February 11, 2018 General Meeting Minutes
Location: NDSF Executive Room
Attendance: See sign in sheet.
Brandon Beeter called the meeting to order at 1:04 pm.
Derek made a motion to approve the October 22, 2017 meeting minutes. Seconded by Steve Pierce. It
was approved.
Brandon asked if there were any additions to the agenda. Rule changes by Steve Pierce. Kristy Folstad
has a couple of things to talk about. Deb wants to discuss the schedule and a couple of other things.
Inside barrier of the race track.
Financial Report. Right now we have $23,500 in the bank. This time last year we had $55,000 in the
bank. We are working with an accountant. We are trying to itemize everything so we know what is
paying for what. By cutting a couple of classes a couple of nights this year and by doing so it saves us
$21,000. We lost money every night last year. There are not enough people in the stands anymore and
the back gate isn’t covering itself. We need more people in the grandstand. Its happening all over the
country. We have 800 people in the stands roughly every night. We need to have 950 in the stands Ron
Huettl said to make money.
What’s the difference from last year to other years? 10,000 people left Minot in 2017. We are open to
suggestions. We are working on a new contract with Adam. He is going to bring Kristy Folstad on to work
under him. It will be incentive based. If he sells more he will get more. We changed the marketing for
Wild about Wheels this year. We did a good job at marketing the car show. This is the last year of the
Wild about Wheels car show. Wild about Wheels is trademarked in Massachusetts already. We changed
the marketing this year for the show. We cut the budget in half. We used the money differently this year
and it was better. This year we changed it up more. We changed the marketing director 3 times in the
last 3 years so it was hard to know what we need to change. AJ Lizotte asked based on last year what are
we doing differently? Adam is going to change some things. We are going to sell tickets online. The
website is changing also. We would like to see more interaction with the fans/drivers and sponsors.
Ticket system is going to change. The tickets can have sponsor information on them now as well. Terry
Faul said to talk to Scott Bintz at Jamestown to get some ideas from him. We are going to prioritize
everything and see what resources we have and how effectively to use them.
Kristy Folstad would like to see more things from the drivers for the kids. Bring old tin up signed and she
will give it away. She would like to do more meet and greets with the fans a half hour before the races
also. Need racers to help bring in the fans. If you have hero cards get them to Kristy and she will give
them to kids also. She would like to have activities for the racers as well.
Deb Chapman asked about going away with live broadcasting on regular race nights. Brandon said we
could try it. Maybe have them pay 2 days later. They heard there is a local bar the shows the races every
Sunday. That is hurting us on how many people are going up there. Kristy is on the fence about that. She
would like to watch her husband race who is in Arizona right now. Fans are going to come if they can.
But there are too many fans already doing it. DarnTV has given back to Nodak also. Do we want to make
a black/white marketing plan with DarnTV? Can we black out 75 miles? There is no full proof way to do
it. It does help out of towners. What if we record races and show they on Monday? There is also Mason
who posts them for free after the races. There are 10 garage parties going on race nights. We need to
figure out how to build the brand with the live racing. What is the effective way to do it? Can we make
an agreement between Nodak and DarnTV? Any sport that is live broadcasted is huge. We want to make
it beneficial for all of us. Someone will do Facebook live if DarnTV doesn’t broadcast the races.
If the racing is so good then they should come and see it live. People’s time is precious now. What about
having a Nodak commercial at intermission time? Estevan sold advertising to run replays. They can’t do
commercials. Adam said that the announcers could say something because they are heard through the
headset. We have to make work what we have. DarnTV averages 35 a night. We don’t know how many
people are watching at other places. Scott Joern asked if Nodak needs DarnTV or does DarnTV need
Nodak? We are lucky to have Brandon on our side. He will work with us. Its nice in the pits to watch it in
the trailer so you can work on car and also see results. Live broadcast is here to stay. We need to find a
way to make it work for us. Can we ask people if they could come would they? If we ask who is watching
are they going to be honest? Can we tell where they live? Yes by their zipcode. Can we see who is out of
state? Kadi Ruby said what happens if I’m buying it for my grandma in Arizona? We can build the brand
with Nodak. Where is the money going? Gain back some fans? They may come back with wow factor.
How can DarnTV become asset to Nodak? Some people find it more convenient at home. M&S prices.
What has DarnTV done for Nodak? They bought the ley ley and donated purse money. Adam would like
a contract with DarnTV. Do we want a percent of what he brings in? Ron Huettl said that 1250 is the
best attendance. We don’t know what freebie attendance is. Adam is changing the ticketing system.
