Here is my list of important things I want to see as a customer who just left a pretty big chunk of money at the entrance to this event.

1. I want the pit gate people to be informative and friendly. They should be able to answer questions about the event and should have an event information flyer to hand out.
2. Parking: Track operators should not allow parking to become a stressful thing for customers. It is the first “experience” for customers inside the facility. The track should have a written rule about racers saving spots for other racers. Either allow them to save one spot or don’t. It is a simple rule that should be in the event information flyer everyone gets at the gate and is simple to enforce. Why aggravate a customer by making him drive around the pit area looking for a spot between a bunch of lawn chairs and crime scene tape?
3. Tech Inspection: Tell your customers where and when tech inspection is taking place. Do not trust the PA system to be enough to accomplish this. Hand out an event information flyer at the pit gate to inform your customer about what is going on and the experience becomes better.
4. One experience that is so easy but sometimes made difficult by some of the tracks I was at is the simple process of getting certain classes or brackets to the correct staging lanes. Want that to be a better experience, all the track has to do is put the time trial order and lane assignments on the event information flyer everyone should get at the gate.
5. Track Personnel: If there is one thing to really grab a customer and make his or her experience better it is the attitude of the track personnel. Go to the Staging Lanes and ask a simple question like, “How are you pulling cars out? Three or four pair; or do you empty a pair of lanes then go to the next?” Hopefully you won't get an answer like, “We will pull them out however we want to and you better be ready” or “what difference does it make to you, we will tell you when to run so just get ready or get out.” I heard those remarks several times this season and even worse was when I asked the Staging Director a question and he wouldn’t bother to answer it. That puts a damper on my experience for sure.
6. Track facility: Not every track can be as detailed and well-groomed as Norwalk’s track; I know that. Every track can have the facility cleaned up, mowed and trimmed, and electronics in the best working order possible. There is NO EXCUSE not to make that effort. If the track appears to be well taken care of, it signals to the customer the track operator cares about his customer’s experience. I went to one track this year that had weeds growing over the guardrail, sand and gravel all over the staging lanes and pit roads, and the entire place looked like it was about ready to be shut down. Why would a business owner let that happen? From the crabby people at the front gate to the rude people throughout the facility it was a bad experience no matter how the racing ended up.

In the end I have to conclude the Southern tracks I raced at won the experience challenge. The tracks up North came close, but the deciding factor ended up being the track personnel. Quite simply, Southern Hospitality is not a myth.

Thank you Immokalee Raceway in Florida; Beech Bend Raceway Park, Bowling Green, KY; and leading them all and best of the Northern tracks, Summit Motorsports Park; Norwalk, OH.

Rather than name the tracks that created “poor experiences” for me, I will tell you this. One has a national event and a LODRS event and the other is a newly renovated track under new ownership, and I was disappointed how poorly the track personnel treated customers at both places and the general lack of effort overall to make the event a better experience.

We are headed to the Winter Series of bracket racing in Florida at the end of the month and besides some results and highlights, I will be rating my experience at each track. It should be an interesting follow-up story. Will the big money bracket races and very long days be hard on employees and will they be able to make the effort to make the racer’s experience a good one?