;)hey snot rod they said the same things about the 4cyl racing 10 years ago when we started, "if you build it they will come"  ;D

I dont think they should "Axe" the Chaos cars, but they do need to do something with them. Ya the car count is down (not sure why). If they had more cars everytime out , it would be a hell of alot more exciting. I do know onething though, i have 2 boys 14 & 11 and they love it. It made there night last friday when they got to go down in the pits after racing and get a pic w/ Snot Rod and sit in the car as well. Thats all they talked about for the last week. They actually liked that more then getting a pic with the feature winner of the night with the trophy!!

So for thoose that don't like the Chaos Cars, while they are on ......GO grab a extra hotdog or something to fill in your time , while my boys enjoy the highlight of there night .....The Chaos Cars!!

I’ll check in for a moment here to talk a bit about the Chaos Cars.  I know this is an Ontario-wide board now, so I think it’s worth talking about this program, to speak to some of the comments, and perhaps come to an understanding.

First off, to terminate a rumor: the speedway does not have plans to "axe" the Chaos Cars.  While I appreciate the criticisms of the posters above, I will respectfully disagree with their comments regarding the entertainment value of the class.

Read the posts above, then review this video from the event itself.  Be entertained.  Post here what you think of the video.  While not for everyone, I think you’ll find that barrel turns are anything but boring:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvrkcZhHZgo#lq-lq2-hq-vhq ]Chaos Cars Delaware Speedway July 3, 2009 Highlights[/url]

In my experience it is much easier to destroy then to create - - nobody said the Chaos program would be easy, but for many of the reasons outlined above, it is a great program.  Twelve different teams made the choice with us to create, and we will continue to push forward with expanding the program.

The goal of the program was to put forward a product that was <<radically>> different from any other program offered at the speedway.  As Trevor (Shadow) and other posters have pointed out, the faces of the children around these cars is something very special.

My message is simple; we will continue to develop this program, bring up the entertainment value, and have fun while doing it.  I have never worked with a more enthusiastic group of drivers, so passionate about what they are doing.  There is no doubt in my mind we will be successful in building the group to a successful level.

That being said, it is no surprise that the division faces challenges.  It has been a little over a year since the series was launched.  If we were afraid of challenge - - well we’d all just stay home every Friday!  I would argue, that it is in fact the challenges that make this worth doing.

The car count challenge is one that I (and the drivers) am keenly aware of and am taking steps to move forward.  It was the goal to exit last year with four solid vehicles - - we more then doubled that.  Keeping them on the track this year, has been a different type of challenge.  I will be speaking with each registered competitor before the next event to attempt to identify where the gap is in the program, with the aim of closing that gap.

What incentives would get the cars to the track every race?  Perhaps the members here have some ideas.  I would love to hear them - - we used the GRR board extensively during development of this class.  While those threads are gone, I found some of the best ideas for the class came from the community.

We know one challenge is a strange one…  Tow vehicles.  Need more proof that it’s entry level?  Look at how these vehicles are being brought in.  Tow bars, tow straps, borrowed to trucks, open trailers.  Now that’s grassroots.  In fact, the previous event would have had 5 cars, had it not been for a tow vehicle failure.  I’ll be speaking with the teams about this matter as well, trying to find a solution so that vehicles aren’t barred from participating because of tow problems.

With regards to the barrier to entry - - when the program was designed, roll cages and safety equipment were put in place for the safety of the drivers.  I read the reports of driver injuries at other speedway in  four cylinder cars and wanted to prevent it from happening here.

The competitors in the division who have been in impacts will tell you they’re glad they have those cages.  It is a minimum level of safety for these vehicles to ensure the division remains fun and that the drivers have a level of protection while navigating the courses.  The cages and safety equipment also play another factor; education.  The stakes in a chaos car are a lot lower than in an enduro car, because the speeds are so much lower.  The goal of a chaos car is to spend your money on safety equipment, not performance, to learn how to build and wear safety equipment properly.  This way when/if a driver moves up, it’s one less new thing for them to learn.

I would encourage people interested understanding more about what this class is about to review the Red Baron mini-series.  What you’ll see is a group of university students using their basic, basic knowledge to put together a safe and fun Chaos Car.  These individuals would not have had the technical knowledge to construct an Enduro car…  Today, they do.  Two high schools have built these vehicles (Beal & Medway) - - Beal has built two (Raider has yet to debut, it rained out at its opener).  Each documentary video has received around 2,000 views, and has been used by drivers in the division in the construction of their cars.

I hope this clarifies a few things about the Chaos Cars.  Again, while I appreciate the comments of the initial poster, I respectfully disagree.  What I do agree with is many of the constructive comments posted here, and look forward to seeing what new things we can do to take the class to the next level.

I would value any comments from Delaware posters as well as posters from other speedways.

All the best,

-John Houghton
Chaos Director
Announcer / PR
Delaware Speedway
(519) 652-5068 Ext 201

Aw man...you left out the "It was a SLOBBERKNOCKER" victory lane quote.

BTW, sounded like more than 3 people cheering to me.

😉

What a hoot.. That looks like fun. I have always liked when tracks add a few extras like this to their evenings line up. I love our 4 cylinder, thunder and late model division but it can get mundane after a while.

Every once in a while we have a touring series which adds to the excitement but I always remember as a kid the thing I loved the most were things like the daredevils doing T-bones and stunts. I am sure to the racing purist this may seem like a carnival but I secretly think I like it sometimes when the evening has a carnival atmosphere. Our track is packed for the demo derby and the track phone used to ring off the wall asking if the school bus races were still on for the evening. 

If these cars are built so well why don't you have them running in a 4 cylinder class with this being an add on they can compete in for fun once in a while?