The Peoria TT, billed as the world’s longest consecutive running dirt track motorcycle race, will not be held this year.
But never fear, race fans. The world renowned races, that have taken place since 1941 on the iconic PMC Race Park track located off Cameron Lane in Bartonville, will be back and better than ever soon.
That’s the hope of acting Peoria Motorcycle Club president Jake Walker and the PMC board.
“We’re not doing this on a whim,” Walker said of canceling races this season amid concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re a passionate group of motorcycle enthusiasts, and we’re in this for the long haul. We’re not going away. We are going to have the Peoria TT in the future. For the people concerned this is our last days, this is not the case.”
Without the income from fans and with many volunteers and workers unable to commit because of the pandemic, the board felt it necessary not to race this season.
“Many of these awesome (volunteers) are either part of, or take care of people considered to be in the ‘at risk’ category for illness such as with COVID, and are not willing or able to expose themselves to large crowds,” Walker said in a statement released by the PMC board. “On top of that, the state of Illinois continues to extend the mandated restrictions which prevent us from even gathering formally to hold membership meetings or work as a group, which is critical to our ability to function.”
The PMC typically has around 30 at a membership meeting, with as many as 50 in the spring and summer.
The club makes its money from the racing fans on race days. Unlike NASCAR, which returned recently without fans in the stands, the PMC does not share in television profits.
“We have the race, the venue, the history and the legacy, an awesome track and the perfect place to do a race,” Walker said. “But we’re just a local club. A club with rich history and great resources, but we don’t go and negotiate the contract with NBC Sports or ESPN or whatever. We’re not in that revenue stream at all.”
The board has not ruled out the possibility of a “ghost race” without fans, but it would need the financial backing of American Flat Track, the racing series affiliated with the PMC.
“We’re in discussions with AFT because we all want this to work out,” Walker said.
With no fans, there would only need to be the bare minimum of people to put on a race, including corner men, scorers and a smaller race crew. There would be no set up, clean up and licensing of food stands or the maintenance that goes into restrooms, buildings and parking concerns.
The race would then be televised.
“In that situation, it completely changes the dynamic of the cost model,” Walker said. “But we cannot spend all these big dollars and get zero dollars in return. We have to have a chance to make it cost neutral. It means AFT will have to figure out a way to make up the gap to do it.”
Volunteers, of course, would still be needed.
“People have stepped up,” Walker said. “When we made the announcement, we had people that said they would like to help. We’ve got a lot of dedicated fans. A lot of them are very supportive and understanding.”
The club does have regular sponsors that help fund the races, but many of those businesses are also financially strapped by the pandemic shutdown.
“There’s less money available,” Walker said.
The PMC looked into rescheduling events later in the season, but decided against the move because it would be competing for dates against other races around the country in a short weather-related time frame, as well as competing against other rescheduled major entertainment events.
A benefit of no season this year is more time to concentrate on next year.
“Normally it’s always a challenge to get all the things we want to get done done and some stuff does end up sliding off our plates,” Walker said.
“But now we don’t have to deal with putting on a race this year, so we can refocus and look more at a longer horizon. We’re already getting the juices flowing and making sure that next year we’re going to have an awesome year.”
One of those ideas has already been set in motion. The board voted early this year to put a short track in at the club grounds.
They have already started laying out where the track is going to be, taking it slowly this summer to be sensitive to social distancing and other safety precautions.
“In the 60s though the 80s, there was a short track in place that flat trackers could play on, get together and have fun,” Walker said. “That’s sort of in the culture and we wanted to do it again.”
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Source: Journal Star