Ahhhh where to start! lets start with Thundercar drivers meeting. Few points of interest.
First off the track is more concerned with making sure the drivers know who to thank at the end of the night and how the cars look on T.V then they are about rules and keeping the driver happy. Who really cares who the sponsor is at the end of the night after you just won the feature? i don't know about anyone else but i think the ones on the car that are paying OUR bills are the ones that need to be thanked.
Then we have how they spring on us( the thunders) that we are not racing on the 26th , why? Ontario sportsman crap? i guess they paid the new owners a piss pot full of money to bring their show in or they can't figure out how to run a show with that many cars in the pit area. but like a bunch of good little boys we all stand there and NO ONE (my self included) says a word. do you think for one second that we don't have lives outside of this? kinda hard to plan anything when you hear the week before you've been bumped by the all mighty dollar!
Some one said it out here before, watch how you treat your bread and butter the guys that come out here week in and week out. We've been bumped for the 21 car show CASCAR and now these Sportsmen. Good job guys way earn the respect of the HOME TRACK drivers! Then we have the questions and answers or lack there of. How Dave Doucette didn't lose his mind is beyond me, When the tough questions are ask its seems these clowns go into some sorts of mind lockdown. They are really good at the BLANK stare. I think the blank part is just ignorance on the owners side. They are Business men they have no clue how to run a speedway. its not for the love of the sport its about making the payment on that fancy viper! Am i just a whiner? maybe! Maybe we all are. but when 75% of the people you talk to through out the pits are not happy wow something has to give! the race itself was a joke too! how long does it take to get tow trucks moving? when has it become OK to wait for a lap then drive into another car under caution and try and take that car out? Then no blackflag no warning, just carry on! guess the joke is on us, we keep coming back, we come back every week to their the over priced raw shitty food,come back to The OPP dumping out our beer, come back to the lack of consistency on rules and how they are enforced, come back to the Blank stares. Well i heard some people may not be back. I heard one of the long time sponsors not only of the track but of many many cars may not be back. Its so bad they want their sign taken down due to the embarrassment of the show! These guys really need to get their heads out of their asses. Everyone knew going into this year that there were going to be growing pains but wow, when sponsors want out! thats not good! About the only good thing to happen this year was the switch of flagmen. i am not saying i agree with the calls. The 38 and the 2 in the Thunder race was wrong! the 9 and 10 in the late model race wrong again! but the yellow and the green and white seem to be use correctly now. I just thought i would vent , it was a long drive home with a bent car. we may not be back, i guess the joke is on us!
I feel for yah Marty, I really do man....I think the new flagman is the best thing to happen....hell a guy who actually waves the flag woulda been an improvement over the last one!
I widh they woulda bumped us next week...we don't get a night off at all and it would be nice to spend a weekend on the boat, we get our new camper tops back this week!! haha
Hang in their Marty...we are all feeling the same way, but if people leave we will lose the track and that isn't good for anybody.
So you think coming here and saying something helps?
It is your own fault if you don't speak up you don't get heard as you said nothing. If everyone feels so strongly about it say something about it to the people that own the track.
If a lot of people feel this way don't show up for the next race. Do something about it. Why bash some other series because you got bumped it was the owners that made the choice to do this.
Just my thoughts
The race director REALLLLLY hates people talking in the meeting...they won't talk to you about anything....
Well after reading your post Marty I was heading to bed after working all night but just felt a need to respond to you!! This is not my take as an employee of the speedway its more my take as Dave Vokey a fan. First off, I agree you should always mention your own sponsors first and formost your right about that, but I slightly disagree with you about the nightly sponsors!! I feel it is EVERY drivers duty to know who's sponsoring the nightly events and also thank and mention them as well, if your so lucky enough to end up in the top 3 doing interviews at the end of the night!! Case and point I'm presenting is John Gaunt. Now in 2005 when John was running Barrie and he ended up in victory lane he ALWAYS made a point to thank Carquest( the division sponsors at the time) as well as Lucas Oil who were sponsoring the WWS that Barrie drivers were involved in, as well as the nightly sponsor. To me this was a very classy move, and I remember John to this day for how well spoken he was in ALL of his interviews!! And I also dont think the owners are asking alot to have you mention the nightly sponsors, as without them we all know the story ( no racing at Barrie or anywhere else). Now this being said most nights this year the sponsor deck has been empty except for last night when the good folks from Davenport Subaru were on hand in droves so this is maybe why it was stressed in your meeting I'm guessing. Now onto the fun part!!!LOL I feel they have no right to cancel the Thunder show in order to run OSS triple 50's!!! This to me was a ludicrous idea from the moment I heard that this series was running that many laps. The last OSS race at Pete drew a whopping 16 cars, and of those 16 there are 3 or 4 decent drivers, while the rest of that field couldn't drive a sharp stick into a snowbank in my opinion. To me the logical thing to do would of been to cut out one of their 50's because by the end of it all I'd be suprised if there are 10 cars running anyways. I'm just wondering what will happen for the season ender when the OSS returns for 3 more 50's plus there are 3 50's planned for Thunders??? I know its an afternoon race but this schedule could take very long to complete as well, and its hard to keep fans attention for that many hours on end. Also there's no local racers currently competing in the OSS so I really question how much fan interest will be generated by them. Didnt see the incident with 2& 38 so not going to comment on that one at all. But have to agree Brandon got hosed when Gordie turned him in 2 and Brandon went to the back and Gordie kept his 4th place he got by doinking Brandon. I asked the flagman about this and he said he missed it, which can happen. Now he told me he asked a couple more officials what they saw and nobody could be definitive about the call.( Although how the turn 2 official could of missed that I wouldnt know) . And I'm not slamming anyone here at all, as sometimes calls are missed and thats part of racing!! It wouldnt matter if we had 40 year vet Ralph Vokey on the flagstand, he too missed calls along the line and would admit that!! I do think that there should be clear explanations given though when owners/race directors are questioned about this because to me that is what there purpose is, to try and accomodate the drivers as much as possible with clear explanations and I dont see this happening to the extent it should. So once again I'm in agreement with you there Marty. But might I remind you as it relates to missed calls that only 1 person was perfect and they crucified him, so people can and will make mistakes, and as long as they own up to them it should be left and accepted at that!!! Some drivers ALWAYS take the hot headed approach to solve these things, which never works or gains respect from track folks like me or fans/officials. Not going to go into the sponsor issues with the billboard as I do see lots of bad business practices happening currently, and couldnt blame some for not wanting to be associated with BSW as its currently operated. The fun seems to be taking out of the racing this year for most , and not being able to have a cold ale in the pits after the races totally reaks!!!LOL But this is due to the new licence as I'm sure you know which was another very bad idea in my opinion. So bottom line is I respect your views Marty but lets see if WE can turn them around and try not to be so hasty in passing judgement as there are people like me and others that truly care about BSW and enjoy seeing great racers like yourself call my track home. Your free to run where you wish, and I respect you for that just the same. But I do hope you reconsider your position as fustrating of some of this years events might be!!! WOW that was a long rant!!!LOL Will post an actual results post here in a few mins but this is my take.