: Do this and more racers can afford to lose (and in reality that is what happens). Don’t ask the winner how the race went, ask the guy who lost at 8 cars and barely recovered entry fees.) Lower entry fees will help get more cars, period.

2. Get the local racers involved: Run the entire series on the 1/8th mile. The benefits are many and it seems to make the racing closer and more competitive between door cars and dragsters.

3. Lower the Winner Money, bump up round money: Do you think it really matters if the winner gets $7500 or $10,000? If you can add 16 or 32 more racers to the payout how many more “satisfied” customers buy a tech card tomorrow? (16 or 32 in my opinion). The winner money is pretty much for the large cardboard check anyway; how many guys aren’t “splitting up the money” nowadays? When it’s $10,000 to win, $2000 runner-up and $500 in the semis I know I would be for doing some negotiating if I was sitting there at four cars and a .0001 win light to my opponent meant a possible $9500 difference in what I went home with. How about you?

4. Return to one car/one driver; one chance to win the race: If everyone is limited to one car and one entry, that day’s winner has a lot to be proud of. At some of the races I have attended it is more like a casino for some of these guys. Enter enough times and your odds of winning get better. The problem is that’s the problem. It is an advantage over the racer who can only bring one car. If you are bringing $150,000 worth of race cars and are willing to drop $600 to $800 a day in entry fees, maybe you need to win! It isn’t against the rules in any manner, but I think, overall, that it’s hurting the sport. Will limiting the number of times a racer or a car can enter end up hurting the turnout? I don’t think so. I think the 20 to 30 entries you lose from the teams that double up you gain many times over in local racers who will return to a new format that doesn’t favor the multi-car/driver teams. I personally know a lot of very good bracket racers that do not attend big money bracket races anymore because of the “doubling-up” on entries that is allowed. Will this fix it? I wish I knew.

I know a lot of track owners are trying to answer that question right now!