Nodak would like a contract with DarnTV. If anyone has a sponsor send them to Adam. Let him do his
job. We want to make sure we have an itemized budget so the income matches the expenses. We would
like a contract with DarnTV and decide what we are going to use the money for. We want to know what
DarnTV is paying for. Have it based off of numbers that way. If DarnTV is live or not someone will. We
have control with DarnTV. Maybe we want the price higher for live? Do we want to charge more? Its $13
to go the races. Maybe $50 for a regular night? And a portion goes back to Nodak. Would it make people
go to the races? Maybe make a deal with the bars. Someone far away shouldn’t have to pay that much.
It may make them upset. If we raise it to much we may lose people.
Adam has use of DarnTV videos for anything. Brandon is donating for free. Adam can go through it and
use what he wants. Dirty Weekly will run all summer. Who’s job is it to promote Nodak? All of us. Share
videos on Facebook and we like that. Brandon wants to keep broadcasting and promote Nodak. Can we
do one week of broadcasting and the next week not? No way to judge the weather and things. Stuff can
change.
Estevan is playing on a public access for free. Ron said that someone blasts us on Facebook and it needs
10 positives to make it better. If we make the racing better will that help? Other tracks don’t hear about
it. We are the last track of the week so everything is magnified.
Rocks. That is a problem. We have had a rock night in the past and 15 said they would come and only
the board members showed up. Can we do it on Sunday at 5:00 maybe? If we work the track more to
get more moisture and then the rocks come up with moisture. We want to make racing better. We want
more people into the stands. Rocks do get into the stands. Rocks effect the stands and the car count. If
we pick rocks will we get a tacky tracks? We can’t guarantee it. We opened up the track during Motor
Magic. There were lots of dents. Can we wind row them? We always pick rocks. They are a constant
problem. Need to find a happy medium.
Are we opposed to commission with Darn TV? Brandon is ok with it. Can the board put together a plan
for DarnTV? Yes. We will make a contract for DarnTV. DarnTV owns the video rights for the race track.
Percent of DarnTV is maybe an option.
We use to have vendors in the middle of the track 15 years ago. They use to pay a flat fee to be there.
Do we want to go this way again?
Brandon said we are trying to make Nodak the best it can be. Brandon spoke with Mason. Mason should
be able to do it. Mason should be able to be there. Adam and the board are making a contract with
DarnTV. Before 2018 we would like to contract with DarnTV. There are 50,000 people in Minot. How do
we get more people in the stands? All tracks are having issues. No negative. Adam brings things to the
board and come up with something to turn it around. How can drivers help? Try to make it work that
doesn’t cost money. We need more man power. Bring ideas to Adam. Ask everyone to help. People love
watching drivers. Want to see a show. It’s the same old thing. They want to see drama and action. Do
we want to bring claim back? We lost something when we moved out of the middle of the pits. We lost
some entertainment value. 95% of the people have enclosed trailers. Troy Bertsch said that the trophy
race was fun to watch and not many stayed for it. It was different and exciting. We are bringing back the
dash for cash. We are working on a sponsor for it. Do we need to fabricate rivalries? Don’t’ want to get
out of hand though. Kristy said we should do a dash for cash for the bottom 10 drivers. It would be good
for them. What about a fan vote for the top 10 drivers? What about a calcutta? They are illegal. We
can’t.
Start time. Did 6:00 hurt or help? Its fine in May but not in June and July. Is two start times confusing?
Maybe 6:30? People don’t want to see heats. Crowd gets better as racing goes on. If we start later we
don’t want to be there until 11:30 pm. We are dropping some classes in June. If we start later we may
get more moisture. A good show can be done in 2 hours then. There are no young people involved. If we
do no hot laps then maybe we could open up the pits for a half hour so kids can wander around. After
the races everyone puts things away so there is nothing to see. Its late also. How cleat the pits out?
Make it mandatory that they are gone at the pit meeting? $5 to get into the pits half hour before the
races. Lindsay Lawson said make it special and don’t do it every night.
Robby said we are looking to buy a bus for the track also.
7:00 pm has better moisture. The sun may be an issue for a little bit. Track prep is the issue. We tried
6:00/7:00 in 2016. Its hot at 5:00/6:00 and sun dries the track out. The surface is dry and if we farm it
brings the rocks up. People want 6:00 but don’t want the dust. They want the track smooth. 7:00 we
don’t know if tis going to not have dust. The sun dries out the dirt. The top inch sealed over. We are
looking for input. Motor Magic had moisture but it was rougher and it was a 7 1⁄2 program. Changed track
prep at Motor Magic. Farm, farm, ley ley, water. Kept it wet. The rocks come up then. They loved the
racing but hated getting hit by rocks. Can we pick rocks at 5:00? No one will be there then. What about
picking rocks on Tuesday nights? Why are people not coming? Dust or start time? Dust is an issue. Race
track was better at Motor Magic. That was an earlier start time even. If we drop a couple of classes then
its possible to do a 2 hour show. We did it 2 years ago. We don’t want to cut features. No one is happy
with that. They want a show.
