LIVING IN THE GOLDEN AGE

building track bucket lists after watching an online stream and wanting to see the track in person. I’ve always subscribed to the idea that if people could be at the track on race night, they would be. Streaming keeps them excited about the next time they can come to the track.

By Adam Cornell

AS MUCH AS I have heard about the “good old days” of racing being far in the rearview mirror, when you look at the dirt track racing scene as it stands today, one has to take a moment to appreciate that we may be living in the golden age of dirt track racing right now.

Certainly, for the racing teams, especially lately, there has been an immense squeeze from rising cost in fuel and components and a lack of availability of parts, perhaps most exemplified by the tire shortage. For fans, however, has there ever been more dirt track racing action available for consumption with just a click of the mouse or the swipe of a finger across a smart phone screen?

I remember the days when you would have to stay up until two in the morning to catch a half hour recap of a race that was already two weeks old on one of those secondary cable sports channels. It was never as exciting as actually being at the race. It always felt like they were just throwing it on to fill out half-an-hour of programming so they didn’t have to run an infomercial.

Even as recently as the last couple of years, promoters were not inclined to allow streaming of the races at their tracks, for fear people would stay away and just watch at home. These are the same promoters who would run a race and most people in their local town wouldn’t even know there was a dirt track just miles away because of the lack of publicity and marketing. The notion that folks would not attend if they could watch a stream has slowly given way to the fact that people have started

Now with a number of streaming options available, like FloRacing, DirtTrackDigestTV, DIRTVision, RacinDirt, MAVtv and more, it is an absolute feast of dirt track racing action for even the most voracious of appetites.

I can’t be the only one who has three different monitors, an iPad and a phone all streaming a different race on a midweek night, can I?

And yet, I was asked the other day about why I would continue to publish a print magazine in the age of streaming?

It’s a very simple answer. What you get from the pages of Dirt Empire Magazine is completely different than what you get from watching a race live in person or streaming on the television or computer screen.

We work with the best photographers in the business because a still photo of a fast-action event is like a time machine. Watching in person, if you blink, you miss it. Watching a stream, you might get a replay, but streaming video, even when you have a high-speed connection, can only provide so much resolution. A photo captures that split second moment in time and allows you to study all the detail. It is a record of history itself in all its detail.

I love the beauty and art of this sport. Even as we have more streaming options available, we have also come upon the golden age of dirt track racing photography. The talent we are allowed to publish in each and every iteration of Dirt Empire Magazine is simply amazing. Every issue I revel at the opportunity to scroll through the race albums of photos captured by our talented contributors. Most of the photos we publish are available in high resolution from the photographers. So, if you ever wanted a poster of something we’ve printed, you can check the photo credit, go to the back of that issue and contact the photographer directly to arrange to purchase prints. Can you remember a time in history when you could get a poster-sized print of an amazing photo within weeks for such a relatively low cost? Such a concept was just a fantasy dream even ten years ago. Now it’s a reality.

With all the negativity going on, I try to find a reason for joy each and every day. And with Dirt Empire Magazine, I try to provide a reason for joy with each and every issue.

As long as there is racing, I firmly believe there will always be room for a print publication that allows you to capture the beauty and excitement of the sport. And as long as I’m around, I’ll want to have a part in creating it.

Despite all the struggles going on right now, the fact that we have racing so readily available to us in all the different formats one could hope for, I have to say, does it get any better than this?

Let’s find out. Let’s go racing.