Friday practice numbers have been in a steady decline over the last 3 seasons (removing 2020 for obvious reasons). We had 120-130 total riders on Friday with most doing a full day in 2017. This season our best was 100 at the August MSR round with about half doing half day practice. The second best turnout this season was 85 with around half doing half day practice. Unfortunately expenses have done nothing but go up. Track rent, ambulances, marshals, porta-johns, insurance, fuel, travel costs, etc. have all steadily increased every year. A fluctuating economy has been the primary factor in the decline. Hobbies are the first thing to go when household finances get tight.
Most in this discussion don't know that LSTD ran the Friday practice from 2006-2016. Before that CMRA ran 2 day events.
The BoD has discussed this at length. The decision was made at the recommendation of the finance committee. The bottom line is we cannot continue to operate the Friday at a breakeven and or loss.
To be clear a break even event is actually a loss as it does not cover the CMRAs monthly overhead.