Some ideas for next year: (after thinking a bit about why the Den has such a shitty turnout for Nitro)
1. Market the track. Many people had no idea what was going on down there, or that the Den even ran nitro anymore. Get RCP to put up a sign or something, work something out with store owners in the population centers around.
2. Establish a RTR class, w/ spec kit, tires, fuel, etc... ( I do understand there is a minimum of people needed for a class, but if you foster a RTR class you more than likely will be able to get dad's and kids to start doing this).
3. Get Joe Brooks to stop being such a douche and buy a nitro car.
4. Work out a series between AJ's (Intense), the Den, Green Bay, and the Midwest Series when they are in the area for the nitro racing?
5. Possibly limit engine's that can be used? Such as making it a ROAR rules race?
6. Have cheap sets of tires for sale at the track (such as the 8$ pairs many of us were running this year) it would undercut mr Deals, but would make racing less painful. People go and see RCP and online where prices are up in the 17 - 20$ range for a set. That can easily push people away from nitro touring.
7. Start the races later in the day, instead of starting at 12, start at 2 or so. (unless the turnout starts to grow too large).
8. Encourage electric racing in the summer, have a class for it, and hype it near the end of the indoor season, and via other outlets.
and the last one - Hope gas prices go down. Because really that could easily be the reason this year we have had lower turnout than last.
Just some thoughts. But I think lack of marketing and no cheap(er) way to get into the sport being one of the biggest reasons for all this.
I've taken some business classes, I've taken some marketing classes, and I have run some niche based events. From that I know marketing them and getting people excited about what you are doing is KEY for anything that is going after a niche group.