There has always been a time limit. 6:00 allows for the unforseen. 7:00 doesn’t have much of a buffer.
There is chance on anything on how long it will be. There are lots of what ifs. 7:00 is going to be better
track wise. An earlier start is not feasible. We are planning on starting at 6:00 the first month to get
things figured out. 7:00 will take effect after the month of May. Better track will get more cars and more
fans. It will take time to get there though. Do we want to do 6:30? Fans will be out earlier that way. May
all classes are running together but not in June. Some fans will come all the time. The die hards about
600 of them. Does the 2 different start times get confusing? We can use the phone alerts to inform
everyone. It needs to be on the poster also. Lets take a straw pole between 6:00 and 7:00. It was an
equal vote for both.
Schedule. Deb Chapman asked why we are having Sprints and Late Models when we can’t pay our
workers? We are dropping the Mods and Stocks the night the Late Models are here. That will save us
$8,000. We are trying to promote bigger names with getting the NLRA guys here to get more fans. The
grandstand is always worse in August.
Infield Barrier. Yuke tires are what are normally used. We have a berm at the bottom. Do we need to
have tires there? What race around? The berm is ok if we soak it. Do we want to bury tires? Do we want
jersey barriers in 3 and 4? Well inside? We have the start of them on one end. We need a bunch more if
we want them all connected. What kind of tires? Some get so hard they rip off an oil pan.
Plan to meet at track in April and work on it. Are race tires big enough? We need a barrier. We aren’t out
much if we don’t like it and pull them out. Ron said race tires aren’t big enough. There wouldn’t be
enough sticking out of the ground. Need bigger tires. Jersey barriers? Maybe moving them out? Putting
guardrail back out on back straightaway or finding more jersey barriers? What is the goal? Jersey
barrier? What size. 32″? Can’t see cars around the jersey barriers. What is the barrier going to do to a
car though? Brandon prefers to do something else. Yuke tires will wreck cars also. Maybe tires or a
berm. Berm won’t cost us anything. Tires we could make work for us.
Pit Fees/Car Registration. You heard our bank information. Right now its $25 for a member and $35 for a
nonmember. Dickinson does driver pays more then the pitmen. Would it hurt going to $30? What doing
with car registration? We are seeing what everyone thinks about it. Are we doing away with plus one?
The plus one will get a grandstand season pass. That makes sense to us. What about a one time car
registration? We are looking for options. What about a booster night? Do 2 1⁄2 booster nights? We don’t
want to raise pit fees.
How many years can we go like this? We are putting on entertainment? Approach M & S? Their hands
are tied Lindsay Lawson said. There is nothing they can do. Are they aware we are going to be gone
soon? We met with M & S 3 times last year explaining what’s going on. They have a contract with the
fair board. Kraig/Renae listen. Are they aware how financially strapped we are? No don’t know. We have
a meeting coming up with them. What if we do something before the races for the fans? Is that
allowed? It needs to be okayed with M & S.
Are we going to schools? Bring tickets to schools? Cars to schools? Last year we gave away 12,000 kids
tickets. We got 600 back. HighAir ground had a great turn out last year. How do we get cars to all the
schools in the area? We can try to make a coordinated effort to get cars there. Need racers to adopt a
school. Need to have fans and drivers interact. We can’t do ride alongs. Insurance won’t cover extra
things. We need adults in the stands. Want all cars to track. Bring cards to track also.
Rules. Steve Pierce said nothing big changes. Safety is the big one. Make sure your helmet is newer then
2005. Those are illegal this year. We have to enforce it.
Hall of Fame. Kadi Ruby said we have a new procedure we are starting some this year and the rest next
year. There will be a committee for it now. It will renew every year. We will induct 1-2 people a year
now. New process will be on the website and on Facebook shortly. There is still a fan vote.
Requirements did change a little going forward. Nominating will happen in December and the Voting will
happen in July.
Adam is changing from a Nodak employee to a contractor now.
Isaac Sondrol made a motion to adjourn. Steve Pierce seconded.
Meeting adjourned at 3:23 pm.
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