I didn't really see much of an enticement for visiting cars, that's for sure. The heats and consi are a head scratcher. Looks a little like they've thrown up their hands as far as getting out of towners in there.

You know, Tony Novotny is a hall of fame promoter. It staggers me that they wouldn't get him on as a bloody consultant or something. It just seems that the current crew have just resigned themselves to 16 car fields for a big show as a sign of the times.

I know they have a pile of other concerns, and I know they're doing the best they can with what they have. But seeing my favorite race....indeed the one real tradition we have here, get short shrift, makes my heart hurt.

This is NOT the race that Earl Ross, Junior, Beiderman, Leslie etc won. It just isn't.

Great Canadian Race my ass.

Sorry. Had to be said. 🙁  (Fortunately this place is so dead that no one will read it anyway.)

I have to agree with the posts here on this direction the new group is taking. It is like they have given up, certainly on this event. I am a total avid supporter of Delaware, but I sure don't get this at all. What's with the heat and consi races?  As far as I can tell, (hopefully I'm wrong) there will barely be enough cars for a good heat race. I am so disappointed in what they done this year, the format, the Saturday afternoon show, the reduced purse. I do not agree we  need anything  from Tony though. I guess I am not as thrilled with his past glory as a lot of people are. After last Friday nites show, I was so thrilled with what they had put on.  This certainly brought the enthusiasm back down.

I’ll share some thoughts on this since I know this is an important event for many and one we would all, I hope, like to see succeed:

I didn't really see much of an enticement for visiting cars, that's for sure. The heats and consi are a head scratcher. Looks a little like they've thrown up their hands as far as getting out of towners in there.

Not completely, but to an extent this has become the reality of the moment.  The track’s attempts in the 2013 season to draw out of town cars has been met with limited success (this is true of the Super Stock Invitationals as well).  The only inter-track success the track has had this season was with the Open-Ontario 4 Cyls.  Inter-track cooperation is simply not a thing at this time: it is an attitude that needs to be changed.  We do not have a magic bullet for this, it is a wide-spread issue.

As for the heat races & consolation: they should be considered part of the qualifying process to set the field for the event.  Some of the most exciting GCRs in recent memory have had qualifying events.

It just seems that the current crew have just resigned themselves to 16 car fields for a big show as a sign of the times.

In the case of the GCR, we do fully expect to have enough drivers to put on a solid event.  The intent-to-compete registrations will give us a better idea over the coming days as to who we can expect.

I am betting this message board is capable of assembling an unofficial list that would see between 20-26 competitors.  Remember: the maximum field size for the event is considered to be 28 competitors.

I know they have a pile of other concerns, and I know they're doing the best they can with what they have. But seeing my favorite race....indeed the one real tradition we have here, get short shrift, makes my heart hurt.

The GCR is a challenging event for the track right now.  A sense of tradition is, in fact, the key element that is carrying it forward at this time.  Stand-alone Late Model events (with no celebrity drivers) seem to have difficulty drawing massive crowds of casual spectators.  How do we fix this?

Part of it is this: it is my belief is that our drivers should be celebrities in their own right - - but getting that message out there is an ongoing challenge.  I’ll ask two quick questions:

a) How many drivers have you seen send a tweet or social media post out about this event?
b) How many drivers even make use of social media to promote their racing? (Any division)

If you look at those two questions and ask “what does that have to do with anything”, you’re already missing the point.  Fans today and the new fans of the future are grabbing onto these things and almost all of us are not ready to meet them (including myself).  I’ll work with any driver to help get these things going - - but the best teachers are already out there.  Check how J.R. Fitzpatrick, D.J. Kennington, Jeff Showler, McNicol Motorsports, Darrell Lake, Ryan Litt, DeMelo motorsports and more promote themselves.  Photos of working on the cars, photos of loading the cars for events, photos of their fans, posts about how the night is going.  Interacting with the fans directly, even during the week!  How are we reaching new fans, how are we engaging the fans we have?

This does not pass promotion of events and racing away from the tracks but it is a recognition that it’s 2013 and not 1985.  The way new fans want to interact with us will be different than how fans did it 30 years ago.  Who will run in this event?  In all likelihood, even with the intent to compete system, we won’t know until the day of the race.  Visiting drivers have been keeping their plans closer and closer to their chest and as a result have become more and more difficult to promote.  It makes promotion of events like this particularly tough, especially when some fans make their decision to attend based on the entry list.

The Friday night event for the past few years with the weekly divisions, King of the Hill, combined cheaper admission price has outdrawn the more expensive premium event that is the GCR.  The strongest events for the GCR in terms of participation were held under the Weekend Warrior Series which was ultimately rejected by most Ontario speedways.

At any rate: there’s something going on in the wider world when a King of the Hill event is capable of outdrawing the GCR.  It keeps me up at night.

This is NOT the race that Earl Ross, Junior, Beiderman, Leslie etc won. It just isn't.

On a technical, historical level…  It is.

I have to agree with the posts here on this direction the new group is taking. It is like they have given up, certainly on this event. I am a total avid supporter of Delaware, but I sure don't get this at all.

I wouldn’t argue that this format represents “giving up” on the event: giving up on the event would be cancelling it.

The event is, in fact, the Labour Day Great Canadian Race: the 200 lap annual event for drivers in the track’s top division.  It’s a big deal to us at the track - - on a personal level, it’s a big deal to me, for a variety of reasons.  The weight of history is heavy on it and there’s more to it than car-count.  I should not need to remind the message board that seasons where the car count swelled to exceptional levels were at times terrible events that seemed to resemble a Chaos Car event more than the prestigious Late Model event we aspire to.

At a certain point we have to ask ourselves whether we still believe in the magic of stock car racing.  Whatever happens on August 31 writes another page in the history of the event.  The event may not be paying $10,000 to win: but it’s still the Great Canadian Race and as I said before, the weight of history is heavy on it.  Whoever wins it will become a part of it.

-John

Say what u want but running it on Saturday when every track in Ontario is running is just plain outright brutal.

Really they only have one other track to pull cars from - being Flamboro.  Bring the rules closer together and you have another batch of tracks to pull cars from. 

This of course will take the co-operation of the track promoters, and all the car owners.